Project closure checklist guidance

Project closure checklist

Are all project activities finished?

Have all the meetings been conducted that are necessary to complete this project? Have other departments or institutions been made aware that this project is complete? Are there any other activities that may have been missed up to this point that need to be complete?

Are all required deliverables complete?

This is a good time to reflect on the Project Brief (or Terms of Reference). Take an objective stroll through this document and ask yourself if all tangible deliverables have been completed. This includes documentation, training guides, and other deliverables that may not be “mission-critical” but are nonetheless important to the closure of the project.

Have all necessary acceptances and approvals been obtained?

It's important to get written approval for sign-off during the lifecycle of the project. This makes the person providing their signature accountable for their actions and forces them to look at the deliverable prior to saying it’s ready to go.

Have all required administrative tasks been performed?

This includes closing out any open contracts, making sure any and all time has been entered against the project, billing is complete and people on the project have been released and/or are assigned to new projects.

Are all project documents and deliverables archived?

You want to make sure that all documentation related to the project are in a central repository for easy access later. This may serve as the basis for a similar project in the future, or you may need to answer questions that arise about this project. It’s also a good place to store the Lessons Learned from this project.