Project Closeout may be perceived as the least important of all of the project tasks, but its value to future projects cannot be underestimated. The knowledge gathered, the expertise developed, the lessons learned, the practices perfected -- will remain locked temporarily in a few people’s heads unless the Post-Implementation Review is conducted promptly, documented thoroughly, and (most importantly) its results are disseminated appropriately throughout the performing organization.
What are some of the key elements of Project Closeout that require the most attention? The Post-Implementation Review definitely stands out, and receives the most attention in the following table that identifies processes and tasks which have pitfalls highlighted in this section.
|
|
Process |
Task |
Why is it important? |
|
|
Conduct Post-Implementation Review |
Solicit Feedback |
Do you have to ask? Yes, if you want answers. Your opinion, no matter how lofty, is not enough. |
|
|
Conduct Project Assessment |
“Honesty is such a lonely word.” But that is what your project – and all future projects – need from you! | |
|
|
Derive Lessons Learned |
“Truthfulness…always seems so hard to give.” But you owe it to yourself, and all other Project Managers who will follow in your footsteps. Learn from the bad things and leverage the good. | |
|
|
Identify Best Practices |
Here’s your chance to highlight for posterity all the things you and your team did right! |
Your project is a success! Everyone is walking on air! In your joy and celebration, you neglect to solicit immediate feedback from the Project Team and other stakeholders….
Every project has its challenges, and everyone can learn from them. But people tend to forget the challenges they faced during the course of a project when the final outcome is a success. It is very important to solicit feedback as soon as Project Closeout begins so you get immediate, honest, and complete information regarding not only the project successes, but the failures. Then, the celebration can begin!
Scenario 1
Your project was a miserable failure. Your team mutinied; your Customers hate you; and you are in big trouble with your boss because the project came in months late and way over budget. You want to put this wretched experience behind you. The last thing you want to do is dredge up all the misery again. Why give everyone yet another opportunity to kick you?
Scenario 2
Your project went OK. You had a pretty good team (with just a few nuts and dolts); you are still on speaking terms with your Customers; and the project was just a bit over, mostly because of someone who insisted on “just one more thing.” You can probably even use this project as a resume-builder for future opportunities. So why jeopardize it by giving everybody a chance to bring up all the things that could have been done better? Let sleeping dogs lie!
Scenario 3
You are on top of the world. Your project was a success. The Customers love the product. Your boss nominated you for an award because you delivered the project on time and under budget. So why are you still afraid to find out what everybody thinks about the experience?
As you can see, whatever the outcome, the bias is always to “close the chapter” and move on. And yet, for your personal growth, for the benefit of your organization, and for all the other Project Managers to come, you need to spend the time to review the project. You need to understand what you did right – and what you did wrong. You need to know how your behavior, your approach, and your techniques, really worked – not from your own skewed perspective, but from the objective standpoint of your team, your Customers, and your management; if you think about it, from the only perspective that really matters, at least vis-à-vis your career.
Since you are the one inviting the folks to your Project Assessment Meeting, and it is your project they are reviewing, the temptation is to try to facilitate the meeting yourself.
Bad idea for two reasons. First of all, you probably don’t know how to do it right. A few Project Managers do happen to be talented facilitators; a lot more think they are, but in reality don’t have a clue as to what’s involved in getting meaningful output from a large group of disparate personalities. Remember, if you want a professional job, secure a professional. Many agencies have trained facilitators that are available for such meetings. Alternatively, you may consider hiring an outside consultant if it can be done expediently.
Secondly, even if you are a great facilitator, what do you want to concentrate on during this meeting: analyzing what people say, or worrying about Loud Luther dominating the rest of the group with his diatribes? Remember what they say in the legal profession, “a lawyer representing himself has a fool for a client.”
Likewise, it’s a bad idea to play scribe, for the same reasons: you probably can't type as fast as people talk, and you should be worrying about the meaning of what people are saying, and not keeping up with Rapid Rita as she’s rattling off sixteen reasons why you are such a rotten rascal.
