Disclaimer

This document has been compiled using information taken from various websites. The websites
are listed in the document. Do not copy and paste information from this document into your
assignment as this will be regarded as plagiarism which is heavily penalised. Reword and rewrite
this information for your own use.

Project Closeout

Project Closure and Evaluation

The final phase of your project is Closure and post-evaluation. The project Closure is a managed process,
which outcomes and documentation will be delivered to project sponsor. This process provides
opportunity to reflect on the original business case for the project as well as to review the lessons learned
from the project. The closure and post-project evaluation must be performed for all projects, successfully
completed or shut off by management.

Project closure is often the most neglected stage of project management, as important lessons may not
be learned, genuine evaluation on the success or failure of the project may not be gained and the
organisation may blunder into the future none the wiser from the experience. In some cases, closure may
be because the project failed.

Why to Close and Review the Project

This phase enables to:
▪ Formalize the acceptance of results and ending the project
▪ Complete project documentation
▪ Archive the files and enter the project information into the appropriate database
▪ Evaluate the project success
▪ Gather feedback from the customer, sponsor, client
▪ Gain maximum benefit from a project, the project should go through a formal close down
▪ Review project and learn lessons on how to improve future projects

How to Successfully Close the Project

A Successful project closure should:
1. Confirm work is done: Go through the checklist to make sure all the works have been done.
2. Handover to customers: Go through the checklist and provide support.
3. Close the contracts: Close out budgets, bills and contracts.
4. Review project: Have lessons learned to review the project.
5. Complete the project documentation: Gain formal approval for the project close.
6. Archive records: Archive all project information.
7. Celebrate: Celebrate and thank the team.

Project Closure Checklist:

▪ No items left over from any plans or timelines that weren’t completed

1
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt
 ▪ All items left “for later” are taken care of
▪ A “project is done” email/announcement has gone out internally
▪ A “project is done” email has gone to the client with important info
▪ Project retrospective is done
▪ Feedback is collected from client
▪ The team project has been thanked appropriately personally by the project manager
▪ All company-required closure procedures have been followed

(Embry, 2018)
Project Closure & Evaluation Processes and Activities
1. Finish the Work
As the project nears completion, there is a natural tendency for members of the team to do sufficient
work to meet time and overall quality standards, while leaving a number of small elements of the work
outstanding. To ensure that the work is actually finished, create a checklist of the outstanding tasks and
issues and use it as a control mechanism.

Evaluate Project Success

You should review your project definition and project charter documents to evaluate the success of your
project. Discuss with the team the following questions as the answers of them will bring you
understanding of how much of success you can claim
▪ Are all project goals achieved?
▪ Are all tasks been completed?
▪ Are you on (above/below) budget?
▪ Do you meet the deadline?

How to Measure the Project Success (Post-Implementation Review)

There are many ways to gather the information you want to determine what worked and what didn’t in
your project. The following are a few post-implementation project review methods.

Gap analysis
This method of assessing how a plan differed from the actual application is always a powerful tool to see
what benchmarks you met, and which you didn’t. You can start with your project charter and see how
closely you adhered to your objectives. Look at your deliverables. Are they at a quality level you expected?
When there are gaps discovered, figure out how they can be closed.

Project Goals
Simply put, did you achieve the goals of your project? Are your deliverables functioning as planned? What
was the error rate of the project? Can the deliverables adjust to changes in the market? How well-trained
and supported are end-users? What controls and systems are in place and are they working? Are problems
being addressed? Did you planned goal align with your result?

Schedule
Project management success is often determined by whether or not you kept to the original timeline.
Experienced project managers know how hard that is, but it’s a little bit easier if you continually evaluate
your progress as you go. You should update your project schedule regularly. The schedule evaluation is
something you can do more formally at the end of the stage or phase, or as part of a monthly report to
2
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt
your senior stakeholder group or Project Board. It is easy to update your project schedule if you build it
on an online Gantt chart, where tasks and deadlines are made into visual timelines. Look at your
major milestones and check if they still fall on the same dates as you originally agreed. Work out the
slippage, if any, and how much of an impact this will have on your overall project timescales.

The Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a project management tool used to schedule,
organize and coordinate tasks within a project. It is basically a method to analyse the tasks involved in
completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each tasks, and to identify the
minimum time needed to complete the total project.

