What is project closuer?

Project closure refers to a set of tasks that are required to formally end the project. There are two kinds of projects that you need to close formally:

• Completed projects - A project that has met its completion criteria falls into this category.

• Terminated projects - A project that was terminated before its completion falls into this category. A project can be terminated at various stages for various reasons. Some examples are:

o The project management plan is not approved for whatever reason.

o The project has been executing, but you have run out of resources, and no more resources are available.

o The project has been cancelled because it was going nowhere.

o The project has been indefinitely postponed because there is not a large enough market for the product it would produce.

A project, in general, may have in-house activities i.e., project activities being performed within the performing organization and procurement activities. Accordingly, there are two aspects of project closure:

• Close the in-house activities of the project.

• Close the procurement part of the project.

Project closure includes the following activities:

• Activities to verify that all deliverables have been provided and accepted

• Activities to confirm that all the project requirements, including stakeholder requirements, have been met

• Activities to verify that the completion or exit criteria have been met

• Activities to ensure that the project product is transferred to the right individual or group

• Activities to review the project for lessons learned and archive the project records