Lesson 05: The End!
Done? Let’s close the project…
Based on AXELOS PRINCE2® material. Reproduced under licence from AXELOS. All rights reserved.
Note: PRINCE2 2017 edition is now called PRINCE2 6th edition.
- 00:07 – This lesson covers the last stage and closing a project
- 00:11 – So what does a PM do to prepare the project for closure?
- 00:16 – Well, let’s say we are now in the last stage
- 00:18 – So the Project Manager is doing their normal work
- 00:21 – So they’re assigning work, they’re dealing with issues and changes as they come up
- 00:25 – They are also dealing with risks
- 00:28 – They are monitoring the stage against the Stage Plan
- 00:31 – And of course, they are communicating to the Project Board by sending them a regular report
- 00:37 – So this is the normal work that a Project Manager does
- 00:39 – Now let’s say that 80% of the work has been done in the last stage
- 00:45 – And the Project Manager then will start to think about the end of the project
- 00:49 – So PRINCE2 recommends a number of activities that should be done at the end of a project
- 00:55 – And it puts these activities into a process that we call the Closing a Project process
- 01:01 – So at the end of a project, we don’t have the Stage Boundary Process anymore
- 01:05 – We have the Closing a Project process
- 01:08 – So here then, the Project Manager will check that the project product has been accepted by the client, so handed over and signed for
- 01:18 – They will also update the Project Plan with the status of all the products that have been complete
- 01:23 – Because maybe some are not, so the high priority ones should be at least done
- 01:28 – Then we update the Business Case, which includes the latest cost of the project
- 01:33 – And now we have the full cost of the project here
- 01:36 – They will update the benefits approach to include the meetings that will take place after the project, perhaps every six months for the next three years
- 01:45 – And then they will write the End Project Report
- 01:49 – So this End Project Report written by the Project Manager compares the documents such as the Business Case and the Project Plan with the ones that were created at the very beginning of the project
- 02:02 – Let’s say from the planning stage
- 02:04 – And then we can look at the performance of the whole project
- 02:08 – And they can also create a Lessons Report and give this to the Project Board as well
- 02:15 – The Project Manager can then recommend to the Project Board that they can now close the project
- 02:21 – So, what’s the role of the Project Manager here?
- 02:24 – Actually the role is to prepare the project for closure
- 02:28 – And the role of the Project Board?
- 02:30 – Well, actually they take the decision to close the project
- 02:33 – And this decision is called Authorize Project Closure
- 02:37 – So what will the Project Board check?
- 02:39 – Well, the Project Board will check the Project Plan to see that all or most of or nearly all the work has been done
- 02:46 – They will check the Business Case
- 02:48 – They will check that the project product, the main product, has been handed over and accepted
- 02:53 – They will check that a Lessons Report has been provided
- 02:56 – And they will also check that the follow up benefits meetings are going to take place
- 03:02 – Then they will close the project and send out a communication
- 03:05 – So what is actually closing a project meaning?
- 03:09 – Well, it means sending out a communication, but also setting a date for the budget for that project to be closed
- 03:18 – So, that’s basically it now for the whole project
- 03:21 – So we have covered a full project cycle
- 03:23 – We started off with the starting of a project process, which evaluates an idea and this is a pre-project process
- 03:32 – And we decide whether or not the project is a good idea or not
- 03:36 – Then in the IP stage to the Planning stage, we break down the project using the Product Breakdown Structure
- 03:42 – We write most of the product descriptions and we create a Project Plan for the whole project
- 03:49 – And we also create the Business Case
- 03:51 – Then the Project Manager will run the stages that will hand out work to the teams
- 03:57 – The teams will deliver the products and at the end of each stage, the Project Manager reviews the last stage and plans the next stage
- 04:05 – Then the Project Board controls the project by making decisions
- 04:09 – Because they make a decision at the end of each stage
- 04:13 – And the project just keeps going until at least all the high priority work has been done
- 04:19 – Then the Project Manager prepares the project for closure in the last stage and the Project Board closes the project
- 04:28 – So that’s it, for the last stage and closing a project
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Now you have an overall understanding of PRINCE2® project management methodology. We’ll add more details to this big-picture in the next iteration.
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