Set the tone and get employees on board

Prepare and plan the kick-off:

• Set a suitable date and prepare invitations
• Plan time for preparation with the project team (2-3 hours)
  • Note: The kick-off is a critical success factor for a project
• Create a kick-off agenda
• Identify kick-off supporters
  • Involve management or steering committee
• Prepare goals for the Q.wiki introduction from the goal workshop
  • Discuss “Why introduce new software?”
  • If possible, establish a connection to the company's strategy and values
  • Ensure that the content is understandable for non-participants of the goal workshop
• Agree on speakers
  • If possible, have the goals presented by management
    • Plan B: Project team/project manager
• If necessary, prepare an opportunity for feedback and include it at the end of the kick-off (e.g., Mentimeter or MS Forms)
• Set further agenda/target dates (e.g., go-live)

The goal of the kick-off is to communicate the following to employees:

• What is planned?
• Why is the change project being carried out?
  • Emphasize the necessity
• Who is responsible and who will be “affected” and when?
• Who will benefit and how?
• What milestones will we achieve and when?
  • e.g., You will receive access to Q.wiki...
  • Focus on: “What affects you / Where you need to take action is...”

Conduct kick-off

• Present the necessity of introducing Q.wiki
  • Why new software?
  • Specific relevance for managers/employees
• Communication and coordination of objectives by management based on the target vision
• Presentation of the philosophy of interactive management systems and the Q.wiki solution
  • Present Q.wiki
    • Present structure and process landscape
    • Change mechanism: Present process and approval (technology that enables the philosophy of decentralized process improvement)
• Presentation of the live system
  • Show process map, example process, and linked work instructions
  • Highlight advantages and benefits
• Present project roadmap (mark current status)
  • Emphasize who is affected by what and when When will invitations be sent to which participant groups?
    • “We will conduct the training sessions in large groups. Invitations will be sent out after the kick-off.”
• Record initial reactions
  • It is best to ask for positive feedback from respected managers first to build positive momentum (coordinate with advocates in advance).
  • If necessary, provide an opportunity for anonymous feedback (e.g., Google Forms or Menti).
  • Many questions will arise afterwards -> who should people contact?

Follow up on project kickoff

• Debriefing with project team
• Inform absent managers by email if necessary
• Schedule process workshops and user training
  • Best practice: Follow the chronology of order processing, start with the core processes (proceed from left to right on the process map. Start with “Acquire customers” and end with “Ship product”)
• Invite participants to process workshops (max. 5 people)