see attachment
Project Management Strategy and Tactics 1
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
3. Summarize the project management process groups.
3.1 Explain the tasks completed during the closing phase of a project.
3.2 Evaluate lessons learned in a project.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
3.1
Part 2: Chapter 6
Article: “A Case Study of Project and Stakeholder Management Failures:
Lessons Learned”
Article: “Project Teams and KM–Part 3 The Benefits of Identifying and Sharing
Lessons Learned Across Projects”
Unit VII PowerPoint Presentation
3.2
Unit Lesson
Part 2: Chapter 6
Article: “A Case Study of Project and Stakeholder Management Failures:
Lessons Learned”
Article: “Project Teams and KM–Part 3 The Benefits of Identifying and Sharing
Lessons Learned Across Projects”
Unit VII PowerPoint Presentation
Part 2: Chapter 6: Closing Process Group
In order to access the following resources, click the links below.
Sutterfield, J. S., Friday-Stroud, S. S., & Shivers-Blackwell, S. L. (2006, December). A case study of project
and stakeholder management failures: Lessons learned. Project Management Journal, 37(5), 26–35.
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Trees, L. (2018). Project teams and KM–Part 3 The benefits of identifying and sharing lessons learned across
projects. KM World, 27(1), 25–29.
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Unit Lesson
Introduction
In Unit VI, we focused on the controlling process group, which takes place during the execution phase. In Unit
VII, we will focus on the final process group, which is the closing process group. In many instances, the
project team is excited to be done with the project, and the closing process group often does not receive the
attention that it needs. The closing process group includes all of the final processes that are necessary to
close out the project and deliver the final project deliverables to the project stakeholders. Finishing strong is
important in any project, as this ensures that all details have been finalized, and the project stakeholders will
UNIT VII STUDY GUIDE
Closing
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Project Management Strategy and Tactics 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
be left with a positive impression of the project manager and the project team. It is the responsibility of the
project manager to ensure that all contract obligations have been met and signed off on by the project
stakeholders. Until the final sign-off has occurred, the project is not officially closed.
Lessons Learned
The closing process group is essential not only to officially close the project, but it also serves as an
opportunity to review the lessons learned. These lessons learned, which you have been documenting in the
lessons learned register throughout the project, are listed below:
• techniques, tools, or technology that were particularly helpful (or a hinderance) in maintaining the
project scope, schedule, and budget;
• variances that occurred, corrective actions that were applied to the variances, and effectiveness of
corrective actions;
• claims; and
• general information on how to improve the process.
The lessons learned process includes the five steps, which are shown below.
Lessons learned are used by the organization, project managers, and project teams in their future planning
processes. The more information that can be collected, the more data that will be available for future teams to
use to make informed decisions about their projects.
Let’s dive deeper into the tasks completed during the closing process group.
Closing Out the Project
Most projects are quite complex, and as a project progresses, more workflow is usually required. The
project’s end can create as many details as were found in the initiation and planning process groups. Even if
the project experienced proper execution of all activities and the project manager conducted monitoring and
controlling of all processes, there are still many tasks to ensure that the project comes to a successful close.
As noted in the textbook, the closing process group consists of those processes performed to conclude all
activities across all project management process groups to formally complete the project, phase, or
contractual obligation (Project Management Institute [PMI], 2017). To learn about the activities involved in the
closing process group, we will explore the processes involved to ensure that the project is closed out correctly
and effectively.
Closing Project Process
For the closing process group, there are three outputs that should be completed. They include the final
product, service/result transition, and the organizational process assets update. The final product is the actual
deliverable that was created based on the project’s scope. For the project to be approved, the project
stakeholders will review the scope and determine if the final product includes all of the requirements as stated
in the scope statement. The service/result transition is the process of taking the project deliverable and
beginning implementation. For example, if the project were to create new time tracking software for
employees to record their time, the next step would be to transition the software from the hands of the project
team to the end users. It is important to note that even if the deliverable is completed, there may be additional
steps before the final product can be used. In our example, installing the software may not have been in the
scope of work for the project team, so the information technology department would be responsible for the
Project Management Strategy and Tactics 3
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final implementation. The final output is to provide an update to the processes that may have been impacted
from the final product. Most organizations map out their operational processes; therefore, any change to the
products used to complete the operations must be updated to reflect the changes.
The organizational process assets update is a more complex process and will take the project team time to
complete. This update involves recording all of the project’s artifacts, such as the project management plan,
the risk register, and the stakeholder register. Formal documentation must be completed for the completion of
the project. The project manager and the project stakeholders will review all contracts to ensure that the
stakeholders accept the final project. An essential activity that takes place during the update is the process of
documenting all lessons learned from the project. The lessons learned will assist future project managers with
areas to avoid and areas to focus on to ensure project success going forward. Lessons learned can only be
captured if the project had the correct monitoring and documentation during the project. The lessons learned
should not only focus on the problems encountered; it should also document the successes that the project
team experienced.
Close Procurements Process
Once the project has ended, it is important for all contracts to be closed out as well. The contracts are the
agreements between the project stakeholders and the project manager for the expectations of the project. In
addition, separate contracts may have been created for the budget, the schedule, and various phases of the
project. The project stakeholders and the project manager should review all contracts, and the project
stakeholders must sign off on all contracts before the project can be officially closed. Any bank account or
other financial account created for the project should also be closed. Any additional funds in the accounts
should be delivered to the project stakeholders. Closing the contracts and all accounts ensures that the
project can be archived and officially closed. Remember, to be a project, there must be a start date and an
end date. Within the closing process group, there are two processes of focus, which include closing the
project and closing procurements. A project may be closed and not accepted by the project stakeholders. This
could be the case for a cancelled project or one that stakeholders do not accept but do not want the same
team working on. Until the project is officially closed, the procurement process cannot begin. The
procurement process, as noted above, is the final step in the project management cycle (PMI, 2017).
