When does the project kickoff meeting typically occur?

The project kickoff meeting typically occurs at the start of project planning. This meeting serves as a crucial milestone in the project lifecycle, allowing all stakeholders to come together and align their objectives, expectations, and responsibilities. It sets the tone for the project, establishes the project’s scope, and ensures everyone has a clear understanding of the goals and timelines.

By conducting the kickoff meeting at this early stage, teams can effectively communicate the project’s vision and initiate collaboration among members. This facilitates better planning and resource allocation, ultimately contributing to the project's overall success. It becomes an opportunity to address any immediate concerns or queries from team members that may impact the planning phase.

Other options do not align with standard project management practices. For instance, having a kickoff meeting after project execution has started would be too late to define roles and responsibilities clearly. Holding it before project initiation would not make sense as the project may still be in an abstract phase without defined parameters. Lastly, conducting a kickoff meeting during ongoing project evaluations fails to capture the collaborative spirit and thorough alignment that should occur at the project’s outset.