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Project Kickoff Meetings: How to Lead them Effectively (Udemy.com)

Learn how to start your projects the right way using a simple, step-by-step plan

Created by: Hassan Osman

Last updated September 2024

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What you will learn

  • How to run customer-facing project kickoff meetings effectively
  • What to do before, during, and after each kickoff meeting
  • The exact topics to cover during your kickoff meeting, and the right sequence to present them in
  • The course includes two downloadable templates: A free project kickoff meeting template (in PowerPoint) and a free meeting agenda template (in MS Word format)

How it compares

Against the other 1,210 rated Udemy courses in Business on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.3 out of 5higher than 15% of them
  • Reviews1,741#330 of 1,211 by number of reviews
  • Length1.2 hoursshorter than 85% of them
  • Last updatedSeptember 2024earlier than 70% of them

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Course Description

**This is a short course (approx 1 hour long) that gives you everything you need to know about how to lead project kickoff meetings with your team**


Learn simple concepts that help you improve your facilitation and communication skills, and become a better team leader through easy kickoff meeting tactics.


Master Simple Tips That You Can Implement Straightaway

  • What to include in your project kickoff agenda, and who to share it with before your external kickoff meeting.

  • How to kick off a meeting the right way by running through the agenda and having brief introductions.

  • How to leverage your project sponsor to motivate the team.

  • How to list out the project goals, along with your project assumptions and constraints to avoid any potential miscommunication down the line.

  • The best practices of including a team organization chart and a high-level schedule so that you manage expectations the right way.

  • Why you should cover a change management process and communication plan.

  • How to end a project kickoff meeting properly by including a next steps section and a Q&A session.

  • The most important thing you should do after your project kickoff meeting ends.

  • A downloadable sample project kickoff agenda and project kickoff template.



Content and Overview

The course contains over 23 lectures and 70 minutes of content. It is designed for any project manager or team leader who plans on running project kickoff meetings for their clients or customers.


The content includes three main sections (before your meeting, during your meeting, and after your meeting), and each section includes simple steps that you can follow. The course is delivered in a format that is easily digestible for busy professionals (each video lecture is around 3 to 5 minutes long).


The course also includes two free downloadable templates (included in the materials):

  • A Free Project Kickoff Meeting Template (in MS PowerPoint format) that helps you save time in creating your own

  • A Free Project Kickoff Meeting Agenda Template (in MS Word format) that you can copy and paste and modify for your own team


Here's are the steps that are covered in the course:


BEFORE Your Project Kickoff Meeting

  • Step 1: Draft the Agenda

  • Step 2: Gather Feedback

  • Step 3: Prepare the Presentation

  • Step 4: Hold an Internal Kickoff Meeting

  • Step 5: Schedule the External Kickoff Meeting


DURING Your Project Kickoff Meeting

  • Step 1: Welcome and Rundown of Agenda

  • Step 2: Introductions

  • Step 3: Project Sponsor Update

  • Step 4: Project Goals

  • Step 5: Team Organization Chart

  • Step 6: High-Level Schedule

  • Step 7: Project Assumptions and Constraints

  • Step 8: Communication Plan

  • Step 9: Change Management Process

  • Step 10: Milestone Signoff, Technical Update, and Other Considerations [Optional]

  • Step 11: Next Steps, Q&A Session, and Wrap Up


AFTER Your Project Kickoff Meeting

  • Step 1: Send an Update

  • Step 2: Follow up on Actions



By the end of this course, you'll be armed with a comprehensive end-to-end process that you can implement right away to help you prepare for your kickoff meetings.

There are no requirements necessary to enroll in the course, and you can learn the material at your own pace.


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Student Testimonials:

★★★★★ "Great overview for the new & experienced project/program manager Great examples with words & templates to use." - Linda Baughman

★★★★★ "Excellent stuff, 100% pure on-topic content. Thanks." - Marcin Czajkowski

★★★★★ "Lots of good practical tips. I've been running kick-off meetings for several years and this course was a great refresher. I'll use the materials as a checklist from now on. Thanks." - Natasja Castro

★★★★★ "Very Informative and will use these suggested tips ASAP. Thank you!" - Joe Luce

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30 Day Money Back Guarantee

If you are not satisfied with the course for any reason, you may return the course within 30 days of the purchase date.


Ready to Start?

