Welcome back. In this video, we're going to discuss project closing. We'll answer the questions, what does project closing mean, why is it important, and when does it occur? Project closing consists of the process performed to formally complete the project, the current phase, and contractual obligations. The first thing you should know is that completing a project is not the same thing as closing a project. Just because a project is done doesn't mean it's closed. In a restaurant, just because you've ordered your meal and finished it, doesn't mean your dining experience is over. You have to pay the bill before you leave. It's the same idea with projects. What does it actually take for a project to be closed? There are three criteria that make up a project closing. You'll want to assure all work is done. Ensure that the agreed upon project management processes are executed and get formal recognition from stakeholders that the project is done. First, you must assure all work is done. There's a chance one of your tasks may have been overlooked. Let's say there was a change made that called for reprioritizing work during the project. For instance, when your team completed user acceptance testing for Project Plant Pals, everything was finished and wrapped up. But months later, a customer searches for allergy information about the plants on Office Green's site, but that information is nowhere to be found. If you did a review before wrapping the project, you might have found that this task, creating allergy documentation, was overlooked and therefore not completed. In doing a review of the project, you double- and triple-check that all work is done to avoid having to revisit the project later on. Next, you must ensure that all agreed upon project management processes are executed. Sometimes, managerial tasks get overlooked. If the task itself is finished, the procedural or administrative work that needs to take place afterwards might slip your mind. An example might be getting contracts signed and processed. It might have been months since the project was completed, but when you revisit the contract with your plant provider, you realize that neither of you ended up actually signing it. This is a crucial misstep that leaves both parties vulnerable, and it's now taking place way after the new services official launch. Finally, you'll need formal recognition and agreement that the project is complete by key stakeholders. If you don't have formal approval from all stakeholders that a project is over, certain stakeholders may still request adjustments to the project because they'll think it's still active. This may affect various members of your team. For instance, if Office Green's contracted web developers believe that the project is still active, they may still be dedicating time and even billing hours of work on this project, which means wasted money for Office Green. In the same way that all of the previous phases of the process, like initiation, planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling serve a purpose, closing serves its own, equally important purpose. Closing a project is important because it ensures that nothing has fallen through the cracks. If a project isn't closed, your team's efforts, time, and credibility may be negatively impacted. To avoid negative impacts to your team, there are a couple of different types of projects that you'll want to know about and avoid. These are the never-ending project and the abandoned project. The never-ending project exists when, for whatever reason, the project deliverables and tasks cannot be completed. This may occur when tasks are delegated to team members who don't have the skills necessary to complete the tasks or when deadlines aren't properly communicated, maybe when user acceptance testing yields too many non-launch blocking bugs, or when your client is unsatisfied, despite meeting their requirements. Pay special attention to protecting the scope of your project, and you're much more likely to close a project successfully. If it feels like the customer wants much more from you than this project is slated to deliver, maybe the best option is to commit to a follow-up project and close the current one. The abandoned project exists when inadequate handoff of the project deliverables occurs. Basically, the final deliverable never makes it to your customer. It wouldn't make sense to build a product and then not be able to market it or sell it. Making plans to ensure an adequate handoff or transition deliverables is crucial to ensure customers are happy and projects are properly closed. In summary, you'll want to do everything you can to properly close a project because it may leave you on the hook for incomplete contracts, incomplete scope, or non-compliant practices. In the next video, we'll discuss the necessary steps included in a comprehensive closing process for clients and stakeholders.