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Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme
Presented by(facilitator name)
Managing Complexity in the Face of Uncertainty
Ch07: How to Close a Project
Steps in closing a project Writing & maintaining client acceptance procedures Installing project deliverables Documenting the project Conducting the post-implementation audit Writing the final report Celebrating success
Summary of Chapter 7
Ch07: How to Close a Project
Acceptance Test Procedure (ATP) Implementation strategies Documenting the project Post-Implementation audit Final project report
Tools, Templates & Processes Used to Close a Project
Ch07: How to Close a Project
Acceptance criteria must be clearly defined
Criteria defined during project planning
Avoid 11th hour disputes (arguments)
Why Do I Need Client Acceptance Procedures?
Ch07: How to Close a Project
Writing and Maintaining Client AcceptanceProcedures
The process of writing and maintaining client acceptance test procedures: begins during requirements gathering, is documented during project planning, is maintained during project execution, and is applied as the only criteria for moving to the project Closing
Phase.
1. Get client acceptance of deliverables.2. Ensure that all deliverables are installed: occurs in
computer systems work.3. Ensure that all documentation is in place.4. Get client sign-off on the final report.5. Conduct a post-implementation audit.6. Celebrate success.
Steps to Closing a Project
Ch07: How to Close a Project
Getting Client Acceptance
The client decides when the project is done.
It is your job as the project manager to demonstrate that the deliverables (whether products or services) meet client specifications.
For small projects, this acceptance can be very informal and ceremonial,
Or it can be very formal, involving extensive acceptance testing against the client’s performance specifications.
Getting Client Acceptance
Ceremonial acceptance is an informal acceptance by the client. It does not have an accompanying sign-off of completion or acceptance. It simply happens.
Formal acceptance occurs in projects for which you and the client have written an acceptance test procedure (ATP). A checklist is used and requires a feature-by-feature sign-off based on performance tests.
There are at least five reasons why you need to write documentation:
1. Reference for future changes in deliverables: for the follow-up projects.
2. Historical record for estimating duration and cost on future projects, activities and tasks
3. Training resource for new project managers: Such items as how the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) was determined
4. Input for further training and development of the project team: such as How a similar problem or change request was handled in the past
5. Input for performance evaluation by the functional managers of the project team members
Documenting the Project
Ch07: How to Close a Project
POS RBS and all revisions Proposal and backup data Original and revised project schedules Minutes of all project team meetings Copies of all status reports Design documents Copies of all change notices Copies of all written communications Outstanding issues reports Final report Sample deliverables (if appropriate) Client acceptance documents Post-implementation audit report
Documenting the Project – The Project Notebook
NOTE:Start the project notebook on the first day
Ch07: How to Close a Project
The post-implementation audit is an evaluation of the project’s goals and activity achievement as measured against the project plan, budget, time deadlines, quality of deliverables, specifications, and client satisfaction.
The following six important questions should be answered:
1. Was the project goal achieved? Does it do what project team said it would? Does it do what client said it would?
2. Was the project work done on time, within budget, and according to specification?
Conducting the Post-Implementation Audit
Ch07: How to Close a Project
Conducting the Post-Implementation Audit
3. Was the client satisfied with the project results? It is possible that the answers to the first two questions are yes, but
the answer to this question is no. How can that happen? Simple: the Conditions of Satisfaction (COS) changed, but no one was aware that they had.
4. Was business value realized? Check success criteria: such as improvement in profit or market
share
5. What lessons were learned about your project management methodology?
Different parts of the methodology may work well for certain types of projects or in certain situations
6. How well did the team follow the methodology?
Six important questions
Managers don’t want to know
Managers don’t want to pay the cost
It’s not a high priority•Other projects are waiting to have work done on them, and completed projects don’t rate very high on the priority list.
There’s too much other scheduled work to do
Reasons for not doing a post-implementation audit
Ch07: How to Close a Project
Executive Summary Overall success and performance of project Organization and administration of project Techniques used to accomplish results Strengths and weaknesses of the approach
What features, practices, and processes proved to be strengths or weaknesses?
Recommendations Appendices
POS WBS Resource Schedule Change Requests Final Deliverables Other
Final Project Report
Ch07: How to Close a Project
Celebrating Success
Ch07: How to Close a Project
There must be some recognition for the project team at the end of the project.
Don’t pass up an opportunity to show the team your appreciation. This simple act on the part of senior management promotes loyalty, motivation, and commitment in their professional staff.