Close Project or Phase is the process of finalizing all activities across all of the Project Management Process Groups to formally complete the project or phase.

 

The key benefit of this process is that it provides lessons learned, the formal ending of project work, and the release of organization resources to pursue new endeavors.

 

When closing the project, the project manager reviews all prior information from the previous phase closures to ensure that all project work is completed and that the project has met its objectives.

 

Since project scope is measured against the project management plan, the project manager reviews the scope baseline to ensure completion before considering the project closed.

 

The Close Project or Phase process also establishes the procedures to investigate and document the reasons for actions taken if a project is terminated before completion.

 

In order to successfully achieve this, the project manager needs to engage all the proper stakeholders in the process.

 

This includes all planned activities necessary for administrative closure of the project or phase, including step- by-step methodologies that address:

   * Actions and activities necessary to satisfy completion or exit criteria for the phase or project;
 

   * Actions and activities necessary to transfer the project’s products, services, or results to the next phase or to production and/or operations; and
 

   * Activities needed to collect project or phase records, audit project success or failure, gather lessons learned and archive project information for future use by the organization..