CONTEMPORARY PROJECT MANAGEMENT, 4E

Timothy J. Kloppenborg
Vittal Anantatmula
Kathryn N. Wells

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Chapter 15

Finishing the Project & Realizing the Benefits

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 Chapter 15 Core Objectives:

• Describe how to determine when a project should be terminated early & the
process for terminating a project in normal completion time.

• Describe the importance of the project closing activities & how to perform them.

• Create & present a transition plan for the project, including a plan for ongoing
support and sharing lessons learned.

• Capture and share project lessons learned.

Chapter 15 Technical Objectives:

• Close your projects administratively using MS Project 2016

Chapter 15 Behavioral Objectives:

• Secure customer feedback & acceptance of the project.

• Assist senior management in managing talent & managing

resources for upcoming projects.
Celebrating Project Success Trinmar

It was only later that I was sheepishly advised by one of my fellow

consultants that he had offered to have our company sponsor the
celebration, and did not have the chance to tell me in advance. But the
true impact of the celebration—reflected in the sincere joy and pride of
the project team members as they received the sincere thanks of their
CEO—had already proven the value of the event.
Bruce Miller, PMP, managing partner,
Xavier Leadership Center, Xavier University
Finishing the Project & Realizing the Benefits

• A project moves into the closing stage when its customers accept the
project deliverables
• A project can close as planned or be terminated early
• Complete closing activities
Validate Scope

• Formal acceptance of project deliverables

• Buyer provides the seller with formal written acceptance
• Transition from executing stage to closing stage
• Use a project closeout checklist to itemize project activities and/or
deliverables

Validate scope – formally accepting the completed project deliverables

Terminate Projects Early

• Mutual Agreements
What deliverables or partial deliverables go to the buyer
What compensation goes to the seller
Resolve outstanding issues with negotiated settlement
• Terminations for Default
Problems with the project’s cost, schedule, or performance
Lost confidence in the contractor
• Terminations for Convenience of Buyer
Buyer faces unexpected difficulties or changing priorities
Customer’s needs change
Often requires a payment to the contractor
Heading Off Early Termination

• Find other stakeholders who can provide funds

• Look internally to find ways of continuing with the project
• PMs make recommendations for early termination if they feel it is warranted
• Communicate quickly and honestly
Close Project

Finalize all activities needed to finish the project

• Write Transition Plan

• Knowledge Management
• Create the Closeout Report
Write Transition Plan

• Charter/instruction manual for how to use the project deliverables

• Provide appropriate documentation to users
• Ensure quality problems are avoided
• Ensure project deliverables transition into operational role
• Ensure maintenance, upgrades, & training take place
Breakout session!

Write a short transition plan to give to your customers, detailing any

information they will need to successfully use/implement the
deliverables created by your project.
Knowledge Management

• Should occur throughout the project life

• Most apparent as a project comes to a close
• Capture lessons learned
• Disseminate and use lessons learned in order to help your organization improve
• Pertains to 4th area of the balanced scorecard—growth & innovation
Solicit Customer Feedback
Capture Lessons Learned

• At milestones and at the end of project

• Identify major project issues
• One issue at a time to determine what went wrong & how it might be
avoided in future projects.
• List significant successes and discuss what caused each

What worked well?

Where might a different method yield

better results?
Lessons Learned Example
Project Closing Document

See many lessons learned

examples in Exhibit 15.4 on
p.507 in textbook
Disseminate and Use Lessons Learned

• Key to knowledge management!

• Establish method for documenting & sharing lessons learned

• Decide how to store lessons for easy access

• Code each lesson by type of project, stage in project life cycle, or issue it concerns
Create the Closeout Report

This formal report includes summary of:

Project’s original justification
Ultimate status
Lessons learned

Did the project accomplish what it was originally approved to do?

Closeout Report Template
Post- Project Activities

• Reassign Workers
• Celebrate Success & Reward Participants
• Provide Ongoing Support
• Ensure Project Benefits are Realized
Reassign Workers

• Update personnel records

• Make honest recommendations
• Help team members secure next assignments

“Helping good workers secure follow-on work is one of the most

important things a project manager must do.”
Celebrate Success and Reward Participants

Challenge
Energize
Limit
Exert “the project is over; we will limit any
Believe additional work on this project.”
Recognize
Acknowledge
Transition
Ease Stress
Provide Ongoing Support

• Ultimate project goal is to provide capable customers, who will…

• Use the deliverables you provided
• Recommend you for future work
• Often requires support after project is complete
Ensure Project Benefits are Realized

• How well are customers able to use the deliverables?

• Consider use by direct customers and other stakeholders
• May require following up with customers weeks or months after
project’s end
Using MS Project for Project Closure

1. Creating Project Progress Reports

2. Archiving project work
 Using MS Project for Project Closure
1. Creating Project Progress Reports
 Creating a customizable canned report
 Sharing Report—can be printed or saved as PDF
 Export report to MS Excel

See detailed instructions in

textbook, pp.511-512
Using MS Project for Project Closure

Archiving project work

• Complete schedule to maximize future usefulness
 Applying performance data
 Applying approved changes
 Ensuring all activities are complete
• Archive schedule for use as template or “starter file”
• Capture & publish lessons learned

Detailed instructions on textbook p. 514

Summary

• Projects may be terminated early

• Mutual agreement
• Default
• Convenience of customer
• Whether project finishes successfully as planned or not, a variety of closeout
procedures is required

Documentation completed &

Lessons learned recorded
distributed

Workers reassigned &

Money paid & accounted for Success celebrated
rewarded
The Power of Lessons Learned
PM IN ACTION

“Successful people learn from Their mistakes AND the mistakes of OTHERS.” —Sir John Templeton
PMBOK Exams

• Make sure you are studying from most current (6th) PMBOK edition, since
there have been substantial changes made within the Closing Process Group
• All closing activities—whether contractual, administrative, or other—now fall
under the Close Project or Phase process.
• Remember the importance of capturing, storing, & disseminating lessons
learned (throughout the project but especially at project’s end). This needs to
take place whether or not the project reaches a successful conclusion.
• Since the PM often has limited authority, the sponsor should be involved in
Close Project.
Casa de Paz Development Project

• What would you include in a transition plan?

• How would you capture lessons learned?

• Who would you share those lesson with and how?