End of the Road aka How to Close Out a Project!

Completing a project can be very rewarding.

However, projects can be tough.

In some cases, we cannot wait to move on to anything else! The experience has been that rough that the desire to get the project off our hands means we do the bare minimum once the deliverables have been handed over.

And then, further down the track, that project comes back.

Something isn't working....

Could you just make a small adjustment....

You are the last person known to be responsible for this....

And all of this is coming back in the middle of the next project.

Closing projects out properly is the most neglected activity in project management.

Close out of a project is a vitally important activity that we should be doing as a part of effective project management.

This is the opportunity to recognise our achievement, ensure that everything is completed, formally hand over ownership of the deliverables and consider what we could do better for future projects.

What should we have achieved by this point?

• completion of deliverables to achieve the agreed scope with the level of quality required.

Is this enough?

Completing projects is about a lot more than handing over some deliverables. The key to successful projects is ensuring that value is realised. Just providing a system, component, new process or any other change that a project delivers is not enough.

What is required? As a part of delivering the required outputs, we need to work with stakeholders to gain acceptance and adoption of the change being implemented for them to realise value.

Closing out a project is certainly part of the process of delivering value. This is a formal activity to transfer ownership and close out the project activity but, what also needs to be addressed is how the completed outputs will be utilised to derive value - which should really be a continuation of the value realisation activity that begins during the project. Addressing who is responsible for the continuation of this process and what it looks like is an important part of the close out.

Successfully completing a project is very rewarding. Sometimes, the benefits can be realised immediately. For other projects, this may take time, even years, to fully gain the benefits. Examples can range of the completion of a building that can be used immediately through to restoration of a wetland which requires years of continued growth to provide its' full value.

For me, with my toughest project to date, success came immediately on completion. Training for completing a 50km ultramarathon. Like the majority of projects, the initial plan required some adjustments during execution. Some milestones changed as knowledge grew and acceptance of environmental factors came in to play.

A project that is not responsive to what is happening within the environment that it is performing within will be a failure.

Close outs can happen during a project as well when certain phases or activities are completed. The important thing to do is to plan for them before they begin. Walk anyone else who will be involved through what will occur so the close out can run smoothly. How you manage expectations of the close out phase is critical and comes down to how you relate to people and communicate your ideas. For techniques on how to achieve this, check out relating to others and clear communication.

Is a final close out the end of a project?

Ideally it shouldn't be. What has been created should be able to lead on to another project to build on the initial value generated. Given the project that you are involved with, what are the next steps to leverage the value that will be produced?

For me, it is a continuation of completing ultra's.

Maybe I will get to see some of you at the Tararewa Ultra next year!