Managing Project Closure - Coursework Example

Managing Project Closure August 30, Managing Project Closure The objective of the research contained in this study is to research project closure stages and the manner in which these have been planned for and managed in projects in the private and public sector. The project selected should be of at least one year in duration. This work will discuss the effectiveness of the way in which the closure stage is managed in projects and will compare and contrast established closure processes in the public and private sectors. Further a closure template will be created. This work will describe the benefits of the use of the closure template. The focus of this work is to demonstrate the ability to identify the closure point and build this into the project plan and to allow for appropriate corrective action if changes are needed. I. Project Closure According to the work of Young (2010) the most difficult part of a project is closure. Young states that it is “easy to become focused on the goals of the project and emotionally engaged with the team and stakeholders, such that it is temptint to allow theproject to conintue on to deliver ‘addi9tional’ value.” (2010) The project manager must “retain clarity” as to the goals and objectives of the project. Young states that in practically all cases “this should be the delivery of the project scope, within a specified time period and budget.” (2010) The fundamental failure in governance of a project is stated by Young to be allowing the project to “run on…” (2010) In order for the project to be successful it is necessary according to Young (2010) to ‘stick to the plan’ and to ‘communicate’ with the team and key stakeholders. In addition, Young states that the project manager should “ensure that change managements are adhered to”. (2010) Furthermore, resources must be monitored closely and managed proactively. (Young, 2010, paraphrased) It is necessary that project closure be both “recognized and documented” and that the project closure contains the following elements: (1) Closeout begins on the first day of the planning phase; (2) Review outstanding work packages or activities; (3) confirm that resources are still available to perform any remaining work; (4) Review change control log to identify any outstanding change requests; (5) Check with sales and marketing to identify any outstanding items with the customers; and (6) Prepare all project documentation for a post-project review. (Crepin-Swift, 2009, p.1) Activities that the company must perform include those as follows: (1) Identify and release available resources; (2) Notify the transition team of the upcoming turnover; (3) Prepare any necessary performance evaluations; and (4) Notify the accounting section and conduct internal review processes. (Crepin-Swift, 2009, p.1) II. Public Sector Project Closure Government or public sector project closure is a formal process which includes the stages shown in the following illustration labeled Figure 1. Figure 1 Project Closure Stages CIT Solutions Pty Ltd (2009) It is reported that projects may end either as a success or failure and specifically stated is that success “means that the project has achieved its cost, time, and performance objectives” while failure means that one or more of the cost, schedule and performance objectives have not been met.” (CIT Solutions Pty Ltd, 2009) Each stakeholder should clearly understand: (1) the project accomplishments; (2) the use of resources; and (3) the lessons learned so that the project which follows can realize improvement. (CIT Solutions Pty Ltd, 2009) III. Private Sector Project Closure The primary tools the public sector project closure uses includes: (1) a final review; and (2) a project completion report. (CIT Solutions Pty Ltd, 2009) Project close-out is stated to be just as important as start-up. (CIT Solutions Pty Ltd, 2009) The public sector project management involves submission of: (1) estimated one time cost; (2) estimated annual cost; (3) estimated payback period; (4) background of the project; (5) project description; (6) strategic fit or positioning; (7) business impact; (8) Description of the risk; (9) the benefit and costs; (10) and the impact of the project. (CIT Solutions Pty Ltd, 2009) Included in a project closure report are the items which include the title of the project, the number of the project, the effective date for project closure, the reasons for closure, any special instructions, the signature that authorizes the closure and distribution which includes all individuals who received the notice authorizing the opening of the project. Harris and Pratap (2009) entitled “What Drives Private Sector Exit from Infrastructure?” states that the private sector “exits only a fraction of private infrastructure projects before the contract ends.” (Harris and Pratap, 2009) However, these cancellations are reported to have “sustained impact on a country’s program of public-private partnerships, reducing the private sector’s confidence in the government’s commitment as well as the governments’ confidence in the robustness and ‘value for money’ of these arrangements.” (Harris and Pratap, 2009) Cancelled infrastructure projects with private participation in developing countries between 1990 and 2006 in the energy sector are stated to be at 322.8 billion or a total of 49 projects. The numbers are nearly as high in the electricity generation and electricity distribution or integrated utilities sector followed by natural gas, telecommunications, transport, and water and sewage. It is reported that aggressive bidding is the primary factor that leads to “unsustainable project terms” and that failing to effectively deal with these shocks is the cause of failure. (Harris and Pratap, 2009) IV. Project Closure Activities The project closure activities that involve a type of cleaning up that must be addressed prior to the announcement of the project success and closure: (1) Create a ‘project punchlist’ of outstanding items from the project; (2) Work with finance and legal teams to make sure that all project-related contract commitments are finalized and closed; (3) Complete a final accounting of the project budget and ensure that surplus funding is applied to the punch list items as agreed to by the project sponsor; (4) Prepare the final