How to Conduct Your First Project Team Meeting How to be prepared for just about anything! Scheduling the Meeting • Schedule the first project team meeting about a week after kickoff. This allows you to: – Fine tune your project plan. – Look into problems that team members might throw at you. – Run issues or problems by senior management. – Gather feedback. The List of Invitees • Invite the following: – All working members of the project implementation team • Do not invite the following: – Customers/clients – Members of the executive management team – Stakeholders Establish the Model for Future Meetings-1 • Start on time! • Develop and distribute an agenda before the meeting. • Conduct one agenda item at a time. • Conclude it before going on to the next item. • Avoid getting hung up on the order of topics. Establish a Model for Future Meetings-2 • Encourage open communication. No idea is stupid. • Take notes. • Establish the time and place for the next project team review meeting. • Agree on and go over any follow-up activities or action items. • Assign people to follow up on tasks and get their commitment to complete them. Establish a Model for Future Meetings-3 • End the meeting on time. • Distribute minutes to all attendees within two business days of the meeting. • Make sure that action items and responsibilities are indicated in the minutes. (This prevents project team member amnesia.) Other Stuff to Keep in Mind-1 • Introduce the members of the team and their project roles. • Review priorities for the project. • Repeat objectives and reiterate overall schedule. • Review individual plans for getting work started. • Discuss methods and tools to be used to manage, control and operate the project. Other Stuff to Keep in Mind-2 • Deal with objections to the current project plan, and try to work them out, if possible. • If decisions must be made by the group, then: – Discuss the problem and ask everyone for an opinion. – Don’t allow any one person to dominate the discussion. – Test for readiness to make a decision. – Make the decision. – Assign roles and responsibilities. One-on-One Meetings • Meet with key individuals at the beginning of a project to make sure they have all the info they need to get started. • Clarify the following with each individual you meet with: – – – – – – – – Why s/he was selected for the project Performance expectations Individual priorities, tasks and milestones Administrative procedures, project management tools and methods to be used Challenges and issues Problem-solving processes A schedule for future one-on-one meetings Action items for future meetings • Ask for questions and feedback.
