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Project closure: 5 step checklist to close projects (with examples).

October 4, 2023

Project closure is an integral part of project management. It’s the final phase when deliverables are tested against KPIs and the scope , loose ends are tied up, lessons are learned, the handover is complete, and a project is signed off on.

In many ways, project closure is as important as a kick-off meeting and the scope of work (SOW). It’s something managers should set aside time for, to ensure that project deliverables have been completed as expected and that the project was executed successfully . 

In this post, we’ll walk you through a step-by-step process for closing a project and give you five handy templates you can use to streamline the project closure process for your team. 

What is Project Closure?

Why is project closure important, types of project closure, 1. implement completion tasks, 2. refer to the project scope or brief to ensure goals are met , 3. complete a client debrief and an internal 360-degree learning meeting , 4. ensure documentation is complete and handovers are done.

• 5. Thank everyone involved and disband the project team 

1. ClickUp Project Closure List View Template 

2. clickup project closure task view template , 3. clickup 4ls retro template , 4. clickup feedback form template , 5. clickup project handover template .

Whether a project is internal or is being delivered collaboratively by a third party, such as a software development firm or a marketing agency, it should always end with a project closure phase. 

Project closure is the final mission-critical phase in the project management life cycle. It marks the end of a project, the last key performance indicator before any deliverables can start making an impact on an organization. 

For example, if the aim is to roll out new customer relationship management software in an enterprise organization, this can take time, especially if third-party vendors or consultants are involved.

However, it’s worth taking the time necessary: Most projects (of any size) run a lot smoother when there’s project management software to keep everyone on task, focused, and on the same page. 

Effective project wrap-ups can help to define a team’s culture. Everything a team member or project lead learns from implementing and delivering a project⏤successes and failures⏤can be taken forward into future projects. 

It’s equally important to ensure that documentation, assets, and other deliverables are passed on to a client and signed off on. Otherwise, the client could say a project wasn’t completed as expected, especially if those assets were included in the contract. 

Project closure involves answering a handful of questions to ensure everything is wrapped up, including:

• Have the goals and objectives been met?
• Is the client happy with the project documentation and deliverables? 
• Was the project properly completed on time and on budget? 
• Are there takeaway lessons from any bottlenecks or mid-process problems that would be helpful for future project teams?
• Are senior leaders and managers or other stakeholders happy with the project outcomes? 
• What return on investment can be expected, or what return on investment will the client experience after closing a project? 
• For future reference—was it worth the time, effort, and money invested? 
• Now that it has been delivered, are stakeholders and staff who will use the deliverable (e.g., a new software application) aware of it and trained? 

How you answer these questions depends on whether you’re delivering a project internally or for a client. Each party will approach this project management process differently.

Project closure is important because it determines whether the project was a success or a failure and what can be learned. Too often, projects are just measured on budget and timescale standards.

There’s more to success than just numbers. Did we meet the mark on quality? Did we crush our business goals? These factors are so important if you want to knock the project out of the park.

There are several types of project closure that can be implemented depending on the specific circumstances and objectives of the project. Here are some common types:

• Normal Closure: This is the standard and most common type of project closure, where the project is completed as planned, all deliverables are produced, and all objectives and goals are achieved. The project team wraps up all remaining tasks, conducts final reviews and approvals, and formally closes the project.
• Premature Closure: If you’re using project management software, this means that you would be able to tick every action item as complete. Unfortunately, not every project closing phase ends this way. Some projects are closed before they can get off the ground. When a project is canceled as it’s about to start, it’s known as premature closure . 
• Partial Closure: Sometimes, a project may be partially closed when certain components or phases have been completed successfully, but others are still ongoing. This type of closure allows for a phased approach, where the completed parts are closed while the remaining work continues. It helps manage dependencies and prioritize resources effectively.
• Consolidation Closure: In cases where multiple related projects are being executed simultaneously, a consolidation closure may be performed. This involves consolidating the outputs, learnings, and resources from multiple projects into a single closure process. It helps ensure consistency, knowledge transfer, and efficient utilization of resources across projects.
• Suspension Closure: If a project needs to be temporarily suspended due to external factors or operational constraints, a suspension closure is performed. The project is put on hold until the circumstances allow it to resume. During the closure, the team documents the project status, resources, and any necessary actions required upon resumption.
• Failed Closure: Unfortunately, not all projects succeed. A failed closure occurs when a project is unable to achieve its objectives or deliver the desired outcomes. In such cases, the project is closed without accomplishing the intended goals. It is crucial to conduct a thorough analysis of the reasons for failure, document lessons learned, and determine any salvageable components or potential adjustments for future projects.

Now let’s dive into the steps to take when closing a project.

5 Steps to Complete the Project Closure Process

Here are five steps for project management teams to take when closing a project and getting sign-off from clients and stakeholders. 

Loose ends always need wrapping up during the final stages of any project. 

Major project deliverables will have been completed, so make sure smaller action items and goals haven’t been overlooked. This could include the following: 

• Ancillary assets and deliverables
• Project documentation and, in the case of software deliverables, product guides 
• Any training that needs delivering 
• Files and intellectual property that a client owns upon completion have been transferred
• Invoices sent and paid 
• Any other admin tasks that need doing before you can start going through the project closure process 

Now that loose ends have been wrapped up, it’s time to check back against the original scope or brief to assess whether goals have been met. 

Project success is measured against numerous criteria and key performance indicators. On a high level, most projects are assessed against a handful of core metrics: 

• Did we deliver what the client expected? 
• Was the project closing process on time and within budget? 
• Is the client happy with the quality and pleased to sign off on the deliverables? 
• Have business and operational goals and objectives been achieved? 

Providing that the management team and project management team involved can answer yes to most⏤ ideally, all⏤of these questions, then it has been a success. Achieving the objectives on one project could be useful if you’re wanting to work with the same organization again on a new project. 🛠️

That’s why a performance post-mortem and project closing process is so valuable. You can use this time to review outcomes and lessons with the client, as well as internally.

A project manager can also use this information for an internal 360-degree learning meeting so that actionable lessons can be applied to future project documents, workflows, and processes.

Team members will appreciate the feedback and direction on project performance to do even better next time around.

Debriefs are amongst the most useful parts of the closing process. A project manager should make time for two: an internal debrief, also known as a 360-degree learning meeting, and a client debrief and handover meeting. 

Aim to hold the internal meeting call or in-person session before talking to the client. This way, everyone in your project management processes are on the same page.

If anything went wrong during the project closing phase, it’s useful to know who takes ownership of the mistakes and how issues were resolved. 

Project managers need to use this time to review the entire process with the project team, from start to finish, including key milestones. 

During the 360-degree meeting, be honest with yourself and the project team. Ask yourself: 

• What went wrong?
• What went well? 
• Have project resources been used effectively? 
• How successful was the team at delivering against the project plan? 
• What have we learned? 
• What can we do better next time? 

Document the outcomes of the internal meeting so you’re more prepared for the project closing phase debrief with the client. 

Most clients will ask similar questions to those listed above. Plus, they’ll want to assess outputs and deliverables against the scope, initial brief, goals, and objectives. 

Stakeholders and senior leaders measuring project success are ultimately wanting to make sure they got what they paid for. If you want to be thorough, write all of this up into a project closure report so they can compare it against the project plan. 

PRO TIP What if a project hasn’t turned out exactly as planned? Documenting what happened and why is crucial. During a project, always log everything that happens in your project management software, record meetings and calls, and keep copies of emails in your platform too. This way clients can’t dispute invoices during the project closing process. 

