Kickoff meeting notes template
Trippi Notes team · facts checked on 2026-10-01
A kickoff is the cheapest moment to agree on who decides what. Three months later the same question costs a week. This template writes down roles, dates and risks while everyone is still in the same room and still agrees.
The template
Copy it into any editor that understands Markdown. The headings and the table come through as they are.
# Kickoff — [project] — [date] **People:** **Goal (one sentence):** **Out of scope:** ## Roles | Role | Name | |------|------| | Decides | | | Does the work | | | Must be asked | | | Kept informed | | ## Milestones | Milestone | Date | |-----------|------| | | | ## Risks | Risk | What we do | Owner | |------|------------|-------| | | | | ## Decisions - ## First actions | Task | Owner | Due | |------|-------|-----| | | | | ## Open questions - [question] — [who will find out] ## Next check-in [date]
For Word or Google Docs
The same template as plain text. Paste it into a new document, then turn the first line and the section names into headings if you like. There is no file to download: you paste it, and it is yours.
KICKOFF — [PROJECT] — [DATE] People: Goal (one sentence): Out of scope: Roles Role — Name Decides — Does the work — Must be asked — Kept informed — Milestones Milestone — Date - Risks Risk — What we do — Owner - Decisions - First actions Task — Owner — Due - Open questions - [question] — [who will find out] Next check-in [date]
What each part is for
Goal in one sentence
If the room cannot agree on one sentence, the kickoff has found its first problem.
Out of scope
What the project will not do. This line prevents more arguments than any other.
Roles
Who decides, who does, who must be asked and who is only told. One name per role where you can.
Milestones
Three to five dates people will remember, not the full plan.
Risks
Each with what you will do about it and an owner. A risk without an owner is a worry.
First actions
What happens this week, so the project starts moving the day after the kickoff.
Read the roles table out loud before the meeting ends. Disagreements about who decides are much easier to settle now than in month three.
How to fill it in five minutes
- 1Before: Fill in the goal and milestones as a draft, so the meeting corrects them instead of writing them from zero.
- 2During: Fill roles and out of scope first. Then risks, as people raise them.
- 3Every risk gets an owner: If nobody takes a risk, put it under open questions with the sponsor’s name.
- 4After: Send the notes to everyone the same day and ask for corrections within two days. After that, they stand.
A filled example
Kickoff — Help centre rebuild — 6 Oct 2026
Goal: customers find answers to the top 50 questions without writing to support.
Out of scope: the in-app chat; translations in phase 1.
Roles: Decides — Lea · Does — Ana, Kenji · Must be asked — support lead · Kept informed — sales
Milestones: structure agreed — 20 Oct · first 20 articles — 15 Nov · launch — 1 Dec
Risks: support has no time to review — two-hour slot each Friday — Lea
First actions: export top questions — Kenji — 9 Oct
Next check-in: 13 Oct
Let it fill itself
Trippi Notes listens to the meeting tab in Chrome — Google Meet, Zoom in the browser or Microsoft Teams in the browser — after one click on its icon, and writes the transcript with speaker names and times. It has no built-in kickoff template. What it has is a box for your own request, up to 1,000 characters, that tells the summary what to look for. Paste this:
This was a project kickoff. Note the goal in one sentence, anything said to be out of scope, who decides and who does the work, milestones with dates, and risks with what will be done and who owns each. Risks nobody owns go to open questions.
The summary still comes back in its usual parts — overview, decisions, tasks with owners, open questions — so you move them into the template above, or export Markdown or plain text and edit there.
Summary templates other than the general one, and your own request, are part of the paid plans. It only hears calls in the browser, not desktop apps or phones. Nothing joins the call, so nobody sees a bot in the list of people. Tell them you are taking notes anyway — how to ask.
FAQ
Asked about this.
What should a kickoff meeting cover?+
The goal, what is out of scope, roles, milestones, risks and the first actions.
Who should be at a project kickoff?+
The person who decides, the people who do the work, and anyone who must be asked before big changes.
How long is a kickoff meeting?+
An hour is usually enough for a small project. Bigger projects split it into a short kickoff and working sessions.
What is the most common kickoff mistake?+
Leaving without "out of scope" and without a name next to "decides".
Read next
Let the notes fill themselves.
Trippi Notes is in the Chrome Web Store. One click on the icon when the call begins, and nothing before that.