Five Key Steps to Closing Down the Project

The post is made possible by the great people at Seavus, creators of online Project Management tools such as ProjectOffice.net, Project Viewer, and Project Planner.  Please visit their site for more information.

A lot of text and attention is given to how to start projects, and how to run projects. But process of properly closing down a project is overlooked. Why? Well, since I can say from experience that I’ve been guilty of this in the past, here are my reasons, at least:

• Implementation and transition to support happened so moving on seems reasonable
• Have 4-5 other projects I’m also managing
• Just received a new, hot project and I’m preparing for kickoff
• Problem-free implementation means no worries, right?

Look at that list…none of them are good excuses for just basically dropping the ball – and the customer – post-deployment. Things still need to happen, proper hand-offs may still need to be taken care of, information needs to be transitioned. It will happen anyway through frantic phone calls and emails, so why not take care of it in an organized fashion? Because we say we’re too busy…but that needs to change.

Here are my list of five key activities that should happen to ensure proper closure of the project you’ve just finished. Your list may differ and I’d love to hear from you if it does. Feel free to comment and share with our readers here on PMTips.

My list:

• Make sure all pertinent documents and deliverables have been signed off by the customer. You don’t want this coming back to you after the project is over – especially if there are any question marks our payments outstanding.
• Get a final signoff on implementation/solution acceptance. You may have the best relationship in the world with your customer, but don’t skip this step.
• Conduct a lessons learned session with the customer and your team. The information you glean from this type of session can be invaluable to you as a project manager going forward, to your customer as they go forth with the implemented solution, and to your tech support as they provide the ongoing support for the solution with the customer.
• Hold a proper handoff to tech support. Make sure they have all necessary information in order to properly support the client post-deployment.
• Keep in touch with the customer post-deployment. You may have a 30 or 60-day agreement to remain available to the customer and for your team to remain available before the formal transition to tech support. But don’t just drop them at that point, keep checking back. It’s good for your reputation with the customer and for your company’s reputation.

The Project Disaster Recovery Plan

From my experience, it’s not often that you’ll put together a Disaster Recovery Plan that is project-specific. The exceptions are government projects – which sometimes require separate one-time documents for the project for which you charge dearly to put them together – and larger, very visible and mission critical projects that may involve highly sensitive data.

However, if you find yourself up against a wall and facing a deadling to put a DRP together, maybe this template will be just what you need. As with all the others I’ve posted over the past few days, if you want a Word doc version of this template, let me know and I’ll be happy to send it out to you. And, if you have your own version that you’d like to see posted and share with the readers here on PM Tips, send it along to me and I’ll see that it gets posted.

Disaster Recovery Plan

1.0 Preliminary Planning

This part of the plan describes the purpose, scope, assumptions, responsibilities, and overall strategy relative to the plan.

1.1 Purpose

Describe the reason and objectives for having a DRP.

1.2 Scope

Describe the extent of the coverage of the plan in concise terms.

1.3 Assumptions

A DRP is based on several categories of assumptions. Most can be established only after the completion of a risk assessment that includes the following information:

• Nature of the problem
• Priorities
• Commitments to or Assumptions of Support

1.4 Responsibilities

Document the specific responsibilities as assigned by management to all activities and personnel associated with the plan.

1.5 Strategy

The selection of appropriate strategies should follow the risk assessment. Until the risk assessment is completed, it is difficult to know the critical systems that must be maintained, and the demand for resources that will be made to support those critical systems.

1.5.1 Emergency Response

The strategies selected must provide a sufficient base upon which procedures can be devised which afford all personnel the immediate capability to effectively respond to emergency situations where life and property have been, or may be, threatened or harmed.

1.5.2 Backup Operations

Most backup sites will not have sufficient equipment, personnel, supplies, etc., to sustain the complete operational requirements or another facility. In this case, a more detailed backup strategy must be developed.

1.5.3 Post-Disaster Recovery Actions

The strategy for recovery must be linked closely with that of backup operations, as initiation of recovery actions may overlap.

1.6 Record of Changes

Each DRP should be preceded by a change audit record that lists all changes to this document, including the change number, change date, change detail, person making the change, and the date that the document is published.

1.7 Security of the Plan

This plan should be available to just those personnel affected by the plan.

2.0 Preparatory Actions

This part of the plan is key. Preparatory actions are critical to the emergency response, backup, and recovery from all but the most routine problems.

2.1 People

Provide names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all people, internal and external (vendors and/or contractors) who may be required in any backup or recovery scenario. Alternates should be designated.

2.2 Data

It is essential that all data on which backup and recovery are dependent be adequately recorded, stored offsite at a secure, environmentally safe facility, maintained in as current condition as is feasible, and occasionally tested to ensure validity.

2.3 Software

It is also essential that a current copy of the systems and application software programs be stored offsite at a secure, environmentally safe facility that will make that software available immediately.

2.4 Hardware

A DRP should minimize, to the greatest feasible extent, the dependence on rapid replacement of hardware. Define a list of the hardware and where replacements are available. Identify any contracts in place to ensure the availability of any hardware.

2.5 Communications

Define both the internal (LAN) and external (WAN) communications connectivity.

2.6 Supplies

Describe any special supplies that are needed.

2.7 Backup Site

Describe the location of the backup facility. When choosing a backup site, consideration should be given to accessibility, and the site should be free of whatever external problems are hampering the supported facility.

2.8 Space

Describe the physical location where the recovery operations will take place.

2.9 Power and Environmental Controls

Define the power and environmental controls that are required for the recovery.

2.10 Documentation

Describe all backup documentation that is kept in the offsite facility.