Do you have a plan for the handover of a project? If so, now’s the time to kick this plan into action as part of the close-out process. If not, then a project manager should make a plan.

At this stage of the project close out, it’s often simply a case of ensuring that documents, files, and other assets are given to the client as expected. For more complicated project deliverables, such as software and apps, the end-of-the-project life cycle might involve testing, training, and debugging. 

When handing over anything from a website to software, the client needs to know how it works. Otherwise, it’s like paying for a car you can’t drive. As part of this, ensure you’ve given the client everything they need: 

• Admin-level access to the project deliverables
• Documentation and manuals 
• Training or training materials 
• Intellectual property and other assets 
• Access to ongoing support as required 

Handovers are useful for establishing long-term trust. It will be easier to land future projects knowing you’ve closed out one successfully. A project closure report can be useful to help secure the next project from the same company.

And a smooth handover results in happier clients, fewer questions post-closure, and the potential to secure ongoing work. Tick off your project closure checklist in your project documentation tool so that you know it’s done. 

5. Thank everyone involved and disband the project team  

With the client happy, the project complete, the handover done, and project documents passed on, all that’s left is to thank everyone and disband the project team. 🙌

As the project manager, make sure every team member knows how well they performed. Internalize lessons. Remember to document the process and workflow changes that you’ll want to implement on future projects. 

It’s the same for any wins, shortcuts, or new tools tried out. If you’ve found something that will help deliver future work more efficiently, then you can incorporate everything you’ve learned into workflows and processes in the future. 

Now you can reassign the team members to other projects, tasks, and clients. 

To make project management easier, we’ve put together this list of five project closure templates that are worth saving. 

5 Helpful Project Closure Templates

Templates are useful for numerous project management scenarios, workflows, and processes. They’re especially valuable when you can integrate them with project management software, such as ClickUp . 

Use this simple ClickUp Project Closure List View Template to keep track of everything. 

With a range of custom fields and statuses, you can add this template to ClickUp and make this your go-to approach for simple project closures. 

It comes equipped with different view types, such as Gantt, Board, and Timeline. So whichever way your team prefers to view and work through project timelines, it can be easily configured to your preferences. 

The ClickUp Project Closure Task View Template is like a simple project to-do list you can use in ClickUp. Use this as your project closure checklist to ensure you capture all your loose ends.

Add the template and view the whole project (or a series of subtasks) one to-do list item at a time. Tick them off as you go, simple as that — apart from doing the work, of course! 👀

For those who want to get a bit more expressive with project closure tasks, here is the ClickUp 4Ls Retro Template . 

Your team can say what they loved, longed for, loathed, and learned from a project. This template comes complete with space to go in-depth about the lessons a team learned.

It’s worth filling in the four “L”s, especially when projects are more challenging, so the team feels understood, feedback is taken by the project manager, and valuable lessons can be actioned for future work. 

The ClickUp Feedback Form Template is useful for collecting client views when a project is complete and signed off. You can use this for internal feedback and even testimonials from clients. 

Clients will usually give feedback in debriefing calls. Even if it’s negative, it’s worth getting on record so it can be integrated into learnings for the future. 

Positive feedback and testimonials are even more valuable. Publish these online with your client’s permission. Collect this feedback with ClickUp’s digital feedback template, and embed these lessons into your trusted project management tool. 

Do you need to implement a project handover but don’t know where to start?

Don’t worry if you don’t have one in your standard operating procedures. We’ve got you covered with the ClickUp Project Handover Template . 

Put all of the important details in this document for a successful handover. Include essentials like logins and links to folders, documentation, training manuals, and anything else a client is going to need post-handover. 

Keep all your projects moving and avoid costly delays or miscommunications. With ClickUp’s Project Handover Template, you have an all-in-one solution for seamless processes for every team memeber involved.

Streamline Project Closures With Project Management Software 

Templates and processes are valuable time-saving organizational tools when running through a project closure checklist and action items, such as:

• Have all tasks been completed? 
• Have all outputs and deliverables been signed off internally and by the client?
• Have we done a handover and any associated training for the client? 
• Has the project been closed out? 
• Have all project closure tasks been done and signed off by management? 

But to make this a smoother process for everyone, you need productivity software to manage the entire end-to-end project life cycle. With productivity software, the whole project team is kept on task and accountable.

If you give them access, clients can also provide their input, ideas, feedback, and resources to ensure a project is delivered and closed successfully. 

Sign up for your free ClickUp account today to take care of the entire project life cycle with one powerful software suite, making project closures an easier process for everyone. 

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Project Closure Template

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There is always an end for all endeavors. So have you just concluded a project? Or a project is nearing its completion time, and you have highlighted the significant lessons from the project? Perhaps the board of directors is asking for a rundown of the project at the point of closure? Then you have come to the right place as this project closure template offers a solution to that.

This template helps you give details of the project at the point of completion. The first three slides of the template features to text and graphical contents that can be employed to show the steps involved in closing the project. These steps are listed and explained, and the diagrams and graphical designs in fascinating colors offer a form of explanation to these points. The last slide of the template features a table that can be used to draw out lessons learned from the project and the impact of the project on customers, the company’s policy, and the society at large.

This project closure template will be a useful tool in the hands of program leads, project managers, and heads of planning committees. Although the colors employed in the template can be adapted to suit the user’s needs, it is both professional and straightforward. This makes the template usable in a large corporation, business organizations, and startups.

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Free Project Closeout Templates

By Kate Eby | April 16, 2021

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In this article, you’ll find the most useful free templates for conducting and documenting an efficient project closure. Download, edit, print, and share these closeout templates in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF. 

On this page, you’ll find a construction project closeout checklist , a simple project management closeout report , a project closure meeting template with lessons learned , and other template options.

Construction Project Closeout Checklist Template

Download Construction Project Closeout Checklist Template - Microsoft Excel

This closeout checklist template includes sample entries that you can adapt to your specific project. Add all of the procedures and items you need to successfully complete your project, including the documents that comprise your final construction project closeout report. 

Customize the template by inserting your company logo, your project details, and any additional spreadsheet columns. 

For more construction project management tools, including a punch list template, check out these free Excel construction management templates .

Project Management Project Closure Template

Download Project Management Project Closure Template

Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF | Smartsheet

Create a project closeout document template that enables you to examine performance, outcomes, lessons learned, and recommendations. This template provides a basic outline for creating a comprehensive closeout report. 

This project closure template is appropriate for project managers working in a variety of fields. It enables you to compare project baselines (such as scope, schedule, budget, and deliverables) with actual results. Include analyses of communications management, team performance, and learning outcomes. List any supporting documents in the appendix table.

Simple Project Closeout Report Template

Download Simple Project Closeout Report Template

Microsoft Word  | Adobe PDF

This one-page report provides sections for the project summary, roles and responsibilities, deliverables, project costs, schedule, and lessons learned. The template includes separate sections for planned outcomes and final outcomes to show which elements of the project were more or less successful. 

Include recommendations and approval signatures at the bottom of the template. Create a brief closure document or expand the template to suit your needs.

Project Closeout Meeting Template

Download Project Closeout Meeting Template

Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF  | Smartsheet

Whether you’re conducting a project post-mortem, retrospective, or after-action review, this template provides a sample guide for developing a meeting agenda. It includes example questions regarding project criteria, objectives, performance, highlights, challenges, outstanding tasks, and future considerations. 

Examine the lessons learned from each project phase , and create an action plan to improve future projects. Use the data you collected in the closeout meeting to inform your project closure report.

Project Closeout Plan Template

Download Project Closeout Plan Template

This project closure plan template offers a simple checklist to help you plan and track the project completion process. It includes example questions related to the acceptance of deliverables, knowledge transfer, documentation, administrative tasks, and post-project review. 