Closing Checklist
Due the complexity of the closing process, it is important for project managers to create a checklist to ensure
that no task is forgotten. Below is a sample checklist that would be suitable for most projects.
Create closing procedures. Closing procedures help you to complete the closing process smoothly
and should include which member of the project team will be responsible for certain tasks. The
project manager should review all tasks to ensure they were completed correctly.
Complete all contracts. This item is usually completed several times for each contract that the project
manager created. The contracts could be with various stakeholders. The process is continued until all
contracts have been closed.
Verify the deliverable to the scope requirements. This is an important step, as the deliverable must
match the project’s scope to be accepted by the project stakeholders. If not, the project stakeholders
will not sign off on the project.
Obtain acceptance from the stakeholders. The stakeholders will likely have their own process for
reviewing the project’s deliverable, but the project manager should ensure that the scope is used and
verified by the project stakeholders.
Submit the final performance reports. The project manager is responsible for creating performance
reports for all project members. This is not only important for the project itself, but it is also important
for the members. Most project members will be seeking additional projects, and the performance
reports can be used in this process.
Index and archive all of the project’s records. This task is important so the records can be easily
accessed, as needed.
Document the project’s lessons learned. The lessons learned are documented for the benefit of other
project managers. They can learn from the project and the positives and negatives that were
experienced. This information allows project managers to have a baseline for their planning;
therefore, they do not have to start from scratch in the planning phase.
Hand-off the completed project deliverables to the end users for the project stakeholders. The project
Project Management Strategy and Tactics 4
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Title
stakeholders will now be responsible for the additional decisions made regarding the project’s
deliverables.
Release the team from the project. The project team members will likely return to their “normal”
position or seek another project to join.
Celebrate! If the project was a success, the project team should take the time to celebrate the win
and have one last team-building moment together.
Conclusion
The closing process group is the final stage of the project. During the closing process group, the project
manager and the team are responsible for ensuring that all tasks have been completed and the project is
ready to end. The final closing procedure cannot be completed without the final sign-off from the project
stakeholders. These stakeholders will verify that the project’s deliverables meet the agreed-upon scope. If the
stakeholders accept the project, the project team will have met all of its obligations. Before returning to their
day-to-day job or moving on to another project, the project team will take the time to record the lessons
learned.
The lessons learned process includes five steps: identify, document, analyze, store, and retrieve. This data is
used by future project managers during the planning of their projects and provides a baseline of the
information needed to plan and execute successful projects.
Reference
Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK®
guide) (6th ed.). https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781628253900
In order to access the following resource, click the link below.
The following study explores the significant challenges faced by government and business project delivery
organizations to ensure that lessons are learned and that mistakes of the past are not repeated.
Paver, M., & Duffield, S. (2019). Project management lessons learned: “The elephant in the room”. Journal of
Modern Project Management, 104–125.
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Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit
them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information.
Visit the website YouTube, and perform a search for each of the following keyword search terms to view a
wide variety of resources that offer additional insight into this unit’s topics. Note the channels or authors
whose videos you find most helpful, and consider bookmarking or subscribing to them for continued
professional development. It is suggested when looking for online resources, you choose those that are most
recent, as they will offer the most up-to-date information.
Keyword search terms for this unit are listed below.
• Project management closing
• Project management lessons learned
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Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VII
Learning Activity
Required Unit Resources
Unit Lesson
Introduction
Lessons Learned
Closing Out the Project
Closing Project Process
Close Procurements Process
Closing Checklist
Conclusion
Reference
Suggested Unit Resources
Learning Activities (Nongraded)
Unit VII PowerPoint Presentation
Instructions
As the project manager for the Lucky Me Animal Rescue annual adoption event, you have noticed that most project team members do not fully grasp the tasks that take place during the closing process group, nor do they fully understand the lesson learned process. Therefore, you must prepare a PowerPoint presentation to use during a training that you will hold for the project team members as you prepare to enter this phase of the project.
Your PowerPoint presentation must address the prompts below.
· Explain each of the tasks in the closing process group.
. You may use the sample closing checklist provided in the unit lesson as a baseline or follow a different version with which you are familiar or have found in your research.
. Use the animal adoption event project to illustrate how each task is applied.
· Evaluate the lessons learned from the animal rescue project.
. Be sure to present the information in a way that will help the team understand the value of this task to the organization and/or future projects and teams.
. You will need to hypothesize at least three lessons learned on which to base your evaluation. Choose realistic examples that would have been documented in the lessons learned register throughout the course of this project and that can serve as valuable training opportunities for your team.
Your PowerPoint presentation must be a minimum of 10 slides in length, not counting the title and reference slides. You must utilize the speaker notes function in PowerPoint to elaborate on your slide content. Each content slide must have a minimum of 75 words in the speaker notes area; however, ensure that you are not repeating actual slide content.
Alternatively, you may add audio narration to each slide with the same word count requirement listed above. Should you choose this option, you will need to submit a transcript of your presentation audio in as an appendix after your PowerPoints (PPT) presentations reference list when you upload your assignment in Blackboard. Appendices, other supporting materials etc. are added after your reference list. Appendices are labelled, for example, Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, etc. Each appendix starts on a page of its own. Appendices and other supporting materials should not be submitted separately in the Blackboard.
You must use at least three sources that are peer-reviewed or academic in nature, one of which may be the textbook. Adhere to APA Style when creating citations and references for all sources used.