Quality
The end of a project phase is a good time for a quality review. You can check both the quality of your
project management practices – are you following the change management process every time and so on
– and also the deliverables. A quality review can evaluate whether what you are doing meets the
standards set out in your quality plans.

Cost
How much did the project end up costing? What are the costs involved in operating the project’s result?
Are the costs aligned to the benefits of the project? If this isn’t the case, how can you improve the cost
next time?Many executives would rate cost management as one of their highest priorities on a project,
so evaluating how you the project is performing financially is crucial. Compare your current actual spend
to what you had budgeted at this point. If there are variances, look to explain them.

Stakeholder Satisfaction
Your wider team – your stakeholders – are essential in getting much of the work done, so it’s worth
checking in with them. Find out how they are feeling about the project right now and what you could be
doing differently. How satisfied are your stakeholders? Were users’ needs met? What effect did the
project have on them? If there is dissatisfaction, why is that and what can you do to resolve it?

Performance to Business Case

Finally, you should go back to the business case and see what you originally agreed upon. How is your
project shaping up? Check that the benefits are still realistic and that the business problem this project

3
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt
was designed to solve does still exist. It happens – project teams work on initiatives that sound great but
by the time they are finished the business environment has moved on and the project is redundant.

Benefits
Did the project achieve the benefits projected, and if not why and how can that be improved? What
opportunities are there to further the results? Are there other changes you could apply to help maximize
the project’s results?

Team Performance
Analyze Evaluations
▪ Analyze how individual team members evaluated themselves and each other to get a better feel
for how the team feels as a whole.

Analyze the Difficulties

▪ How difficult have team projects been?
▪ Were tasks new or known?
▪ Did the team rise to the degree of difficulty? If not, why? If you feel the team lacked on certain
tasks, instead of berating the team in your evaluations, discuss a past project where they
performed well, point out what was different this time around.

Analyze Performance
▪ How well did the team perform? Don't confuse performance with potential. Stick to the actual
results of the team.

Analyze Achievement
▪ Did the team achieve the project goal? If so, point out contributions and results.

Life Cycle
▪ How well did the team perform within the life cycle of the project?
▪ Were deadlines met? If not, identify overruns. Try to analyze what happened if the life cycle of
the project was longer than anticipated.
▪ What could have been done differently?

Judge Individuality
▪ By looking at individual evaluations, analyze what each individual contributed to the project.
▪ How well did each team member do? Keep in mind that some team members succeed in some
areas while others succeed in different areas.
▪ Did the individuals perform at a level that was helpful to the team as a whole? If not, identify
where the ball was dropped. Again, it's a good idea if you find a team member that continually
performs poorly to speak with them privately.
▪ When discussing the team evaluation with the team, however, talk about that ball dropping by
explaining the weak area and what the team as a whole could have done to improve it.

Lessons

4
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt
Did the project’s deliverable, schedule and budget all meet expectations, and if not why? What were some
of the issues that arose during the running of the project and how could they be avoided for the next
project? What went well and what can you learn from that experience?

Report
Document what you learned from the review, whether there are actions needed to get the beneficial
results you want and list the lessons you’ve learned, noting how the project can impact future projects,
so you can build on success and avoid problems.

(Westland, 2018; 2015)

2. Handover the Product

Project handover is a process of transition, not a date, and should not only be initiated once a project is
completed or approaching completion. The APM Body of Knowledge (APM, 2012) defines handover as
“the point in the life-cycle where deliverables are handed over to the sponsor and users”. Anthony (2017)
suggests that there are many scheduled ‘mini handovers’ as the project progresses such that at the end
of handover, all project assets, -information and -data have been transferred to the owner. An effective
handover will enable the owner to operate, maintain and support the plant through its lifetime in a safe
and responsible manner. Here ‘effective’ means successful in producing a desired or intended result.
Effective project handover is a win-win outcome. The project team is recognised by the owner for creating
a facility that meets owner requirements by accepting handover, while the owner is assured that the
facility can be operated, maintained and improved in a sustainable way.
(Thirion, n.d)

No matter what type of project has been undertaken, there will be some sort of “handover” required.
Implementing the Handover Plan includes:
▪ Transfer of responsibility over to the operational managers and staff:
▪ Transfer of physical deliverables
▪ Training of users
▪ Sharing of technical designs and important design concepts
▪ Provision of drawings and specifications, etc.

