CHAPTER 22
Annual Closeout
Congratulations! You have reached the last chapter of this book. What better subject to cover than closeout? Project closeout, marking the end of the project, is a major milestone for project managers. As stated previously, maintenance will actually end only when the system no longer is needed, usually because the system is replaced by a newer system.
Nevertheless, we can conduct a closeout for a given period. Maintenance typically is tied to a company’s annual budgeting cycle. Maintenance most likely can “end” at the end of the fiscal year and “begin” again at the start of the next year. You can use this artificial ending as a time to close out and evaluate your team’s performance and plan for the next year.
Your department may mandate some of the closeout activities presented in the next section, but you should complete them all, even if they are not mandated, so that you can obtain the benefits they offer.
Closeout Activities
This section presents the activities to perform for maintenance closeout. Many of these activities will sound similar to closeout activities for a project.
• Complete Final Metrics
Now is the time to complete the final metrics report that shows the entire year in table and graph form. Show the target levels previously agreed to in the Service Level Agreement (SLA). If the metrics show any period below target, include an explanation in the report. Share this report with your customers.
• Conduct End-of-Year Customer Survey
The recommendation is to perform the Customer Survey quarterly. This will be your fourth quarter survey, or if you didn’t follow the recommendation, it will be your one and only survey. Make sure to present all the metrics and summarize all the work your team performed throughout the year. It is human nature to forget about the good items and concentrate on the bad. Provide a complete and balanced picture.
• Close Annual Financial Accounting
Most likely your company will require a financial close for the year. Compare your actual expenses to your original budget. Analyze the variances and determine if any assumptions for the next year need to be revised.
• Conduct Performance Appraisals
Provide honest feedback to your team members about their performance throughout the year. Compare their performance to the original expectations you communicated to them at the beginning of the year.
• Conduct Lessons-Learned Session
Have your team sit down together and discuss the lessons you learned throughout the year. Make sure to include positive as well as negative lessons. Analyze the results from the session and determine changes that will be implemented for the next year.
Kick Off Maintenance for the Next Year
Now is the time to give your team and yourself a fresh start. Celebrate with your team the past year’s successes and talk positively about the future. Let the team know that the new year starts off for everyone as a clean slate; tell them that while individuals are still held accountable for their past performance, of course, a new year allows everyone to let past problems go and perform better during the next year.
The following are activities for the kickoff of a new year; some can be done when the Closeout Activities take place.
• Apply Lessons Learned
Systematically apply the lessons learned to specific changes. This is often a forgotten step. It is easy to be critical, but the goal is for us to not repeat past mistakes. Approach this systematically by having one list of changes that you will make; include due dates and owners’ names for each change.
• Reset the Metrics
Take any needed steps to reset or zero out the metrics so that tracking starts over.
• Create New SLA
Create a new SLA to cover the next year if the old SLA expires. Even if the SLA does not expire, perform a review to determine if any changes are needed to clarify the service your team is providing.
• Set Up New Accounting
Again, your company most likely will dictate what you need to do. Make sure you have adjusted the budget to take into account any additional systems your team will be maintaining and any performance improvements you made that resulted in decreased staffing needs. Upper management will most likely expect more of the latter than the former.
Take any needed steps to reset or zero out the labor time-tracking system.
Let your team members know what they need to do to be successful in the next year. Document your expectations for the team.
I wish you success in all your maintenance and management endeavors.
Set a solid foundation for running your team efficiently. Manage the effectiveness to deliver as promised. Lead to make sure the promises are for true business value.
References
Project Management Standards Committee, Project Management Institute, 2004. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), 3rd ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Stephen R. Covey, 1989. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Dan S. Kennedy, 1997. How to Succeed in Business By Breaking All the Rules. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Ouellette & Associates Consulting, Inc., 2006. The Politics of IT Project Management: Training Manual. Bedford, NH: Ouellette & Associates Consulting, Inc.
Kathleen Kelley Reardon, Ph.D., 2000. The Secret Handshake. New York, NY: Currency Doubleday.
Neal Whitten, 2005. Neal Whitten’s No-Nonsense Advice for Successful Projects. Vienna, VA: Management Concepts.