project report and include: (a) the objective evaluation of the project’s success; (b) outline the accomplishments of the project; (c) include the important project data both positive and negative; (d) describe the issues requiring further work and recommend participation by team members; (e) provide a final project accounting and explain the variances; and (f) provide recommendations for future project; (5) Collate the responses to the feedback questionnaire two to three weeks before initiation of the project closure; and (6) Make sure that all project documents and deliverables are collected and stored. The questionnaire should request responses that are objective and uniform. Organizations will generally require the delivery of a Final Project Report. The Final Project Report will be delivered to the project sponsor and will include “a recap of the project.” (Mastering Project Management, 2010) Details on the effect of changes to the project should be included and recommendations for addressing changes that are not covered by the project should be stated. The final reconciliation of the project budget should also be included along with schedule reconciliations. The following labeled Figure 2 in this study is an example of a project closure template which can be utilized in project closure. Figure 2 Project Closure Template Instructions are marked in italic red. Remove these before submission. 1. Project Details Project Sponsor: Project Manager: Report Prepared By: Project Completion Date: 2. What were the original Business Objectives and how well were they met? 2.1 Original Business Objectives Extract the original business objectives from the project scope document 2.2 Were the Objectives achieved? Indicate and describe if they were achieved or not 2.3 Where the deliverables delivered? Indicate if all the deliverables were delivered and if the customer signed off on the project. 2.4 How did the budgeted cost compare to the actual costs? 2.5 How did the budgeted schedule compare to the actual? 3. Successes Indicate where the project went well and note any outstanding achievements. List performances or processes that you think helped with the success of the project. List any positive feedback from customer. 4. Areas for Additional Focus Record here the biggest problems that occurred in the project and what could be changed to reduce the chance of a recurrence. Every project highlights areas for the development of staff skills. List off where additional staff training/development could assist in the future. List any negative customer feedback during the project and what was done about it. 5. Handover of Operational responsibility Has the product or service been officially assigned to a staff member to maintain? Is the staff member aware of this? Does a staff member require training to take up support duties for this product/service? Project Sponsor Name: Project Sponsor Title: Project Sponsor Signature: ______________________________ Dated: / / ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: C.E. Pierce: ITS Project Closure Report Term available online at: ttp://www.its.uncc.edu/Projects/Project%20Templates/ITS_Project_Close_%20Report_Template.docx V. Benefits of the Use of the Project Closure Template The benefits of the use of the project closure template include that the original business objectives are clearly stated as well as whether those objectives were achieved and how they were achieved and why they were not achieved if they were not. This enables the assessment and evaluation of the project as a whole which makes provision of areas for needed improvement and optimization. Furthermore, the project closure template is inclusive of a reconciliation budget which compared the budgeted versus the actual costs and the budgeted schedule as compared to the actual schedule of the project. In addition, use of the project closure template allows for identification of the factors that furthered the success or failure of the project along with the positive or negative feedback received from customers. Finally, the use of the project closure template allows for assessment of other areas needing focus concerning the problems and challenges of the project and the factors that could be changed to ensure the success of future projects. The final offering of the use of the project closure template is that of providing a plan for handover of operational responsibility of the project including to whom the project operational responsibility has been assigned and whether the staff member receiving the operational responsibility has the necessary training for supporting the responsibilities of the duties that are related to the specified product or service. Summary and Conclusion Project management closure begins at the start of a project and states what the goals of the project are in terms of the project outcomes precisely are as well as stating the objectives, milestones and goals of the project. Project closure involves an ongoing assessment of the project and this involves specifically stating the negative and positive aspects of the project as well as reconciliation of the project budget and schedule all of which are generally stated in the final project reports. References Harris, Clive and Pratap, Kumar V. (2009) What Drives Private Sector Exit From Infrastructure. GRIDLINES. Note No. 46. March 2009. Online available at: http://www.ppiaf.org/ppiaf/sites/ppiaf.org/files/publication/Gridlines-46-Private%20Sector%20Exit%20-%20CHarris%20KPratap.pdf Project Closure – Whether Your 1st or 21st Project, Successful Completion Involves a Few Important Steps (2009) Mastering Project Management. Available online at: http://www.mastering-project-management.com/project-closure.html Pierce, C.E. (2009) ITS Project Closure Report Term available online at: ttp://www.its.uncc.edu/Projects/Project%20Templates/ITS_Project_Close_%20Report_Template.docx Crepin-Swift, Carla (2009) Project Closure and Termination Phase: Activity Checklist for Proper Project Completion. 3 July 2009. Suite 101. Online available at: http://business-project-management.suite101.com/article.cfm/project_closure Young, Chris (2010) Exceptional Project Management – Closure. Ezine. Online available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Exceptional-Project-Management---Closure&id=4601696 Read More