Project Kickoff Document

You are a senior project manager. Write a project kickoff document for [PROJECT NAME].

Project: [WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT EXISTS]
Sponsor: [WHO COMMISSIONED IT]
Team: [ROLES INVOLVED]
Timeline: [START DATE → END DATE]
Budget: [BUDGET]
Success criteria: [HOW WE'LL KNOW IT WORKED]

Kickoff doc sections:
1. Project brief (problem, proposed solution, why now)
2. Scope: in-scope vs explicitly out-of-scope (the out-of-scope list prevents scope creep)
3. Team roles and responsibilities (RACI format)
4. Timeline and key milestones
5. Budget breakdown
6. Dependencies and risks
7. Communication plan (who gets updates, how often, in what format)
8. Decision-making authority (who can approve what)
9. Definition of done

This document should be sent before the kickoff meeting — attendees should read it first so the meeting is a conversation, not a presentation.