Project Management- Project Closure

According to Portny (2017), project closure suggests that the project team has delivered what was agreed on in the project scope, stakeholders are satisfied with the project outcome, and their objectives and expectations have been met. A project manager can determine when a project is complete by following various steps. The first step is reviewing the project schedule to determine whether every task in the schedule has been completed. The second step is confirming with the project team that there are no pending tasks. Next, the third step is talking to the project stakeholders to determine whether their expectations have been met. Project managers should ensure that stakeholders or project owners sign off on the project to confirm that it is complete. It is also important to determine whether there are pending invoices and contracts. A project manager should ensure that all pending invoices and contracts are cleared before confirming that the project is complete.

Project closeout includes formally transferring all project deliverables to the project owner, confirming project completion by obtaining completion approvals from stakeholders, reviewing project documentation and contracts to ensure that all parties involved in the project have been paid, formally releasing resources, conducting a project overview and archiving the documentation used in the project. Inducting a project overview is the most important element in the project closeout process. One of the reasons conducting a project overview is important is that it helps the project manager learn from the mistakes made in the project, the challenges to anticipate in similar projects in the future, and opportunities for improvement. A project review is also important because it helps the project manager determine factors that could have influenced the project outcome, especially when the project is not completed successfully.