Project Kickoff is still a norm in my organization. We have been doing Agile for so many years, yet the project kick off is still an integral part of our culture.
Kickoff should be practiced by every Agile team at different instances. it should be held whenever:
- A team is starting a new initiative, project, or release: a kick off in this situation is very important to ensure all team members have a clear vision and good understanding of the goal. The larger the initiative, the more important it is for the team to have a proper kickoff
- A substantial change occurs in the team member: when a significant number of people join the team, conducting a kickoff will be critical. It will ensure new team members have the same vision and understanding as the existing team, Also the kickoff can be used as a refresher to the whole team about the goals and objectives of the project.
Who Should Participate in an Agile Project Kickoff
As in any project kickoff, anyone who is officially impacted by the project should be invited. This include programmers, developers, testers, system analysts, data analysts, infrastructures team, Database team, and Product Owner. Scrum master should facilitate the kickoff. In addition, project stackholders should also be present along with senior executive to provide vision and support to the whole team.
Agenda
The Agile kick off agenda will be similar to project kick off. It should include:
- Introduction: With the scrum master facilitating the kickoff, the scrum master should start the kickoff introducing himself and stating the purpose of the kickoff, then each person on the team introduces himself with brief description of his role, past experience, and work.
- Business Context: Senior executive will then provide a vision of the initiatives, the state of the business, and the economic benefit of the work to be performed and how it addresses the customer needs.
- Product vision, scope, and deliverable: The product owner explains the vision and highlights any changes and milestone of the project. Simply, it should be a walk through the major features in the product backlog. Product owner should not get to the User Story level risking the kick off meeting to be derailed into a planning meeting. A definition of the success criteria should be defined and clarified during the kickoff.
- Communication plan: A proper communication plan remains critical in the agile project. It should list the different ceremonies the Agile team will attend to ensure communication is clear. It should also include how communication will be handled among the team itself and the team and stackholders and which tool to be used for each conversation.
- Risks: The Agile team should compile a list of risks to the project and present it during the kick off. Risk identification and management remains critical in the Agile framework and should not be taken lightly. Team should revisit those risks during iteration planning and decide how to mitigate or accept those risks.
- Wrap up: By now, all points have been clarified and the team is ready for the wrap up. The scrum master will inquire if all expectations have been met during the kickoff and if any question is pending. Once all questions are answered, the scrum master will thank everyone for attending and end the call.
Why a Kickoff Meeting ?
A well-run kickoff meeting using the agenda above is important because it:
- Helps the team understand how to communicate with others.
- Clarifies the vision and the economic benefit of the project.
- Helps identify the risks to the project.
- Provides a high level information about the deliverable and priorities
- Helps team members know who is who in the organization.
- Removes obstacles between team members and stackholders.
What do you think?
Do you have an experience with kickoff in the Agile world? Have you been conducting Kickoff in your organization? Do you have any additional points to add or address? Then Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
