What steps to be taken for a Smooth Project Close out and Handing Over Process.?

Project completion consists of three very basic elements.These elements are: 1) All sequential milestone achieved, 2) The project is ready for intended operational purpose,3) A review of of all completed work.For a smooth close out and handing over,all these three to be reviewed step by step .A hand over certificate will be prepared  and signed by the project Manager for acceptance and sign off by the project owner or his authorized  representative.The hand over certificate will contain remaining items if any with dates to complete the same.When all outstanding work is complete,the certificate will be updated.Following the updated hand over certificate,follows the close out .The senior members of the project team and the representative of the owner will review the project.The review will identify areas of improvement.All relevant project documentation and records will be handed over to the owner or his authorized representative.

Now in a days, no company is interested in the proper closing of the projects whether they incur loss or profit unless there is a call from the client. Corporate companies are interested in making money and as well as in their reputation. If there is a threat from the client about their reputation or retention amount maintained more than their profit till date. There must be a clause stating the legal implication in their agreement regarding the proper closing of project

The close out phase is one of the crucial and most neglected phase of the project.

For a successful completion of the close out phase, the deliverables of the construction project should be well defined as part of the specifications and should be part of the contractual documents. Some construction & mechanical companies use separate project teams which deals specifically with start-up phases, actual construction phases and closet out phases. Using specialist teams for each phase streamlines the process and successfully deliverables the project. Usage of different teams is specifically successful in assembly line projects.

In my experience, this phase is most misused by many in the organization. This is also because, the project usually lets go of its resources as any extra day would eat into the project profitability. Once the resources are out, then the motivation do write reports and submit records is not a very exciting job for any remaining team members.

The importance of this phase: The out put should typically be all the metrics (defect, productivity, unit cost, cost of quality etc), achievements, casestudy, project data archival (for legal and reusable needs) should be submitted so that it can be used in future projects and by the sales team as collaterals.

In order to make this activity a success here are a few suggestions:

1) The project manager should have factored this as part of the project budget estimation so that the resources are retained to complete this important activity.

2) This should be a KRA and part of the appraisal process for the PM - who would then deligate these tasks to his/her team.

3) As a process, the team member/ team leader should be made to present the details of the project at the close out phase in a common forum - which as an incentive can get them an appropriate reward and also reap benefits to the organization.

4) The IT/Finance should complement the process by not allowing the project to be closed till they get an approval from the sales/pre-sales that the collaterals have been submitted. The project would be open and the margin is to come down based on the delay of closing the project.

5) The PM/Team should not be teamed in any other project within the org without the evidence of the successful close out of the previous project.