What About Close Out?
by Paula K. Martin, CEO, Martin Training Associates
After the final deliverable is delivered to the customer, most project leaders and teams think they're done. They've completed the task and they're poised to rush off to the next overdue activity demanding their time and attention. Whoa, just one second. What about close out? Surely you've heard of close out? But do you do it? Be honest. The excuses for skipping close out run something like this: "We don't have time for close out. There are other projects that need attention." "The team has already moved onto other things." "Close out is for sissies."
Not completing close out condemns you and each of the members of your team to repeating the same mistakes over, and over, and over again, because it's during close out that you evaluate how well you did and then translate that evaluation into lessons learned. When we learn, we improve. When we fail to learn, we remain ignorant. Close out isn't just for sissies; it's for every project team!
Close out can be broken down into four categories of activities: evaluation, lessons learned, sponsor review, and compiling the close out report. After the final deliverable has been accepted by the customer and you've completed the final status report, ask the customer to evaluate the project. Is she satisfied with the final deliverable? Did it meet her needs? Her expectations? How would she rate the project process? Was she kept informed? Did she have the level of input or participation she desired? What would she have you do differently next time?
Obtain similar feedback from the sponsor and any other key stakeholders. Have them compete a simple evaluation form or sit down and interview them. What went well? What would they change? As your team members the same questions, but also ask them to access the team process - how well did the team work together; did the team achieve the performing stage of team development and if not, why not? Were the team meetings productive and how could they be improved? Compile the results from all of the evaluations.
Now gather the team together one last time. Share the evaluations with them. Capture any ideas for lessons learned that arise out of the team discussion. Write each idea on a Post-It® Note and place it on a piece of flipchart or banner paper that you've taped to the wall. Go through the final status report and evaluate each section. "How did we do in this area? What could we have done better?" Add any new lessons learned to the list. Continue to brainstorm lessons learned. If you've kept a lessons learned list throughout the project, you can transfer these ideas to the banner paper. After all the ideas for lessons learned are recorded on Post-it Notes, ask the team to sort the Notes into similar topics and then have them write a lessons learned statement that captures the overall lesson from that topic.
Next, discuss how the team's lessons learned might be turned into recommendations for improving how other teams or the organization as a whole performs projects. It may be that some of your lessons can be more generally applied - to teams working on the same type of project (such as new product development) or to project teams in general.
Review the lessons learned and recommendations for improvement with your sponsor. Get any final inputs from him before completing the close out report. The close out report should include an executive summary, the final status report, evaluations, lessons learned and recommendations for improvement.
Close out is also about celebrating - taking time to pat yourselves on the back for the good work you've done and recognize the contributions of individuals and the team as a whole. And, recognition and celebration shouldn't wait for close out - these activities should have been done at each major milestone event throughout the project.
Whether you use a four or five phase project management model, the last phase is always close out, the phase that most project leaders and teams ignore. But close out is critical to improving the ongoing success for both yourself and your team. Don't have time for close out? Don't think it's worth the investment? Think again. Take a few minutes to walk through these simple close out steps and improve your own and your team's results for the next project you work on and the one after that, and the one after that . . .
©2003 Paula Martin. All Rights Reserved. Published on ProjectConnections by permission of the author.
Paula Martin is the CEO of Martin Training Associates, a management training and consulting firm. She's the author of seven books including the Project Management Memory Jogger™ and Executive Guide: The 7 Keys to Success. For more information, visit their website: www.martintraining.net. Phone: 866-922-3122.
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