Do you know what’s involved in conducting a successful project close?
When you’ve worked hard for months on a project and it’s finally come together, it can feel like an achievement and even a relief. Your sponsor has approved and all the work is in place. You think you can finally move on to the next project.
But, you’re not finished there. There’s something missing.
A lot of people are too busy rushing onto the next task to realize how important closing the project is. This is a vital stage for success and it’s a sign of good project management.
Just like you have to plan your project at the beginning, you’ve got to reflect and analyze the facts at the end.
Closing your project is not just a milestone on your business calendar, it’s a process that is going to be vital for future success, as well as rounding up your current project.
That’s why it’s important for all organizations to teach their employees about how to conduct successful project close now, rather than later.
Why closing your project is important
The project close is a key learning experience, one you don’t want to walk away from. There’s a lot of lessons you can take forward with you into future projects to ensure they run better.
Your project close is going to outline what you’ve done in the project and what you have learned during the process. This is key to understanding any problems that you’ve had and finding a solution, so they aren’t repeated in the future.
After all, nobody’s got time to waste in business – you don’t need to make mistakes twice.
Alternatively, you can highlight what your team has done well. You want to find out how you’ve done that aspect of the task, so you can carry on doing this in future projects. It’s all about reflection, analysis and learning from the situation.
It’s just like a game of football. The team spends time training and talking tactics before playing the game. After it’s finished, the team will look back at their performance.
They’ll analyze their play and evaluate their actions. Coaches and players will highlight the good and point out the bad. It’s all about learning for the future so you can improve.
In the same way as football, project close is how you can learn and improve in business.
