PRINCE2 7 Study Guide – Part 8
If one has been raised, and Exception Report is sent to the project board who now need to decide on what to do next. One option they have is to prematurely close the project, in which case the project manager would use the Closing a Project (CP) process to carry this out. For the moment, we will assume that they prefer another option, either recommended by the project manager, or one which they have determined. This would trigger the project manager to use the Managing a Stage Boundary.
As with all the plans within a PRINCE2 7project, the product-based planning technique will be used. One of the steps within this technique is to create new or modified Product Descriptions for the products to be created within that plan.
Therefore, once a Product Description has been created, a Configuration Item Record for each product will also need to be set up (although this is optional). Typically, administration of configuration management would be carried out by Project Support and it is the way who would create the Configuration Item Records on behalf of the Project Manager.
It is at this point, that the Project Board will use the process Directing a Project to authorize the next delivery stage. There is a formal meeting held to do this called the end stage assessment.
Prior to that, the Project Manager will send the End Stage Report, the next Stage Plan, and the updated PID to the Project Board who will then review these documents and decide whether to authorize the next delivery stage.
The process is of Controlling a Stage, Managing Product Delivery, and Managing a Stage Boundary are used during each of the management stages, culminating with the Project Board using the Directing a Project process to authorize the next stage via the end stage assessment.
Closing a Project
The final delivery stage is managed differently, and I will set this out as below:
The first difference is that at the end of this last delivery stage, the Closing a Project process is used to prepare for the end of the project in place of the managing stage boundary process.
Assuming a natural close to the project, then the “prepare planned closure” activity will be used.
The project manager would request a product status account to ensure that all products within the project would have been approved and that the project acceptance criteria have been met. The Project Plan should be updated with the ‘actuals’ of this final stage.
The project’s products must now be handed over to the operational and maintenance environment, where they will be used to ultimately realize the benefits contained as stated within the Business Case.
The project manager would update relevant configuration item records to show that such products have the status of ‘operational’, any acceptance records should be created or obtained, and the Benefits Management Approach updated to reflect any products that have already realized benefits and to include any post project activities for such benefits that have yet to be realized.
The evaluate the project activity will create the end of project report to capture actual progress and aspects such as project performance metrics, and will include the Lessons Report based upon the information contained within the Lessons Log.
In the case of premature close, then the reasons for this should be entered and updated on the Issue Register, and if necessary any additional work may be needed to buy the complete unfinished products or to make them safe.
Once the project manager has determined that the project should and can be closed, then a recommendation of such should be raised to the project board in the form of request project closure
The final activity in any project, is the authorized project closure within the Directing a Project process. The project board would need to review original and updated versions of the PID, review and approve the End Project Report, confirm any follow-on actions or loose ends, verify that the projects products have been handed over in an appropriate manner, ensure that the Business Case remains viable, advise that the project can now be closed, and advise those supplier resources that these can now be withdrawn.
During the Closing a Project process the Project Manager will carry out the following activities:
- Make sure that the project’s products are signed off and accepted by the user or operational managers who will use the end products
- Create an End Project Report reviewing the project performance against the original objectives that were set out within the first version of the Project Initiation Documentation (PID)
- The Project Manager will update the Benefits Management Approach to check that all the post project benefit reviews are included for those benefits that have not been realized during the project.
- The Project Manager will prepare a list of follow-on action recommendations to those who will operate the projects products
- The Project Manager will create a Lessons Report that is passed on to subsequent projects
- The Project Manager will archive the project documentation
There is another difference between the final delivery stage and previous delivery stages and that is the Project Board authorize the closure of the project rather than another stage. Project Board members will review all the management products prepared by the Project Manager within the Closing a Project process and if they are satisfied that everything has been completed, they will authorize the end of the project using the “authorize project closure” activity.
It is important that you notice that the Project Manager can only recommend closure as it is the Project Board alone who have the authority to notify actual closure. They will also inform those who issued the Project Mandate (corporate/programme management) that the project is now formally closed.
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