Page 301 - Project+

Documenting formal acceptance is important because it signals the official closure of

the project, and it is your proof that the project was completed satisfactorily. Formal
acceptance includes distributing notice of the acceptance of the project results to the
stakeholders.

Ideally, obtaining sign-off should just be a formality. If you’ve involved the sponsor
and stakeholders in the verification and acceptance of the deliverables during the
Executing and Monitoring and Controlling processes, it should be easy to obtain sign-
off on the project.

The sponsor is the person who has the authority to end the project or
accept the final outcome of the project. In cases where you are working on a
project that involves an external customer, the sponsor typically is the customer.

Transferring the Product of the Project

Another function of sign-off is that it kicks off the beginning of the warranty period

and/or the transfer of the product to maintenance and operations. Sometimes project
managers or vendors will warranty their work for a certain time period after
completing the project. Projects that produce software programs, for example, might
be warranted from bugs for a 60- or 90-day time frame from the date of
implementation or the date of acceptance. Typically in the case of software projects,
bugs are fixed for free during the warranty period. Watch out, because users will try to
squeeze new requirements into the “bug” category mold. If you offer a warranty, it’s

critical that the warranty spells out exactly what is covered and what is not.

You should document a transition or integration plan for transferring the product or
result of the project to the organization. Set up a meeting—or a series of meetings,
depending on the complexity of the project—with the manager who will be responsible
for the ongoing upkeep of the product or result you’re turning over. Provide them with
user documentation for the product.

Training is an important component of transition. Document special skills, training,

maintenance issues and costs, licensing costs, warranty periods, and so on. Make
certain the new manager understands any special requirements for maintaining the
product as well.

Releasing Team Members

Releasing team members or other resources may occur once or several times

throughout the project. Projects that are divided into phases will likely release team
members at the end of each phase. Other times, team members are brought on for one
specific activity and are released when that activity is completed. No matter when the
team members are released, you’ll want to keep the functional managers or other

301