7 Ways to Minimize Stress When Leading the Kickoff

That initial kickoff meeting is the hardest. 

Your team has decided to partner with three other subcontractors, two of whom you haven't had the pleasure of doing business with before. 

By your estimate there will be about 22 people on the call and in the room.

You're leading it.

It's one day away and you're starting to panic, not because you don't know what you're doing, but because it's a new bid with new partners, well, with new everything. You'll be fine after those first introductions, but putting it all together and then leading the kickoff can be daunting.

Here are a few ideas to help settle down.

1. Overcommunicate.

Make sure people who have speaking roles in the meeting know that they will be leading a portion of it (apart from introductions). If each company president will be saying a few words, give each a heads up that she will be speaking whenever you have scheduled them to. If the Program Manager will be leading the strategy and insights session, make sure he knows about it at least a little in advance. In other words, make sure people are not caught off guard when you call on them to speak. Been there, done that, got the Ralph Cramden 'hummina hummina humimna' moment until I moved on to the next topic. 

2. Overorganize.

You're probably already doing this but make sure you know what you want to say and when. Don't leave anything up to chance. If you've gone over the slides a half dozen times (and who says what when), do it once again just to be sure. Is the phone line and screen sharing functional? It's a good idea to check it a good half hour before the meeting if you're able.

3. Be punctual.

You know others on the team may be late but you don't have that luxury. You say you'll be starting on time but few meetings are like that, especially if you're working with new people. You want to start the the meeting on time, but you also have to have all the key players in the meeting, which includes at least one person from each team. Unfortunately, on time doesn't always mean 'on time' to many in the proposal world with so many conflicting schedules and people to corral. Still, if you're leading the meeting, you can't be late.

4. Write action items down.

If others are speaking, make sure you have a tablet on the side to jot down key points, especially if you're sharing your screen. You don't need others to get off topic watching you correct your quick notes. Just keep the pad handy so when you are summarizing who is doing what, you can speak with authority. 

5. Stay focused.

Keep focused and keep the meeting moving along. I know, this is much easier said than done, but a guy can dream, right? There may be relevant sidebars involving managers and executives that are difficult to interrupt and put back on track. Accept it, but steer the conversation towards the agenda items if you can. 

6. End quickly.

End before you're scheduled to end. You've allotted an hour. Try not to run over. It's a lot easier to plan for an extra half hour segment before the meeting starts than it is to run over. Still, others will leave when they have to because business just happens. 

7. Be patient.

When asking for questions or input - especially on a call - wait an extra 4-5 seconds more than is comfortable. This gives listeners a chance to locate their unmute button and speak up. Otherwise you run the risk of talking over them or not giving them a chance to speak up. If people are not given those extra few seconds, they might not speak up on the call or they might just let the comment go entirely because now they'll have to interrupt someone else to have a say.

None of these items are brain surgery material, but I've found that just being super organized makes me and my side of the team seem like we have it all together. We may actually be paddling hard under the water to stay afloat, but we are appearing calm and collected on the surface.

And relax. If you screw up royally, it's not as if they can take away your birthday or anything!

You'll be just fine.