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Executing the Project • 113

the kiCkoFF meeting (imPlementation)

The kickoff meeting for a new project is your best opportunity to energize
the group and establish a common purpose toward completing the work.
We’ve found that a great kickoff is the result of good planning. In fact, the
authors have planned and run dozens of kickoff meetings like this all over
the globe. It’s all about good preparation. After you’ve done your project
preparation work, you need to plan for an effective meeting. The kickoff
meeting will establish whether or not your efforts to green the project and
the project’s product will be successful. The project kickoff meeting is the
best chance for the project manager to educate project participants in the
green aspects of the project and to gain acceptance of those green aspects.
In addition to the traditional project management functions of a project
kickoff meeting, it is an opportunity for the project manager to establish
leadership in and gain buy-in for green methodology.
It is important to establish an agenda with the green aspects of the proj-
ect clearly articulated, to give attendees a clear understanding of what is
to be accomplished and to show a commitment to greenality. Because it
is a relatively new concept, greenality needs to be introduced carefully so
that the participants are comfortable with the concept. Greenality can be
off-putting to some, but our assertion is that “a project run with green
intent is the right thing to do, but it also helps the project team do things
right.” Because greenality may be (falsely) connected to views about cli-
1
mate change and in other ways be considered controversial, the project
manager needs to take immediate charge of the meeting to prevent it from
getting derailed on a tangent related to climate change. Stakeholders may
have strong opinions of both sides of the green issue, and those opinions
could easily distract the meeting participants. The fact that the project is
considering green issues will energize and motivate a number of people.
Walk everyone through the agenda, and explain that there will be time at
the end of the meeting to discuss any issues from individual contributors.
Stress that this meeting is about making the project more efficient. Focus
on the fact that this is not about politics or even buying into the assertions
of climate change. More than anything this is about running the project
more efficiently and considering what affects the project’s processes, and
that the final outcome will have an “extended family” of stakeholders.
As you walk through the agenda, look for cues to identify possible allies
and contributors, and also people who may have been “turned off” by these