Edit the template to include all activities you need for successful project completion. Include a task owner and due date for each item. At the top of the template, note the project title, project manager, and dates for the planned versus actual project closure.

Project Closure Presentation Template

Download Project Closure Presentation Template - Microsoft PowerPoint

Present stakeholders with a project closure review using this Microsoft PowerPoint presentation template. The slides highlight the performance metrics, schedule variances, quality outcomes, budget details, and strengths and weaknesses of the project team. 

Lessons learned, action items, and ideas for future improvements round out the template. A variety of slide formats provide visual interest while allowing adequate room for detailed analysis.

Software Project Closure Report Template

Download Software Project Closure Report Template

Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

This document serves as a traditional or agile project closure template, providing the foundation for a comprehensive report. If you’re transitioning to a new manager during your project, you can include information on specific tasks, such as handovers and reassignments. 

The template provides section headings and tables for an easy-to-read format. Template segments include project overview, competition criteria, outstanding issues and risks, contract closure with vendors, documentation management, lessons learned with action plan, and project closure approvals.

Engineering Project Closeout Report Template

Download Engineering Project Closeout Report Template

Microsoft Excel | Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF 

Suitable for engineering, construction, and government-funded projects, this closeout report template provides a concise yet thorough outline. Create a record of the project’s initial and final costs, as well as schedule changes, funding sources, supplier contract information, and final deliverables. 

Attach all required documents and attain sign-off authorization for project closure acceptance. Modify the template based on the type and scope of your project to customize your closeout report.

What Is a Project Closure Template?

Project closure templates save project managers time by providing organized checklists for completion planning, post-mortem agendas for project review, and formal closeout reports for approval signoff from clients and internal stakeholders. 

By offering all of these capabilities, closure templates enable you to do exactly what this final phase of the project lifecycle requires: pay close attention to detail and document accurately. Make the templates work for you by customizing them for your business, project, and client needs. To learn more about the elements involved in closing a project and conducting an effective review, see “ The Complete Guide for a Successful Project Closeout .”

Master Project Management Closeout with Project Closeout Templates from Smartsheet

From simple task management and project planning to complex resource and portfolio management, Smartsheet helps you improve collaboration and increase work velocity -- empowering you to get more done. 

The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. Try Smartsheet for free, today.

Discover a better way to streamline workflows and eliminate silos for good.

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Project closure template

Projects aren’t done when your last deliverable is complete—you still need to tie up loose ends, communicate your results, and debrief with your team. Create a project closure template to help your team check these boxes and finish projects with confidence.

Sign up to create your own template.

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These key steps are easy to overlook in the afterglow of a successful project. But with a project closure template, your team can tie up loose ends without missing a beat. 

What is a project closure template? 

A project closure template is a pre-built guide that lays out all the steps required to successfully complete projects. This template gives your team a roadmap to follow for every initiative, ensuring everyone checks key boxes like performing final tests, finalizing the project budget, and sending a final report to stakeholders. 

Creating a template takes a bit of up-front effort, but it can save your team time and effort down the road. Instead of starting from scratch at the end of every project, you can just copy the template, fill it out, and move on. 

The benefits of a digital project closure template 

The project closure process involves a lot of moving pieces, from securing approvals to performing final tests. With so much to track, a static project closure template can quickly become outdated—requiring constant updates to keep stakeholders in the loop about what’s going on. 

Creating a digital project closure template means you can spend less time updating Excel trackers and more time doing important work. Your template lives in the same place work happens—so instead of switching back and forth between different tools, your entire team has a single source of truth to track the status of work. 

With a digital project closure template, you can: 

Help your whole team follow the same project closure process for every initiative.

See the real-time status of project closure assignments.

Track approvals, milestones, and tasks in one place.

Avoid jumping between different communication tools.

Easily share your project closure process with stakeholders. 

Avoid creating a separate project closure report or project closure checklist.

Visualize your project closure process as a timeline, Kanban board , list, or calendar.

Attach key project documents directly to tasks—like your project charter or project overview.

What to include in your project closure template

Your project closure template should lay out all the steps required to successfully wrap up an initiative. Every team is different, but you can generally divide project closure tasks into these four buckets:  

Admin tasks: Logistical steps like reviewing your project plan , finalizing your project budget and project baseline , updating documentation, and hosting a project post-mortem meeting. 

Testing plan: The steps you’ll take to measure and share results after your project is launched. For example, you may want to measure results after a week or a month. 

Project sign-offs: Approvals required to confirm that you’ve completed your project and it meets the required specifications. 

Handoffs: Follow-up project deliverables and leftover action items you need to assign after your project is finished. 

In your template, create a separate section for each of these four buckets. To fill in the tasks within each section, imagine what an ideal project closure process looks like for your team. What logistical tasks should you complete to make sure all loose ends are tied up? How are you going to test and share results? Who needs to sign off on your projects, and what leftover tasks need to be assigned to someone else? 

To provide an extra layer of detail, create custom fields to track the status of each task (like “not started,” “in progress,” or “completed”). You can also create milestones to track key project accomplishments and use Asana’s approvals feature to make it easy for stakeholders to approve project completion with the click of a button. 

As you create your template, remember that you don’t have to finalize every detail. You can always add and adjust tasks later to fit each future project. 

Integrated features

Timeline View . Timeline View is a Gantt-style project view that displays all of your tasks in a horizontal bar chart. Not only can you see each task’s start and end date, but you can also see dependencies between tasks. With Timeline View, you can easily track how the pieces of your plan fit together. Plus, when you can see all of your work in one place, it’s easy to identify and address dependency conflicts before they start, so you can hit all of your goals on schedule.

Approvals . Sometimes you don’t just need to complete a task—you need to know if a deliverable is approved or not. Approvals are a special type of task in Asana with options to “Approve,” “Request changes,” or “Reject” the task. That way, task owners get clear instructions on what actions they should take and whether their work has been approved or not.

Milestones . Milestones represent important project checkpoints. By setting milestones throughout your project, you can let your team members and project stakeholders know how you’re pacing towards your goal. Use milestones as a chance to celebrate the little wins on the path towards the big project goal. 

Custom fields . Custom fields are the best way to tag, sort, and filter work. Create unique custom fields for any information you need to track—from priority and status to email or phone number. Use custom fields to sort and schedule your to-dos so you know what to work on first. Plus, share custom fields across tasks and projects to ensure consistency across your organization.

Google Workplace . Attach files directly to tasks in Asana with the Google Workplace file chooser, which is built into the Asana task pane. Easily attach any My Drive file with just a few clicks.

Salesforce . Remove bottlenecks by enabling sales, customer success, and service teams to communicate directly with their support teams in Asana. Share attachments and create actionable, trackable tasks for pre-sales needs. With Service Cloud, connect your implementation and service teams with supporting teams in Asana to deliver amazing customer experiences.

Hubspot . Create Asana tasks automatically using HubSpot Workflows. With HubSpot Workflows, you can use all the customer data in HubSpot CRM to create automated processes. This integration enables you to seamlessly hand off work between teams, for example, when deals or tickets close in HubSpot.

Jira . Create interactive, connected workflows between technical and business teams to increase visibility around the product development process in real time—all without leaving Asana. Streamline project collaboration and hand offs. Quickly create Jira issues from within Asana so that work passes seamlessly between business and technical teams at the right time.

Do I need a project closure template?

If you regularly manage projects, a project closure template can help you standardize the final stage of each initiative and ensure you’re not missing any critical steps. Often, the long-term success of a project depends on how well you manage hand-offs and document your learnings. With a well-planned project closure template, you can build these requirements into your team’s standard project management process.

