From the course: Project Management for Creative Projects

When is a project done?

From the course: Project Management for Creative Projects

Start my 1-month free trial

When is a project done?

“

- As you move towards the end of a project it's important to note when a project is actually done. You don't want a project to come to a slow stop, rather, you'd like to actually hit the goal and successfully close things down. Otherwise, the project just kind of winds on forever and people don't really know when they can switch their attention to the next big thing they need to start working on. You may recall the document we shared earlier, a simple flow chart. In this case it was all about setting objectives and then checking the progress. Remember, the project is technically done when you've achieved all of the objectives and they were done correctly. If that's the case, then the project wraps up. That doesn't mean that new projects won't pop up or change modifications don't come around, but you need to accurately measure this. So how do you know a project is done? Well, it's always a good idea to go back to the scope of work statement. Evaluate it to make sure that you didn't miss anything. Also, look through any change orders you got, email or written communication, or even phone calls where you sent a written note afterwards that was verified, that changes were requested. Make sure that all of these deliverables are delivered and that they were accepted; not just that you sent them over, but someone acknowledged receiving them and that they were correct or done in an acceptable way. You should then formally request that the client signs off on the project closure. Ask them to acknowledge that everything has been delivered and that they're satisfied. Once this has happened, then you are able to start the closeout billing, but it is critical that the stakeholder verifies that the project is done, otherwise you're going to achieve difficulty when it goes to billing the project or wrapping it up.

Contents