Chapter Summary

A successful project manager has to complete many tasks to finish any technical project. As the project is winding down, an analysis of the critical path and the resources assigned to the path is required to ensure that the work is completed and resources are committed. You have to be seen, available, and in the trenches with the project team to keep the project momentum moving toward the deliverables.

Once the project work has been completed, the project manager, the project sponsor, and the project team need to review the work for quality, snags, or technical issues that may have popped up in the final tasks. Any issues need to be immediately addressed and resolved. You can evaluate the project s worth to predict the ROI of the product; of course, you ll need to consider the Law of Diminishing Returns as the calculations are made.

Once the work is to your satisfaction, the client accepts the project either formally or informally, depending on the type of work completed. Some projects may require you and members of your team to work with the client to ensure the client acceptance agreement criteria are met as defined in the early stages of the project.

Once the client has approved the work, you must create a final project report that includes all documentation and facts from the project lifespan. An audit of the work and the success of the project need to be included in the plan. Ultimately, the final project report must answer if the project vision was met, and if the overall health of the project is excellent or otherwise .

At the project s finale, you may determine from the evidence of the goods produced if the project was a success or a failure. Regardless of the project evaluation, you should create a lessons-learned document for your own future success, but also for the success of others.

You should review the project together with the project sponsor and focus on the quality of the work, a review of the budget at completion, and the success of the effort. The project sponsor may want to work with you on how you can manage your next project better, or what you did successfully on this implementation.

Finally, once the project is officially finished, then the team is relieved, the client is satisfied, and recognition is given. A celebration is in order for the project team, the support of management, and the hard work and commitment poured into the project vision by you, the successful project manager.