If you overcome your fears and invite a good cross-section of the Project Team to the Project Assessment Meeting, and get a good facilitator to lead the session, you are going to get a lot of feedback – especially if, in preparation for the meeting, your facilitator asks the participants to list all the things that could have been handled better.
Making sense of all the feedback will be tough. Here are some guidelines:
First, concentrate on what’s important. During the meeting, your facilitator should ask the group to prioritize their feedback, both positive and negative. What were the things that impeded the project the most? If there was a problem (corrected or not) with Cost, Scope, Schedule, or Quality – what contributed the most to it? The group should come to consensus on the top three or four or five things that affected the project the most. (How? That’s why you get a professional facilitator!)
Second, select items that may be of use to other projects. If your locality had a flood for the first time in fifty years during the crucial part of your project, and as a result your schedule got thrown off kilter, well, too bad for you – but nobody else really cares.
Third, “genericize” your experience so it can be applicable to multiple projects. If one of your key team members developed a rare tropical disease and as a result you had to scramble to identify and secure another resource who could do the work while the expert recuperated, the lesson learned is not how to treat the rare tropical disease, but how to anticipate and prepare for the risk of a key member of the team being unavailable – for whatever reason.
No matter how rotten everyone thinks you are at managing projects, you are guaranteed to have done at least something right (like reading this Guidebook, for example). So along with getting all the negative feedback at the Project Assessment Meeting, you also need to accentuate the positive. That is not difficult if your facilitator, in preparation for the meeting, asks the participants to list all the things that went right with the project.
Again, making sense of the feedback is possible if you follow the same guidelines: prioritize the comments, select those that are applicable to other projects, and make them generic and useful.
Don't be bashful about throwing things in that only you thought of. After all, who knows this project better than you? And be specific. If you came up with a better format for a progress report that suits your organization or your project circumstances to a “T” – include it, both as a template, and as a filled-in example. If you followed an unorthodox issue escalation procedure, but it worked better than the tried-and-true chain-of-command one, by all means, let the other folks have the benefit of your ingenuity and good fortune.
You complete a magnificent project, one that will be a feather in your cap for years to come. You survey half the world for their feedback. You hold a great Project Assessment Meeting, and come up with a host of brilliant strategies for other Project Managers to emulate, and a multitude of obstacles for them to avoid. You triumphantly record them all into your project repository, and file it away.
Never to be seen again.
That’s because your organization does not have a way to disseminate this hard-won knowledge throughout the workplace. There is no central repository of historical project data. There is no unit charged with taking ownership to collect, organize, and make available information about other projects. There is nobody assigned to actively teach lessons learned, or faithfully implement best practices.
There is no way to share organizational knowledge, other than by personal contact.
But it doesn't have to be that way. You can change that, and you can benefit greatly by doing it. First, start accumulating the knowledge from your own projects and from others you are aware of. Second, publicize what you are doing, and create a track record of successful utilization. Third, present the organizational knowledge repository idea to your management, and encourage them to take action. Someone at a management level needs to assign ownership to the appropriate individuals for implementing best practices and lessons learned throughout the performing organization. By then, the organization will have been exposed to the idea, will think it is fabulous, and will think you’re fabulous for coming up with it.
And don't forget to share your knowledge with the Project Management Office or Consulting Practice in your organization. Let others learn from your experiences while you benefit by learning from theirs. THEY WANT TO KNOW!!
Your project ends successfully. People go their separate ways. You feel like the whole experience is now nothing more than a vague memory. Why? Maybe you didn't take the time to appropriately celebrate your success.
Don't be afraid to approach your Project Sponsor to inquire about funds that may exist for hosting a celebration function. The function may be as simple as a cake and coffee meeting, or may be a sponsored party or event. In any case, you want your Project Team to have good memories of their experiences on projects you manage, so they will be excited about having the opportunity to work with you again.
Good luck, and have fun!