Do I need a digital project closure template?

Creating a project closure template means you don’t have to write up a separate project closure document. Instead, your template is all you need to give stakeholders visibility into the completion of the project.

When should I create a project closure template?

Even though you use a project closure template at the end of a project lifecycle, it’s best to create your template at the start of a project. That way, you can plan key details in advance—like which project sponsors need to sign off on work and which metrics you’ll use to measure project performance.

Who should I share my project closure template with?

As a manager, you can share your project closure template with all of your team members in order to help them follow a standardized closure process for every initiative. In addition, project managers can share their template with the entire project team to give everyone full visibility into this final phase of the project.

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5 Steps to Project Closure (Checklist Included)

So much time and effort is put into the planning of a project, it is often forgotten that the end of a project—project closure—is equally important. There’s a lot of work involved even once a project is technically complete.

For example, there are many tasks that you still must complete. They might be procedural, but that doesn’t make them any less important. There are approvals, signatures, payments, all of which might seem like pushing paperwork to you, but tell that to the team member waiting to get paid.

Not to mention, when you are ending one project, you’re likely planning another. Therefore, you want to get transition support for this changeover. You’ll have to release resources, archive documents and don’t forget to acknowledge the project success with a party or some type of celebration. That’s important, too.

What Is Project Closure?

Project closure is the last phase of a project. It’s when the project manager verifies that the client, stakeholder or customer has accepted the project deliverables. If the project or product is ongoing after the project, then maintenance must be set up.

The project manager will also review the entire project before closing it, rating performance and comparing that to the baseline . The project team will be part of this process, offering their observations and feedback, which is collected in a lesson’s learned document. This provides guidance for future projects.

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Project Closure Template

Use this free Project Closure Template for Word to manage your projects better.

The importance of project closure is more than just signing off on all documentation, fulfilling any contracts with vendors and releasing the team to participate in other projects. It makes sure that the original objectives of the project have been met and ties up any loose ends, such as risk or issues that have remained open.

Before we dive into the steps that need to be taken to close a project, let’s first hear some expert advice on this project phase. In the video below, Jennifer Bridges, professional project manager (PMP) explains the basics of project closure.

Steps to Closing a Project

The close of the project is the final phase of your job, it’s the last turn of the project life cycle , and like any other aspect of a project, it requires a process. The following are five steps you should take to make sure you’ve dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s, as well as taken full advantage of the experience.

1. Arrange a Post Mortem

Managing a project isn’t only about tasks and resources, budget and deadlines, it’s an experience you can constantly learn from. While you should have been learning throughout the project, now is a great time to look back without the pressure and distractions that might have dulled your focus.

Gather the core team to invite feedback about what worked, and what didn’t. Encourage honesty. By documenting the mistakes and the successes of the project, you’re building a catalog that offers historic data. You can go back and look over the information for precedents when planning for new projects .

Projects are never standalone things, but part of a continuum, where the specifics might vary, but the general methods usually remain the same. There’s a wealth of knowledge produced after any project closes.

2. Complete Paperwork

As noted, projects generate reams of documents. These documents are going to have to get sign off and approval from stakeholders . Everything needs attention and must be signed for, which is the legal proof that in fact these documents have concluded. That includes closing all contracts you might have made with internal partners or vendors or any other resources you contracted with.

This includes addressing all outstanding payments. You want to make sure that all invoices, commissions, fees, bonus, what have you, are paid. Complete all the costs involved with the project. It’s not done if it’s not paid for.

Project management software can help you organize all these documents. ProjectManager acts like a hub for all your project files. You can track them on our list view, which is more than the usual to-do list app. For one thing, you can see the percentage complete for each item on the list. Now you know if that contractor has been paid and whether you can sign off on the contract. You can even set up notifications to make sure your payments are delivered on time. Try it out for yourself with this free trial.

3. Release Resources

You assemble a team for the project, and now you must cut them loose. It’s a formal process, and a crucial one, which frees them for the next project. Each team is brought together for the mix of skills and experience they bring to a project. The project determines the team members you’ll want to work with, and each project is going to be a little bit different, which will be reflected in the team hired to execute it.

This is true for internal as well as external resources. The external ones might be more obvious, as you contracted with them, and that contract is going to have a duration. When it’s over, make sure they’re all paid in full so they can sign off and leave. But internal resources remain, so you have to remind yourself that their time on the project is also limited, and you might be blocking other team’s projects if you don’t release your resources once the project is done.

4. Archive Documents

There are lessons to be learned from old projects, which is why you meet with your team regularly during the project and look back on the process afterwards. However, if you don’t have an archive in which to pull the old records, then whatever knowledge you gain is lost because of poor organization and management. You worked hard to have great project documentation, don’t lose it.

Related: What Is a Project Decision Log?

Before you close a project, archive all the documents and any notes and data that could prove useful. Even if you never access it, there’s a need to keep a paper trail of the work done on any project for other people in the organization. This might include legal teams, or HR teams, or even your successor. You never know when someone might have to go back and respond to a question or want to learn how an old issue was resolved. Consider it like putting away provisions for the winter.

5. Celebrate Success

If it sounds silly to you, then you’re not doing your job. There’s nothing silly about rewarding your team to acknowledge a job well done. It creates closure, which is what this part of the project is all about, but it also plants a seed that will bloom in later projects when you work with members of the old team.

Put these project closure lessons to work with this template. Everything you need to capture when closing a project is outlined in our free project closure template for Word . You can make sure stakeholders have signed off on every document, contractors have been paid and their contracts closed and your team has been released from the project, so they can get started on the next one.

Project Closure Checklist

To make sure you close your project properly, follow this step-by-step project closure checklist.

• Start at the beginning with the project scope document you created and make sure that you’ve met all the requirements listed there.
• Make sure that all deliverables have been handed off and signed by stakeholders, getting their approval and satisfaction.
• Other project documents must also be signed by the appropriate person, this includes any outstanding contracts and agreements with vendors and other contractors.
• Once documents are signed off on, then process them and pay off all invoices and close out any project-related contracts.
• Add all documents together, including finalizing all project reports, then organize and archive them as historical data to be used for future reference.
• Use collected paperwork to identify and document the lessons learned over the course of the project, including any feedback from stakeholders, so you don’t make the same mistakes in future projects.
• Assign a transition support person to shepherd the project after completion so that the project closure is thorough.
• Release or reassign the project resources, which includes your team and other project personnel and any equipment or site rentals used for the project.
• If you’ve not used a project management software , get one, as it helps control not only the life cycle of the project but also the process of closing the project thoroughly.
• Finally, but perhaps most importantly, celebrate with your project team. They did the work and deserve credit and an opportunity to blow off steam until the next project is started.

More Free Templates to Help with Project Closure

There’s a lot to keep track of when you’re closing a project. You don’t want to miss out on any critical steps and leave some documents unsigned or not discussing lessons learned to avoid the same mistakes on the next project. ProjectManager is a great software but also the premiere online site for everything project management. That includes dozens of free templates. Here are some to help you do all the little things necessary for proper project closure.

Lessons Learned Template

There’s a lot of administrative work required to shut down a project, but it should also be a time of reflection. Our free lessons learned template for Excel is a great tool to capture the wins and issues that have come up over the course of the project life cycle. You describe what happened, how it impacted the project and what you will do differently in future projects to avoid repeating those mistakes. It’s a classic project closure document.

