Step 5: Complete Your Project

Setting the scene Suppose you have been running a project to write a small piece of computer software for a business. The project team of 5 people has worked on this for 6 weeks and has just completed writing the software. Is your project over?

Introduction to completing your project Success in projects is NOT simply about producing deliverables, it is about producing deliverables and giving them over to your customer in the best way possible and making sure they can be used to meet the ‘why’ defined in your Project Definition.

Introduction to completing your project The way you need to complete your project does vary considerably, depending on the nature of the project and deliverables. There are many factors to consider when ending a project, most of which you will be aware of simply through common sense.

Introduction to completing your project Critical steps for projects which are regularly forgotten: 1.Test the deliverables. 2.Help the customer to use the deliverables. 3.Support the customer whilst they get used to the deliverables, and for a short period when they find out if they are working properly.

5.1 Test the deliverables It is right for your customer to expect you to manage the project to produce deliverables that work, and which meet all the requirements agreed. To do this you may need to test the deliverables.

5.1 Test the deliverables Whilst the actual tests vary between deliverables, there are some generic questions you need to ask to test any set of deliverables: Is the set of deliverables complete? Does each deliverable work? Does each deliverable work exactly as you intended and with all the features you expected to be in it? Have the deliverables been made/ built/ created to the level of quality that was required? Are there any specific acceptance criteria or processes that the customer has defined – and have the deliverables met these criteria?

5.2 Implement deliverables Some deliverables, implementing is just about giving them to a customer, but for others they need to be made to work with existing items. For example, loading new software onto a customer’s computer system – the software needs to work with any software already on the computer.

5.2 Implement deliverables Questions you need to ask to implement any deliverable are: Are your customers ready for the deliverables? For example, if you are going to install a new set of furniture in an office, is the office available or is it full of people busily doing their normal work who cannot be currently disturbed.

5.2 Implement deliverables Questions you need to ask to implement any deliverable are: Are the deliverables something completely new or do they replace something the customer already has? If the latter, how are you going to help them make the transition from what they currently have to what you have developed?

5.2 Implement deliverables Questions you need to ask to implement any deliverable are: Do the deliverables need to be integrated or made to work with anything else? Who is responsible for doing this and how will it be done?

5.2 Implement deliverables Questions you need to ask to implement any deliverable are: Do the deliverables need any specific actions to implement? What are these and who will do them?

5.2 Implement deliverables Questions you need to ask to implement any deliverable are: Does your customer need to be trained? If so, how is this training going to be provided?

5.3 Provide support to your customers The deliverables are now being used by the customers. However, the customers still may not understand every feature of them. Also customers can come across problems that only appear when the deliverables are in daily use. This means you may need to provide support to your customers for a short period after completing the project.

5.3 Provide support to your customers Ask yourself: Are the customers likely to have any problems with your deliverables once you have handed them over? How will you resolve these issues? How will you know when this period of support is complete?

5.3 Provide support to your customers Supporting your customer after you finish a project is good practice, but you can risk a situation in which your project never ends. To avoid the trap of never being able to finish a project, agree up front with your customer how long you will provide support for. This period of time should be built into the Project Plan.

5.4 Release resources As people complete the tasks on the Project Plan you required them to do, you can release them from the project team. However, do not do this prematurely.

5.4 Release resources People should only be released from the team when: 1.You are sure that they have completed all tasks required. 2.You have confidence you will not need them to help you test and implement the deliverables, or provide any further support to customer.

5.4 Release resources The other resource you may have left is money. Hopefully you have not spent more than your original budget (including contingency). Assuming there is some money left, you need to give this back to your customer, or at least alert the company accountant that all that is going to be spent has been spent.

5.5 Review for the next time 1.Is this the only project you will ever run? 2.Is this the only project that will ever be run in your business? Normally the answer to both questions is no. If that is so, it is worth reviewing the project very soon after it is complete to make sure you have learnt any valuable lessons.

5.5 Review for the next time The main questions to answer in performing a review are: What will you continue to do? What went well and what will you do again on your next project? What will you stop doing? What went badly and will you do differently on your next project? What will you start doing? What didn’t you do on this project that hindsight would have been good to do? Is there anything else you have learnt that is worth remembering for next time?

5.6 Celebrate !!!