The last and the most important part of the “Project Management Techniques” of an IT project development is the project Closure phase. The starting of this phase considers that all the objectives of the project are accomplished and the final product is ready to deliver by the client. Project closure is the phase of the project life cycle where deliverables are transferred from organization to business as Usual. These deliverables can be transferred as they are completed or can be aggregated and transferred at the end.
Project Closure Phase
This phase calls for the accomplishment of certain tasks:
- Releasing all the resources which have been utilized during the development of the project.
- Allocating these resources in case they are needed by other project.
- Shutting down of the financial related concerns such as contract, labor etc.
- Completing and managing all the records involved in the project.
- Documenting the problems faced during the project development and the steps taken to solve such problems. It can help if any other project faces the similar problem.
- Discussing with the team the lessons learned and keeping the record of it. It can aid in improving the team’s productivity.
Before completely closing the project, it becomes the duty of the project manager to map the final outcome with the desired outcome in order to effectively manage this Project Management technique. In case of any alterations or modifications, proper documentation is to be done stating why those changes are done and what is the effect of them on the final outcome.
Every new project carries a new opportunity and new learning with it. During the project development, lots of new lessons can be learned jointly by the stakeholders, members of the team as well as sponsors. Organizations cannot afford to relearn the lessons already learned. Therefore, if possible, these lessons can be documented so that the learning can be implemented in future projects.
It is important to take time to analyze and learn from what has happened on the last project. Officially, this Project Management technique of project closure is often overlooked and undervalued.
However, this phase is an ideal opportunity for capturing lessons learned, demonstrating acceptance and usability and facilitating knowledge transfer. For IT projects, user acceptance is the tollgate for project closure. It becomes necessary to go slow in the closing of the project so that you can ensure the greatest transfer of knowledge.
There are basically two main processes which are followed in this Project Management technique:
Administrative Closure
Administrative Closure – In this process, all the deliverables of the project together with the closure documents are prepared. It also involves releasing and issuing of the resources and the Project Management technique involved in the project development.
Evaluation Report
Developing the Evaluation Report: This Report includes:
- Signing-off the project
- Managerial Structure of the Project
- Skills and Staffing
- Management of the Quality
- Management of the Plan
- Management of the Cost
- Configuration Management
- Management of the Customers expectation.
The yield of the Closure phase gives the catalyst to execute the upcoming projects with superior control and effectiveness.
