Project Closure in 5 Simple Steps

Imagine yourself in the car on a long road trip…

Spotify plays one catchy song after another. The kind of songs where the first second is enough - you instantly recognize it.

Lenny Kravitz sings “It Ain't Over 'til It's Over”

Then Queen’s “We will rock you” comes on

You drum along on your steering wheel.

Boom boom clap.
Boom boom clap.
Boom boom clap
Boom boom clap.

“We will, we will rock …”

Look closely 👆.

I didn’t write “you” there. On purpose. But I’m sure that you said it, maybe even out loud.

Why?

We crave closure. We hate to be left hanging.

But in projects, we do that all the time…

We rarely close our projects.

It’s like a date without a kiss, and not even realizing you missed something.

Lenny said it 32 years ago: It Ain't Over 'til It's Over!

Why bother?

Let’s define the issue briefly: you’re almost done with your project, and something new pops up.

It could be something you really want to do, or something that is about to start draining your team as people get moved to the next big thing.

What happens next is that the final few deliverables are done “good enough”, nothing is documented, and everyone runs off.

Sounds familiar?

I bet it does. And it’s a lot easier than going through the administrative motion of shutting down a project properly, too.

But it will backfire. Trust me.

In a few months, something will come up. Someone asks where something is documented, how to access an environment, or why something works the way it does.

Or your organization does a similar project and has to reinvent the wheel. Nothing was learned from your months of hard effort.

The worst one? A stakeholder says “This is not what we agreed upon”.

Ouch.

Turn trouble into an opportunity!

I’m here to argue that closing a project properly is a huge opportunity.

Let me explain…

Imagine if every time you started a new project, you had an archive of previous projects within the company.

In that archive, you could see what was done, when, by whom, and how. What worked, and what didn’t? Imagine what kind of advantage that would be!

But it’s more than that.

Closing a project is also an opportunity for your team & stakeholders to share their feedback, and to give credit where credit is due.

Let’s look at how you do it:

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Project closure in 5 steps:

Step 1: Wrap up deliverables

Obviously, you can’t close a project until you’re done. But how many times has a stakeholder or sponsor encouraged you to move on before you were completely finished?

It happens all over, and it’s your job to push back. Don’t accept it.

Review your project plan and your change log, and make sure that everything is delivered as agreed.

Step 2: Administrative closure

This is the boring and procedural part, I know. But if you skip this, you might never finish.

• Hand over “the keys” and get your documents signed by clients, vendors, contractors, and the steering committee. Agree together that you’re done.

• Update any project docs that will live on - like procedures or logs that might be referred to in the future.

• Close your project financially, and release your team members to other projects.

• Close test environments, working folders, and other temporary assets.

• Make sure all files are stored in the right place for future reference.

Treat it like the Japanese locker room at the FIFA world cup after they lost: left cleaner than they found it.

Step 3: Hold a debrief

A post-mortem. A retrospective. “Coffee & closure”.

Whatever you call it, and however you run it: you have to host one of these meetings. If you're interested in a detailed guide on how to run this meeting, let me know by replying 'debrief'.

In a nutshell, a meeting like this gives your team the opportunity to discuss what worked well and what didn’t.

What would you do differently if you had a similar project in the future? What opportunities are there for improvement? Feedback on setup, process, and on how you worked as a team is what makes your next project better.

Take your lessons learned and add them to your company’s lessons learned directory. If you don’t have one - creating one is a heck of an opportunity for you to shine!

Step 4: Communicate

With your project closed, your customer happy, and your lessons learned, you have something to talk about.

Every organization is different, and that means that the “right” way of doing this is different for everyone too. What’s not different is that you should take the opportunity to share with your stakeholders:

• That you’re done

• What the results are

• What will happen next

• Give credit to key players

• What went well, and what didn’t

If all else fails, this comes back to my initial point. People crave closure, and so do groups of people.

Tell them what happened, and how the story of your project ends.

It builds understanding and momentum in the organization, and gives credit to those that deserve it.

Step 5: Celebrate!

You’re done, and everything is wrapped up. What’s left is the fun part: celebrate your success!

Even if you had a lot of lessons learned, it’s crucial that the team leaves on a high. How you do this differs for every organization. From exotic trips to a nice dinner - you decide this together with your sponsor.

You don’t have to go crazy here though. A quick message from the sponsor or CEO acknowledging a team’s effort and achievements can go a long way.

One final tip: your celebration is about team success. If you start handing out medals for individual performance, realize that those who won’t get one will feel left out. And if you hand out 20 medals, they lose their magic.

Use the moment to unite, laugh, and build momentum for future projects.

Close projects with confidence

Closing projects is not the sexy part, but it’s just as important as planning them. If only it got 1% of that attention…

Closing a project in 5 steps:

1. Finish all your deliverables

2. Close all administrative tasks

3. Hold a structured project debrief

4. Show you’re stakeholders you’re done

5. Celebrate in style, and move to the next one

Closing a project properly is an incredible opportunity for you to stand out. It ensures that your organization learns, gives credit, and starts the next project with a huge advantage.

Now it’s your turn: save this and use it when your next project is done!

That’ll do for this week. Next week, we’re up for a big one: waterfall vs agile. If you have any specific questions about that, please share them in a reply and I’ll make sure to address them!

Cheers,

Jasper