Chapter 14 Flashcards
Project Closure
Types of Project Closure
Normal Premature Perpetual Failed Project Changed Priority
Project Closure
Close-out Plan: Questions to be Asked
What tasks are required to close the project?
Who will be responsible for these tasks?
When will closure begin and end?
How will the project be delivered?
Implementing Project Closedown
Getting delivery acceptance from the customer.
Shutting down resources and releasing them to new uses.
Evaluating the team, team members and the project manager; and reassigning project team members.
Closing accounts and paying all bills.
Delivering the project to the customer.
Creating a final report.
Creating the Final Report
Executive Summary
- Project goals met/unmet
- Stakeholder satisfaction with project
- User reactions to quality of deliverables
Review and Analysis
- Project mission and objective
- Procedures and systems used
- Organization resources used
Recommendations
- Technical improvements
- Corrective actions
Lessons Learned
- Reminders
- Retrospectives
Appendix
- Backup data
- Critical information
Reasons for Poor-Quality Project Performance Evaluations:
Evaluations of individuals are left to supervisors of the team member’s home department.
Typically measure team performance only on time, cost, and specifications
Pre-Implementation Conditions: Team
- Are standards and goals for measuring performance clear, challenging, and attainable? Lead to positive consequences?
- Are responsibilities and performance standards known by all team members?
- Are team rewards adequate? Management believes teams are important?
- Is there a career path for successful project managers
- Does the team have discretionary authority to manage short-term difficulties?
- Is there a high level of trust within the organization culture?
- Are there criteria beyond time, cost, and specifications?
Performance Assessment Responsibilities:
Functional organization or functional matrix: the individual’s area manager.
- The area manager may solicit the project manager’s opinion of the individual’s performance on a specific project.
Balanced matrix: the project manager and the area manager jointly evaluate an individual’s performance.
Project matrix and project organizations: the project manager is responsible for appraising individual performance.
Conducting Performance Reviews
Begin by asking the individual to evaluate his or her own performance.
Avoid drawing comparisons with other team members; rather, assess the individual in terms of established standards and expectations.
Focus criticism on specific behaviors rather than on the individual personally.
Be consistent and fair in treatment of all team members.
Treat the review as one point in an ongoing process.
Multiple rating appraisal (360° feedback)
Involves soliciting feedback concerning team members’ performance from all of the people that their work affects.
- Project managers, area managers, peers, subordinates, and customers.
Retrospectives
Lessons Learned
An analysis carried out during and shortly after the project life cycle to capture positive and negative project learning—“what worked and what didn‘t?”
Goals of Retrospectives
To reuse learned solutions
To stop repetitive mistakes
Barriers to Organizational Learning
Lack of post-project time for developing lessons
No post-project direction or support for teams
Lessons become blame sessions
Lessons are not applied in other locations
Organizational culture does not recognize value of learning
Making Retrospectives Effective:
Use an independent facilitator to guide the project team through the analysis project activities.
Include a minimum of three in-process learning gates during the life project cycle.
Designate a team member as owner for each point in the retrospective.
Develop an easy-to-use learning repository to ensure future utilization of retrospective lessons.
Mandate use of retrospectives as part of the normal process for all projects.
Characteristics of a Closure Facilitator
No direct involvement or direct interest in the project.
Perceived as impartial and fair
Respect of senior management and other project stakeholders.
Willingness to listen.
Independence and authority to report audit results without fear of recriminations from special interests.
Perceived as having the best interests of the organization in making decisions.
Broad-based experience in the organization or industry
Initiating the Retrospective Review
Have automatic times or points when audits will take place. Avoid surprises.
Conduct audits carefully and with sensitivity.
Audit staff must independent from the project.
Audit reports need to be used and accessible.
Audits support organizational culture.
Project closures should be planned and orderly.
Certain “core conditions” must be in place to support team and individual evaluation.
Conduct individual and team evaluations separate from pay or merit reviews.
Conducting a Retrospective Analysis
Initiation and staffing
Data collection and analysis
Reporting
Project Process Review Questionnaire
Were the project objectives and strategic intent of the project clearly and explicitly communicated?
Were the objectives and strategy in alignment?
Were the stakeholders identified and included in the planning?
Were project resources adequate for this project?
Were people with the right skill sets assigned to this project?
Were time estimates reasonable and achievable?
Were the risks for the project appropriately identified and assessed before the project started?
Were the processes and practices appropriate for this type of project? Should projects of similar size and type use these systems? Why/why not?
Did outside contractors perform as expected? Explain.
Were communication methods appropriate and adequate among all stakeholders? Explain.
Is the customer satisfied with the project product?
Are the customers using the project deliverables as intended?
Were the project objectives met?
Are the stakeholders satisfied their strategic intents have been met?
Has the customer or sponsor accepted a formal statement that the terms of the project charter and scope have been met?
Were schedule, budget, and scope standards met?
Is there any one important area that needs to be reviewed and improved upon? Can you identify the cause?
