Page 298 - Project+

performance reviews.

Project Endings

You’ve made it to the end of the project and to the end of the project lifecycle. The
Closing process is the last phase of the project management lifecycle, and it’s the most

often overlooked. However, there are a few key activities you’ll want to complete in the
Closing phase. Before diving into those activities, let’s look at the characteristics of
closing and the reasons projects come to an end.

Characteristics of Closing

A few characteristics are common to all projects during the Closing phase. You’ve
already completed the majority of the work of the project—if not all of the work—so the

probability of not finishing the project is low. Risk is low in this process group also
because the work is completed. There’s little chance that a risk would occur at the end
that would derail the project. Stakeholders have the least amount of influence during
the Closing processes, while project managers have the greatest amount of influence.
Costs are significantly lower during this phase because the majority of the project work
and spending has already occurred.

All projects eventually come to an end, and there are several types of project endings

I’ll cover next.

Types of Project Endings

We all usually think of a project coming to an end when all the deliverables are
completed. Ideally, this is what you’ll experience most of the time. There are several
reasons that a project might end, including but not limited to these:

They are completed successfully.

They evolve into ongoing operations and no longer exist as projects.

Their budgets are slashed.

The project resources are redirected to other activities or projects.

The customer goes out of business or is merged with another entity.

They are canceled prior to completion.

I’ve worked on many projects that ended in cancelation. This can occur for any number
of reasons: project sponsors move on to other assignments, budgets are cut, new
management comes into power and changes direction, vendors don’t perform as
anticipated, and many more. The important thing to remember about cancelation is

that all the steps of project closeout should be performed when a project is canceled so
that the records are archived and the reasons for cancelation are documented.

All the reasons for project endings I just listed, including cancelation, are incorporated

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