3. Gain Acceptance for the Product

Gaining acceptance is not as simple or straightforward as it might appear for the following reasons:
▪ Client may lack confidence in his or her ability to manage the product or service effectively
without ongoing support
▪ Client may doubt his or her ability to deliver the benefits from the product or service on which
the business case was built
▪ Client maybe receiving adverse comments from end users who were never convinced of the
merits of the project in the first place
▪ Client may have come to realize in the course of the project that what they really want isn’t the
product or service that the project has delivered, and as long as no acceptance has been signed,
it might be possible to improve the match

4. Complete Project Closure Documentation

5
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt
In most projects, there will be two close-outs: the administrative close-out and the contract close-out.
The administrative closure includes activities such as collecting and analyzing project documents,
assessing the scope and the deliverables, analyzing the project’s success, and creating a final project
report. The contract closure includes making sure that all criteria for a project closure are met, i.e. that
the final product or service was delivered and is to the client’s satisfaction, i.e. verifying that the
deliverable meets the contract terms.

4.1 Complete Paperwork

As noted, projects generate reams of documents. These documents are going to have to get sign off and
approval from stakeholders. Everything needs attention, and must be signed for, which is the legal proof
that in fact these documents have concluded. That includes closing all contracts or any other resources
you contracted with. This includes addressing all outstanding payments. You want to make sure that all
invoices, commissions, fees, bonuses, payments. Complete all the costs involved with the project. It’s not
done, if it’s not paid for.

4.2 Release Resources

You assemble a team for the project, and now you must cut them loose. It’s a formal process, and a crucial
one, which frees them for the next project. Each team is brought together for the mix of skills and
experience they bring to a project. This applies to internal as well as external resources. The external ones
might be more obvious, as you contracted with them, and that contract is going to have duration. When
it’s over, make sure they’re all paid in full so they can sign off and leave. But internal resources remain, so
you have to remind yourself that their time on the project is also limited, and you might be blocking other
team’s projects if you don’t release your resources once the project is done.

4.3 Archive Documents

There are lessons to be learned from old projects, which is why you meet with your team regularly during
the project and look back on the process afterwards. However, if you don’t have an archive in which to
pull the old records, then whatever knowledge you gain is lost because of poor organization and
management. You worked hard to have great project documentation, don’t lose it. Before you close a
project, archive all the documents and any notes and data that could prove useful. Even if you never
access it, there’s a need to keep a paper trail of the work done on any project for other people in the
organization. This might include legal teams, or HR teams, or even your successor.
(Ray, 2017)
(Scheid, n.d)
4.4 Project Close-out Meeting
The close-out meeting at the end of a project is important as it gives the project team the chance to review
their work.

The purpose
▪ To retain and transfer knowledge
▪ To assess review the project and identify the lessons learned
▪ To get customers official acceptance of the final deliverable
▪ To officially close the project
▪ To make sure that any potential outstanding activities and tasks are assigned to the right people

The objective

6
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt
 ▪ There should be a final project report, or close-out report, at the end of the meeting
▪ The report should capture: what went well, what were the challenges, the lessons learned,
recommended future actions, and any information you think would be helpful to future projects and
teams.

The attendees
▪ Project manager
▪ Project team
▪ Project sponsor
▪ Important project stakeholders (e.g. the client)
▪ Not obligatory, but a good addition: moderator/facilitator who is not directly involved in the project.
This will ensure a structured meeting procedure and also the necessary objectivity to lead the meeting
effectively.

Before the meeting

▪ The close-out meeting should be planned right from the beginning, or at least early on. It should
even be included as part of the project deliverables. It’s important to hold the meeting very soon
after the team has finished the deliverables.
▪ Prepare important project materials, e.g. project plan, project scope and requirements
specification statements, relevant data analyses, budget reports etc.
▪ Prepare discussion questions, here are some example questions:
▪ What went really well?
▪ How can we replicate the successes in future projects?
▪ What challenges did we meet and how did we manage the challenges?
▪ How could we have managed the challenges better?
▪ Did we stay on budget, scope and time? How much did it deviate from the project plan?
▪ Did everyone know exactly what their responsibilities and role was?
▪ Did we assess and manage risks effectively?
▪ What risks and changes did we fail to anticipate?
▪ How can we assess unforeseen events better?
▪ How can we used the gained experience and knowledge for future projects?
▪ What recommendations can we give future projects, managers and teams?

