Kickoff meeting

When you start a project, you want everyone to be on the same page. A project kickoff meeting helps align on goals, roles, and expectations while securing buy-in early in the project lifecycle. Planning one takes effort, including building an agenda, sharing materials, and coordinating presenters. A project kickoff meeting template reduces overhead by providing a repeatable structure for planning, running, and documenting the meeting without starting from scratch.

What is a project kickoff meeting template?

A project kickoff meeting template is a reusable framework that helps teams plan and run successful project kickoff meetings. It outlines what to cover, how to structure the discussion, and how to document decisions, so each session follows a standard kickoff meeting agenda. Using a template makes it easier to capture goals, define key milestones, and clarify next steps for your core team.

Benefits of a digital project kickoff meeting template

Organizing a project kickoff meeting involves many moving pieces. A digital template helps you track everything in real time as you coordinate with stakeholders and prepare for the big day. You can plan the meeting, share your project launch agenda, assign action items, and take meeting notes all in one place.

With Asana’s digital project kickoff meeting templates, you can:

• Standardize kickoff planning so every meeting covers the same core agenda items.

• Plan, run, and manage follow-up work in a single Asana project, rather than across multiple tools.

• Assign owners and due dates to discussion topics.

• Capture open questions and action items directly into a shared sprint backlog.

• Schedule check-ins to revisit decisions and track project progress after the meeting.

• Attach context materials, such as documents, slides, or videos, to keep conversations grounded.

• Generate a lightweight status report from completed tasks and decisions.

• Close the loop with a short retrospective to document what worked and what to adjust next time.

What to include in your project kickoff meeting template

An effective kickoff meeting template provides teams with direction and reduces assumptions when starting a new project. It offers facilitators a method for guiding discussion, clarifying a project’s purpose, and aligning daily work with the project charter. In addition to logistics, a project kickoff template should coordinate team members, identify risks, and ensure everyone leaves the meeting with an understanding of next steps.

Your kickoff meeting template should include:

• Agenda items: List the topics to discuss, set a timeline for each, and include some icebreakers to help the team connect.

• Meeting roles: Assign responsibilities to the facilitator, presenters, and note-takers to ensure the meeting runs smoothly.

• Admin tasks: Plan prep and follow-up, including sharing materials, assigning action items, and sending notes.

• Project plan: Share the project’s purpose, goals, and how this workflow will drive project success.

• Outcomes and next steps: Summarize decisions, confirm ownership of each task, and outline next steps to keep the project moving forward.

Integrated features

• Custom fields. Tag, sort, and filter tasks by priority, status, or other details so team members know what to prioritize.

• Adding tasks to multiple projects. Track tasks across teams and departments to reduce silos, whether the work supports an internal project or a broader initiative.

• List View. See tasks, owners, and due dates in a Gantt-chart style view that makes responsibilities and progress easy to scan.

• Start dates. Plan when work should begin, not just when it’s due, so dependencies and timelines are top of mind.

Recommended apps

• Zoom. Prepare agendas, capture action items during meetings, and keep recordings and transcripts linked to follow-up work.

• Dropbox. Attach files directly to tasks in Asana using the Dropbox file chooser, built into the Asana task pane.

• Google Workplace. Attach files directly to tasks in Asana using the Google Workplace file chooser, built into the Asana task pane. Easily attach any My Drive file with just a few clicks.

• Jira. Connect technical and business teams by creating and tracking Jira issues directly from Asana.

FAQs about using kickoff meeting templates