How to kickoff a project really well

Have you ever been here -

• ..left out of the kickoff meeting?
• ...identified someone who should have been involved in the project from the beginning?
• ....realised folks weren't on the same page with the project goals, outcomes, brief etc?

Kia ora, welcome to the club! I’ve known that too ... and many more similar frustrating, disappointing situations. Through reflection, learning from inspirational mentors and coaches, and a lot of trial and error - here's my? take on how to kick off a project really well (and avoid some of the painful moments listed above). In this article you'll see 3 big reasons why it's worth initiating a project, really well, and 2 tools to help you do this - along with a few tips scattered throughout. I hope it helps you and your team!?

These tips and techniques were put together and shared at the ōtautahi (Christchurch) UX meet up on 9th of November 2022, organised by Blake Q. and Caleb Martin ?? hosted in the Verizon Connect Christchurch office.

Why kick off a project really well?

Here's my 3 big reasons why it's worth starting of a project really well;

1. ?? to build trust and clear away assumptions right from the start
2. ?? to plant seeds for a human-centred process
3. ?? to demonstrate the culture you want - and start to create a community around the work

Let's break them down a bit more -

1 ?? Building trust and clearing away assumptions, right from the start

I've seen a lot of designers (and been guilty of doing this myself) jumping right into the work and not treating relationship-building, at the beginning of the project, as important meaningful work. The beginning is such a critical time for a project team. There is such a lovely opportunity for you to be intentional in building trust with your new team.?

Here you are! - your very own permission slip to take the time at the beginning of a new project to get to know your new team! This?is?work and it's important for you, your team and the project outcomes.?

This time provides a great chance for you to encourage informed attitudes and dispel unhelpful assumptions amongst your team mates. What hidden agendas might they have? Who has a great relationship with the project sponsor? Who wants to be in another role? Who is an expert, or a newbie? etc ... all the dynamics that come into play as work gets stressful and challenges appear and decisions are made. By having empathy for the people around you, the challenging moments that happen during the project can become opportunities for collaboration and kindness, because you've given yourself an inquiring mindset from the beginning.? (Tool 1 gives you a basic, but powerful way to plan your relationship building time)

2 ?? Plant seeds for a human centred process

I love the Design Council's Beyond Net Zero Systemic Design Approach shared in April 2021. The framework places emphasis on the work which surrounds the traditional 'double diamond' design process.? This process is a critical support for designers who want to work in a more sustainable and systemic way. Focusing on the work surrounding the 'double diamond' ensures that specific activities which require proper resourcing, time, and leadership, are given their due - and recognised as having an importance, equal, to the design project itself.?

The beginning of a project is the perfect time to set off as you hope to continue - with a human-centred process. This is especially true for complex projects. The Design Council advises: "rather than seeing your work as a ‘problem and solution’, you should start with a hopeful vision of what you want to achieve, and develop a clear mission from that." So start with; talking about the values, understanding the system at large, creating a vision, applying design principles, defining what a successful outcome looks like, etc.? (Tool 2 gives you a handy way to facilitate a discussion of this).

3 ?? Demonstrate the culture you want - and start to create a community around the work

"You are responsible for how you show up and the energy you bring" - I try to remind team mates of this when facilitating workshops. A little cliche - but we can be the change we want to see by demonstrating the culture you want in your new project team.

Something else I've learnt from working in a large global organisation is that culture, and more specifically communities, influence change. Often in large organisations there might be several pockets of people working on similar things or in similar ways. How might you hold space for these people to come together, share, grow and energise each other?

I experimented with this at Verizon Connect with "mapping" - facilitating a community of people who were using mapping to help with their work; journey mapping, blueprints, system flows, process flows, ecosystem maps etc #allthemaps. This was a great way to build connections, provide reciprocal learning and hear about what's been working in other parts of the business. Then often when people from the Mappers Club are working together in other projects - they bring a culture of growth and collaboration with them - influencing the new project team right as they form up - and hopefully give the team a good foundation for the inevitable storming stage.

