SE492 Week 8

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CHAPTER 9

Closing the Project

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Teaching Strategies

The two vignettes in this chapter address the lessons students should have learned during a project in which they participated. The lessons learned should be recorded as the project progresses so they are not forgotten by the time the project is finished. Lessons learned from other projects can be a valuable resource for saving time and money on the current project. (See Premium Deck for Slides.)

Becoming accustomed to recording and reflecting on lessons learned from each project can be an invaluable way to help save expenses on the next project. It can help project managers avoid making the same mistakes twice and can help them to implement time saving processes.

Have students identify lessons learned that can help them in this course or in other courses they are taking.

Have each student describe a project on which he or she has been a team member. For each project, have the student describe the best lesson learned from the project and one thing that should have been done differently. Record these lessons to create a best practices list for projects and a list of how to improve future projects.

Optional Supplemental Activities

Have the students read the real-world vignettes and research the Internet for other articles about the two projects covered in the vignettes.

Have them read the chapter and answer all of the Reinforce Your Learning questions and the end-of-chapter questions. (See Premium Deck for Slides.)

Have students present a summary of an article from the project management journal found in the Internet exercise. If possible, have the students contact the author of the article to discuss the contents.

Chapter Concepts

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

Chapter Concepts

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

Learning Outcomes

Identify actions that should be taken during the process of closing a project

Conduct a post-project evaluation

Discuss the value and use of lessons learned

Explain the importance of organizing and archiving project documents

Obtain customer feedback about the project

Describe situations that could result in early project termination

Learning Outcomes

After studying this chapter, students should be able to:

Identify actions that should be taken during the process of closing a project

Conduct a post-project evaluation

Discuss the value and use of lessons learned

Explain the importance of organizing and archiving project documents

Obtain customer feedback about the project

Describe situations that could result in early project termination

Project Integration Management Project Procurement Management

Project Management Knowledge Areas from PMBOK® Guide

Concepts in this chapter support the following Project Management Knowledge Areas of the PMI Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide):

Project Integration Management Project Procurement Management

Project Closing Actions

Collect and make final payments

Recognize and evaluate staff

Conduct post-project evaluation

Document lessons learned

Organize and archive project documents

Project Closing Actions

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

Collecting and making final payments

Recognizing and evaluating staff

Conducting a post-project evaluation

Documenting lessons learned

Organizing and archiving project documents

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. We will discuss each of these steps in more detail in the upcoming slides.

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

Final Payments

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.

Staff Recognition And Evaluation

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

Staff Recognition And Evaluation

Successful projects should end with some type of recognition and celebration.

This helps boost the morale of the team members through recognizing their work.

It also helps to celebrate a successful project.

The project manager should prepare a written performance evaluation of each member of the project team.

It should mention how each has expanded her or his knowledge as a result of the project assignment

It also identifies areas where he or she needs to develop further.

These evaluations should be shared during individual meetings with the team members, or given to their supervisor to share with them.

Post Project Evaluation

Review and evaluate project performance

Identify improvements

Hold individual meetings with members

Hold project team meeting

Prepare written report with lessons learned and recommendations

Post Project Evaluation

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

Stakeholder engagement

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.

Lessons Learned

Purpose of identifying and documenting

Capitalize on knowledge and experience gained

Improve performance on future projects

Knowledge base system or repository

Retrieve lessons learned from prior projects

Easily access information by category or subject

Record keeping throughout project

Capture lesson at time of lesson instead of end of project

Have as agenda topic at meetings and in training sessions

Lessons Learned

The purpose of identifying and documenting lessons learned is to capitalize on the knowledge and experience gained from the project.

This practice helps to improve performance on future projects.

The project organization should establish a knowledge base system that includes an easily accessible information storehouse that encourages project managers and teams to retrieve lessons learned and information from previous projects.

The system should organize information so that it is easily retrievable by category or subject of lesson learned or by key words.

The project team should not wait until the end of the project to capture and document lessons learned.

It should be done on an ongoing basis throughout the planning and performing phases of the project.

Have lessons learned be an agenda topic on a new project and include in project management training.

Archive Project Documents

Organize, file, and archive appropriate documents

Organize system to make information easily retrievable

Create database of common data elements

Analyze elements for trends

Examine records for bidding, planning, and performing future projects

Archive Project Documents

During project closing, the project team or contractor should ensure that copies of appropriate project documentation are properly organized, filed, and archived.

