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I've been working with a number of architectural and engineering firms in the last six months. I've been surprised at how so few of them have the habit of conducting project kick-off meetings as their routine. Knowing that, I'm not surprised at the problems these firms encounter with project planning and schedules.

Why have a project kickoff meeting? One manager said, "Geez, there's only 200 hours in this project. I can't waste any of them on meetings." Sound familiar? Before I respond let's review my definition of a project.

A project is a single-purpose network of commitments undertaken by a temporary social system.

People come together on projects as strangers.

I've been challenged in an AE firm when I refer to the project organization as a temporary social system. People say that the "team" consists of employees who know each other. While that might be true, it is also likely that the group is not a team at all. Rather, the people are working on more than one project. The other projects are being done with other people. They get their assignments as work orders. These are not project teams. This is more like sandlot baseball than a well-practiced team.

Face it. Projects are temporary organizations. People come together on projects as strangers. We're not likely to change that. What we can do is make sure people share a context, have intentions that are aligned, and have a relationship that allows them to successfully coordinate action together. I know of no better way than by starting every project with a kickoff meeting.

What would you do in those meetings? Here's my proposal for an agenda.

• Open the meeting with a statement of the value that will be realized by the customer. Why is this an important project for the customer? Seriously consider having the customer in the meeting. If that is not practical, then get the customer on the phone.
• Review the promise(s) to the customer. Exactly what will you provide and by when?
• Tell everyone on the team why each person is on your team. What talents are you calling on?
• Share an initial high level project plan — just the milestones. How will you achieve the promises? Invite a conversation of concerns, speculations, and assessments about the plan. Adopt a disposition that the conversation will lead to a better plan than the one you could do yourself.
• Invite every person to say what they want from the project. Encourage them to be selfish. Set the example of saying what you want. Make no promises that each intention can be satisfied only that collectively you will look for ways to explore those intentions.
• Establish a regular communication and team meeting process. Take a few minutes to establish some rules of conduct for those meetings.
• Close with a statement of your commitment to the promises of the project and the satisfaction of the customer. Invite your team members to offer their own commitments.

The kick-off meeting gets you started well. The conversation you have that day provides the context for navigating in the unfolding of the project. You'll find that you and your team members will frequently refer back to the conversation you had that day. How about sharing your agendas with the rest of us?