Action Items Template

The free action items template for Excel is a great place to take the lessons learned that you collected in the above template and turn them into a plan. Once you see the mistakes you made in the past you can formulate an action plan in order not to repeat them. This free template lets you create tasks, assign them to team members, add priority so you know which goes first and even provide deadlines and track the status.

Your Project is Closed – Use ProjectManager For Your Next One!

Now we know that proper project closure will help you start your next project on the right foot. If you plan and manage your projects in a centralized project management software—like ProjectManager —you’ll have access to all of your previous projects.

That way, when you’re planning a new project, you can quickly review old documents, tasks, comments and templates in the system. It makes onboarding for the next project simpler too, as the team members should already be in the system.

Create Reports for Posterity

Automated reporting software can be a huge help during this process. ProjectManager lets managers create reports with just one click. This includes reports like timesheet reports, so you can quickly see the hours worked by a team member over the life of the project. You can also create more stakeholder-specific reports, like status reports, variance reports or project plan reports. It’s all automated in our project management software, helping you reach the end of the project even faster.

Saving time and having a head start when you begin a new project is how you effectively cut time and costs. ProjectManager streamlines the project for you from start to finish.

Part of closing a project is being able to plan and execute it. That’s where ProjectManager comes in. As cloud-based software, it enables you and your team to get real-time data when monitoring and reporting on the project. Plus, your documentation is more accessible and secure. See for yourself, by taking this free 30-day trial.

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Closure Presentation

Closure Presentation (PPTX)

Purpose of Closure Presentation

The closure presentation is recommended for larger projects or programs with a number of stakeholders who are interested in the results and deliverable(s) of the project/program.  The presentation is an opportunity to communicate to stakeholders and share project/program information such as

• details about the deliverable(s)/change
• the impact to stakeholders
• the benefits stakeholders can expect to receive and when
• project team acknowledgement
• lessons learned for other projects
• how the deliverable(s) will be introduced to stakeholders
• what assistance will be available to help stakeholders with the change
• future initiatives related to deliverable(s)

The closure presentation and messaging should be part of the project/program communication plan .

Closure Presentation Participants

It is highly recommended that the Sponsor say some words during the presentation supporting the deliverable(s)/change and why it is important.

Other presenters may include the project/program manager, project owner, or others involved with the project/program.

Participants will vary depending upon the project/program impact.  Invitations to the presentation should be sent to key stakeholders at minimum, and others who may be impacted.

The presentation content and length may vary, depending on different stakeholder groups.  There may be more than one presentation required, or marketing messages may be more effective for particular groups.  For example, a marketing video may be more effective when targeting students as a key stakeholder instead of offering an hour long presentation summarizing the results of the project/program.

The PMO is available to offer assistance with closure messages and presentations.  Please access these services by  submitting a ticket to the PMO .

See why the world’s best creative teams run on Workamajig

Defining project closure- with examples & template.

• What is project closure?
• What are the steps of project closure?
• What are the benefits of closing out a project?
• What happens when projects aren't closed out properly?
• Using a project closure document template
• How Workamajig makes closing a project easy

Browse more blogs

What is project closure.

Project closure (often used interchangeably with project closing) is the final phase of a project, designed mainly to ensure that deliverables are verified, performance is evaluated, and appropriate transfers are performed for a smooth transition into future work. The theme in this phase is to formally complete the project, hopefully to the satisfaction of contractual obligations, as described by the Project Management Institute .

What are the Steps of Project Closure?

There are many online resources describing how the closing phase of project management works. The steps of closing a project vary greatly across industries, organizations, and even across individual projects within a single team. If you’re just getting started on building this process for your organization, this can get overwhelming.

 At the end of the day, having a solid foundation is key—the process of closing a project involves various actions, which revolve around three key themes: documentation & verification, celebration, and reallocation. A plan following the same order is recommended, particularly for reallocation; in this way, loose ends are appropriately tied up before team members become busy with future assignments.

We have created a clear project closing checklist for you to make sure each step is completed to successfully close the project.

1. Complete the sign-off sheet

A sign-off sheet (or document)  is used to verify (see what we did there?) that all applicable expectations set from the beginning of the project have been met—here’s a template you can use to start.

2. Conduct and document lessons learned

A hugely understated benefit of properly closing a project is being able to take important lessons and apply them to future work— this will make teams more efficient, allowing them to complete similar tasks faster and with fewer errors. This is where a lessons-learned document comes in.

For this, you’ll want to conduct a post-mortem/retrospective with your team (and potentially other stakeholders.) This allows for more effective knowledge transfer across projects—in an ideal scenario, teams conduct and document retrospectives throughout the entire project life cycle, so best practices are reinforced as soon as they are acquired. Learn more about this process here .

3. Celebrate!

The value of motivation and synergy within the team has been getting more of the recognition it deserves. In line with this, it is important that you acknowledge the team’s efforts and celebrate wins of any size, to give your team a positive experience to cap off the project and an outlook that can only serve to benefit their future teammates.

It’s best to organize something that matches your team’s personality, on top of aligning with your company’s values. We trust that you know your team better than any of us will!

4. Reallocate resources

Ideally, a closed project no longer consumes valuable company resources, so proper turnover is necessary. Here are some guide questions that are best answered during the project closing phase:

• Who is still on the team?
• What work will be assigned to them next?
• Who is responsible for each team member on their new assignment?
• What tools (hardware and software) need to be returned to the company?
• Does the project require additional support after delivery?
• Who is responsible for providing this support?

What are the Benefits of Closing Out a Project?

Frankly, the project closing process is often overlooked by teams since the volume of documentation and coordination required following the actual delivery of output can, for some, feel like a waste of time. As a result, they miss out on benefits that translate well beyond the project’s lifecycle , not just for the company, but also for team members’ individual careers.

At its core, closing up a project helps an organization tie up loose ends, ensuring that:

• All expectations and obligations (esp. legal or contractual obligations) have been satisfied.
• Critical knowledge is collected and preserved for the teams’ future benefit.
• Teams enjoy the fruit of their work and taste success

As a whole, this creates a sense of continuity, as teams are able to seamlessly move from one project to another, with the likelihood that future work is done to higher standards and satisfaction, both for teams and clients.

What Happens When Projects Aren’t Closed Properly?

Critical payments to your company and, by extension, your team members may be either delayed or left unfulfilled.,

Teams are likely to encounter similar issues on future projects, and fumble with it just as much as the first time (if not worse), and

Team members and clients are left feeling uncertain or dissatisfied with outcomes.

While there is pressure to move from one project to another, it is important to invest time (as early as the planning phase of your project) into an effective project closing process. By reducing errors and capitalizing on known strengths, productivity grows exponentially.

Using a Project Closure Document Template

On top of having a solid project closure plan in place, one way to increase your success rate is to templatize. Using the principles above, compile project closure documents so that:

Your checklist provides easy access to all of the relevant steps and resources

Future closing phases can be set up faster

Changes to the process are easy to implement (as a result of #1)

Remember, much of the value in properly closing a project is to set up for future success—if you’re the one managing the team, you deserve that increased efficiency too!

How Workamajig Makes Closing a Project Easy

Project closure tasks are designed to tie up loose ends and translate lessons learned into long-term value for an organization and its team members. By effectively closing out a project, valuable resources are maximized, and appropriate focus is given to subsequent projects instead of previous issues.

At Workamajig, the premier marketing project management software , we believe that process is great, but it’s even greater when it works seamlessly and fast. The project template creator within Workamajig is one of the most powerful aspects of our all-in-one project management system. Spend less time setting up, and more time moving up, by mixing and matching components to define your team’s workflow —in this way, they can focus more on the work they do best, without being burdened by unnecessary fumbling around with processes and tools in between. With Workamajig you can easily pull reports to see all the aspects of the project so you can easily close it out without missing any important detail.