Good organization helps make information readily retrievable for future use.

It can be valuable to create a database of common data elements from past projects.

Helps to analyze and determine if there are trends or correlations between projects

Can be helpful in bidding, planning, and/or performing future projects

This should be done as part of, or in addition to, the documents in the archive

Customer Feedback

Post-project evaluation meeting with customer

Determine if provided the expected benefits

Assess the level of customer satisfaction

Obtain any feedback with open-ended questions

Discuss future opportunities

Secure permission to use as reference

Participants

Key project team members

Key customer representatives

Project manager

Customer Feedback

Having a post-project evaluation meeting with the customer or sponsor is just as important as having the internal post-project meetings within the project team members.

The purposes of this meeting is to:

Determine whether the project provided the customer with the expected benefits

Assess the level of customer satisfaction

Obtain any feedback that would be helpful in future business relationships with this customer or with other customers

Discuss future opportunities

Secure permission to use that customer as a reference

Meeting participants should involve the:

Key project team members

Key representatives of the customer’s organization who were involved with the project

Project manager

The project manager should schedule the meeting for a time when the customer is in a position to determine whether the project met expectations and achieved the anticipated benefits.

Post-Project Customer Evaluation Survey

Analyze for trends

Seek permission for reference

Post-Project Customer Evaluation Survey

The figure in this slide depicts a post-project customer evaluation survey.

The evaluation survey can be valuable.

Analyze it for trends between projects

Provides an opportunity for ask permission for reference from the client

Critical Success Factors

Recognize the project team and celebrate accomplishments throughout the project.

Regularly ask the customer about the level of satisfaction with the performance and progress of the project and take corrective action at the first hint that the customer is not satisfied.

After the conclusion of a project, the project performance should be evaluated to learn what could be improved if a similar project were to be done in the future. Feedback should be obtained from the customer and the project team.

Capture and document lessons learned throughout the performance of the project.

Establish a knowledge base of lessons learned and ensure that they are communicated and used on future projects.

Organize and archive project documentation and analyze key data that could be helpful in bidding, planning, or performing future projects.

Retain customer evaluation and feedback information that could be valuable in developing proposals for other projects for the same customer in the future.

Critical Success Factors

Recognize the project team and celebrate accomplishments throughout the project.

Regularly ask the customer about the level of satisfaction with the performance and progress of the project and take corrective action at the first hint that the customer is not satisfied.

Capture and document lessons learned throughout the performance of the project.

Establish a knowledge base of lessons learned and ensure that they are communicated and used on future projects.

Organize and archive project documentation and analyze key data that could be helpful in bidding, planning, or performing future projects.

Retain customer evaluation and feedback information that could be valuable in developing proposals for other projects for the same customer in the future.

Summary

The fourth and final phase of the project life cycle is closing the project.

An important project closing action is staff recognition and evaluation.

Conduct post-project evaluation meetings within the project team or organization with individual team members and a group meeting with the project team to gather team feedback for improved future performance.

Identify and document lessons learned to capitalize on the knowledge and experience gained on the project in order to improve performance on future projects.

The project team or contractor should ensure that copies of appropriate project documentation are properly organized, filed, and archived so that they can be readily retrieved for future use.

Conduct a post-project evaluation meeting, or distribute a customer evaluation survey to the customer or sponsor to determine whether the project provided the customer with expected benefits; assess the level of customer satisfaction; and obtain any feedback that would be helpful in future business relationships with this customer or with other customers.

Projects may be terminated before completion for various reasons.

Summary

The fourth and final phase of the project life cycle is closing the project.

An important project closing action is staff recognition and evaluation.

Identify and document lessons learned to capitalize on the knowledge and experience gained on the project in order to improve performance on future projects.

The project team or contractor should ensure that copies of appropriate project documentation are properly organized, filed, and archived so that they can be readily retrieved for future use.

Conduct a post-project evaluation meeting, or distribute a customer evaluation survey to the customer or sponsor to determine whether the project provided the customer with the expected benefits; assess the level of customer satisfaction; and obtain any feedback that would be helpful in future business relationships with this customer or with other customers.

Projects may be terminated before completion for various reasons.