- Time: half a day
- Participants: 6-24
- Difficulty: Easy
- Facilitators: 1
Objectives
- Set up the conditions for a cohesive, aligned group;
- Share motivations and a vision for the project;
- Clarify roles and responsibilities;
- Co-create a timeline of next steps.
When should this session be delivered?
Deliver this session if you need to get a large (6+) number of people working on the same project organized.
In a 4-hour kick-off meeting you’ll be able to:
- Share information on the project;
- Raise motivation;
- Align teams and working groups;
- Set up a timeline, with roles and responsibilities.
This template was put together based on experience with multi-stakeholder EU projects, in which not all parties may know one another at the start, and it is likely that work is divided in WP or Work Packages.
If you are working in a well-established team or a different situation, you might not need every block, but you can adapt it to your needs and mix-and-match activities to create a kickoff that works for you!
This template works both online and in-real-life. If running a kick-off session online you’ll need a shared whiteboard, and possibly longer breaks!
Who can facilitate it?
If you are working with a group from 6 to about 24 people, one facilitator should be enough. It your group is larger, consider working with a co-facilitator.
Co-facilitation has many advantages, including allowing you to learn together, and it can always be beneficial to have more than one person paying attention to group dynamics.
For more on this topic you can read our complete guide to co-facilitation. And remember you can easily share designs using the SessionLab app!
Check out the template details including step-by-step plan with instructions, timings, printable schedule and more
About the author
Deborah Rim Moiso
Deborah Rim Moiso is an Endorsed Facilitator with the IAF – International Association of Facilitators and the current co-chair of the Italian IAF Chapter. She is also a content writer for SessionLab and a published author of a manual and deck of cards on facilitation available in Italian (Facilitiamoci! Prendersi cura di gruppi e comunità).
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