Learn more about Workamajig today and use it from project intake until project completion and have a seamless experience while seeing true project management success.  

Request a demo today to see how our robust software solution offers everything a marketing team needs to manage their projects with ease!

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About project closure presentation powerpoint template.

The Project Closure Presentation PowerPoint Template ensures you present your project closure in a planned and professional. Any project cycle should have a strong conclusion, preferably in the form of a PowerPoint presentation slide.

Using this template, every portion of the project closure process can be presented systematically. This template is ideal for project completion, termination, or execution. This presentation template has various segments like project background, RAG status, learnings, and administrative checklist, making it simple to record and keep track of tasks to ensure it’s done correctly to obtain official approval.

Who Can Use This Project Closure Presentation PowerPoint Template?

The Project Closure Presentation PowerPoint template can be a useful tool for project managers, planning committees, and program leaders. The template is simple and professionally designed, and the colors can be changed to suit your preferences. And hence, startups, established corporations, and commercial organizations can all use this template.

When To Use This Project Closure Presentation PowerPoint Template?

The Project Closure Presentation PowerPoint template is designed to be used as a closure of a project, i.e., it can be used to present the conclusion of any project, like the outcomes, the key findings, or the purpose achieved. It can be used by project leaders when presenting their projects to the business owners, or it can be used in the annual meeting to deliver each project’s outcomes at the year-end.

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• Click on the “Add to Cart” button and proceed to Checkout.
• Complete the purchase process by providing the necessary information.
• After your purchase is complete, you can find the link to download the product in your order history.
• Download the Project Closure Presentation PowerPoint Template in your preferred format, either PowerPoint or Google Slides.
• Customize the slides with your content, images, and data and present them to your audience.

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A step-by-step guide to creating a flawless project closure report

Georgina Guthrie

November 02, 2022

We talk a lot about first impressions — but not so much is said about last impressions. But the fact is, they matter just as much as introductions . 

Endings are important. Consider the gymnast finishing their set with a showstopping move. An orchestra finishing a piece with fanfare. A fireworks display that saves the best for last. Endings are your last chance to make an impression and drive home what you want your audience to remember. 

As a project manager, you know that closing a project is just as important as starting it, and a well-crafted project closure report can help you do just that. It can also be a valuable resource for future projects and help your team and stakeholders feel positive about what you’ve accomplished together. So, let’s take a look at what a closure report is and what you should include in it.

What is a project closure report?

A project closure report is a document that summarizes the results of a project. It includes the team’s accomplishments, lessons learned, and recommendations for improving upon future projects. Closure reports are typically created at the end of a project, but you can also use them to summarize the results of interim project milestones .

A project closure report typically includes the following information:

• A brief project overview, including objectives and goals
• A description of the team’s accomplishments
• A discussion of lessons learned
• Recommendations for future projects

Why create a project closure report?

A closure report is helpful for future projects, as you can refer back to previous reports to see what worked well and what didn’t.

Evaluating your results also encourages you to reflect on the project and identify areas that are ripe for improvement. By taking the time to create this handy little document, you can ensure that future projects are even more successful than previous ones. 

Finally, a closure report is a way of formally wrapping up a project. It shows your client or sponsor that you’re taking the time to assess team performance and you’re committed to continuous improvement .

What happens if you don’t have a closure report?

If you don’t have a closure report, it can be difficult to track the results of your project. This, in turn, makes it tricky to spot areas for improvement. It can also make it more challenging to replicate the successful elements of previous projects.

Without a closure report, you also miss out on an opportunity to show your project sponsor or client that you’re taking the time to assess the project and its results. This can reflect poorly on you as a project manager and may damage your relationship with clients. 

What should I include in a project closure checklist?

A project closure checklist should include all of the following items:

• A brief overview of the original project requirements, including the project scope , objectives, and goals
• A description of what you accomplished during the project
• Lessons learned and client feedback
• Proof that you fulfilled all deliverables and objectives (with confirmation from the client)
• Payment details, including any outstanding fees to/from suppliers or vendors
• A performance review for all sections of the project
• A folder(s) containing all project documents and communications
• Confirmation of transfers of any resources/items
• Offboarding documentation for any project-specific contractors or freelancers

When should you begin a closure report?

Ideally, you should begin work on your closure report as soon as you’ve completed the project. This helps you keep all the relevant information fresh in your mind. It’ll also make it easier to track down any documentation you need before it’s filed away, deleted, or lost.

Top tip: use a project management tool that lets you archive files to avoid this happening!

If you’re working on a large project, consider creating interim closure reports. This can be helpful in documenting the results of specific milestones, and it’ll be easier to create a final report at the project’s end.

How do you write a closure report?

Writing a closure report is relatively straightforward. Here are the steps you’ll need to follow:

• Arrange a project post-mortem .
• Briefly summarize the project and its objectives.
• Describe what the team accomplished during the project.
• Discuss any lessons learned during the project .
• Make recommendations for future projects.
• Thank your team and sponsors.
• Close with a strong statement.
• Publish your report.

Let’s dig into these in a little more detail…

1. Arrange a post-mortem

Before you begin writing your closure report, it’s important to arrange a post-mortem meeting with your team. This gives everyone a chance to debrief and discuss the project, and it helps you identify any lessons learned.

A post-mortem meeting should be structured and focused. Begin by asking everyone to briefly share their thoughts on the project, and then move on to discussing specific elements of the project.

Some questions you may want to ask include:

• What went well?
• What didn’t go well?
• What could we have done differently?
• What did we learn?

This will help you identify areas for improvement and give you some insight into what went well.

2. Briefly summarize the project and its objectives

The next step in writing your closure report is to provide a brief overview of the project. This should include information on the project objectives and goals, including a vision statement if you have one. Keep this section short and to the point; you can provide more details later on.

3. Describe what the team accomplished during the project

This is your opportunity to discuss any successes or challenges you encountered along the way. Be sure to back up your claims with data wherever possible. Refer back to your KPIs , project schedule, and other documents to support your statements.

There are several metrics that will help you support your claims of project success:

• On time: was the project completed on schedule? If not, why not?
• On budget: did the project stay within budget ? If not, why not? You’ll need to compare project costs with your project baseline to work this out.
• To spec: did the project meet its objectives and goals? If not, why not?
• Stakeholder satisfaction: were the project’s stakeholders happy with the final result?
• Quality: was the project delivered to a high standard? If not, why not?

If you’re using project management software (which we highly recommend!), then you can simply pull reports and graphs to include. Not only does this make your job easier, but it also provides hard evidence to back up your claims. 

4. Discuss any lessons learned during the project

This is your opportunity to reflect on what went well — or didn’t go so well —during the project. Be honest in your assessment, and use this section to identify any areas for improvement. This could be anything from process improvements to changes in team communication.

Consider making this section a 360 review, where everyone receives feedback, from the juniors to the managers. And be sure to open and end on a positive note, so people start in a good mindset, reflect productively, and leave feeling inspired. 

5. Make recommendations for future projects

Based on what you’ve learned during the project, what would you do differently next time? These recommendations could include changes to the project management process or specific actions you should take (or avoid) on future projects. And once you’re done, make this document accessible so that the whole team can read it and reflect. 

6. Thank your team and sponsors

Be sure to thank everyone who contributed to the project, including your team members, contractors, and stakeholders . A simple “thank you” can go a long way in building goodwill and ensuring continued support for future projects.

7. Close with a strong statement

End your report on a positive note, highlighting the successes of the project and thanking everyone involved. 

