Project Closure
May 6th, 2014
…recap::Integrated Change
Control

Part of the Project Integration
Management Knowledge Area:
 Develop
Project Charter, Develop Preliminary
Project Scope Statement, Develop Project
Management Plan, Direct and Manage
Project Execution, Monitor and Control
Project Work, Integrated Change Control,
and Close Project
2
…recap::PMProcess Group

Integrated Change Control and all
processes in the Project Integration Area
are coordinated within the Project
Management Process Groups
3
…recap::Definition

ICC is the process necessary for
controlling factors that create changes to
make sure those changes are beneficial,
determining whether a change has
occurred, and managing the approved
changes, including when they occur.
4
…recap::Timing

ICC process is performed throughout the
project, from project initiation through
project closure.
5
…recap::CMMI – Configuration
Management

The purpose of Configuration
Management (CM) is to establish and
maintain the integrity of work products
using configuration identification,
configuration control, configuration status
accounting, and configuration audits.
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…recap::RUP CCM Workflow
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…recap:: CCM Conclusions

What are CCM objectives?
 Managing
change is more than just checkingin and checking-out files. It includes
management of workspaces, parallel
development, integration, and builds.

Which are the main topics for CCM?
 Coordinating
the Activities and Artifacts
 Coordinating Iterations and Releases
 Coordinating Changes to Software
8
…recap:: CCM Conclusions

When CCM is established?
 Often
institutionalized or established early on
in the project lifecycle
 CRs, can be raised at any time during the
course of the project

Who is responsible for CCM?
 Change
Control Manager/Configuration
Manager
 Anyone on the project staff should be able to
raise a Change Request
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…recap:: CCM Conclusions

Who tells us how CCM can be done?
 In
PMBOK it is ICC
 In CMMI it is CM
 In the Rational Unified Process, the
Configuration & Change Management
Discipline
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Today’s topic

Project Closure
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References
PMBOK
 Managing Iterative Software Development
Projects by Kurt Bittner, Ian Spence
 CMMI
 RUP

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Project Lifecycle
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Why Project Closure?
Without a formal closure process,
project teams can fail to recognize the
end, and then the project can drag on—
sometimes at great expense
 Closure must be done both on project
completion and cancelation

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What does project closure?
Outcomes match the stated goals of the
project (when completion is achieved)
 Customers and stakeholders are happy
with the results
 Critical knowledge is captured
 The team feels a sense of completion
 Project resources are released for new
projects

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Team

One of the highest benefits from project
closure is releasing the team
 Formal
 Post
mortem
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The Project Closure Phase
The last phase of the Project Life Cycle
 Determined by the completion of all
Project Objectives and acceptance of
the end product by the customer
 The outputs from Project Closure Phase
is input to execute the next projects with
much more efficiency and control

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Project Closure
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PMBOK – Closing Process
Group

Includes the processes to
 Formally
terminate all activities of a project or
project phase
 Hand over the project to maintenance teams

The project can be either completed or
canceled
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Closing Process Group

Contains two processes:
 Project
Closure: This is the process
necessary to finalize all activities across all of
the Process Groups to formally close the
project or a project phase.
 Contract Closure: This is the process
necessary for completing and settling each
contract, including the resolution of any open
items, and closing each contract applicable to
the project or a project phase.
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Project Closure Procedures

Administrative Project Closure includes:
 Integrated
activities to collect project records
 Analyze project success or failure
 Gather lessons learned
 Archive project for future use
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Project Closure Procedures

includes:
 Product
Verification - Work completed
correctly and satisfactory
 Administrative Closure – Updating contract
records to reflect final state and prepare them
for archiving

Input for the Contract Closure Process
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Project Closure Inputs
Project Management Plan
 Contract documentation
 Enterprise environmental factors
 Organizational process assets
 Work performance information
 Deliverables

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Inputs: Contract Documentation
Used to perform the contract closure
process
 Includes

