# Project kickoff Prepare a focused kickoff, align the team, and convert decisions into owned first actions. > This public artifact is plaintext. After import, readable project content is encrypted on your device; operational metadata such as identifiers, relationships, priority, state, timing, and counts remains visible to the service. > This template is general operational guidance, not legal, medical, tax, security, employment, compliance, or other professional advice. It does not establish compliance, and its publication is not evidence of outside professional review or approval. Review and adapt it with the responsible organizational owners, and obtain appropriate professional advice before regulated use. **Template ID:** project-kickoff-checklist **Template version:** 1 **Source:** https://sealtask.com/templates/project-kickoff-checklist/ **Reuse license:** https://sealtask.com/terms/#public-templates **Planning anchor:** Kickoff meeting date — The scheduled team kickoff; preparation falls before it and launch follow-up begins immediately after it. ## Prepare Establish the project facts and identify alignment gaps before the meeting. - [ ] **Confirm the project sponsor and delivery owner** — High priority · Due 7 days before the planning anchor Name the person accountable for the outcome and the person responsible for coordinating day-to-day execution. - [ ] Outcome sponsor has accepted accountability - [ ] Delivery owner has accepted coordination responsibility - [ ] **Draft the scope, outcome, and non-goals** — High priority · Due 6 days before the planning anchor Write a short boundary that states the target outcome, included work, and attractive work that is explicitly excluded. - [ ] Outcome has an observable success signal - [ ] Important non-goals are explicit - [ ] **Map milestones and critical dependencies** — Medium priority · Due 5 days before the planning anchor Outline the smallest useful milestones and identify external decisions, systems, or teams that can block them. - [ ] Milestones are ordered by dependency - [ ] Critical dependencies have named owners - [ ] **Prepare the initial risk and decision log** — Medium priority · Due 4 days before the planning anchor List the known assumptions, material risks, and decisions that the kickoff participants are expected to resolve. - [ ] Material assumptions are visible - [ ] Each planned decision has an accountable decider ## Align Use the kickoff to resolve roles, boundaries, risks, and decisions. - [ ] **Confirm participant roles and decision rights** — High priority · Due 3 days before the planning anchor Clarify who recommends, decides, executes, reviews, and needs updates for the project’s important choices. - [ ] Core participant roles are documented - [ ] Decision rights are unambiguous - [ ] **Circulate the agenda and concise pre-read** — Medium priority · Due 2 days before the planning anchor Give participants enough context to arrive ready for the named decisions without duplicating complete source documents. - [ ] Agenda gives time to decisions and conflicts - [ ] Authoritative supporting material is linked from its source - [ ] **Verify the team can access required working tools** — Medium priority · Due 1 day before the planning anchor Check that participants can use the approved project, design, documentation, and communication systems before work starts. - [ ] Required access is tested rather than assumed - [ ] No unnecessary privileged access is granted - [ ] **Run the project kickoff** — High priority · Due on the planning anchor Confirm the outcome and boundaries, resolve priority questions, surface conflicts, and agree on the first execution window. - [ ] Scope and non-goals are confirmed - [ ] Known ownership or priority conflicts are resolved - [ ] First execution window has a clear outcome ## Launch Convert kickoff commitments into visible, owned execution work. - [ ] **Capture decisions and unresolved questions** — High priority · Due on the planning anchor Record what was decided, why it matters, and which named owner will resolve each remaining question. - [ ] Decisions include context and owner - [ ] Every open question has an owner and date - [ ] **Assign the first execution actions** — High priority · Due 1 day after the planning anchor Turn kickoff commitments into small owned tasks with due dates, completion signals, and any blocking dependencies. - [ ] Every action has one accountable owner - [ ] Every action has a visible completion signal ## Follow-up Publish the recap and establish the normal project operating rhythm. - [ ] **Publish the kickoff recap** — Medium priority · Due 1 day after the planning anchor Share a compact record of confirmed scope, decisions, open questions, first actions, and relevant source-of-record updates. - [ ] Recap is shared with all affected participants - [ ] Authoritative project records are updated where required - [ ] **Establish status, risk, and decision cadence** — Medium priority · Due 2 days after the planning anchor Schedule only the recurring checkpoints needed to review progress, unblock risks, and make time-sensitive decisions. - [ ] Status update owner and rhythm are clear - [ ] Decision and escalation forum is scheduled ## Done Verified kickoff and launch actions move here when complete. _Move completed work here._ --- Source: https://sealtask.com/templates/project-kickoff-checklist/ License: https://sealtask.com/terms/#public-templates Privacy notice: This public artifact is plaintext. After import, readable project content is encrypted on your device; operational metadata such as identifiers, relationships, priority, state, timing, and counts remains visible to the service. Usage notice: This template is general operational guidance, not legal, medical, tax, security, employment, compliance, or other professional advice. It does not establish compliance, and its publication is not evidence of outside professional review or approval. Review and adapt it with the responsible organizational owners, and obtain appropriate professional advice before regulated use. Template version: 1