Chapter 8: Project Closure

Project Closure

Projects can have a wide range of dimensions, scope, and complexity. However, all projects follow a general lifecycle from start to finish. In general, a project cycle consists of startup, planning, execution, monitoring and control, closure. Each process interacts with others. There are concurrent works associated with several process groups (scope, time, cost, etc.) throughout the project life cycle. If they are only at the end of the project, focusing on project closure activities limits learning and increases project risk. Each stage and milestone must be completed successfully, and closing processes must be implemented throughout the project life cycle.

The project closing process group consists of works required to complete or close the project activities throughout the project life cycle. In this process, contractual obligations are generally fulfilled, procurement documents are completed, transfer contracts between project and operation teams are made, and resources are reallocated.

Project Closing Activities

In project closing activities, the responsibility of the project manager is to ensure that all necessary and planned work is completed and the objectives are met. This makes the work a step ahead, the milestone being accomplished, and for the whole project.

Cleland and Ireland summarize their view of these activities as follows:

1. Ensure that all project deliverable end products are properly transferred to the new asset owners, along with appropriate standard records.
2. Review that all contractual requirements have been met and properly record any variations along with their resolution conditions.
3. Define the list of stakeholders related to new environment (i.e., product or process support) .
4. Help the project team members find other project assignments.
5. Prepare “lessons learned” to assist future project teams in assessing similar situations.
6. Analyze the weaknesses and strengths of the project, and explain how the project team dealt with the problems and what is necessary for future project teams to avoid negative situations and utilize the positive items identified.

There are two important issues related to the Project Closing process:

1. Ensure that the planned work is actually completed - During the project planning work, all expectations regarding scope, time, cost, quality, and other activities are detailed and sorted along a timeline. Project closure activities ensure that the plans are carried out according to expectations. If there is a difference between what is planned and what is completed, the project manager should determine the cause. Then, depending on the cause of the variance, the project manager should determine if any adjustments should be made. Deviations here may have a positive or negative effect on the successful completion of the project.
2. Lessons Learned - Learning organizations have processes, systems, and culture to promote information sharing. The project manager is responsible for publishing the lessons learned, implementing best practices, and providing solution tactics to other project managers and project teams in the organization. The Project Manager shares information that will enable project teams to plan and execute their projects more efficiently and effectively in future projects. The more efficient the projects are delivered, the more business value is created for the business.

The purpose of the project closure should be to ensure that all relevant activities are completed. It should be noted that Project Closure is related to learning. All projects require many resources, deliveries, and decisions throughout their lifecycle, whether small or large. Each deliverable or decision point is the closing process that points to the end point.

How Can Teams Learn from Projects?

After the project is completed, meetings can be held with the project team. The aim is not to repeat the same mistakes and to evaluate the opportunities. All project team members must record their experiences and learned lessons during the project life cycle. Lessons must be published and shared with other project managers and project team members. Project managers should determine how closing activities will be implemented throughout the project life cycle.

Project Closure Plan and Checklist

When best practices are considered, it is recommended to start work in the planning phase to ensure the correct closure of the project. This leads to the following two important questions:

1. What activities are associated with project closure?
2. When should the project closure be done?

There are three main tasks that project managers should supervise in closing works:

1. Evaluate whether the results of the project, decisions, and deliveries meet the expectations of the stakeholders.
2. In project closure, using the Project close checklist is useful for guiding closing operation and ensuring that all areas are handled.

Horine outlines the following 13 important topic areas to be covered in the project checklist:

1. Obtain client acceptance: This stage has to be accomplished before the team attempts to close the project.
2. Transition deliverables to owner: In this activity, the team formally hands off the project deliverables to the new owner.
3. Close out contract obligations: The project team will coordinate with procurement personnel to document the status of all contractual relationships.
4. Capture lessons learned: Documenting the project team’s experience-related activity will enable future projects to avoid some mistakes and challenges faced by the existing team.
5. Update organization’s central information repository: This activity involves documenting project records and deliverables as a formal archive for the organization.
6. Document final project financials: This activity involves documenting the final project financial reports such as a budget status summary and variance analysis.
7. Close various accounts and charge codes: This activity involves the process of closing team member accounts and codes related to financials, infrastructure, and security.
8. Update resource schedules: Work to ensure that team members have appropriate job opportunities following the closure.
9. Conduct performance evaluations: The PM needs to ensure that appropriate performance feedback is performed and documented for all team members.
10. Update team resumes: The team members should update their resumes to reflect the new project activity.
11. Market project accomplishments: Formally recognize team member accomplishments and overall project positive experiences.
12. Review project performance with clients: Horine says that “the best testament to evaluate client satisfaction is to see whether the sponsoring or [user] individuals (organization) will officially endorse team’s work.” This is a process to know whether the team really achieves the desired goal.
13. Celebrate: From at least a moral standpoint, it is important to find something to celebrate at the conclusion of a project.

