Source: Image of signed document, clipboard, people at meeting, man running meeting, whiteboard, arrow, images by Video Scribe, License held by Jeff Carroll; Image of project approval form, Creative Commons, Jeff Carroll.
Hi, I'm Jeff, and in this lesson, we'll learn how a project manager organizes and facilitates the approval to close a project. When a project is ready to close, the project manager will set up the final approval meeting. Depending on the organization, this may also be handled through a more informal sign-off procedure. The sign-off approval can occur when the project has accomplished the following.
The project is ready to close, as determined by the project manager. This means that all tasks in the schedule have been completed, that all deliverables have been created and perform to the specifications, requirements, and quality standards outlined in the project scope, and the final information and evaluation of the project have been prepared, and reports have been created comparing the actual schedule and budget to the plan baseline values.
All contracts have been closed out. This includes any vendors, consultants, or material agreements used by the project. And all required documentation has been completed as defined by the project governance.
Once this criteria has been met, then the project manager can arrange the approval meeting if needed. This meeting will include the project sponsor, any key stakeholders with sign-off authority, and any operation members taking over the projects deliverables. Sign-offs will be needed from each group.
The project manager should prepare the meeting agenda and distribute it to all attendees. During the meeting, the project manager will explain how the deliverables and requirements have been satisfied, any variances in the final schedule or budget as compared to the plan baseline, and the plan to transfer ownership of the projects deliverables to operation. This should include which individuals will manage, implement, or use the deliverables.
Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, the meeting will conclude with a sign-off for the project. This is an example of a project approval. A formal project sign-off should be signed by each stakeholder with sign-off authority. If approval is not received, then the project manager should organize any changes to the project or documentation necessary to receive approval and reschedule a new meeting.
Upon project approval, the project manager can close the project using the following steps, complete the lessons learned document, warehouse any records associated with the project, transfer the ownership of the project to those managing the operation of the deliverables, and evaluate and release the team. We'll cover these steps in more detail in other lessons.
Congratulations! We've received project approval.
In this lesson, we learned the criteria needed for project approval. We understand the project manager needs to arrange the project approval meeting, and we learned how to obtain sign-off on the project. Thanks for listening, and have a great day.
