Article by Dora B. Tarver

The final phase of the project life cycle is also referred to as the closeout phase or the final closure and during this last stage, it is the duty and the responsibility of the project manager to ensure that the entire project is brought to a stage of proper final and final completion. The sole emphasis is on the proper release of the final deliverables to the client that includes submitting a written project review report formally that includes, but is not limited to the components like identifying the project completion criteria, getting a formal acceptance of the final product from the client along with a formal notification regarding project closure to higher management, stating and listing outstanding deliverables and activities, planning the handover of project documentation and releasing projects resources to the business, supplier contracts and agreements closure and termination, and communicating the closure of the project to all the groups and the stakeholders involved. This phase of the project life cycle neither involves the use of neither a special tool nor a specific methodology. It is all about creating a plan for passing on the deliverables to the client. Another important aspect of this phase if checking whether the initial requirements specified by the client match the final product that is delivered, which is referred to as ‘Weighted Critical Measurements.’ The closure phase needs to be perfect as the steps executed in this part of the life cycle determine the final success of the project to a great extent. It is a time when project managers and teams get to conduct sessions and understand more about the lessons they learnt and also do a SWOT analysis to understand what went well during the project and which were the bottlenecks that need to be addressed. This type of analysis and knowledge exchange and transfer translates into a better hands-on learning experience, which will help the future project teams of the parent organization do a lot better.