Closure, transition and handover

0:00Sara: Welcome to Project Management Exam Prep.

0:02This episode is about closure, transition and handover: how a project ends well.

0:09Every project management exam tests it, because a result nobody can run delivers

0:13nothing.

0:15Leo: You will learn how the three bodies frame it, why acceptance is not handover,

0:19how to close contracts, money and the team, and what to do when a project stops

0:24early. We finish with a drill, so keep a pen ready.

0:28Sara: Let us start with the three lenses. What does IPMA® say?

0:32Leo: IPMA®, the International Project Management Association, sets out its standard in

0:38the Individual Competence Baseline, the ICB4.

0:42Its element on plan and control asks you, in our words, to close and evaluate each

0:47phase and the project, and hand the results to their users.

0:52Its element on change and transformation gives the reason: a new capability adds

0:56value only once people use it.

0:59Sara: And PMI®?

1:00Leo: PMI®, the Project Management Institute, publishes the PMBOK® Guide,

1:06its guide to the project management body of knowledge.

1:09The eighth edition has a process to close a project or phase,

1:13including unsuccessful ones, releases and contracts.

1:18The outline of PMI®'s Project Management Professional exam, the PMP®,

1:23has a task to manage project closure: get approval of completion,

1:28set the criteria for closing, and check that the next owner is ready.

1:33Sara: And APM?

1:35Leo: APM, the Association for Project Management, publishes the APM Body of Knowledge.

1:41Its section on transition into use covers handing over outputs,

1:46projects that end early, and administrative closure: the records,

1:50accounts and archive. The syllabus of APM's Project Management Qualification,

1:56the PMQ, has an objective on transition management: plan it from the start,

2:02and agree it with stakeholders, including who takes over the risks.

2:07Sara: Where do the words differ?

2:09Leo: In three places. First, the move itself.

2:13The ICB4 says handover, and PMI® transition to operations.

2:18APM says transition into use, into business as usual: the organisation's normal

2:24work.

2:25Sara: Second?

2:26Leo: The last document. The ICB4 asks for an evaluation report with lessons learned.

2:33PMI® says final report, and APM project closure report.

2:38Sara: And third?

2:39Leo: Stopping early. The ICB4 speaks of a premature end, and PMI® of termination before

2:46completion. APM calls it early closure: a sound decision, not a failure.

2:52Sara: What is the core, whichever exam you take?

2:55Leo: Three ideas. One: closure starts at the start.

3:00Agree early who will receive the result, and what they need to run it:

3:04support, training, documents and a budget.

3:07Bring them into the planning, and set the acceptance criteria before the work starts.

3:12Sara: Two?

3:13Leo: Accepted is not handed over. There are two sign-offs.

3:19Acceptance: the product meets its agreed criteria, and the sponsor or customer signs,

3:24with the users. Handover: the people who will run it are ready:

3:30support in place, staff trained, documents complete, and open risks and issues passed

3:35to named owners. A bridge helps between the two.

3:39Early-life support keeps the project team on for a set period after go-live,

3:44to fix problems fast. Parallel running keeps the old way going until the new one

3:49proves itself. End either one on evidence, not on the calendar.

3:54Sara: Does that change in agile work?

3:56Leo: The rhythm does. In a linear project, acceptance and handover come once,

4:01near the end. In iterative work, each release is accepted, often against a definition

4:07of done, the team's agreed checklist for finished work, and handed over.

4:12The project ends, but the product lives on, with an owner and a team on normal budgets.

4:18Sara: And three?

4:20Leo: A project that stops early is closed properly too.

4:23Hand over or store what is usable, close the contracts, release the people,

4:28and record why it stopped, so others can learn from it.

4:31Sara: Now the model, on a free sheet in the description.

4:35Leo: The closure checklist has five steps, and each step has a signature.

4:40One: accept. The outputs meet the agreed criteria, and the sponsor signs.

4:46Acceptance often starts the supplier's warranty, the period in which it fixes defects

4:50at its own cost, and releases the final payment.

4:54Sara: Two?

4:54Leo: Hand over. The receiving owner confirms they are ready, and signs.

4:59Three: close the contracts and the money.

5:02Check that each supplier met every obligation, settle any claims,

5:06and agree the final accounts. Then charge every last cost, close the accounts,

5:12and return what is left.

5:14Sara: Four?

5:15Leo: Release the team. Tell line managers early, record the skills people gained,

5:20and thank them. People who fear the end leave early, and take knowledge with them.

