# Stage 1: Initializing a large migration
<a name="stage1"></a>

It is important to define the governance model early in the migrate phase and then conduct a kickoff meeting so that you can share it with the entire project team before you start migrating applications. If the governance model is already set up, skip to [Stage 2: Implementing a large migration](stage2.md), where you will use the project governance tools and model established in stage 1. Establishing the right participants, communication formats, and meeting content at the outset allows you to focus on accelerating the migration. Ineffective planning for project meetings and communication can cause the team to spend too much time in meetings or providing status updates, rather than working on the migration.

**Note**  
The tasks in this chapter are intended to be performed concurrently. Many of the tasks are interdependent, as noted in the instructions for that task. 

Stage 1 consists of the following sections, tasks, and steps:
+ [Before you begin](before-you-begin.md)
+ [Task: Kicking off the migrate phase](task-kickoff.md)
  + [Step 1: Build a kickoff presentation](task-kickoff.md#step-kickoff-presentation)
  + [Step 2: Conduct the kickoff meeting](task-kickoff.md#step-kickoff-meeeting)
+ [Task: Creating a communications plan](task-communication-plan.md)
  + [Step 1: Create a communications team](task-communication-plan.md#step-communications-team)
  + [Step 2: Establish an escalation plan](task-communication-plan.md#step-escalation-plan)
  + [Step 3: Define meetings and their cadence](task-communication-plan.md#step-define-meetings)
  + [Step 4: Prepare meeting presentations](task-communication-plan.md#step-prepare-presentations)
  + [Step 5: Schedule recurring meetings for stage 1](task-communication-plan.md#step-schedule-meetings-stage1)
  + [Step 6: Understand the change management process](task-communication-plan.md#step-change-management)
+ [Task: Defining communication gates and schedules](task-create-communication-gates.md)
  + [Step 1: Define the communication gates](task-create-communication-gates.md#step-communication-gates)
  + [Step 2: Create a T-minus schedule template](task-create-communication-gates.md#step-create-tminus-schedule)
  + [Step 3: Create standard email templates for each gate](task-create-communication-gates.md#step-email-templates)
+ [Task: Defining project management processes and tools](task-project-management.md)
  + [Step 1: Select a project management tool](task-project-management.md#step-pm-tool)
  + [Step 2: Validate roles and responsibilities for all migration activities](task-project-management.md#step-validate-roles)
  + [Step 3: Establish a benefit-tracking office](task-project-management.md#step-benefit-tracking-office)
  + [Step 4: Create a project summary dashboard](task-project-management.md#step-dashboard)
  + [Step 5: Create a financial reporting process](task-project-management.md#step-financial-reporting)
  + [Step 6: Determine how to manage and scale resources](task-project-management.md#step-resource-plan)
  + [Step 7: Create a decision log](task-project-management.md#step-decision-log)
  + [Step 8: Create a RAID log](task-project-management.md#step-raid-log)