So that's the 3 big reasons why it's worth kicking off a project really well!

Here's 2 tools to help you with this;

Tool 1: Stakeholder maps

These are so great for 2 compelling reasons

1. You can put the customer in the centre. (Bringing your human-centred values to life)
2. You can use them to build conscious, working relationships. (Be strategic about how you build trust and dispel assumptions)

Steve Arnold loves these. Thanks Steve for encouraging the whole Experience Team at Verizon Connect to really embrace the stakeholder map ??

How to create your stakeholder map

1. Put your customer/user/key human you are creating something for at the very centre. Yes, you can put several customers in the middle! It's your map!
2. Put the core team in the next-to inner circle. Who are the key people working on the project? Who are the people you need to engage with most?
3. Next circle out - who else is important? Who might you need to engage with regularly?
4. Outer circle - who else do you need to consider? These will be people you only engage with periodically.
5. Draw relationship lines between all the people! Who in the core team can manage relationships in the outer circles? Who will be engaging with the customer most? What types of relationships might there be e.g. information sharing, feedback giving, supportive, guiding etc..

Seoung-Yeon Han , in my CX and Service Design team at Verizon Connect, created this superb template for stakeholder maps in #figjam ??

Stakeholder maps are simple, but so useful

These maps enable you to think about -?

• Your energy: what are the key relationships to nurture?
• Potential dynamics: what pathways/relationships might you need help or consideration to navigate?
• Personal strategy: how might you grow and learn through this project? Who could help you with this? Or who might you need to help?
• Conscious design: how might the work and outcomes impact the wider community and environment?

Tool 2: Map Scoping

This is such a simple tool - but so powerful for alignment and ‘assumption busting’. It really helps your team work together towards a common goal. We've all experienced misalignment in some shape or form. Everyone has the best intentions - but do we lack a shared design for how to address the project?

Designers and many other visually-skilled people love maps! They help us get from A to B in projects. But what is A? And what is B? And what are you wanting to learn, inform or decide from using your map? Where does it start and end? What places, people and things might it need to include? - This is where this handy, map-scoping canvas becomes so worthwhile! I love canvases. You can use them in a workshop - or as a discussion guide.?

Tip for design managers.?This canvas helps design graduates who come out of their studies armed with the energy and new knowledge about design processes - but often forgetting to ‘sense check’- Why use that specific type of map for this project. You can use the canvas as a tool to either work it through with them - or to equip them with it - for their project.?

Map scoping helps you and your team* figure out just what your map is going to enable.?????

Before you create a new MIRO/Figjam/Mural and start mapping out ‘all the things’ - take a minute to define: what is your map’s purpose? This will help you work out the inputs and outputs.??Don’t be afraid to scrap it/start again - if it wasn’t the right map for the task!

*Team: This is so important. Journey mapping is a team sport! I strongly believe it's not something you should do on your lonesome. (Unless you want to map out something as a practice for yourself). The discussions, epiphanies, ideas and decisions which happen when your team creates the map together are the real gold within mapping.?Never map alone.?

How to use the map scoping canvas

You can facilitate a workshop a guide people through the boxes from left to right.

Or you can let your key stakeholders discuss and see where they start - then subtly guide the discussion to fill out the boxes in any order.

Once the canvas is complete - you should have a clear brief for what type of map and the structure of the map e.g. what you might be highlighting in the map, what you can leave on or off it, the level of detail and who might need to be a part of the mapping itself.

This canvas is for Journey mapping - but you can use the same questions for blueprints, ecosystems, value streams, wireflows etc.

Good luck with your next project kick off! I'd love to know if you tried any of these tools or templates or if any of this article really resonated - and especially if you have any other tips/ideas for kicking off a project really well!

Ngā mihi - thank you for reading.

Amelia