5:24Sara: And five?

5:25Leo: Report and close. The closure report compares the result with the plan.

5:31It says what was accepted, what is still open and who owns it,

5:35and how the benefits will be tracked. The sponsor or the board approves it at a

5:38final gate. Then archive the records.

5:42Sara: And lessons learned?

5:43Leo: They are collected throughout, and summarised in the report; the episode on communication

5:48and knowledge transfer covers them. Most benefits arrive after closure,

5:53so their owners keep measuring; the business case episode covers that.

5:57Sara: How does this change between Mid-level and Senior?

6:01Leo: First, the two levels. They are this series' own labels.

6:05Mid-level means leading moderately complex projects, the level of IPMA® Level C and

6:11PMI®'s PMP® exam. Senior means leading complex projects and people,

6:17the level of IPMA® Level B and of APM's chartered status, Chartered Project Professional.

6:24At Mid-level, you close one project cleanly.

6:29Take Parking Permits Online, a city project that moves resident parking permits

6:33online in eight months. The project manager, Anna, agrees a handover checklist early

6:40with the city's IT team and service desk.

6:43Go-live comes a few weeks before most residents renew in January,

6:48so her team stays on as early-life support through the renewals.

6:51Then the steering group approves the closure.

6:55Sara: And at Senior level?

6:56Leo: You design the transition for many receivers.

7:00Take One City Account, a thirty-month city project that brings fourteen online services

7:05under one login, led by Anna some years later.

7:09Each group of services goes live in turn, and its department accepts it.

7:14The nine old portals keep running alongside, and close in the final phase,

7:18only on evidence. Anna agrees with the steering board who owns and funds the platform

7:24after the project.

7:26Sara: Now the drill. A city has moved resident parking permits online,

7:30and the January renewals are over. On Friday, the project should hand over to the

7:36service desk and close. The service passed all its acceptance tests.

7:40But the service-desk manager will not sign the handover.

7:44The agreed criterion was ninety percent of her eighteen staff trained,

7:49and twelve are. Her team's guide also lacks the business permit cases.

7:54The supplier wants its final payment, due at acceptance, and the sponsor wants to

7:58close on time. What do you do?

8:01Leo: Pause and write your answer. You have forty-five seconds.

8:50Sara: First, the numbers.

8:52Leo: Ninety percent of eighteen is sixteen point two.

8:56So seventeen must be trained: five more than now.

9:00A shortcut: ten percent of eighteen is one point eight.

9:04So at most one person may be untrained.

9:07Six are.

9:09Sara: And the moves?

9:10Leo: Split the two sign-offs. The product meets its criteria, so the sponsor accepts

9:15it, and the supplier is paid as the contract says.

9:19But do not hand over on Friday. Agree a plan with the service-desk manager:

9:24train all six next week, and complete the guide.

9:28Keep early-life support running until she signs.

9:31Then close.

9:32Sara: What lifts that to Senior?

9:34Leo: A Senior answer treats her refusal as evidence, not resistance:

9:38she runs the service after the project.

9:42If a week's delay is within your agreed limits, decide and report;

9:46if not, take options to the steering group.

9:49Pass open defects and risks to named owners, in writing.

9:53And fix the system: readiness criteria, signed by the receiver,

9:57in every transition plan.

10:00Sara: How do the exams ask this?

10:03Leo: IPMA®'s written exam asks for open answers; at Level B it may be oral.

10:08IPMA®'s certification also includes an interview, where assessors ask about your

10:13own projects, so note one handover you led and who signed it.

10:19The PMP® exam uses scenarios, and questions built on a case study or a chart.

10:25APM's PMQ asks for short written answers, such as what a transition plan contains.

10:32Sara: Let us recap.

10:34Leo: One. Closure starts at the start: agree the receivers and the acceptance criteria

10:39early.

10:41Sara: Two. Accepted is not handed over. The sponsor accepts the product;

10:46the receiving owner confirms readiness.

10:49Leo: Three. Bridge the gap with early-life support or parallel running,

10:53and end it on evidence.

10:56Sara: Four. Close contracts, money and the team, then report and archive.

11:01A project stopped early is closed the same way.

11:04Leo: And five. In iterative work, each release is accepted and handed over.

11:09The project ends; the product lives on.

11:13Sara: The model sheet and the study handout are linked in the description.

11:17Next time: organisational change and transformation.