During the meeting

▪ Team identifies, discusses and documents project successes
▪ Identify areas for improvement, lessons learned, recommendations for future projects etc.
▪ Discuss the next steps and any possible outstanding project actions
▪ Evaluation of project success: by looking at planned and actual deliverables, comparing
achievements with the project’s objective, indicators such as quality and ROI.
▪ Lessons learned:
▪ What went right and what went wrong
▪ What can be improved, e.g. processes, methods, strategies, productivity etc.
▪ Recommendations for future projects
▪ Feedback: request and give feedback to project team
▪ Discuss next steps:
▪ Outstanding tasks or project follow-up activities
▪ Creating final close-out report

7
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt
 ▪ Make project documentation, including close-out report, available to future projects and
teams, i.e. retain knowledge
▪ Officially close project:
▪ Officially mark project as “Finished”
▪ Acknowledge team’s achievement
▪ Celebrate successful project completion
▪ After the meeting
▪ Immediately write up meeting minutes including important decisions and action items
▪ Get approval for the meeting minutes and send it to participants
▪ Create close-out report
▪ Project manager reviews report
▪ Send close-out report to project team, project sponsor and other meeting attendees
▪ Add close-out report to project folder and archive it
▪ Make folder accessible to future project teams
(Tran, 2016)

5 Produce a Formal Project Closure Document

Finally, during the Closure phase you should produce a formal project closure document. This document
summarises:
▪ What the project delivered
▪ How the project performed against time, cost, quality and scope measures i.e. were you late,
over-budget or struggling to get a quality result?
▪ Any outstanding risks, issues and actions at the point of closure
▪ The location of project files
▪ Anything else the person receiving the handover needs to know

This document essentially is the:

▪ Assurance that all the work has been completed,
▪ Assurance that all agreed upon project management processes have been executed, and
▪ Formal recognition of the completion of a project—everyone agrees that it is completed

Of all the documents, this is the most important one to get formally signed off and approved. Without the
project sponsor agreeing to the project being closed, the project is not closed. There is also another
documentation that is important at this point, such as lessons learned. Lessons learned documents might
not actually be documents. The lessons learned paperwork forms part of your project closure work. It only
becomes a useful reference if you share it with the people on this team so they’ve got something that
codifies the lessons they learned while working with you. Equally, it should be shared with other project
managers or they won’t benefit from what worked and what didn’t work.
(Harrin, 2019)

8
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt
List of References

Embry, P. (2018). Close Your Projects Successfully With These Project Closure Best Practices. [Online]
Available from: https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/project-closure-best-practices/ (Accessed on
07/11/19)

Harrin, E. (2019). 9 Essential Project Documents (With Templates). [Online] Available from:
https://www.girlsguidetopm.com/9-essential-project-documents/ (Accessed on 06/11/2019)

Ray, S. (2017). 5 Steps to Project Closure. [Online]. Available from:

https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-closure (Accessed on 07/11/2019)

Scheid, J. (n.d). How to Evaluate Performance of Project Teams. [Online] Available from:
https://www.brighthubpm.com/resource-management/49372-evaluating-project-team-performance/
(Accessed on 07/11/2019)

Thirion, C. (n.d). Effective Handover of Projects to Operations Teams. [Online] Available from:
https://www.ownerteamconsult.com/effective-handover-of-projects-to-operations-teams/ (Accessed
on 07/11/2019)

Tran, L. (2016). Check List Close-Out Meeting: Completing a Project Successfully. [Online] Available from:
https://www.inloox.com/company/blog/articles/check-list-close-out-meeting-completing-a-project-
successfully/ (Accessed on 07/11/2019)

Westland, J. (2018). What is Post-Implementation Review in Project Management? [Online] Available

from: https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/post-implementation-review Accessed on 07/11/2019)

Westland, J. (2015). 5 Ways To Measure Project Success. [Online] Available from:

https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/5-ways-to-measure-project-success (Accessed on 07/11/2019)

9
Malta Business School | The Penthouse | Sean Building | Psaila Street | B'Kara BKR 9078| Malta
www.mbs.edu.mt |info@mbs.com.mt