Chapter 8. Explain Project Closing

The closing process group accounts for 8% of the PMP exam. Closing is where you formally end a project phase or the entire project, release all the resources that were assigned to the project, and build reference material for future projects. In addition, this is the process group where all plans are compared to actual performance data. The road to this point is about keeping focus, control, and processes optimization. Project closing ensures that the other side of the bell curve of execution looks the same way as when you started the process. Simply put, this is where the project manager wraps up the project and ties up all the loose ends.

Close Procurements—12.4

Look at it from this perspective: If you would have known everything that you know today about your project(s) when you started, would you have done things the same way? Would you have used the same resources?

Of course, probably by now you are thinking, “What a joke. We are not born experts. How am I supposed to know when to do what and how to avoid execution problems?” This is where trusted consultants and an experienced project manager come into play; they help in identifying what pitfalls to avoid.

One of the key recurring messages of the PMI methodology is to leverage expert resources and to use the project archives; executing the proper closing process ensures that the groundwork for your own internal expert resource and knowledge base is built, combining the knowledge and experience of your people, culture, and enterprise.

This process takes into account the needs for documentation and the understanding of the associated risks, the risks analysis techniques, and the decision-making process.

Figure 8.1 depicts the general close project process flow.

Table 8.1 shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the close project or phase process.

The key input elements for the close project or phase process are

Project management plan

Accepted deliverables

Why have these been designated as key input elements? The intent is to take this time to verify that all of the project deliverables are met. Use the work breakdown structure (WBS), the work packages, and the packages’ resource assignments as a roadmap to identify any remaining critical work elements to be completed and ensure the proper transitions.

If there are any unfinished tasks, you need to make arrangements to prepare their termination plan and measure their combined risk materiality against the long-term viability of the project, services, and deliverables.

For example, one of the contracts calls for the return of all graphite composite containers to the lease company within 30 days of project completion. Your job as project manager is to issue all the proper closeout work orders and see that these containers are returned to the provider on time. Does this task have anything to do with the long-term functionality of your project? Probably not. However, if it is not addressed by the deadline, it has the potential of affecting your company at a potentially high annual cost.

This process must be repeated throughout the entire work package dictionary to ensure that deliverables are in line with the project and the performance metrics that you assigned to the service provider.

One of the most important realizations in the project management process should be that the project does not stop when the end is in sight or the product or services are delivered. If anything, this is where you need to concentrate and make sure that all tasks and their peripheral activities are completed. Examples of some of these activities are

Client or user final acceptance

Updates to all pertaining historical records

Transitions to ongoing support

Release of all project resources

Final signoff and release from the project sponsor

For example, say that you work for a multinational company that decides to leverage its internal expertise in building bridges over long water bodies by combining the resources from the steel and cement business units with its engineering unit. In addition to coordinating the building of the bridge, you are now faced with the challenge of having to orchestrate all the intercompany contracts, expenses, and revenue-generating models in order to ensure the proper level of synergies.

This isn’t any different from using external resources; however, you need to pay close attention to the human factor. The human factor refers to any cultural and personal differences between your culture and the inbound resources.

Another example for contract management might include a combination of internal, external, and outsourced relationships. These relationships might call for a different set of closing instructions that depend on the type of relationship. For example, relationships that exist within a single organization are different from outsourced relationships. Likewise, closing procedures are apt to be different.

Table 8.2 shows the inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs for the close procurements process.

As per the PMI methodology, the formal outputs of the close procurements process are

Closed procurements

Organizational process assets (updates)

Of course, this also means that you are part of contract negotiation and interpretation, thus requiring a special dose of leadership and management techniques in an environment with multiple moving parts.

