This week’s post zooms in one of the phases of your project: the formal closing process.
Although previous phases of your project lifecycle are often considered more important, without a formal closing process, you and your team might risk creating confusion on the overall goals of the project and its meaning. Closure is also crucial in terms of relationship with the client and evaluation of the client expectations and your project’s final results.
In addition, a well-developed project closure helps to avoid repeating some mistakes on future projects and failing to identify the team or individuals responsibilities and achievements.
According to Lucidchart, “By officially closing a project, you minimize risks, increase client satisfaction, and ensure all parties are on the same page.”
As a result, we want to share with you six important steps to close a project at best.
Work through the following checklist to ensure your project is successfully completed. You can use this post as a checklist when evaluating your closing process.
Firstly, make sure you transfer your project’s deliverables to the client. Make sure these are completed, handed off and understandable to the client. Secondly, make sure to confirm the project’s completion: each member of the team needs to agree on the project’s completion before you can formally close it. Thirdly, you will need to review what you agreed on with your client during the project to make sure that what you have delivered matches the word given to the client. In addition, it is quite common for a team to conduct a “post-mortem” or project review: find the time to review the successes, failures, and challenges of the project. While reviewing your project, consider the following questions: Did the team members involved manage their time wisely? Were there issues with the quality or compromises along the way? In addition, try to reflect on a more comprehensive picture of the project performance – you and your team could consider the following questions: What went well? What were the challenges or failures? How well did the team communicate? Did the team follow the outlined processes and plan? Was the client satisfied with the results?
The goal of a review is not to assign blame for mistakes: it is a learning opportunity for everyone.
Lastly, you should finalize all documentation (project plans, scope outline, costs, schedule, etc.) and save it for later reference.
What about now? Do not forget to celebrate the end of this milestone! The end of a project is an incredible accomplishment, and you should be proud of being able to present months of hard work and cooperation. Celebrate your successes and take this opportunity to learn from the challenges and mistakes.
The best of luck in these last weeks!
This week's post zooms in on one of the phases of your project: the formal closing process.
Although previous phases of your project are often considered more important, you and your team might risk creating confusion on the overall goals of the project and its meaning without a formal closing process. The closure is also crucial in terms of relationship with the client and evaluation of the client's expectations and your project's final results.
In addition, a well-developed project closure helps avoid repeating mistakes on future projects and failing to identify the team or individual responsibilities and achievements.
According to Lucidchart, "By officially closing a project, you minimize risks, increase client satisfaction, and ensure all parties are on the same page." As a result, we want to share six essential steps to close a project. Work through the following checklist to ensure your project is completed. You can use this post as a checklist when evaluating your closing process.
Firstly, make sure you transfer your project's deliverables to the client. Make sure these are completed, handed off, and understandable to the client.
Secondly, make sure to confirm the project's completion: each team member needs to agree on the project's completion before you can formally close it.
Thirdly, you will need to review what you agreed on with your client during the project to ensure that what you have delivered matches the word given to the client. In addition, it is pretty common for a team to conduct a "post-mortem" or project review: find the time to review the project's successes, failures, and challenges.
While reviewing your project, consider the following questions: Did the team members manage their time wisely? Were there issues with the quality or compromises to be made along the way? In addition, try to reflect on a more comprehensive picture of the project performance – you and your team could consider the following questions: What went well? What were the challenges or failures? How well did the team communicate? Did the team follow the outlined processes and plan? Was the client satisfied with the results? The goal of a review is not to assign blame for mistakes: it is a learning opportunity for everyone.
Lastly, you should finalize all documentation (project plans, scope outline, costs, schedule, etc.) and save it for later reference.
What about now? Do not forget to celebrate the end of this milestone! The end of a project is an incredible accomplishment, and you should be proud of being able to present months of hard work and cooperation. Celebrate your successes and take this opportunity to learn from the challenges and mistakes.
The best of luck in these last crucial moments!
