I was recently interviewed on “This Project Life” about Project Kickoff and project closure best practices.
Click play above to listen.
Here are some takeaways from the episode as highlighted by the host, Jeff Plumblee.
Summary of the Key Takeaways from the Episode
Hassan explains the 18 steps of a project kickoff meeting. Hold an internal kickoff meeting before the client kickoff meeting. Follow up with an agenda. After the meeting, follow up on action items.
Preparation is the key to a good meeting. Know your stakeholders!
Hassan justifies the value of the internal kickoff meeting. At project closure, verify that all the work that was agreed to has been completed, formally recognize that the project has been completed with a signoff, and document lessons learned for the future.
A clean handoff needs a transition plan. Conduct handoff meetings and stay in contact for a time to handle issues. Over-communicate with operations about product completion. Everything is not always understood the same way by all parties. Poor communication is a recipe for disaster.
Tackle head-on any gray areas around the scope. Be crystal clear. Hassan suggests ways to salvage projects where there were gray areas. Hassan has published 16 books. Writing his thoughts and publishing them for others is enjoyable for him.
Hassan dedicates 30 minutes a day, five days a week, to writing or researching the book. He now writes in longer blocks when he is inspired. He writes about things that excite him that have an existing market. Hassan has written about remote work for over 10 years. At EY, he worked some days from home and then started a blog about working remotely. In 2014, he wrote Influencing Virtual Teams.
Later, he wrote Hybrid Work Management. Hybrid is the future of work. Soft skills are needed to manage remote teams.
To learn more, check out “Project Kickoff” on Amazon