Diana Larsen and Ainsley Nies define the project liftoff as the activity that will “generates the momentum teams need to overcome the inertia presented by lack of common purpose, unclear communication channels, undefined working relationships, and other areas of ambiguity. A liftoff also provides the positive force that moves a project toward its destination–successful delivery.”

It is never too late to have a good start in a software development project. They wrote in their book “It’s not too late. While holding a liftoff at the start of a project confers the longest term benefit, many teams get part way into their project before confronting important unknown issues such as these:

* Team and project community members hold different expectations for collaboration or communication.

* Team and project community members have different understandings of the mission.

* There’s not a good match between team member skills and the work of the project.

* Important contributors are not in the loop.

If you find yourself, your team or your project struggling with issues like these, consider holding a liftoff. In the same way that retrospectives confer benefit throughout the project, not just at the end, liftoff activities can benefit the team whenever the project starts. . . or restarts.

Many of the stories from practitioners who’ve contributed to this book describe teams that used a liftoff for a restart. Don’t hesitate to hold a liftoff whenever it’s most needed or useful.”

Source: Liftoff – Launching Agile Teams & Projects, Diana Larsen and Ainsley Nies, Onyx Neon Press

These excerpts from the Diana Larsen and Ainsley Nies book provide the important information that we should go away from the situation where there is only one project start… and often one original plan for the software development project. When your project face some issues, it could be an excellent opportunity to refocus the project team and adapt to the new situation. This will re-launch your project in a better shape and improved its chances of success.