Project Closure and Auditing

These sections focus on the tasks needed to close a project once the deliverables are complete.

Glossary

  • audit - A deep investigation into any or all aspects of a project, with the aim of enabling stakeholders to make fully informed decisions about the project's future. An audit can provide a focused, objective review of part or all of a project.
  • audit report - A report created at the end of an audit that typically contains an explanation of the context of the audit, including the overall focus or any important issues; an analysis of data, interviews, and related research compiled during the audit; action-oriented recommendations; and, in some cases, lessons learned and possibly one or more supporting appendices.
  • change management - "Minimizing resistance to organizational changes through the involvement of key players and stakeholders" (Business Dictionary n.d.).
  • close-out meeting - An opportunity to end a project the way you started it - by getting the team together. During this important event, the team should review what went well, what didn't go well, and identify areas for improvement. All of this should be summarized in the final close-out report. A final close-out meeting with the customer is also essential. This allows the organization to formally complete the project and lay the groundwork for potential future work.
  • close-out report - A final summary of project performance. It should include a summary of the project and deliverables; data on performance related to schedule, cost, and quality; a summary of the final product, service, or project and how it supports the organization's business goals; risks encountered and how they were mitigated; and lessons learned.
  • genchi genbutsu - A key principle of the famously Lean Toyota Production System, which means "go and see for yourself". In other words, if you really want to know what's going on in a project, you need to actually go to where your team is working, and then watch and listen.
  • project audit/review - An inquiry into any or all aspects of a project, with the goal of learning specific information about the project.
  • project closure - According to most project management publications, the final phase of a project. However, in the broader, living order vision of a project's life cycle, project closure often merely marks the end of one stage and the transition to another stage of the project's overall life cycle - although exactly where your work falls in the project's lifecycle depends on your perspective as to what constitutes "the project" in the first place.
  • recovery manager - Term used by Todd C. Williams in Rescue the Problem Project to refer to a consultant brought in from the outside to audit a failing project, and, if possible, get it back on the path to success (17-19).
  • strategic inflection point - As defined by Andrew Grove, CEO of Intel from 1997 to 2005, "a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change. That change can mean an opportunity to rise to new heights. But it may just as likely signal the beginning of the end" (1999, 3). A strategic inflection point in an individual project is a time in the life of a project when its fundamentals are about to change.
  • project auditor - The person responsible for leading an audit or review. Ideally, the project auditor is an outsider who is perceived by all project stakeholders to be fair and objective. He or she should have excellent listening skills and broad-base knowledge of the organization or industry.