Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme Managing Complexity in the Face of Uncertainty Ch07: How to Close a Project Presented by (facilitator name)

Ch07: How to Close a Project Summary of Chapter 7 Steps in closing a project Writing & maintaining client acceptance procedures Installing project deliverables Documenting the project Conducting the post-implementation audit Writing the final report Celebrating success Explain how each of these contributes to the growing importance of project management in the business world.

Tools, Templates & Processes Used to Close a Project Ch07: How to Close a Project Tools, Templates & Processes Used to Close a Project Acceptance Test Procedure (ATP) Implementation strategies Documenting the project Post-Implementation audit Final project report Explain how each of these contributes to the growing importance of project management in the business world.

Ch07: How to Close a Project Why Do I Need Client Acceptance Procedures? Acceptance criteria must be clearly defined Criteria defined during project planning Avoid 11th hour disputes (arguments)

Writing and Maintaining Client Acceptance Procedures The process of writing and maintaining client acceptance test procedures: begins during requirements gathering, is documented during project planning, is maintained during project execution, and is applied as the only criteria for moving to the project Closing Phase.

Ch07: How to Close a Project Steps to Closing a Project Get client acceptance of deliverables. Ensure that all deliverables are installed: occurs in computer systems work. Ensure that all documentation is in place. Get client sign-off on the final report. Conduct a post-implementation audit. Celebrate success.

Getting Client Acceptance The client decides when the project is done. It is your job as the project manager to demonstrate that the deliverables (whether products or services) meet client specifications. For small projects, this acceptance can be very informal and ceremonial, Or it can be very formal, involving extensive acceptance testing against the client’s performance specifications.

Getting Client Acceptance Ceremonial acceptance is an informal acceptance by the client. It does not have an accompanying sign-off of completion or acceptance. It simply happens. Formal acceptance occurs in projects for which you and the client have written an acceptance test procedure (ATP). A checklist is used and requires a feature-by-feature sign-off based on performance tests.

Ch07: How to Close a Project Documenting the Project There are at least five reasons why you need to write documentation: Reference for future changes in deliverables: for the follow-up projects. Historical record for estimating duration and cost on future projects, activities and tasks Training resource for new project managers: Such items as how the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) was determined Input for further training and development of the project team: such as How a similar problem or change request was handled in the past Input for performance evaluation by the functional managers of the project team members

Ch07: How to Close a Project Documenting the Project – The Project Notebook POS RBS and all revisions Proposal and backup data Original and revised project schedules Minutes of all project team meetings Copies of all status reports Design documents Copies of all change notices Copies of all written communications Outstanding issues reports Final report Sample deliverables (if appropriate) Client acceptance documents Post-implementation audit report NOTE: Start the project notebook on the first day

Ch07: How to Close a Project Conducting the Post-Implementation Audit The post-implementation audit is an evaluation of the project’s goals and activity achievement as measured against the project plan, budget, time deadlines, quality of deliverables, specifications, and client satisfaction. The following six important questions should be answered: Was the project goal achieved? Does it do what project team said it would? Does it do what client said it would? Was the project work done on time, within budget, and according to specification?

Conducting the Post-Implementation Audit Six important questions Was the client satisfied with the project results? It is possible that the answers to the first two questions are yes, but the answer to this question is no. How can that happen? Simple: the Conditions of Satisfaction (COS) changed, but no one was aware that they had. Was business value realized? Check success criteria: such as improvement in profit or market share What lessons were learned about your project management methodology? Different parts of the methodology may work well for certain types of projects or in certain situations How well did the team follow the methodology?

Ch07: How to Close a Project Reasons for not doing a post-implementation audit Managers don’t want to know Managers don’t want to pay the cost It’s not a high priority Other projects are waiting to have work done on them, and completed projects don’t rate very high on the priority list. There’s too much other scheduled work to do

Ch07: How to Close a Project Final Project Report Executive Summary Overall success and performance of project Organization and administration of project Techniques used to accomplish results Strengths and weaknesses of the approach What features, practices, and processes proved to be strengths or weaknesses? Recommendations Appendices POS WBS Resource Schedule Change Requests Final Deliverables Other

Ch07: How to Close a Project Celebrating Success There must be some recognition for the project team at the end of the project. Don’t pass up an opportunity to show the team your appreciation. This simple act on the part of senior management promotes loyalty, motivation, and commitment in their professional staff.