Preparing for Premature Closure with PRINCE2
The PRINCE2 process of Closing a Project is there to provide a controlled shutdown for one of two potential outcomes, prepare planned closure or prepare premature closure. This article will focus on the latter.
Whichever of the two PRINCE2 outcomes occur, both then lead to the same activities. Let me first briefly cover a regularly planned closure so that you can contrast and compare the two potential outcomes:
Prepare planned closure
It is the project manager’s responsibility to ensure that the expected results from the project have been achieved and delivered. And only then can the project manager recommend that the project be closed to the project board.
First, the Project Plan must be updated with the final stage’s data, including costs, timescale, work effort and completed products.
The project manager will request a Product Status Account from Project Assurance to ensure that all products have been approved by the appropriate authority as laid out in their Product Descriptions and that the products have met their quality criteria.
The Project Product Description should be reviewed and confirmed, given that the project has delivered what is defined and that the acceptance criteria have been met.
Getting product acceptance may involve activities such as user acceptance tests, etc.; if so, these will have been already carried out via previous Work packages.
It is essential to see that customer acceptance may mean a signature from the appropriate individual or organization.
The project manager will seek approval to notify corporate or programme management via the project board that the project’s resources are about to be released.
PRINCE2 Prepare premature closure
Okay, so now let’s look at the process diagram and describe a premature closure:
In a situation where premature closure has been requested, similar activities need to occur. However, extra activities may be required.
First, let’s go through a simple checklist for both PRINCE2 premature closure and planned closure:
Gain user acceptance
Ensure that product support is set up
Review the project against its baselines
Assess realized benefits and update the Benefits Management Approach
Address all unfinished business
There are many similarities for premature closure, but there are also differences, for example, ensuring that the project salvages anything of value created, that a building site, for example, is made safe, all that unused equipment or materials are safely stored all sold off to recoup any losses.
A premature closure usually takes less time (it can be a simple ‘damage limitation exercise!) This is because, in a premature closure, there is an incentive only to consume strictly necessary resources.
The significant premature closure difference is in the project’s products.
As mentioned above, some products may likely be complete and others partially complete. A decision needs to be made if it is worth completing and of the latter type because it will enhance their worth in terms of current or future benefits.
Some, however, are best left as they are – possibly for their scrap value alone.
The PRINCE2 Product Status Account is again used, but this time to evaluate the status of the products mentioned in the above paragraph.
Another aspect is the human resources being used on the project; if it has been necessary to follow a premature closure, such staff or third-party organizations need to be released early. There may be some financial pain in contract agreements if such entities are to be brought to premature closure.
On the subject of money, any finance that has either been allocated or ‘earmarked’ for your project can now be ‘released’ so that it may help other current or future project endeavours.
I mentioned the Benefits Management Approach above, the benefits are ‘owned’ by the Senior User, and they are responsible for such benefits being realized, clearly not possible for premature project closure.
The project manager will want to meet with the Senior User and agree on what benefits remain on track to be realized (if any) and what is unlikely to happen. Accordingly, the Benefits Management Approach must be updated before the project board for agreement as part of your premature closure.
The final key aspect here is of Lessons Learned. Unlike a planned closure, a premature closure will likely have more lessons that may be learned.
Questions such as ‘Could we have foreseen/prevented this premature closure? Need to be asked – not to place blame, but to enhance future best practices and incorporate such lessons into future projects.
Products that are partly finished at this point must be completed before the premature project closes.
NOTE. As a result of the above, additional work may be needed, which may cause the need for an Exception Plan to be drafted and approved by the project board.
If they agree, this may lead to the creation of an Exception Plan to be reviewed at an Exception Assessment (EXA) so that extra products/activities are included as part of the (new and modified) final delivery stage.
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