“Discipline is the bridge that connects goals and accomplishment. John Rohn. Your team and you have worked hard. You have worked hard to keep your project on track. Now you are at phase #5.
We’ve been looking at the five phases of project management as described by Roli Pathak in her article Top 5 Project Management Phases. The closure phase, she said, “includes a number of important tasks such delivering the product and relieving resources, reward, recognition to team members, and formal termination of contractors if they were employed on this project. We are almost there. Let’s now look at what remains before your project is completed.
Exploring Phase #5 – Ai Closure
To close your project successfully, you will need to complete some routine administrative tasks. You will need to document and report on the project’s size, but each project will have some items on the closing checklist.
Checklist of Planned Activities, To ensure that you are ready to close the project and complete all items, the first step is to go through the activities checklist once more.
Budget Reporting – Create a report based on your final project budget. Be meticulous regarding proper departmental coding, descriptions, etc.
Closure of Vendor Contracts – If you have hired external vendors, make sure to end those contracts.
Resource Overage Reallocation – If you have any resources that are not being used, you should release them to allow other departments to access them. This could include equipment and money, as well as personnel on loan from another department.
Reflection Review Session: Each member of the team can freely discuss what he/she has learned. Keep a list of the pros and cons of what worked and what didn’t. This valuable information will help you work better with other teams in the future. This list from Project Management Methodology gives you some ideas about who to invite and the questions to ask.
Participation of stakeholders – including oversight of external projects
Executive management
Maintenance and operation personnel
These are some questions you should ask during this session. Did the delivered product meet the requirements and goals of your project?
Was the customer happy with the final product?
Were we able to meet our cost budgets?
Did we meet our schedule expectations?
Did we identify and mitigate risk?
Did the project management method work?
What could we do to improve the process in the future?
Recognize – Your project team has met or exceeded the expectations and objectives set out in your planning documentation. Your client was pleased with the deliverables provided by your team. Celebrate your success together! Celebrate your success together!
Are customers and stakeholders positive about the project/product?
How did your team assess how well you managed the project.
Did your team work well together? Did they know what was going on?
Two types of recognition can be given after a project is closed. Informal Recognition,Ai This type of recognition could be initiated by the project manager at the departmental level. You can show appreciation to your team by hosting a lunch break party, or an informal get-together after work.
Formal Recognition,Ai This type recognition could be given by your executive management team. They might announce the company via email, at a town meeting or quarterly meeting. Depending on the scope of the project, and the public interest it has,