For closing procurements, you need to be well aware of your vendor’s or provider’s

Performance metrics

Assigned work packages

Deliverables

Schedule performance

Quality control metrics

If applicable, inspection reports pertaining to regulatory requirements

In addition, you need to address items such as

Consideration to perform product or service verification which ensures that all work was completed in accordance with the service-level agreements (SLAs) and the deliverables specified in the contract

Review of contract terms and conditions in the event that the product is not delivered to specifications

Enabling of early terminations clauses and remediation due to the vendor’s inability to deliver the product, agreed budget being exceeded, or failure to assign the required resources

What does it mean to be faced with an early termination? It all goes back to your contract, the execution clauses that were stipulated at the beginning of the business relationship, and the parameters for contract termination and vendor replacement plan.

The vendor replacement plan refers to the implementation of an alternate path for future project fulfillment needs. If you don’t have an alternate path, a good place to start is to consider second and third runners-up in your original selection process.

A way to effectively measure how well a contract might have served your project is to take into account the following:

Activities to be performed in a project or a project phase

Supporting schedules for time, deliverables, and cost

Issue log and issue management plan

Project delivery metrics

Invoice and payment register

After all contractual agreement clauses are satisfied and you have delivered the provider execution report card, a company representative executes the stipulated documents to signify that the contract was completed and executed according to agreed specifications.

Market conditions—The company or client may be forced to discontinue a project simply because the initiative is no longer in line with the long-term market share or presence objectives.

Customer requirements—Your client may decide to implement changes that are well beyond the capabilities of the current initiative, making it cost-prohibitive to tackle the project at this time.

Insufficient resources—You may not have the people, money, facilities, supplies, and so on to complete a project.

Technical problems—In the project management arena, technical problems go beyond computers. Technical problems could include things such as variances in the density of the material used in a building or the inability to devise a way to hold the insulation in a space shuttle’s main fuel tank.

Enterprise culture—A project and its product or services may contradict the culture of the company. For example, say that a company is known for its face-to-face customer service practices and, after implementing a test of self-service point-of-sale checkout lines, discovers that implementing this initiative has a direct impact on customer perception.

Bankruptcy—If your client or company will not gain a cash position or additional market share by implementing your project, the project may be cancelled.

Even in these instances, you must ensure a successful transition by leading your project toward project closing criteria elements, which include

The formal acceptance of the project results or product by your customer

Documentation and forms resulting from organizational requirements

Project performance metrics and reports

Budget expenditures

Cost–benefit metrics and verifications

Lessons learned

Think of the project closing criteria as those elements that give reasonable assurance that your project took into account the initial deliverables, the client, and sponsor approval.

In addition, this process works closely with the communication management and procurement management plans to formalize the ending of your project.

Some of the key participants in this process are

Project sponsor—This person gives final validation that the project’s services and products are in line with the original objectives and deliverables of the project before the official handoff to the client and the operational support team takes place.

Project manager—This person keeps coordinating the execution of the communication, procurement, human resources, cost management, and quality plans until the project is officially closed. The project manager then turns over all the archives.

Team members—These people assist the project manager in performing the aforementioned tasks, plus assist in transitioning the new product or service to operational support.

Quality assurance team—These people ensure that all work adheres to agreed project quality expectations and deliverables.

The key item to remember when preparing for closing a project or phase is that the actual project criteria plan and requirement definition began the day that the project charter and the project scope were defined and agreed upon by the client, sponsor, and the rest of the project team.

You need to make sure that there is an effective transition between what was agreed upon at the beginning of a project and what was delivered and accepted by the client.

Why make lessons learned important throughout the project? An out-of-context example would be not writing down the license plate and color of a car involved in a hit and run; the more time that passes, the less clarity you have about the details.

The main intent of the lessons learned is to help build an information store that allows anyone in your company to look back in time and understand the decisions made and the circumstances that surrounded the decision-making process.

Some of the triggering events for lessons learned records are

Significant course corrections are implemented.

Corrective or preventive actions are taken.

Scope changing events occur.

Root cause analysis occurs for variances between planned and actual project events.

