Cynthia Kalina-Kaminsky has more than 26 years of experience in project execution in the fields of manufacturing, service, academia, government and non-profit. She has a Ph. D. in industrial engineering and has undergone extensive project management training. The following post is derived from her webinar, “You've Got the Contract - Now What? Successful Kickoff Meetings.” The webinar details the importance of project scope and change management, and gives effective techniques you can bring to the table in your kickoff meeting.

When you work on a project for a defense agency, it is not uncommon for the scope or details to change. To a certain extent a business must expect these changes and structure their processes such that they will not irrevocably damage a project once it is underway. However, it is also important that you control your project so you don’t end up with one much larger than originally quoted, possibly resulting in a smaller profit margin for your company. Holding a kickoff meeting can ensure that key players on the project are on the same page, potentially curbing scope and change issues down the road. The following tips can help you structure your meeting for success.

Determine the Decision Maker

It is important to establish the method of coming to a decision within your meeting before it is actually underway to avoid confusion and bruised egos. This will likely vary from project to project, and in some cases it may be more obvious who will have the final say on decisions than others. In those cases where it is not as clear, examine your options and choose the one that will have the greatest chance of satisfying stakeholders without causing unnecessary delays in the meeting. In some cases, putting contentious issues to a majority vote will be the most expeditious and fair way of resolving issues. In others, it is more helpful to structure the meeting bureaucratically where one person gets to make the final choice. In any case, make sure everyone involved knows how things will happen in the meeting and what is expected of them.

Establish Priority the SMART Way

Obviously, your project is going to be very important to your company, likely falling as the main priority or somewhere near the top. For a defense agency, it could possibly fall somewhere further back, maybe 25^th in terms of what they currently have on their plate. However, it is possible to increase priority by using SMART goal pieces. SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Accurate, Realistic and Time-Based. Prepare yourself with the information necessary to state exactly what’s going to happen, who will be held accountable, and what a realistic time for completion estimate could be. If you can convince the agency that you have a solid grasp on the fundamentals of your project so it won’t tie up time, money or resources, then you make it more of a priority for defense.

These tips will get you started, but you can find many more tips and details in Kalina-Kaminsky’s webinar “You've Got the Contract - Now What? Successful Kickoff Meetings.” Check it out and learn effective techniques for managing your defense projects.