 The
contract itself
 Changes to the contract
 Other documentation (such as the technical
approach, product description, or deliverable
acceptance criteria and procedures).
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Inputs: Enterprise
environmental factors
Organizational or company culture and
structure
 Governmental or industry standards
 Infrastructure
 Existing human resources
 Personnel administration
 Company work authorization system
 Marketplace info, stakeholder risk
tolerance…

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Inputs: Organizational process
assets

Organization’s processes and procedures
for conducting work
 Standardized
guidelines, work instructions,
proposal evaluation criteria, and performance
measurement criteria, templates…

Organizational corporate knowledge base
for storing and retrieving information
 Process
measurement database, project
files,…
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Inputs: Work performance
information
Schedule progress
 Deliverables that have been completed
and those not completed
 Schedule activities that have started and
those that have been finished
 Extent to which quality standards are
being met
 Costs authorized and incurred
…

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Project Closure Outputs
Administrative Closure Procedure
 Contract Closure Procedure
 Final Product, service or result
 Organizational process assets (updates)

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Outputs: Administrative Closure
Procedure
All procedures and roles involved in
administrative closure
 Procedures for transfer to production

 Action
and activities for stakeholder approval
 Confirmation of goals achievement (sponsor,
client, stakeholders, etc)
 Actions for satisfying all exit criteria
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Outputs: Contract Closure
Procedure

A step-by-step methodology addressing:
 Terms
and conditions of the contracts and
any required completion or exit criteria for
contract closure
 Activities and responsibilities of the project
ALL team members involved in the contract
closure process

Actions performed to formally close all
contracts associated with the completed
project
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Output: Final Product, Service
or Result
Formal acceptance and handover of the
final product, service, or result that the
project was authorized to produce
 The acceptance includes receipt of a
formal statement that the terms of the
contract have been met

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Output: Organizational Process
Assets
Formal Acceptance Documentation
 Project Files
 Project Closure Documents
 Historical Information

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Close Process Tools
Project Management Methodology
 Project Management Information System
 Expert Judgment

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Before Tailoring Project Closure
Understand Iteration Closure
 Phase Closure
 … and then Project Closure

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Iteration Closure
Iteration is concluded by the iteration
acceptance review, where the formal
result of the iteration is agreed upon and
recorded
 This involves considering the results of the
iteration and analyzing their impact on the
project as a whole

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Iteration Closure: Measurement
and Analysis
Absolute progress
 Risk exposure
 Estimate to complete
 Effort profile
 Cost profile
 Effort Expended
 Find/fix rate (tolerance)
 Defect trends (tolerance)

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Iteration Closure: Acceptance
Review
Results
 Risks
 Objectives
 Requirements
 Adherence to Plan
 Lessons Learned
 Rework, external changes, feedback from
demo, other deliverables…

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Iteration Grades
Exceptional
 Passed
 Passed at risk
 Unfinished
 Failed
 Abandoned

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Iteration recommendations

For Unfinished, Failed or Abandoned we
can have the following recommendations:
 Re-plan
 De-scope
 Extend
 Try
again
 Cancel
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Acting on Iteration assessment
results
Never confuse the map with the journey
 Adopt an attitude that continuous planning
is good
 Mature your process alongside your team
 Be prepared to cut your losses
 Be honest

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Phase Assessment

Differences from iteration assessments:
 Judge
the project, not a single iteration
 Always decide whether to continue or cancel
the project
 Focus on the delivered value rather than on
performance
 Assess project against the business case
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Phase Assessment topics
Progress
 Risk
 Scope
 Baseline
 Performance
 Plans
 Business Case

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Phase Assessment approaches
Formal Phase Assessment
 Extend Iteration Assessment

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Concluding a Phase
Passed
 Passed at risk
 Failed

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Project conclusions
Approved
 Temporary approved
 Extended
 Paused
 Postponed
 Canceled

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Project Assessments
Performed not only at project closure
 Cover for:

 Handle
exceptions raised by the iteration
assessments
 Phase assessments are too far apart
 Provide review points for the overall project
(might include non-software subprojects)
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Assessment objectives [1]
Confirm that the need for the project has
not changed
 Satisfy the stakeholders of the quality of
the products delivered by the project
 Confirm that the business case is still
viable

