Why the first five minutes can make your project.

The biggest project I have been in charge of in my Dell career is in full swing now, and I’ve been thinking more about project management as a learned skill.

We had the first of many meetings this morning with a group whose output is key to the success of the whole project, but on a much shorter timeline. The meeting was short, started on time, and although it didn’t have an agenda, we filled the time effectively and ended the meeting before the scheduled time was up.

This was what many project managers call a “kick off meeting”. A meeting where the group gets together for the first time and lays the groundwork for the success of the project. I would consider this to be the most important meeting that a project manager calls. In fact, I might even go further and consider the first five minutes of this meeting the most important meeting of the project.

The first five minutes are when you set expectations.

• This meeting will start on time.

• We will not move this meeting around to suit individual schedules.

Both of these items let everyone in the group know that all members time is important, so we won’t be adjusting the meeting to suit any one person’s needs over the group.

• This is not a “working session” it is a meeting.

Working sessions are very important, especially when you are working with individuals spread across multiple locations, timezones, or countries. The whole team doesn’t usually need to be involved in a working session though – especially if it is conducted over the phone – because only one person can talk at a time. If 10 people are on a conference bridge and one person is talking, there is a good chance that the other 9 people are doing something else.

Working sessions are for 2-3 people to get things done. Meetings are to discuss what was done and what needs to be done.

• Agendas are overrated, but don’t throw them out completely

It is infinitely more important to have a working knowledge of the project, it’s status, and what needs to be done next than it is to have a tight agenda for every meeting. Tools like Basecamp and Microsoft SharePoint can almost do away with the need to set an agenda for an efficiently run project meeting.

• Hierarchy slows you down

If you’ve read anything about Scrum, or Agile development, you know that titles, hierarchy, and protocol can really slow down progress. Although someone may run the meeting the team is made up of equals who are trying to solve a problem. Make sure the team knows this.

Next time you start a project that depends on work from several individuals, take the first five minutes of the first meeting to set expectations. Document the expectations in the collaborative workspace that the team shares, be it a physical space, or a virtual one (like Basecamp). Revisit the expectations whenever you feel like the project needs a bit more focus. It’s the most valuable five minutes of the entire project.