You must make every effort to be extremely honest and include items that performed well and those that did not. You must highlight individuals involved in the process and the risk factors considered at the time of making the decision. Some of the elements of this report might be

Executive summary

Project phase

Related work package

Event description

Event duration

Action taken

Decision makers

Results

Areas of improvement

Time stamp

In addition to recording lessons learned, you must make every effort to collect any evidence and include it as part of the project archive.

In contract execution, there are two actors: the buyer of goods and services and the seller of those goods and services. During the life of a project, contracts might end for one of the following reasons:

Successful completion—Successful completion occurs when goods and services have been delivered in accordance with the contract specifications. At this point, no further action is required, with the exception of formal acceptance of the product or services and final payment.

Collective agreement—This occurs when both parties agree to end the contract. A collective agreement or mutual consent termination allows you to present and negotiate contract closing terms, such as a no-cost settlement, payment of all fees and charges accrued prior to the effectiveness of the cancellation, and payment at a reduced cost by settlement.

For the most part, the parameters of what is available as recourse are specified in the contract by a paragraph that reads something like “This agreement may be terminated by either party at the renewal/anniversary date by giving the other party notice at least 15 days prior to the renewal/anniversary date of the Term. This Agreement may also be suspended or terminated by....”

You must issue your collective agreement notice for cancellation of services with something such as, “Pursuant to the termination section of the professional services agreement between client and provider, this contract is hereby terminated effective on dd-mm-yy. You are directed to cease all work upon presentment of this notice and start the close procurement process” (which you need to have defined by now).

When there is a breach—In a breach of contract, one of the parties is not complying with the terms and specifications of the contract. A breach of contract or contract default situation requires immediate and special attention from legal counsel. Remember that the actions to take are as varied as the different clauses stipulated in the contract.

In addition, because good providers are difficult to find, executing a breach of contract procedure should be viewed as a last resort. Of course, it all depends on your long-term objectives with the relationship and the provider’s willingness to solve the problem that caused the breach. For example, if a default occurs at the SLA level, your contract might allow you to consider mitigating factors and make adjustments to the SLA. Or you might be able to outsource, supplement, or augment the function in question at the provider’s expense in order to deliver according to the SLA.

Another key element to consider is a cure or remediation period. Basically, this is a cooling-off period that allows the provider a specified amount of time to remediate the problem before taking any actions.

For contracts where the deliverables, products, and services go according to plan, the next step is to ensure that

All issues have been resolved.

All contract deliverables have been delivered and accepted by the client and the sponsor.

The project manager gives final approval.

All assets have been accounted for.

Final payment has been issued.

Project contracts rarely go beyond the actual life of the project; project phases might end several times throughout the project, but there is only one project closing.

Some of the reasons a project might conclude are

The company loses interest in the project and its deliverables.

The company, project, or group is replaced or displaced.

The project comes to a normal end after all the products and services are delivered.

The project becomes its own organization, living beyond the end date as an organizational process.

The project is replaced by another initiative.

Another element to consider when processing a project closing is what to do with the team that was assigned to your project. A project might end, or terminate, in one of several states:

Integration mode—A project that ends in integration mode has its resources assigned to other areas and integrated into the normal operations of the business. Most often they are reintegrated to the department or group from which they came.

One challenge to this project ending mode is that the responsibilities of the position could have been reassigned or replaced by new processes. This gives the returning team member the special opportunity to flex her muscles and take on new and more demanding responsibilities.

Extinction or collapsed mode—A project that ends in extinction or collapsed mode is a project that ends before meeting its stated objectives. Simply stated, in this situation, people do not have a place to which to return.

Inclusion, absorption, or addition mode—A project that ends in inclusion, absorption, or addition mode is a project that has been accepted and has transitioned to be part of the organization. With this type of project ending, your team members keep performing their assigned project functions as their new day-to-day responsibilities, maintaining the project performance in accordance to specifications.

Starvation or deterioration mode—A project that ends in starvation or deterioration mode is a project for which all resources have been cut. Just an empty shell remains.

The bench could be going back to your regular job or actually sitting in your company’s project management office to oversee the final archiving steps and get a new assignment.