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Assessment objectives [2]
Authorize the continuation or cancellation
of the project
 Assess the benefits that the project has
delivered
 Assess the overall effectiveness of the
project

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Transition planning
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1. Has the product been implemented and is it producing
the expected benefits?
2. Have all deliverables been completed and implemented?
If not, has accountability for outstanding items been
assigned?
3. Have new workflows and procedures been documented,
tested and implemented?
4. Have all outstanding issues been resolved or assigned
owners?
5. Have hardware, software and other components been
installed?
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6. Are system, functional, performance and user
acceptance testing complete? Have serious bugs been
fixed and a process implemented to deal with smaller bugs
and/or new bugs that might surface during regular
operations?
7. Is training of all staff (users, support, help desk)
complete?
8. Is all required system and user documentation complete
and available?
9. Has any old hardware, software, licenses been
decommissioned?
10. Do you have the formal approval of the project from the
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Sponsor?
Project Closure Example

In RUP we have the following activities:
 Update
Project Close-Out Plan and Schedule
Activities
 Schedule Final Configuration Audits
 Conduct a Project Post-Mortem Review
 Complete Acceptance Action Items
 Close Out the Project
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Tasks
Release of the resources
 Closure of any financial issues (labour,
contract etc. )
 Collection and Completion of All Project
Records and Archiving them
 Recording Lessons Learned
 Debriefing
 Celebrate your success as a TEAM!!!

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Documents







Collect final time sheets, expense reports, and team
status reports.
Close or complete remaining tasks in the project
schedule.
Collect final cost and schedule metrics.
Make final payments to vendors and contractors, and
close out contracts.
Review and update the issues log, highlight
remaining issues, and decide how these issues are to
be addressed.
Prepare a plan for handling ongoing product support.
Prepare a final project status report.
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Project Library

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
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

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
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Project planning documents
Status reports
Design documents
Test cases and test results
Issues and resolutions
Risk documentation
Change requests
Presentations
Important communications (both those sent and those
received)
Time and expense reports
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Contracts and invoices
Project Closure Report
Prepared by the Project Manager and
presented to the Project Sponsor for
sign-off
 Document to be released at the
beginning of the project closure (after
execution is completed)

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Project Closure Report

Contains:
A
list of completion criteria
 Confirmation that each completion criterion
has been met
 A list of outstanding business activities,
risks and issues
 A set of closure actions
 A request for project closure approval
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Post Implementation Review
[1]
The last record of the project
 Assess the projects level of success
 Identify lessons learnt and make
recommendations for future projects to
enhance their likelihood of success

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Post Implementation Review
[2]
Done by reviewing the project's
performance against the original plans
and conformance against the original
processes outlined for the project.
 May be completed by either the Project
Manager or (ideally) an independent
resource which offers an unbiased
opinion of the project's success

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Document what you've
learned [1]
Survey team members about what
worked and what didn't
 Personal Feedback is important closure
for team members
 Call a meeting with your sponsor and
executive stakeholders to capture their
thoughts
 Complete customer satisfaction survey

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Document what you've
learned
Ask consultants and vendors for
objective feedback, both about your
organization and about the project's
execution
 Provide a summary of your results to
team members, either as a presentation
at a meeting or as a formal document

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Resources
Staff and non-staff resources will be
released and reallocated
 If your project team used a project
management office you probably have
to make arrangements for return
 When you organize the shutdown
process for the project office, review the
original setup procedures

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Recognize and reward

Provide each team member with a
performance evaluation:
 Highlight
contributions the member made.
 Identify skills the member updated.
 Recommend new roles the member might
be ready for.

Celebrate! (team dinner, team outing,
gift certificates, or other rewards)
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Conclusion
Formal project closure ensures that your
team has:





met its objectives,
satisfied the customer,
captured important knowledge,
and been rewarded for their efforts.
With the door closed securely behind you,
you can move on to your next project
with Confidence.
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