Kickoff

A kickoff is the structured first formal meeting between a services firm and a client that marks the official start of an engagement, aligning both teams on scope, roles, milestones, and success criteria before delivery begins. Alignment that does not happen at kickoff typically surfaces as a dispute mid-delivery.

What a kickoff must accomplish

A kickoff is not an introductory call. It has specific required outcomes:

1. Scope confirmation: both parties verbally confirm what is and is not included in the scope, referencing the signed statement of work
2. Role clarity: named owners on both sides for every workstream, including who has decision authority
3. Milestone alignment: dates, dependencies, and what triggers each milestone payment or sign-off
4. Communication protocol: cadence of status reports, escalation path, and decision rights
5. Acceptance criteria preview: how the client will evaluate and approve deliverables, tied to the acceptance criteria in the SOW
6. Change order process: how scope changes get raised, priced, and approved before work begins

Internal kickoff vs. client kickoff

Run an internal kickoff first. Brief the delivery team on scope, budget, margin targets, client history, and known risks before the client meeting. Cover anything that should not be said in front of the client: estimated hours per workstream, margin targets, risk flags from the sales process. The internal kickoff ensures the delivery team is aligned and the client-facing session is confident and deliberate.

The client kickoff follows directly, often on the same day or the next.

Who should attend

From the firm: the engagement manager, lead consultant, and any practice leads whose work is in scope. From the client: the executive sponsor, the day-to-day point of contact, and any stakeholders who will accept deliverables. Missing the client’s acceptance authority from the kickoff is one of the most common causes of sign-off disputes later.

Common kickoff mistakes

• Treating it as a social call with no agenda or structured outcomes
• Skipping the out-of-scope conversation, which is the most consequential five minutes of the meeting
• Not identifying the client’s acceptance authority by name
• Failing to document and distribute meeting notes with action items and a scope summary

Document the kickoff in writing and obtain client confirmation of the agreed scope summary. That document serves as the reference point for every change order that follows.