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Administering the change control process

Monitoring the budget

The Closing Processes

The primary purpose of the Closing processes is to document the formal acceptance of
the project work and to hand off the completed product to the organization for ongoing
maintenance and support.

Closing processes include project sign-off, archive of project documents, turnover to a

maintenance group, release of project team members, and review of lessons learned.

The key activities in the Closing process are as follows:

Transition/integration plan to the maintenance/operations team

Training for those who will support the product, service, or result of the project
once it’s turned over to operations

Project acceptance and sign-off

Archiving project documents

Documenting lessons learned

Releasing resources

Closing contract

This process group or phase is the one most often skipped in project management. And
although some of these activities may seem fairly straightforward, several elements of
this process group deserve close attention. Chapter 10, “Project Tools and Documents,”
will explore the last stages of a project.

Use the old (and now outdated) poison antidote, syrup of ipecac, to help
you remember the process groups in order: Initiating, Planning, Executing,

(Monitoring and) Controlling, and Closing.

Creating the Project Charter

The result of the Initiating process is the project charter. This document provides
formal approval for the project to begin and authorizes the project manager to apply
resources to the project. The project sponsor is the one who publishes, signs, and

approves the project charter. Publishing the charter is a major milestone because it is
the first official document of your approved project.

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