Start a project right or spend the engagement fixing the start.
"Establish shared expectations, ownership, and rhythm in the first week of a new client project."
Why this exists
The first week of a project sets the template. When we skip kickoff steps, even for a small project, we spend the next month filling in the gaps in real time. This costs twice as much and loses client confidence that never fully recovers.
Operational Flow
Send the kickoff document 48 hours early: Include the project goal, our interpretation of scope, team contacts, key dates, and one open question we need answered live.
Run the kickoff call with a strict agenda: Review goals, confirm scope, hand over access credentials, agree on communication channels, and assign a clear next action for everyone.
Set up the Linear project within 24 hours: Match the milestone structure agreed on the call. Do not create tasks that have not been discussed.
Send the post-kickoff summary by end of day: Document what was decided, who owns what, and what remains open in a single Notion page. Link it in Slack and email it to the client.
Book the first check-in before the kickoff ends: Confirm a recurring slot on the calendar while the client is still on the call, avoiding scheduling negotiations later.
Complete credentials and access within 72 hours: Set up staging environment access, repo invitations, and design file sharing. Do not let work wait on access in week one.
What good looks like
- The client receives the kickoff document, comments on it, and answers half our open questions before the call even begins.
- Linear is live, the Slack channel exists, and the client has sent their first message by the end of day one.
- The post-kickoff summary contains no surprises. It just confirms what everyone agreed to on the call.
What NOT to do
- Don't start work before the kickoff call. Even if you are excited or the client says it is fine, scope agreed verbally before kickoff will be disputed later.
- Don't treat the kickoff call as a discovery session. Discovery happens before the contract. Kickoff is for confirmation.
- Don't leave the first check-in unscheduled. Punting it is how biweekly check-ins become monthly updates.
We ran a project once where the kickoff call was rescheduled twice. By the time we sat down with the client, we had built two weeks of work based on different assumptions. The client had told their CEO that the redesign included the admin panel, which we had excluded from our scope. That misalignment cost us fourteen days of unbudgeted work and a very awkward conversation. The kickoff document exists to surface these gaps before we write a single line of code.
A project kickoff is not a ceremony. It is the moment you formalize what everyone thinks they agreed to, confirm you are aligned, and put names next to responsibilities. Keep it tight. Limit it to an hour, skip the slide deck, and leave out the sales energy. The client already hired us. Now, start clearly.