Closeout Process and Procedures

Introduction To Project Closeout Form

The Project Closeout Form is generally produced two weeks after the project has been brought to an end. The purpose of completing this form is to document the successes and failures of the project that is often referred to as "Lessons Learned".

The following are pertinent questions to keep in mind to facilitate the accumulation of information for this form:

  1. Did the delivered product meet the specified requirements and goals of the project?
  2. Was the customer satisfied with the end product?
  3. Were cost budgets met?
  4. Was the schedule met?
  5. Were risks identified and mitigated?
  6. Did the project management methodology work?
  7. What could be done to improve the process?

The accumulation of information is typically done in a "lessons learned session" that is typically a large meeting that may include representation from the following groups:

Complete B. Staffing and Skills

This section describes the staffing that was assigned to the project and should answer questions such as:

  1. Was the correct staff identified for the tasks?
  2. Were the assigned resources available according to the schedule?
  3. Could the assigned resources handle their work assignments? If not, explain why.

Complete C. Schedule Maintenance

This section describes the results of the project from a scheduling perspective and should answer questions such as:

  1. Did the project complete on time as originally scheduled?
  2. If the project did not complete as originally scheduled, were the appropriate change controls created to reflect s cheduling changes?
  3. If the project did not complete as originally scheduled, what were the reasons for the change in the schedule?

Complete D. Cost Management

This section describes the results of the project from a budget perspective and should answer questions such as:

  1. Did the project complete at or below the original budget?
  2. If the project did not complete within the original budget, were the appropriate change controls created to reflect the budget changes?
  3. If the project did not complete as originally budgeted, what were the reasons for the changes in the budget?

Complete E. Risk Management

This section describes the effectiveness of the mitigation plans and should answer questions such as:

  1. What is the number of risks that were effectively mitigated?
  2. What is the number of risks that were over mitigated? Give reasons for why they were over mitigated and what could have been done differently.
  3. What is the number of risks that were under mitigated? Give reasons for why they were under mitigated and what could have been done differently.

Complete F. Quality Assurance

This section describes the effectiveness of the Quality Assurance that was executed on the project and should answer questions such as:

  1. Was a formal quality plan written that described the process that should be followed for all testing activities? If not, explain why.
  2. Was any stress testing performed during the project?
  3. Were clear standards for documentation (i.e. Specifications, User Procedures, Appworx Job Documentation, etc.) adopted?
  4. Did the stakeholders accept the quality level of the product? If not, explain why.
  5. Did the product perform what the stakeholders need done? If not, explain why.

Complete G. Change Management

This section describes the effectiveness of how the change management process was utilized and should answer questions such as:

  1. Was the change management process followed on this project? If not, explain why.
  2. How many change controls were created for this project?
  3. How many change controls were approved and how many were rejected?
  4. What were some of the causes for the need to create change controls? These could include items such as:
    • Change in scope due to pertinent information found to change the sponsor’s requested product.
    • Change in scope due to a change in requirements that may not have been clearly defined at the beginning of the project.
    • Enhancement requests that have been approved by the project sponsor.
    • The scheduled completion date was not estimated correctly.
    • The budget cost was not estimated correctly.

Complete H. Communications Management

This section describes the effectiveness of the communications plan and should answer questions such as:

  1. What groups should have been communicated to that were not and vice versa?
  2. To what groups were the communications ineffective? Explain why.

Complete I. Customer Expectations Management

This section describes how the customer expectations were managed and should answer questions such as (In providing information in this section, identify the customer or customers you are talking about such as Project Sponsor, Users in a particular area, any specific stakeholders, etc.) :

  1. Did their initial expectations match scope?
  2. Were scope, schedule and budget changes communicated to everyone?
  3. Did everyone accept the changes?
  4. When the project ended, did the stakeholders feel that everything committed was done?
  5. When the project ended, did the stakeholders feel that more was needed to be done to consider the project complete for them?

Complete J. Lessons Learned

This section describes the project’s successes and/or failures. The primary objectives in executing a project are to complete it on time, within budget and according to requirements (i.e. Scope). The contents in this section should parallel the Critical Success Factors that were identified in the Project Initiation form.

Complete K. Other Comments

This section allows you to describe any comments beyond any of the categories identified above.

Complete L. Project Sign-Off

It is normally an easy matter to identify the primary stakeholders in a project who should have sign off responsibilities during the project closeout process. This is because projects are typically directed to a particular work group. Even when larger projects that cover many diverse areas are being executed, there is some smaller team that is assembled that has decision making authority and is responsible for the successful completion of the project.

At a minimum, the Project Sponsor and the Project Lead should sign off on the form. In some cases, the Project Lead’s manager may request to sign off on the form. The project closeout form should be identified as a project deliverable in the Project Charter that have instructions to include this form as a listed deliverable.