zandax online course logo
zandax website search
zandax phone callback
Info, Blogs, Contact & Login
Courses
Tests

5 Things You Need to Know About How to Close a Project Effectively

From the ZandaX Project Management Blog

Articles to help to manage projects on time and on budget

Home  >  ZandaX Blogs  >  Management Blog  >  Project Management Articles  > 
5 Things You Need to Know About How to Close a Project Effectively

5 Things You Need to Know About How to Close a Project Effectively

A post from our Project Management blog

Article author: Jordan James
      Written by Jordan James
Although project closing might seem like an insignificant step in your project management journey, it is, in fact, a crucial part of delivering a successful project. To help you get this step right, here are 5 things you need to know about how to close a project effectively.

1) Communicate effectively

Communicate

Communication is a crucial part of both managing projects and the close-out process itself. The success of your close-out depends to a great extent on how well you communicate. Whenever you're about to close a project, make sure to send a written note (whether it's an email, a memo, or a letter) to:
  • Project stakeholders, informing them that the project would be officially closed
  • Vendors and suppliers, announcing the end date of the project so they can send their bills
  • Managers of other departments you may have borrowed team members from to inform them of the date they will be released
  • Finance and accounting departments, to ensure the books of accounts for the project are promptly closed

2) Track project deliverables

An effective closure means that you have completed all the deliverables to the satisfaction of the project's sponsor. An essential part of this is to track all these deliverables, and one of the best ways to do that is to create a checklist. You could even hand over some copies of this checklist to the stakeholders so they can verify this too.

If you need some more help with defining and managing project deliverables, Bright Hub PM has a more detailed guide.

3) Release project resources

At the end of a project, more often than not, you will have resources left unused. This could include excess raw materials that weren't used or any other equipment that were hired. You may have hired some members from another department or from externally.

When you're about to close a project, it is your responsibility to release these resources. Essentially, this means that you must return the hired equipment, claim refunds (if any), and manage the unused materials. You could either return these to the vendor for a refund, sell them off yourself or transfer them to another department or project.

Always make sure that the additional hires have been paid and released from employment or transferred back to their department.

4) Reward team members

As your project comes to a close, always make sure to acknowledge, recognise and appreciate the contribution of your team members. You can do this in several different ways. You could:
  • Appreciate the contribution of each and every team member recognising their intent
  • Recognise the team members who made some outstanding contributions to the project
  • Reward team members for their contributions as suitable
  • Organize a project success party
Mind Tools has a great guide on when and how to say thank you, and some ideas on how you can reward your team.

5) Create a close-out report

Close-Out Report

Reporting the project closure may not sound like the most exciting part of a project, but it is crucial, and here's why:
  • A close-out report serves as a crucial resource for future projects.
  • The stakeholders get a formal assurance that the project has been completed.
  • You have a written confirmation of the project closure duly signed by important stakeholders as a confirmation that they are aware of the project's closure.
  • It comes in handy during times of disputes.
A detailed close-out report should contain details about the process used during the project, the mistakes, the lessons learned, and how successful the project was in achieving the initial goals. Your final report could also contain the following details.
  • The structure of the project
  • Various project management techniques used during the course of the project
  • A list of all team members who worked on the project and their respective roles and extent of involvement in the project
  • Important milestones of the project
  • Important lessons learned through the course of the project
  • Constraints and obstacles the project team had to face
  • Measures taken to bring the project back on course
  • Processes used to track activity completion
  • Performance of the project in relation to the project planning schedule
  • Your recommendations for future projects

Back to the Project Management blog

Click the button for more Project Management articles.

The ZandaX Leadership & Management blog

Click a panel for great articles on leadership & management

Write For Us

We pride ourselves on our busy, high-quality and helpful blog, and we're always looking for guest contributors to increase the variety and diversity of what we present.

Click to see how you can write for us with an original and well-written guest post.

ZandaX Blog Contents

Want to see them all? Click to view a full list of articles in our blogs.

Online courses to boost your skills
Click a button to see more about each course
Personal Development
Microsoft Software
 
 
Leadership & Management
Sales & Presentations
Service & Support
 
 
ZandaX online training course logo
ZandaX – Change Your Life ... Today
All content © ZandaX 2023
ZandaX LinkedIn logo
ZandaX LinkedIn logo
ZandaX LinkedIn logo
Close menu element
See how you score on a range of skills that are critical to your well-being and performance
Communication Skill test
Communication Skills
How Can You Communicate Better?
Would you like to see what kind of communicator you are? And how you can improve the effectiveness of your communications?
Likeability test
Likeability
How Much Do People Like You?
Do you sometimes wonder just how likeable you are? And wouldn't you like to see how you can (genuinely) become more likeable?


Time Management test
Time Management
How Can You Make More Use Of Your Time?
Are you frustrated by how easily time slips away? Do you get frustrated when things don't get done just because you run out of time?
Assertiveness test
Assertiveness
Are you Passive, Aggressive or Assertive?
Would you like to know where you fall on the behavior spectrum? Does your response to events sometimes surprise you?


Close menu element
Information & Resources
ZandaX information
Information
Read more about us, our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Service
See how we want to help you, and how we make everything easy for everyone
Callback request
ZandaX Blogs
Articles to increase your knowledge and understanding in key areas of your life and career.
Read our blogs on Personal Development, Business Skills and Leadership & Management


Time Management test
Log In
Log in to your online dashboard
View your courses, review what you want and download your workbooks and certificates
Assertiveness test
Contact Us
An easy online form to get in touch
With options for More Information, Customer Service and Feedback


Close menu element
Develop Your Skills, Knowledge and Understanding with ZandaX
Click any subject in the listings for more information and a full list of courses

Personal Development
Personal Development training
Your soft skills affect everything you do, at work, at home and with friends ... they are truly life changing!
NEW COURSES
Online training courses
Hot Off the Press...
We're always adding to and upgrading our courses, so here are a few of our latest releases:
For a full listing of courses, please visit our Quick Course Finder to find exactly what you want.
Site Cookies
We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better.

You can change your cookie settings in your browser. Otherwise, we'll assume you're OK to continue.

I'm fine with this