Project closeout

A Close-out is a work process to finalize all activities of the project at the end of the project
including hand-over the facilities and documentations to the client according to the contract terms and
conditions. The Project Close-out activity includes the preparation and development of
project completion report.

The goal of the project closeout activities is to end the project in a way that reflects favorably
upon the team, the team leader and the organization. This phase requires the completion of
the seven activities. It is fortuitous that comprehensive planning makes the closeout phase
rather straight forward.
1. Perform project closeout
2. Perform client closeout
3. Perform organizational closeout
4. Conduct subcontractor closeout
5. Perform final risk assessment
6. Write project final report or briefing
7. Conduct team closeout

Purpose of the Closeout Phase and

the Role of the Project Manager

The purpose of the closeout phase is to conclude all facets of the project to the satisfaction of upper
management before the team members start to leave the team.  Treating the seven activities listed
above as ordinary work packages makes this phase a continuation of the execution phase.

The project manager’s role in the closeout phase is to assure that all aspects of the project are properly
concluded. At the end of the project, team members often lose their focus; they lose some of their
discipline for showing up on time, for concentrating on the task at hand, etc. It is the project manager’s
responsibility to help the team retain its focus during the last activities.

Each of the seven activities will produce a memo to the project manager stating the results of the
activity. The capstone output of this phase is the project final report, written by the project manager,
which summaries the results of the seven activities.
Problems during the Closeout Phase
A number of things can go wrong during project closeout:
1. The team failed to plan out the closeout phase and is attempting
to plan and execute the closeout at the same time. The resources of
people, money and time have not been planned so it is a haphazard effort
at best with key closeout activities being missed or truncated. The solution
is to plan the closeout activities at the same time the rest of the work-
breakdown structure is developed. Include the closeout work
packages (activities) in the budget, schedule, WBS, etc. Include the
closeout activities in the resource plan so each team members knows his
or her responsibilities during closeout.
2. Team members start to leave the team before the closeout phase
is completed because they do not understand all that has to be done
and their roles in the closeout. The project manager should tell the
team early in the project that the closeout phase consists of activities that
include all team members. The project manager should build a sense of
team cohesion so individual members don’t consider leaving the team
early.
3. Functional managers start to withdraw their team members
before the closeout is complete. In the interim briefing to upper
management, the project manager should indicate that the project
closeout consists of a number of important closeout activities which will
require the full team to perform — with the request that functional
managers not take team members back until released by the project
manager.
4. The team surfaces a number of unresolved issues, or uncompleted
work packages or unacceptable deliverables. This means the project is
not finished. The project manager will have to remain on the team
(perhaps with a small staff) after the team disbands to resolve the
problems. One preventive solution: the project manager communicates
frequently with the customer especially when it is time to get the
customer’s approval (in writing if possible) of work performed,
deliverables submitted or problems resolved. Don’t wait until the end of
the project to resolve issues in the hope that they will have gone away by
then. A memo for record is a good way to document that something
 happened. If it is inappropriate to ask a customer or stakeholder or upper
manager to sign a document, use the memo for record. In the absence of
a negative response from the upper manager, we conclude the action,
deliverable, etc is acceptable. A statement of the following kind might help
clarify this: “In the absence of any feedback within the next 10 business
day, we will conclude that this action, deliverable, etc is acceptable.”

How to close a project successfully

1. The Project Manager's Involvement at the Closing Stage. ...

2. Formal Customer Sign-Off. ...
3. Final Product Scope Analysis. ...
4. Release the Resources. ...
5. Procurement or Other Contract Closure. ...
6. Indexing of the Project Files. ...
7. Lessons Learned Documentation. ...
8. Celebration.

The Project Manager’s Involvement at the Closing Stage

Many seem to think that project closure is not an important process in project
management, but that’s not true. Closing a project is as important as other
processes in Project Management. Until and unless your project has been closed
with the planned procedures, it officially provides no value to the organization.

Here's the video of our course on Introduction to PMP® Certification Training.

Hope you find it beneficial.
You might have delivered the deliverables, but this does not mean your project is
complete. As closing a project is as important as initiating it, let’s take a look at
the activities involved in the project closing stage:

Formal Customer Sign-Off

You have delivered the deliverables (products, services, or result); however, this
doesn’t mean your project is over. You need to get a formal sign-off from the
customer on the delivered deliverables. If the customer signs off, the project can
be declared complete. 

For example, imagine a worst-case scenario. Let’s say the customer receives the
deliverables and indicates the work isn’t up to par, and you need to do some
rework—that will incur more cost. Another serious problem would be to have to
regroup the project team again. Therefore, formal sign-off is essential for closing
projects.

Final Product Scope Analysis

You should always analyze your product scope as planned during the planning
stage – whether it is up to the mark or not. Note: The features of the product
scope should meet 100%. Only after clarifying the same, the project should be
considered as complete.

Release the Resources

After delivering the deliverables and receiving formal sign-off from the customer,
the project manager must hand over the resources to their respective
departments so that they can be sourced for other projects. Be sure to follow the
correct policies of your performing organization while releasing the resources.

Procurement or Other Contract Closure

If a third-party vendor or any subcontractors have been working on the project,

those contracts need to be closed. Once they have produced deliverables, and
you have delivered them to your end customer, the contracts should be closed;
those contracts have no meaning after the deliverables have been accepted.

Indexing of the Project Files

Once the project is over, the deliverables have been handed over to the
customer, and the customer signs off, you should compile the project files and
convey them to your entire list of key stakeholders. The archived files could be
used in the future.

Lessons Learned Documentation

Once you’ve received the formal sign-off from your customer, you should work on
documenting the lessons learned from this project which can be used as a
reference for future projects. Such documentation could be reused; then you
won’t need to work on that documentation again and again.

Circumstances for change requests that were accepted or rejected, history of the
schedule control, and cost control could be assessed with the lessons learned. It
serves as an important document in case of project closure. You should involve all
of your stakeholders during that process.