MBA642

Project Initiation,
Planning and Execution

Workshop Week 12
Project Closeout
 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
Copyright Regulations 1969

WARNING

This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of

Kaplan Business School pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act).

The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any
further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of
copyright protection under the Act.

Do not remove this notice.

2
 Workshop Objectives
• Understand the process
of closing out a project
• Identify the stages for
closing a project
• Examine the activities
associated with closing a
project
• Securing client
acceptance for a project
 Close-out Phase
I. Complete outstanding tasks
II. Transferring assets to client
III. Embedding change and determining benefits
IV. Disbanding the team
V. Post-Implementation Review
 Project Closing Process

Source: Lazar, O. & Serono, M. (2010)

 Stage I
Complete Outstanding Tasks
• Planning the close-out
• Final tasks on the schedule
 Planning the Close-Out
• Check list of what needs finishing
• Assigning resources to close-out tasks
• Holding more frequent team meetings
• Preparing for a diminishing team
• Resolving outstanding issues with suppliers and
contractors
 Final Tasks on the Schedule
• Concentrated focus on ‘loose
ends’
• Reviewing ‘packages’ of work
for final phase
• Review outstanding tasks
– To be completed by team
– To be completed by suppliers or
contractors
– To handover to client to complete
Workshop Activity
• In small groups of 2 or 3,
– Discuss the reasons why tasks
might be handed over to the client
to complete rather than the project
team? Provide examples.
– How could this be avoided?
• Share your results with the
class
 Stage II
Transferring Assets to Client
• Planning for the
transition
• User acceptance
testing
• Training users
• Definite cut-over
• Recording the ‘as
built’ design
• Ongoing
maintenance
 Planning the Transition

• Strategy for cut-over

• Planning the entire process
• Risks & contingencies
 User Acceptance Testing
• Acceptance criteria
• Test Plan or Sign-Off Plan
– Who, what, when
• Test scripts and procedures
• Licenses received
• Test results or ‘Punch List’
• Corrective actions
• Formal acceptance by ‘users’
 Training Users
• Training plan
– Who, what, when, where
• Training material and resources
– Manuals
– Fact sheets
– Procedures
• Train-the-Trainer
• Training performance
• Acceptance criteria
 Definite Cut-Over
• Cut-over strategy
– Pilot
– Stages
– Phased roll-out
– Switch on, turn off
• Cut-over plan
– When, what, how
• Conversion of any existing data and resources
• Back-out plan
– Risks
– Contingencies
– Reverting
 Recording ‘As Built’
• Design documentation
• Specifications, plans and blueprints
• Fact sheets
• Manuals
 Ongoing Maintenance
• Maintenance team identified
– Trained
– Prepared
– Resourced
• Handover
 Workshop Activity
• In small groups of 2 or 3,
– Discuss the major challenges for securing client
acceptance.
– How might you resolve this challenges?
• Share your results with the class
 Stage III
Embedding Change
• Performance criteria
• Monitoring mechanisms
• Check results
• Take action
 Performance Criteria
• Establishing ongoing performance criteria
• Who is responsible for
– Data collection
– Data analysis
– Data reporting
 Performance Monitoring
• Functionality installed to monitor ongoing
performance
 Checking Results
• Initial testing of data collection methods
• Post-implementation reviews of data
• Analysis of results: achievements
 Take Actions
• Corrective action to deal with emerging problems
– Warranty period
– Fixes: who is responsible?
 Workshop Activity
• In small groups of 2 or 3,
identify performance
monitoring mechanisms
that you would ‘embed’
with Kaplan moving to new
premises
• Share your results with the
class
 Phase IV
Disbanding the Team

• Progressive shut-down
• Transitioning resources
• Close out contracts
• Archive documents
• Celebrations
 Progressive Shut-down

• Work schedule for close-out activities

• Reducing reliance on resources
 Transitioning Resources
• Redirect to another project
• Retrain for future role
• Return to permanent role
• Retrench – no longer required
• Terminate causal contracts
 Close Out Contracts
• List of open contracts
• Completion tasks for ‘suppliers’
• Securing supplier sign-off
• Warranties installed, if appropriate
• Archiving contracts
 Archiving Documentation
• Project documentation
– WBS
– Schedules
– Progress reports
– Change ordered
• Employment documentation
• Supplier contracts
• Indexing for easy retrieval
 Celebrations

• Team
• Stakeholders
• Media
 Workshop Activity
• In small groups of 2 or 3, and thinking about
Assessment 3,
– List the activities that might be involved in closing out
that project
• Share your results with the class
 Stage V
Post-Implementation Review
• Review of ‘As Is’ versus plan
• Review budget to actuals
• Record technical difficulties and challenges
• Review success and failures

• Client sign-off
– Contractual closure
• Sponsor sign-off
– Investor approval
 Review ‘As Is’
• Formal ‘audit’ or informal review
• Functionality delivered versus plan
– Planned activity
– Corrective measures
– New functionality added
 Budget vs Actual

• Budgeted spend
• Actual spend
• Identify variances to plan
– Acceptable (+/- 10%)
– Under plan (<10%)
– Over plan (>10%)
• Costs associated with corrective measures
• Costs associated with added functionality
• Analysis of variances
• Lessons learned
 Technical Difficulties
• What happened
• When did it occur
• Why did it happen (cause-effect)
• Lessons
 Successes
• What happened
• When did it occur
• Why did it happen (cause-effect)
• Lessons
 Failures
• What happened
• When did it occur
• Why did it happen (cause-effect)
• Lessons
 Sponsor Sign-Off

• Acceptance criteria
• Final report delivered
• Formal signatures received
• Final payments, if required
 Client Sign-Off
• Acceptance criteria
• Final report delivered
• Formal contractual signatures received
• Final payments, if required
• Testimonials received, if appropriate
 Summary

• Close out is a formal part of

the project life cycle
• Careful planning is required
• User acceptance is critical
• Learn from successes and
failures