How to do an Effective Project Close

The practice of project close-out finalizes all project activities completed across all phases of the project to formally close the project and transfer the completed or canceled project as appropriate. 

The purpose of project closeout is to assess the project, ensure completion, and derive any lessons learned and best practices to be applied to future projects.  However, in multi-phase projects, the close-out practice may be applied at various stages of the project; upon deliverable completion, upon phase completion, upon iteration completion, at designated times during the project’s life, or at whatever juncture represents a completed segment of project work.

Applying the close-out practice in this manner closes out only the portion of the project scope and associated activities applicable to that portion of the project. The practice of project close-out consists of the following activities:

• Administrative Closure - The administrative closure process defines activities, interactions, and related roles and responsibilities of the project team members and other stakeholders involved in executing the administrative closure procedure for the projects.
• Contract Closure - Contract closure includes activities and interactions needed to settle and close any contract agreements established for the project, as well as those related to supporting the formal administrative closure of the project.
• Conduct Post-Project Review and Evaluation - A post-project review provides a record of the history of a project. It provides written documentation of the planned and actual budget, the baseline and actual schedule, and documents recommendations for other projects of similar size and scope.
• Recognize and Celebrate Outstanding Project Work - Celebrating the success of completing a project with positive reinforcement can be extremely rewarding for project teams.  When a project is completed successfully, be certain to provide some kind of recognition to the team. If individuals are singled out for significant achievements, do not forget to recognize the entire team as well.
• Complete and Archive Final Project Records - Historic project data is an important source of information to help improve future projects. All records, both electronic and hard copy should be stored according to record retention guidelines.
• Ensure Transfer of Knowledge - Once all the project information has been accumulated the next step is to plan for knowledge transfer to those who will be responsible for continued operations. 

Don’t skip this process, this is a critical responsibility of the project manager. Avoid the temptation of jumping to a new project as soon as the project is over without completing the formal closure process. An efficient project closure ensure there are no loose end or issues that will create liabilities to the organization.

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