Capturing the enthusiasm of your project team is vital, and one way in which you can do this is by really bringing your project management meetings to life.

When it comes to that all important first project management meeting, whether you are conducting your first ever project kick-off meeting or are an old hand it is vital to grab the attention of your team. You want to make sure that everyone is on board and excited about the project from the very beginning so that you have a team of focused individuals who are motivated to achieve the end result required by the project.

Set the scene

Sell the client to your team, you need to awaken their enthusiasm for working not only for the client but also for the project. Visuals are about more than those things that you can see on a screen, being able to paint an image of the project ahead is a vital tool that every project manager should have in their arsenal. If you can grasp the attention of your team in the first few minutes of your project management meeting, then you are half way to success.

Images

Whether you use a flipchart full of nifty drawings and graphs or prefer to use a more technical option such as a screen and a presentation that you can run via your laptop, visuals are a truly fantastic way to grab people’s attention.

You can create a complete walk-through of the stages that will be involved in the project, it is far easier for people to visualize a project when they have something to look at in this way than when they are all just sitting around a table listening to someone speak.

Handouts

Okay, handouts might seem a little old fashioned but they are a great way of giving team members a glimpse at where you see the project heading. If the goal of your project is to create a new product then seeing images of similar projects can be a great way to start people’s creativity flowing. This, in turn, can really bring your meeting to life, generating suggestions, ideas and above all enthusiasm for the new project. It’s a really great way in which you can get the members of your project team working together even before they begin to start on the actual stages of the project.

Follow-up meetings

Remember, just because you have already sold the idea of the project to your team and engaged their enthusiasm you don’t need to stop there. Visuals can provide a powerful update at any team meetings you might have as your project progresses. If you are working on a product then being able to see visuals of the current status, projections and figures can be a great way to keep the entire team motivated to work towards the completion of the project. So, make sure you draw on all your project management skills to really engage your team.