This is your opportunity to really sell the project to stakeholders, so make it count! A good closing statement should reiterate the main points of the report while also showing gratitude to everyone who helped make the project a success. It should be well-written, edited, and proofread before publication. 

8. Publish your report

Once you’re happy with your report, it’s time to publish it. Depending on your company’s process, this could mean sending it to your project sponsor or stakeholders, sharing it with the project team, or posting it on an internal company website or intranet.

If you’re using project management software, you can simply generate a PDF of your report and send it out to interested parties. Or, grant them access, so they can log in and refer to it anytime.

Creating a project closure report: tips and best practices

If you’re using a closure report template, be sure to tailor it to your specific project. Don’t simply copy and paste information from the template. This will make your report less helpful and may even damage your credibility as a project manager.

When writing your closure report, be sure to:

• Use clear and concise language. Remember that not everyone involved in the project will be familiar with technical jargon. Use simple, accessible language that everyone can understand. This is no time for showing off your poetic turn of phrase and impressive vocabulary! 
• Be objective . A project closure report is not the place to air your personal grievances. Stick to the facts, and avoid making value judgments. If you do need to include negative feedback, be sure to balance it out with positive feedback as well. And always back it up with data to remove any subjectivity; this is about facts, not opinions. 
• Use evidence. As we mentioned before, be sure to back up your claims with evidence. This could be anything from project reports and graphs to customer satisfaction surveys.
• Be positive. The goal of a closure report is to show that the project was a success. Even if there were some bumps along the way, focus on the positive outcomes of the project.
• Share it. A well-written report can help improve communication between the team and sponsors, and it can provide a snapshot of the project’s progress for anyone who’s interested.
• Keep it updated. A closure report is a living document, and as new information comes to light, you may need to update it. Be sure to keep stakeholders in the loop, and let them know when there are changes.
• Use collaboration tools. Project management software is a must-have when it comes to setting off on a new project. Be sure to use one that offers archiving, document sharing, automatic notifications, Gantt charts , task assignments, and other tracking tools so that the project runs smoothly and everyone stays in the loop. By the time you finish the project, you’ll have all the data you need to create a comprehensive report at your fingertips. 

Final thoughts

A well-written project closure report can be a valuable tool for both project managers and stakeholders. By taking the time to reflect on the successes and lessons learned during a project, you can ensure future projects are even more successful than the last.

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Project management

The 7-step project closure checklist to end on a high note

Starting a project is easy. Set your objectives, create a plan, and execute.

But what about project closure?

Too often, projects are never formally put to bed. They’re just “sort-of” closed. Small issues are left unresolved, which can come up later as big problems.

Don’t worry. We’re not going to let that happen to you.

Keep reading to get our 7-step checklist for closing a project the right way (and impressing your boss while you’re at it).

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What is project closure?

Project closure is the process of finalizing and finishing a project. It includes any task that will help wrap up lingering issues and archive project documents and files. 

If you’ve never done a formal project closure, you may wonder why it’s so important. The project’s done, right? Can’t we just clear our desks and move on?

You’d think so, but there are good reasons to properly close a project:

Validate : You met the expectations for the project, resolved all issues, and got the approvals needed to formally close the project.

Learn : Ensure you won’t repeat mistakes on future projects.

Grow : Allow yourself to improve your processes over time.

Measure : Provide proper reporting, so if an issue ever arises, it’s easy to see where the failure occurred. 

Update : Alert everyone involved that you're no longer working on the project or if the responsibilities have changed to a new owner.

Project closure usually happens at the end of a project, but it can also be done at the end of any phase of a project. For instance, if you're working on a website project , you'll likely have four phases:

Project closure

Instead of waiting until the site goes live to do a formal closure, you may decide to wrap up each phase of the project before moving to the next. Think of it as a "mini" project closure, sometimes known as phase review or handoff. 

But regardless of when you do it, you’ll use the same closure checklist to ensure everything is closed properly.

What happens if you don't close your project?

Three scenarios tend to happen when a project isn’t closed correctly. Maybe you’ve experienced one of them already.

Scenario 1: The blame game

Issues come up even after a project’s been closed. If an investigation is needed, good documentation is a lifesaver.

Instead of taking the blame for any issues or mistakes, you’ll have documentation of everything that happened. That includes management and client approvals throughout the project, why changes were made, who requested them, and other vital information. 

Auditing the project is easy when it was formally closed. And it’s good insurance for everyone, especially for your client retention strategy as an agency. Keeping clients happy is a lot easier when you've documented every request.

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Scenario 2: The project that never ends

An important part of project closure is the client hand-off. That’s when you transfer responsibility for ongoing maintenance and operations to the client.

And yes, you’d think that communicates that the project is done. But if you haven’t formally closed the project, people may assume that you still have ownership. They may continue to call you when an issue comes up. 

By doing a proper handoff and getting sign-off from your clients and stakeholders, everyone understands the project is closed, that the project management team is no longer accountable for results.

Scenario 3: The orphan project

Let’s say you don’t do a formal hand-off. The client isn’t trained and equipped to take ownership of the project. You just give them the keys and wave farewell.

When this happens, the project doesn’t get the care it needs. It doesn’t get properly maintained. Customers don’t get the support they need. 

It’s essentially orphaned.

And sadly, it will likely end up getting retired. Without clear ownership, a project can’t thrive. To avoid any of these scenarios, let’s look at a simple step-by-step process for closing your projects.

The 7-step project closure checklist

As a project manager, it’s your job to ensure that objectives have been met and the project is ready to be closed.  Once you’re sure of that, you’ll need to complete this 7-step checklist:

7-step project closure checklist

1. Formal hand-off

Goal : Transfer ownership to the client.

The first step in closing the project is to give the client all project deliverables. As mentioned above, you shouldn’t just hand them the keys.

Train the new owners to operate and maintain the product or get the results they expect. Give them some project management best practices and suggest ways to integrate into their existing workflow.

After the hand-off, get confirmation from the client that you’ve delivered as promised.

Train users and answer all their questions.

Let the client know about any unresolved issues and problems they may run into.

Fix any issues that arise in the hand-off. 

Get sign-off from the client that all deliverables have been completed and handed off.

2. Closeout all contracts and documentation

Goal : Finalize and close project documents, accounts, and contracts.

Every project has countless documents associated with them. Some were drafted to kick off the project. Others were updated throughout the project.

Before you can close the project, you need to review these documents. Is the information up-to-date? Have you consistently logged issues and milestones? Have you explained variances between expected and actual results?

Here are a few of the project documents you’ll need to review:

Assumption log - A record of all assumptions and constraints that guide the specs, estimates, schedule, and risks.

Requirements document - A list of requirements for the project. Be sure to include evidence that you complied with each item on the list.

Basis of estimates - A comparison of your estimates for time, costs, and resources versus the actual results.

Change log - A record of all change requests throughout the project.

Issue log - A record of all issues that arose throughout the project and how they were resolved.

Milestone list - A summary of each milestone of the project, with completion dates for each.

Project communication - A log of all project emails, meetings, and other communications.

Quality control measurements - Tests and assessments that show compliance with the project’s quality requirements.

Quality reports - Quality assurance issues that were handled throughout the project, with recommendations for improvement.

Risk register - Risks that you’ve identified or experienced throughout the project.

Risk report - A log of how risks have been addressed, with the current risk status.

Now is the time to close out your contracts and project accounts. Make sure all contractors have been paid for their work and that there are no outstanding invoices.

Update and finalize project documents.

Close contracts and project accounts.

Pay any outstanding invoices.

