Getting SharePoint kickoff meetings right

By Eric Riz

May 23, 2012 —  (Page 2 of 2)
When you leave the kickoff meeting, everyone on the project team must be on the same page. Your preparation beforehand will determine whether your kickoff meeting will offer the greatest benefit to team members. Don’t underestimate the importance of preparing a clear message that provides vision and drive for the meeting. Messages like “When we go live, each of you will use SharePoint to manage every document you touch” and “Imagine never e-mailing a document again” will empower people to make an effort and strive to achieve that goal.

Ensure that you have spent appropriate time developing the goals, objectives and deliverables for your SharePoint project. Review the points that sold the implementation and begin conceptualizing how you will communicate the broad spectrum of SharePoint at the meeting. If a new intranet is part of the implementation, how will it change the operations of the business or business unit? What is the value of a new portal to the specific people in the room? Use real examples and true definitions when addressing these points. Proper definition of these elements will drive the decisions you must make for staffing the project and developing the project plan.

As you prepare the kickoff presentation, be careful not to fall into the PowerPoint trap of too much broad (and not deep) information. Have a few slides that explain what you’ll be doing, but try a demo of a sample intranet or document management page. Spend time beforehand customizing the page so that attendees see familiar information and logos. Finally, use this opportunity to set up a support system for the project. Introduce the people that will be front-and-center during the implementation, and be sure that contact information is exchanged. With these steps, you’ll create a great foundation for SharePoint success.

Eric is the EVP of Systems Integration for Concatenate, a software firm focused on maximizing SharePoint through product innovation and systems integration based in Toronto. You can reach Eric by e-mail at ericr@concatenateinc.com or on Twitter at @rizinsights. Read his other SharePoint thoughts on his blog at www.ericriz.com.



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