HBR Guide to Project Management (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 11

Getting Your Project Off on the Right Foot

With your project team formed, your charter delivered, and the team’s tasks scheduled, you’ve still got a few critical matters to take care of before work commences. First, your project needs a launch—a special event that marks its official beginning. Second, you must set up activities and provide tools that foster team building. And third, you must institute behavioral norms that make collaborative work possible and communicate them to all participants.

Why Launch Meetings Matter

The launch represents the very first project milestone. If conducted properly, it has substantial symbolic value.

The best way to kick off a project is through an allteam meeting, one with appropriate levels of gravity ...