Click on the "Enroll Now" or "Buy Now" button in the top right corner of this page and start learning how to have effective meetings.



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Instructor Details

Hassan Osman

"Short courses for busy managers"

My name is Hassan Osman and I help busy business leaders and managers work more effectively with their teams.

My focus is on three main 'future of work' areas: managing in virtual & hybrid environments, using AI to improve productivity, and enhancing communication among team members.

I write about those topics in my free weekly newsletters, "Leadership 80/20" and "AI for Leaders."

A little about me:

Most recently, I was SVP of Professional Services at NWN Carousel (a $1B organization focused on enabling hybrid work), leading a team of 200+ project managers and engineers on delivering cloud communication services to our customers.

Previously, I was a Director at Cisco Systems, where I led project and program management teams on delivering complex projects for Cisco's customers.

Prior to Cisco, I was a manager at Ernst & Young, where I analyzed failing projects at Fortune 500 companies, and recommended solutions to fix them.  

I was also a research assistant at Harvard University, where I studied issues related to virtual teams. 

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Reviews

4.3

1,741 ratings on Udemy

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By Anonymized User on 10/24/2024

Great content and liked the structure. Appreciated the breakdown of the steps to take Before the Kickoff, During the Kickoff, and After the Kickoff. The framework will be a great resource for future kickoff meetings I lead. Thanks!

By Mirela Ioana Nicola Araiman on 8/28/2024

The content is really useful and well presented in speech. The slides however are too full of text, there are times when the written content draws the attention from the presentation.

By Anonymized User on 3/26/2024

This course was really helpful for improving how I run project kickoff meetings. The content is clear and easy to follow, and it’s broken down into practical steps you can use right away. I liked how it covered everything from preparing the agenda and getting feedback to managing the meeting and following up afterward. The downloadable templates for the kickoff meeting and agenda were a great bonus—they saved me a lot of time. The sections on setting clear project goals, managing expectations, and using the project sponsor to keep the team motivated were especially useful. The course also emphasizes the importance of clear communication and making sure everyone’s on the same page, which is key for avoiding problems later on. It's a short course, which is great if you're busy, but I think a little more detail in some areas would’ve made it even better. Overall, it’s a solid resource for anyone looking to run more effective project kickoff meetings.

By Karissa Panzino on 2/28/2024

The course was very quick but very informative. I appreciated the supplementary materials and will look to incorporate these steps in future project kickoff meetings. The transparency of who the course is intended for (med to large businesses, B2B projects) was helpful to provide context to how this may be adapted to my role in a much smaller business.

By Mayuri Govender on 1/8/2024

Is was very good, however as the sub-sections were so small I didn't find the need for a summary after every 5 mins. I will have preferred a summary after the broader section. I hope to use the templates & put it into effect in my team.

By Anonymized User on 10/10/2023

Great presenter. However, if people only ever view only components of this presentation, then the many Thank you for watching and The End slides are ok, but if they usually watch the entire presentation, they seem a bit excessive.

By Adrian Perreau on 1/24/2023

The videos are just the teacher reading through the slides. Not as engaging. There are no tests to evaluate whether you understood the materials. There are no exercises to practice, just templates of presentation slides and emails for you to use. In all, the tips are good and the contents are relevant. But as a training I find it lacking.

By Kaitlyn Bacca on 6/6/2022

Informative and succinct, with some templates. Having led lots of kickoff meetings, I didn't learn anything new here, but like he says, it is a good refresher for best practices. I liked that the instructor broke kickoff down into phases and steps. Most helpful to me were the examples of how you would actually say something; those sample dialogues were great tangibles for what are often broadly actionable concepts. The instructor's presentation of the material itself was a bit repetitive (all slides looked the same, only had text, instructor was saying everything written on the slides); this made it hard for me to stay focused. Adding some visuals, variation, and making the slides less text-heavy may help keep students' attention. Based on this course, I did purchase another course he offers!

By Jim Burtt on 1/31/2022

Very well organized and comprehensive. Suggestions: Use X.X numbering system Intro includes what each person expects to get out of the project Include SI POV Mention quality w/ iron triangle Mention scope creep

By Anonymized User on 1/31/2022

The course was very good. I liked the materials. I think you have great information from slide deck explained on the courses. There is an added value of putting all those slides together and provide it at the end of course as I see for some other experts. Good job

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Overall Score : 86 / 100