3.0 Action Plan

This part of the plan consists of the “what to” actions to be accomplished by those personnel or activities identified in section 1.4, and should only consist of concise, short instructions of the specific actions to take in response to each of the categories below:

3.1 Emergency Response

Include the immediate actions to be taken to protect life and property, and to minimize the impact of the emergency.

3.2 Backup Operations

Describe what must be done to initiate and effect backup operations.

3.3 Recovery Actions

These should be limited to describing what to do in effecting recovery from disasters, including any alternate manual scenarios until the systems have been restored at the backup site.

4.0 Post-Disaster Review

Immediately after the resumption of the IT function, IT management should assess the success and adequacy of the plan, and update the plan accordingly.

Approved:

__________________________________________

Business Sponsor

__________________________________________

IT Director

__________________________________________

Development Director

__________________________________________

Infrastructure Director

The Project Change Order Request – Version 2

As promised – another version of the love-hate Change Order Request.  This is a cut/paste from a Word doc template that I would be happy to share.  The Word doc version looks much better, but this at least gives you an idea of the content that is being captured here for customer approval.

The main concept is to capture as much information about the proposed scope change as possible and estimate each task effort that it’s going to take to get there.  Once that effort and budget info is captured here, that information can easily be rolled into the project schedule to show your customer how the change order request is going to affect the overall project timeline.

I’ve been using this version – or at least some variation of it – for most of the past three years on projects and it’s served me very well.  The change order request is always a delicate subject for both the project manager and the customer so handling it carefully and in the greatest detail possible is critical to good decision-making and for on-going customer satisfaction since it usually results in the customer paying more on the project (but not always because even things that decrease the project scope and cost should be documented using this same process….it affects the project, too!).

Again, if you want a Word doc version of the template let me know.  And if you have a version you can share, I’d like to see it and share it with our PM Tips readers as well.

The Project Resource Request

Here is yet another template that I am digging out of my archives to provide here.  As you can easily guess, this document is designed for requesting resources at the beginning of your project based on information in your statement of work (SOW) and the estimates of resource requirements that either you or Sales put together in the pre-engagement process.  It is also helpful for requesting additional resources during the project.

How useful this is to anyone depends on the organization they work in.  If you have a mature PMO with processes in place, then I would guess that you already have a standard form or spreadsheet to use to request resource for your project.  However, if you’re one of just a few PMs or personnel acting in a PM role in your organization or you’re in the process of building some PM processes for a newer organization or even setting up a new PMO, then any template may be better than nothing.

As with all of these documents, if you want the original Word doc file, just email me if you think this will be useful or helpful.  And please, provide your own example if you wish.  We’re looking to learn and share information so I’m happy to use and post whatever you would like to provide to the readers of PM Tips.

PROJECT RESOURCE REQUEST

[Save file name as: client name RESOURCE REQUEST yyyymmdd]

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Provide a brief description of the project objectives and overall performance of the work to be performed.

WORK DESCRIPTION AND ROLE

Describe the work to be performed on the project by the resource(s) and what role the individual(s) will play on the project team.

DESIRED SKILLS

Describe the technical, business or professional skills needed by the resource(s) to successfully meet the needs of the project.

DELIVERABLES

Describe the deliverables the resource(s) will be responsible to complete as a result of their work on the project.

DATES REQUESTED

Starting: mm/dd/yyyy Ending: mm/dd/yyyy

HOURS OR % FTE

Provide the estimated number of hours or the percent of time the individual(s) will be need to be allocated to work on the project.

WORK LOCATION

Describe all of the locations the resource(s) will be expected to be located – if multiple locations, provide dates as they are know at the time of the request.

REPORTING STRUCTURE

Describe the reporting structure for the project and how the individual(s) will be expected to operate within this structure.

The Project Charter Document

As I discussed previously, I want to bring the readers of PM Tips as many useful…or at least semi-useful…project related documents, samples and templates as possible.  This is a place for new and experienced project managers to gather and share ideas, so I’m sharing.  If any of you have samples that you’d like to share – send them to me and I’ll summarize and post them on here.I have to admit, I’ve not had much occasion to create a project charter document.  Eric Verzuh’s book “The Portable MBA in Project Management” describes the project charter document in this way…

“A project charter announces that a new project has begun. The purpose of the charter is to demonstrate management support for the project and the project manager. It is a simple, powerful tool, but it is not necessarily complex. As an announcement, it can take the form of a memo, a letter, or an e-mail. It contains the name and purpose of the project, the project manager’s name, and a statement of support from the issuer. The charter is sent to everyone who may be associated with the project, reaching as wide an audience as practical because its intent is to give notice of the new project and the new project manager.”

A few years ago I created several templates that I’d like to share with you here over several upcoming articles, including this Project Charter document.  They are merely a basis to get started – I’ve modified them all when I use them in order to fit the specific project or needs of the customer, but they at least provide a starting point.  Again, if you have templates or samples you’d like to share here, let me know and I’ll do my best to get them posted for our readers.

PROJECT CHARTER

[Save file name as: client name PROJECT CHARTER yyyymmdd]

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Provide a brief description of the situation that has initiated the project.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES

Describe the objectives of the project – “SMART”: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based.

ASSUMPTIONS

Describe the initial assumptions under which the project will be to perform.

CONTRAINTS

Describe the scope/cost/ time/resource constraints under which the project will be to perform.

IDENTIFIED RISKS

Describe any known risks which will need to be addressed with the project statement of work.

APPROVAL

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have agreed to the Project Charter on the date or dates indicated below.

CLIENT APPROVAL

________________________________

VENDOR APPROVAL

________________________________