Chapter 9 Closing the Project

Concepts

Actions that should be taken when closing a project

Conducting a post-project evaluation

The importance of documenting lessons learned

（how they did this manually, because sometimes system go down）

The need to organize and archive project documents

Obtaining feedback from the customer about the project

Early termination of projects

【•This chapter discusses the various activities involved in the process of closing the project. After project work is completed, and all the deliverables are accepted by the customer, the performing phase of the project ends. The project then moves into the fourth and final phase of the project life cycle—closing the project.

Based on the material in this chapter, students will become familiar with:

•Actions that should be taken when closing a project

•Conducting a post-project evaluation

•The importance of documenting lessons learned

•The need to organize and archive project documents

•Obtaining feedback from the customer about the project

•Early termination of projects】

Project Closing Actions

The process of closing the project involves various actions, including:

Collect and make final payments

Recognize and evaluate staff（recognize team member as a team）

Conduct post-project evaluation

Document lessons learned

Organize and archive project documents

Project lifecycle

Milestone（accepted deliverables）

【•Activities associated with closing the project should be identified and included in the project baseline plan. The figure shown in this slide depicts the project life cycle.】

Final Payments

Payments from customer

Have activity listed to perform collection

Assure that all the payments have been received

Payments to others

Verify all payments have been made

Record actual costs

Account closing

Perform financial analysis on the project

Compare actual costs versus baseline budget

End project with recognition and celebration

Recognize team members for contributions

Celebrate the success of the project

Prepare individual performance evaluations

Mention how knowledge expanded during project

Identify areas where need further development

Share during individual meetings or give to supervisor

【•Assuring that all payments have been collected from the customer is an activity that must be performed during the closing phase.

•Project managers must also verify that all payments have been made to anyone else involved in the project

•Such as subcontractors, consultants, vendors, or suppliers for any purchased materials or services

•Once all payments have been received and made, the project “books,” or accounting records, can be closed.

•A financial analysis of the project can be made in which final actual costs are compared to the project baseline budget.】

Post Project Evaluation （informal）

Review and evaluate project performance

Identify improvements

Hold individual meetings with members

Hold project team meeting

Prepare written report with lessons learned and recommendations

【•The post-project evaluation stage, which occurs during the closing phase, is an important time to review the project and identify areas that went well and where improvements are necessary.

•Hold individual meetings with team members to give feedback on each one about their performance and to get feedback from them on how to improve future projects.

•At the group meeting with the project team, the project manager should lead a discussion of what happened during performance of the project and solicit specific recommendations for improvement.

•As you can see in the list on this slide, topics to be discussed at group meetings can include.

•Technical performance

•Budget performance

•Schedule performance

•Project planning and control

•Risk management

•Customer relationships

•Team relationships

•Communications

•Problem identification and resolution

•Lessons learned

•Recommendations for future projects

•The project manager should prepare a written report of project performance including lessons learned and recommendations.】