Developing the Closure Plan

Correct planning ensures that the project is successful. Project managers develop project closing plans according to the scope of the project and the timeline. The project management plan usually includes the following subplans:

• Scope
• Schedule
• Costs
• Quality
• Communication
• Risk
• Procurement

Project Closure Plan

As each project is different, the details of the project closure plan will be different for each project. The project closure plan is the basis for the content of the project closing report after the project is completed. A project closing plan should include the following sections:

• Executive Summary
• Project Scope and Business Objectives
• Start and End Dates of Project Phases of Work
• Project Completion Criteria and Metrics
• Project Closure Deliverables
• Project Closure Documentation
• Project Closure Resources
• Project Closure Communication Plan
• Final Approval

Benefits

During the project, important activities such as handover operations, decisions, and deliverables are realized. The difference between project success and failure can be seen by using the project closure plan and checklist. It is important to follow an appropriate closing plan and checklist and to gain an advantage by creating faster learning than competitors.

The Project Closure Report

The Senior Management and the Project Sponsor expect the final report after the project. The Project Closing Plan forms the basis of the Project Closure Report. The Project Closing Report documents the official closure of the project and acceptance of the project by the client.

Developing the Project Closure Report

The project closure report covers the whole project. It indicates that the project is complete. It also emphasizes the difference between what is planned and what is actual. These differences can be the schedule, cost, resource utilization, and other related issues. It also includes results related to the problem or opportunity specified in the business case. For simplicity, the same template and format can be used with the Project Closure Plan:

• Executive Summary
• Project Scope and Business Objectives
• Start and End Dates of Project Phases of Work
• Project Completion Criteria and Metrics
• Project Closure Deliverables
• Project Closure Documentation
• Project Closure Resources
• Project Closure Communication Plan
• Final Approval.

Using the Project Closure Report

In the planning phase of the project life cycle, the project closing report activities begin. The project manager, project sponsor and other stakeholders are determined at the planning stage of what the project needs. Thus, the project manager determines what is to be delivered in the project closing report. The purpose of the report is the official approval of the sponsor and the documentation of the project results. Project Closure Report will be finalized upon completion of the project.

Benefits

Project Closure Report is a summary of the entire project for the sponsor. It is a transition document for the project manager and his team to start working on other projects. For other project teams, the lessons learned and best practices are included in this document.

The Postmortem Review

The Postmortem Review is a review of the project after the closure or acceptance of the project. The project manager works with the project sponsor and the operation team. The following questions are examined in the examination:

1. Was the project successful?
2. Are all closing activities completed?
3. Are the lessons learned shared with relevant stakeholders throughout the organization?
4. Has the project achieved the operational results and the objectives outlined in the business reason?
5. Postmortem Review is the final step in the process that begins with planning documents.

Conducting the Postmortem Review

The postmortem review is performed in three steps:

1. To collect feedback from project and operation teams,
2. Organizing a meeting between the Project Team and key stakeholders, and
3. To report the results of the meeting.

Gathering Feedback - Baca states that the lessons learned process helps in evaluating processes, tools, and techniques that worked either well or poorly on the project.

Conducting the Meeting - Before the meeting, information about the feedback is summarized and shared with the participants. The aim of the meeting is to develop future projects and to raise awareness of the project and operational teams.

Documenting the Postmortem Report - The Postmortem report is explaining what to do and what not to do in future projects. What should be very general or very detailed? The aim of the report is to benefit not only the project and related operational teams but also the whole organization.

Using the Postmortem Review

Postmortem examination meetings and final reports, such as the project closure report, begin at the planning stage of the project. The actual postmortem work is done one to six months after the project team, the operation team or the customer deadline. The timing between project handoff and postmortem work is necessary to ensure that the operation team understands the value of the project and provides sufficient time to benefit. It should be noted that the tools and templates for postmortem work are related to the future, even if they are related to the past.

It is important that these meetings focus on processes rather than people. The agenda of the post mortem meeting may be as follows:

• Introduction
• Transfer of ground rules
• Summary information
• Problems and critical success factors
• “What went wrong”
• “What went right”
• Recommendations for improvement
• Next steps

Variations

It is necessary to periodically evaluate the progress of a project in achieving business objectives. Project activities carried out in a Project Life Cycle should be evaluated and improvements should be made in the rest of the project. At best, learning can be applied to the next project. Continuous monitoring of variances accelerates learning and development.

Benefits

The projects start in various ways; they are planned, executed and closed. Errors are possible in all of these processes. The important thing is to ensure that the error is not repeated. There are also good things in the projects. These gains should not be lost or repeated. If we can’t learn from projects, we have to repeat the mistakes or forget the good things. Learning is a key element of project closure. Transferring learning from one project to another will increase the likelihood of success.

Learning is a long-term benefit. The short-term benefit is the delivery of the project in accordance with the needs of the operation team or the client.