Lesson 10 Close project

The Contract Closeout process is performed and completed before the Administrative Closure process begins.. Contract Closeout and Administrative Closure are both concerned with verifying

Closed Project

Learning Objectives

• to study the main points of project closure

• the lifecycle of project closure

• To complete the docummentation of closed project

• To draw the experienece lessions

• Release and clearence of all resources of project

Closing Out the Project

The Closing process group has two processe :

Contract Closeout and Administrative Closure

The Contract Closeout process is performed and

completed before the Administrative Closure process begins

Contract Closeout and Administrative Closure are both concerned with verifying that the work of the project was completed correctly and to the stakeholders’

satisfaction

Formulating Project Closeout

 You’ve also put some of the vital tools of project

management into play—planning, executing, controlling, and communicating—to help you reach that goal

 But how do you know when a project has ended

successfully?

 Delivering the product or service of the project doesn’t mean it’s been completed satisfactorily

 During the Closing process, you’ll document acceptance

of the product of the project with a formal sign-off and file it with the project records for future reference

Characteristics of Closing

There are a few characteristics common to all projects

during the Closing process

 One is that the probability of completing the project is highest during this process and risk is lowest

 You’ve already completed the majority of the work of the project—if not all of the work—so the probability

of not finishing the project is very low

 Stakeholders have the least amount of influence during the Closing processes, while project managers have the greatest amount of influence

Characteristics of Closing (2)

 One last common characteristic of projects during

Closing is that weak matrix organizations tend to

experience the least amount of stress during the

Closing process

 All projects do eventually come to an end Let’s

examine a few of the reasons for project endings before getting into the Contract Closeout and Administrative Closure processes

Project Endings

Projects come to an end for several reasons:

• They’re completed successfully.

• They’re canceled or killed prior to completion.

• They evolve into ongoing operations and no longer

exist as projects

There are four formal types of project endings you might

need to know for the exam:

• Addition

• Starvation

• Integration

• Extinction

 Projects that evolve into ongoing operations are

considered projects that end due to addition; in other

words, they become their own ongoing business unit

 A project is considered a project when it meets these

criteria: It is unique, has a definite beginning and

ending date, and is temporary in nature When a

project becomes an ongoing operation, it is no longer a project

 When resources are cut off from the project or are no longer provided to the project, it’s starved prior to

completing all the requirements, and you’re left with

an unfinished project on your hands Starvation can

happen for any number of reasons :

– Other projects come about and take precedence over the current project, thereby cutting the funding or

resources for your project.

– The customer curtails an order.

– The project budget is reduced.

– A key resource quits

Integration

Integration occurs when the resources of the project—

people, equipment, property, and supplies—are distributed

to other areas in the organization or are assigned to other projects

Again, your project will come to an end due to lack of

resources, because they have been reassigned to other

areas of the business or have been pulled from your project and assigned to another project

Again, good documentation describing the circumstances that brought about the ending of a project due to

integration should be archived with the project records for future reference

 This is the best kind of project end, because extinction means the project has been completed and accepted by the stakeholders As such, it no longer exists, because it had a definite ending date, the goals of the project were achieved, and the project was closed out

Contract Closeout

 Contracts have life cycles of their own—just like projects

 The Contract Closeout process is concerned with completing

and settling the terms of the contract It also determines if the work described in the contract was completed accurately and

satisfactorily This process is called product verification.

 Contract Closeout also updates records and archives the

information for future reference These records detail the final results of the work of the project

 Contracts may have specific terms or conditions for completion

and closeout

Contract Closeout Inputs and Tools

 Contract Closeout has one input and one tool and

technique

 The input to this process is contract documentation.

 This includes the contract itself and all the supporting documents that go along with the contract These might include things such as the WBS, the project schedule, change control documents, technical documents,

financial and payment records, quality control

inspection results, and so on



Procurement Audits

 The only tool and technique of Contract Closeout is

procurement audits Audits are reviews of processes to

determine if they are meeting the right needs and are being performed correctly or according to standards

 The primary purpose of the procurement audit is to

identify lessons learned during the procurement

Contract Acceptance

• One of the purposes of the Contract Closeout process is

to provide formal notice to the seller—usually in

written form—that the contract is complete

• The output of Contract Closeout that deals with this is

called formal acceptance and closure

• The other output of Contract Closeout is a contract file

This is simply a file of all the contract records and

supporting documents These records should be

indexed for easy reference and included as inputs to the Administrative Closure process

Administrative Closure

 The key activity of the Administrative Closure process

is concerned with gathering project records and

disseminating information to formalize acceptance of the product, service, or project, as well as to perform project closure

 You’ll want to review the project documents to make certain they are up to date

 The project information you’re collecting during this process should reflect the characteristics and

specifications of the final product

Administrative Closure Inputs

• The Administrative Closure process gathers all the

project records and verifies that they are up to date and accurate

• The project records must correctly identify the final

specifications of the product or service the project set out to produce

• Administrative Closure is the place to ensure that this information accurately reflects the true results of the project

Administrative Closure Inputs

The three inputs to the Administrative Closure process are:

– Performance measurement documents

– Product documentation

– Other project record

Performance Measurement

Documents

All of the performance measurements that were used to

analyze project progress during the Controlling

processes are included as part of the documentation for the Administrative Closure process

Any document that helped establish the basis for the

performance measurements—the project plan, the cost budget, cost estimates, the project schedule, and

so on—are also collected here

Product Documentation

 The second input of Administrative Closure is product documentation This documentation includes anything that details the product or service of the project

 elements like the requirements documents,

specifications, plans, technical documents, electronic files, drawings, and so on

 This input includes any information that details or lists product specifications or requirements

Other Project Records

 This last input is a catch-all input for the remaining documents not gathered in the first two inputs It

includes things like project reports, memos or

correspondence generated during the project, and any other records that describe the work of the project

Administrative Closure Tools and

Administrative Closure Outputs

These are the last outputs of the last process of your

project:

• Project archives

• Project closure

• Lessons learned

Project Archives

 When all the work of the project is completed, the

vendor is paid, the contract is closed, and the records are gathered, you’ll create project archives These

include any project documents completed during the project

 All of these documents should be indexed for reference and filed in a safe place

Lessons Learned

 Lessons learned are the final output of the

Administrative Closure process

 The purpose of lessons learned is the same as you’ve seen before

 They’re used to document the successes and failures of the project

Releasing Project Team Members

 Releasing project team members is not an official process

However, it should be noted that at the conclusion of the project,

 you will release your project team members, and they will go

back to their functional managers or get assigned to a new

project if you’re working in a matrix type organization

 You will want to keep the functional managers or other project

managers informed as you get closer to project completion so that they have time to adequately plan for the return of their

employees

• I think it’s a good idea to hold a celebration at the

conclusion of a successfully completed project The project team should celebrate their accomplishment, and you should officially recognize their efforts and thank them for their participation

• A celebration helps team members formally recognize the project end and brings closure to the work they’ve done It also encourages them to remember what

they’ve learned and to start thinking about how their experiences will benefit them and the organization

during the next project

Project Case Study Checklist

Contract Closeout

• Product verification (work was correct and satisfactory)

• Formal acceptance and closure

• Administrative Closure

• Product verification (work was correct and satisfactory)

• Collecting project documents

• Disseminating final acceptance notice

• Documenting lessons learned

• Archiving project records

• Project closure is the most often neglected process of all the project management processes The four most important tasks of closure are:

• Checking the work for completeness and accuracy

• Documenting formal acceptance

• Disseminating project closure information

• Archiving records and lessons learned