Project Closure

In general, a project cycle consists of startup, planning, execution, monitoring and control, closure.

Cleland and Ireland (2002, pp. 443–444) 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.

If the project team waits until the end of the project’s life cycle for project closure, it loses opportunities for learning and improvement. This will reduce the likelihood that similar errors will occur in subsequent projects.

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.

3. Project Managers should document closure information. These documents mean updating the project work, updating the documents regarding the future stages of the project, and preparing the best practice documents for other project teams.

When knowledge sharing becomes a cultural expectation among project managers and their teams, intellectual capacity passes significantly from one team to another. Continuous improvement of best practices, tools, processes, and know-how is ensured.

The project management plan usually includes the following sub-plans:
• Scope
• Schedule
• Costs
• Quality
• Communication
• Risk
• Procurement

The first step in ensuring the proper closure of the project is to develop the closing plan of the project during the planning phase of the 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

Executive Summary is a summary information about the effort, timing, and desired benefit related to the project closure. In summary, it outlines the findings, problems, best practices, recommendations, and lessons learned.

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 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?

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.

The actual postmortem work is done one to six months after the project team, the operation team or the customer deadline.

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

Variances are differences between planned and actual. It enables the project to be evaluated. Evaluating team performance is important to understand what is good and what goes wrong in the project.

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.

After the closing of the project, opinions and suggestions of project team members and operational stakeholders should be taken. The following questions should be asked to the project manager, the sponsor, the key stakeholders, and the project and operational teams:

1. What was done right?
2. What was wrong?
3. What should be done in the next project?

Final approval section of the project closing plan is approved by the project manager and the project sponsor, which generally includes name, signature, and date. It indicates that the project was officially closed and all resources were released.