3. Review lessons learned

Goal : Get feedback from everyone who worked on the project.

It’s easy to get excited that the project is complete and resist a post-mortem meeting. But it’s important to carve out time to review the project and record lessons learned.

For team leads, it helps to have a project Planning Overview like the one available in Teamwork.com. This provides you with a detailed view of where and when your resources (people) are allocated, which is based on estimated time.

You can also view the total number of hours that are allocated over a specific time frame. You can do this by person, project, or even company.

Next, you will want to dig into a few specific areas. First, anything that contributed to the success. Second, what worked and what didn’t. A few questions that can help:

What contributed to the project’s success?

What worked as planned?

What issues need to be addressed?

Did you have the resources and support you needed? 

How can our workflow be improved?

This information helps you identify the areas in your workflow and procedures that could be improved. More importantly, it keeps you from making the same mistakes again.

What to include in your retro meeting

Start with a survey. Then follow up with a meeting. This two-step approach may seem like overkill, but in the long run, it will save everyone time.

Just think back to other brainstorm meetings you’ve attended. Many people draw a blank because they feel pressured to come up with something smart.

It takes time to mentally review the project and recall issues that were resolved (or not). By sending out a survey a few days before your meeting, you’ll give your team a chance to come up with thoughtful answers.

When you then meet, you’ve already got the talking points. Use the meeting for discussion, not brainstorming.

Also, take flawless meeting notes . Make sure there's some collective hub where you can store project notes, like Teamwork.com's Spaces . Our hub acts as the de facto space for all things pertaining to a project or the process you've implemented.

Don't lose important notes or documents with endless shared files flying all over the place.

Create a survey to gather lessons learned. Include the questions listed above, or come up with your own questions.

Send it to everyone who worked on the project.

Log the results.

Hold the lessons-learned meeting.

Discuss the items on your list. Prioritize them. Add notes, explanations, and recommendations for improvement.

4. Measure client satisfaction

Goal : Get feedback from the client.

As part of your lessons learned, it can be helpful to get client feedback to answer two questions:

Do the project deliverables meet expectations?

Did the processes meet expectations?

A short survey, like this one from PM Foundations , will give you the information you need.

When creating a survey, make sure you keep it short enough to finish in 5 minutes or less. And provide space for comments to each question to get more helpful feedback.

Create a client feedback survey.

Send it to key individuals in the client organization.

Record the responses.

Add the survey and results to the project documents.

5. Prepare the project closure report

Goal : Summarize the project for senior management, so they can evaluate its impact and improve processes for future projects. 

The last piece of documentation you need to prepare for any project is the project closure report. This report is an overview of the entire project, its objectives and whether you met them, the project timeline , risks, and outcomes.

What goes into a project closure report? 

A summary of the project: Did it successfully meet expectations when the project was created?

Scope objectives: Give evidence that all completion criteria were met. 

Quality objectives: Provide a quick summary of how quality was evaluated. This should include verification that milestones and delivery dates were met, and reasons for any area that doesn’t meet your initial expectations.

Cost objectives: Include the estimated cost range, actual costs, and reasons for any variances.

Schedule objectives: Add analysis of whether the outcomes met the goals for the project. If the goals haven’t been met, how far off are you? 

How the project achieved the business needs: Were these identified in the business plan?

Risks or issues encountered: What came up as a surprise on the project and how they was it addressed.

Lessons learned: What did you learn and what would you recommend for improvement?

Using the template above, write your project closure report.

Turn it into senior management and stakeholders who will sign off on the project.

6. Get sign-off on the project

Goal : Get sign-off from all stakeholders and formally close the project.

Senior management and key stakeholders should review the project closure report to verify that all objectives have been met. In particular:

Success criteria

Quality criteria

Approval requirements

Who signed off on the project

Once you have the proper approvals, you can formally close the project. Make sure your team has the appropriate permissions to close, finalize, or approve projects in your platform.

Don’t forget to announce the project closure. Notify everyone who’s worked on the project: your team, stakeholders, partners, contractors, and suppliers. Let them know they’re released to work on other projects or reallocate their resources.

Note: Make sure you document all approvals. It won’t likely be necessary, but if an issue arises, you may need proof that everyone signed off before the project was closed. Think signatures on deliverables, delivery receipts, and transcripts from meetings.

Follow up with management and stakeholders until you have their sign-off on the project.

Document all approvals.

Send an email announcing the project closure.

Celebrate! 

Step 7. Archive the project 

Goal : Remove the project from your workflow and preserve its data in case you need it later.

In your project management software , archive the project. Index and file all documents, contracts, and agreements. These should all be part of the project archive.

Having access to your archived projects is essential if you ever need to go back to them. With Teamwork.com, we make it easy to view all of your projects, whether they're open, closed, or archived.

Archive the project in your project management software.

Index and fill all documents, contracts, and agreements.

Close any remaining project accounts.

If you haven’t already, reassign personnel, resources, and equipment.

Getting used to the project closure phase

As you can see, a lot goes into project closure. It may even seem overwhelming or unnecessary. But good project management includes a formal closure of the project. Period.

It gives you a single, organized place to look when you have questions about the project. It also helps you optimize processes over time.

And it will help you clean your desk (both physically and mentally) so you can move on to your next project. Use our 7-step checklist the next time you close a project.

You’ll enjoy the closure it gives you. And as a bonus, you’ll impress the socks off your team.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Formal hand-off
• Closeout all contracts and documents
• Review lessons learned
• Measure client satisfaction
• Prepare the project closure report
• Get sign-offs from stakeholders
• Archive the project

Alex York is a Content Marketing Manager who is passionate about marketing acquisition and content strategy. He has many years of experience in the Project Management space and loves providing expert advice and tips on how to improve team productivity and efficiency.

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DOT plans online public meeting to discuss proposed Oshkosh Main Street Bridge project and closure

Project engineers will share maps, displays and exhibits during the live presentation..

OSHKOSH ― The public is going to have its say.

Residents and business owners will get a chance to discuss next year’s proposed closure of the Main Street Bridge on Feb. 29, when the Wisconsin Department of Transportation hosts an online meeting to address the bridge’s scheduled improvements.

The online session is being described as a public involvement meeting that will provide project design information and gather comments on proposed improvements.

The DOT released the statement days after the Northwestern revealed the bridge could be closed for as many as eight months between 2025 and 2026 to facilitate necessary structural, mechanical and electrical improvements.

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According to the release, the meeting will be held via Microsoft Teams, where project engineers will share maps, displays and exhibits during a live presentation.

There will also be information for businesses impacted by the bridge closure while a Q&A segment immediately follows the presentations.

The public can assess the meeting via computer or mobile device by going to the Main Street Bridge Project design website, https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/projects/by-region/ne/45broshkosh/default.aspx, and clicking the link at the top of the page at the time of the meeting.

Impacted businesses can seek further information and signage at www.wisconsindot.gov/Together while the public is being asked to send any input or comments via traditional and electronic mail.

Mayor title: Double down! Oshkosh mayor not backing down from resolution.

As a result of the bridge’s closure, the proposal is to divert traffic approaching from the south side of the bridge along Ninth Avenue onto Oregon Street and through the Oregon/Jackson Street Bridge.

Pedestrians will use the sidewalks along Sixth Avenue, Oregon Street, Jackson Street, Division Street, Pearl Avenue and Main Street.

The DOT affirmed that the Main Street Bridge is still safe for vehicular and pedestrian use but stated “the structure has become deficient due to varying levels of deterioration” despite the various repairs and maintenance.

Have a story tip or public interest concern?   Contact Justin Marville at  [email protected] .