Project Termination: All activities consistent with closing out the project: Extinction,
Addition, Integration, And Starvation.
Elements of Project Closeout Management: Finishing The Work; Handing Over
the Product; Gaining Acceptance for the Product; Harvesting the Benefits; Reviewing How It All
Went; Putting it All to Bed; Disbanding the Team;
Lessons Learned Meetings: Common Errors:(1)Misidentifying systematic errors.
(2)Misinterpreting lessons based on events.(3)Failure to pass along conclusions. Meeting
Guidelines: (1) Establish clear rules of behavior.(2)Describe objectively what occurred.(3)Fix the
problem, not the blame.
Closeout Paperwork: Documentation; Legal; Cost; Personnel.
Why are Closeouts Difficult? (1) Project sign off can be a de-motivator.(2)Constraints
cause shortcuts on back-end.(3)Low priority activities.(4)Lessons learned analysis seen as
bookkeeping.(5)Unique view of projects.
Early Warning Signs of Project Failure: (1) Lack of viable commercial
objectives.(2)Lack of sufficient authority to make decisions.(3)New product developed for
stable market.(4)Low priority assigned to the project by management.
Dynamic Factors to Monitor:
(1)Static.(2)Taskteam.(3)Sponsorship.(4)Economics.(5)Environment.(6)User.
Early Termination Decision Rules : (1) Costs exceed business benefits.(2)Failure
to meet strategic fit criteria.(3)Deadlines continue to be missed.(4)Technology evolves beyond
the project’s scope.
The Top 10 Signs of IT Project Failure : 1. Best practices and lessons learned
are ignored. 2. Project lacks people with appropriate skills. 3. Sponsorship is lost. 4. Users are
resistant. 5. Deadlines are unrealistic. 6. Business needs change. 7. Chosen technology
changes. 8. Project changes are poorly managed. 9. Scope is ill-defined. 10. Project managers
don’t understand users’ needs.
Project Termination Issues – Emotional:
Emotional:
Staff: (1) Fear of no future work,(2) Loss of interest in remaining tasks,(3)Loss of project-
derived motivation, (4)Loss of team identity, (5)Selection of personnel to be reassigned, (6)
Diversion of effort,
Client: (1) Change in attitude, (2) Loss of interest in project, (3) Change in personnel dealing
with project, (4) Unavailability of key personnel.
Project Termination Issues – Intellectual:
Intellectual:
Internal: 1.Identification of remaining deliverables, 2. Certification needs, 3. Identification
of outstanding commitments, 4. Control of changes to project, 5. Screening of partially
completed tasks, 6. Closure of work orders and work packages, 7. Disposal of unused material.
External: 1) Agreement with client on remaining deliverables, 2.Agreement with suppliers
on outstanding commitments, 3 Communicating closure, 4. Closing down facilities, 5.
Determination of requirements for audit trail data.
Claims & Disputes: Two types of claims :(1)Ex-gratia claims.(2)Default by the project
company. Resolved by: Arbitration, Binding, Non-binding, Standard litigation.
Protecting Against Claims: (1) Consider claims as part of the project plan.(2)Verify
stakeholders know their risks.(3)Keep good records throughout the life cycle.(4)Keep clear
details of change orders.(5)Archive all correspondence.
Final Report Elements: (1) Project performance.(2)Administrative performance.
(3)Organizational structure.(4)Team performance.(5)Project management techniques.
(6)Benefits to the organization and customer.
