Project Closure & Review

This document provides information about project closure and review in project management. It includes a short review, summary of the project undertaken, and achievement of project objectives.

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Project Management
Project Closure & Review
6/10/2019

Project Closure & Review
Table of Contents
Project Closure......................................................................................................................................2
Short Review.........................................................................................................................................3
Summary of the Project Undertaken..................................................................................................3
Achievement of Project Objectives...................................................................................................3
Problems Encountered in the Project.................................................................................................3
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Team.............................................................................................4
Allocation of Tasks and Quality of Communication..........................................................................5
Lessons learnt....................................................................................................................................5
Conclusions.......................................................................................................................................6
References.............................................................................................................................................7
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Project Closure & Review
Project Closure
Project closure is one of the most significant stages of the project timeline and it shall be
carried out with utmost accuracy and diligence. It is important to correctly close the project
so that the confirmation on the work completion is obtained. There is sign-off and acceptance
on the project deliverables received from the project clients that is an indication of the project
completion as well as the project success. The formal acceptance is also a sign of
achievement for the management and the resources associated with the project. The closure
phase involved numerous activities and performance measurement is one such activities. The
performance of the project in terms of individual resources, schedule performance, cost
performance, etc. is determined in this phase to understand the strengths and areas of
improvement. The resources get the clarity on the mistakes that they shall not repeat in the
future projects (Brioso, 2015).
It is necessary to capture the lessons learned in a project and the activity is normally
conducted in the project closure phase. The activity is important as the individual learnings
are obtained and reflected upon. The resources get to understand their takeaways from the
project and the lessons from the rest of the team members are also obtained. The compilation
of these lessons learned provides an overview of the project achievements and the areas of
improvement. The management may utilize these lessons learned to have the best project
guidelines and may also avoid the erroneous areas. The post-implementation modifications
and changes may also be done with the aid of the lessons learned.
The project team members may be assigned with the similar projects in the future wherein
they may refers the documented lessons learned to execute a particular task. Also, there are
some of the technical, operational, or managerial concepts and lessons that can be applied to
all the projects irrespective of their type or size. Similarly, the managers and leaders may
utilize the lessons to guide the team members on the best practices and norms to follow in the
project. The organization may also refer these lessons while selecting and prioritizing the
projects. The allocation of the resources can also be done with reference to these lessons as
the specific skills and capabilities may be identified through the analysis of the lessons
learned in a project (Rose, 2011).
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Project Closure & Review
Short Review
Summary of the Project Undertaken
The project undertaken involved the preparation and execution of an environmental plan for a
contaminated construction site in Abu Dhabi. There are several negative aspects and risks
associated with the construction sites and projects that can be resolved and overcome by
implementation of construction environment management plan. The project included the
planning, analysis, and implementation of the environmental plan for the contaminated
construction site. The primary areas considered included consumption of material resources,
soil waste management, and external environment aspects (Fanning, 2014).
Achievement of Project Objectives
The project objectives included the execution of the environmental management plan for the
construction site to avoid the primary risks and negative aspects. The activities included site
preparation, testing, demolition, repair, building maintenance, vehicle operations, and many
others (Cuevas et al., 2018).
The project objectives could be achieved as the use of the phased approach and best practices
was done in the project. The plan developed was concise and in accordance with the project
needs and requirements. The identification and stating of the project limitations was also
done so that the effective utilization of the information could be done. All of the stakeholders
were included and kept involved throughout the project timeline so that the objectives could
be achieved. Also, adaptive management strategies were used and applied so that the
flexibility and the element of scalability were maintained all throughout. The risk mitigation
strategies could be identified so that the implementation of the same could be done.
Problems Encountered in the Project
There were certain assumptions that were made for the project. Some of these included the
assumptions around the availability of the resources. It was assumed that the resources will
remain available during the project timeline and will carry out the project tasks and activities
as per the plan (Jamali and Oveisi, 2016). The actual project scenarios varied from the plan
and there were instances wherein the resources were not available for work. It led to some of
the significant delays and in order to avoid these delays, the resources that were available
were overworked and overburdened. There were occurrences of reduction in the resource
productivity levels as an outcome. It was also assumed that the internal and external
stakeholders will be involved in the project and will remain involved till the project closure.
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Project Closure & Review
There was a communication plan that was also prepared so that the communications could be
streamlined. The initial days of the project suffered from communication gaps as the
resources did not adhere with the plan that was prepared. It led to the issues of stakeholder
disengagement and it became difficult to keep them involved.
The construction site was already contaminated and it was difficult to treat the contamination
and then carry on with the construction activities. It is because the risk window was huge and
the chances of re-emergence of the contamination were high. There were problems in
determination of the methodology and technique for site preparation that emerged as a result.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Team
There were numerous members involved in the project team. The Project Owner was at the
top of the hierarchy and there was Contractor, Environment Manager, and Project Manager
placed under it. The finance, legal, architect, and civil engineering resources were then
allotted to the three managers. The primary strength of the team was the skill set of each of
the resource involved in the project team (Hairul Nizam Md Nasir et al., 2015). The selection
of these resources was done completely on the basis of the skills and knowledge of the
resources. The professional experience and performance in the past was also considered for
the project. As a result, each of the team members had clarity on the tasks that they were
supposed to execute and was also aware of the techniques and methods that shall be applied.
Also, the team had the access to the tools and materials to carry on with the work that was
assigned (Rooij, 2009).
However, there were a few weaknesses identified in the team. The team could not adhere
with the involvement levels needed in the project. Also, there were issues in the internal and
external communications that led to the emergence of unwanted and unnecessary conflicts.
There were a few assumptions made for the project. A portion of these incorporated the
assumptions around the accessibility of the resources. It was expected that the resources will
stay accessible during the project timetable and will complete the project errands and
exercises according to the arrangement (Matos and Lopes, 2013). The real project situations
shifted from the arrangement and there were occasions wherein the resources were not
accessible for work. It prompted a portion of the huge delays and so as to stay away from
these delays, the resources that were accessible were exhausted and overburdened. There
were events of decrease in the resource productivity levels as a result. It was likewise
expected that the inward and outer stakeholders will be engaged with the project and will stay
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Project Closure & Review
required till the project conclusion. There was a correspondence plan that was likewise
arranged with the goal that the interchanges could be streamlined. The underlying days of the
project experienced correspondence holes as the resources did not follow with the
arrangement that was readied. It prompted the issues of stakeholder withdrawal and it ended
up hard to keep them included.
Allocation of Tasks and Quality of Communication
The allocation of the tasks was supported by breaking down the tasks in smaller units and
activities. The entire project was divided in to four broad phases and each of these phases had
a set of activities that had to be completed in order to achieve the overall project goal. The
allotment of the resources to these activities was done on the basis of the resource skills and
there were discussions conducted in advance on the specific resource requirements. The
schedule of the project was also well defined with allotment of the funds keeping the primary
project risks and changes in consideration (Zwikael, 2009).
The management was aware of the need of communication in the project and had developed
communication management plan in the initial days itself. However, the project team
members could not maintained adherence towards the guidelines that led to the emergence of
unwanted conflicts and gaps. These gaps could, however, be resolved soon and the quality of
communication was maintained till the end of the project.
Lessons learnt
There were several lessons that could be acquired from the project.
 It could be acquired that communication is the basic tool for project success
irrespective of the project type, size, or domain. It is necessary that the internal and
external project communication is maintained and there are follow-up activities that
are also conducted. It could also be acquired that there may be communication gaps
that may occur at a certain project instance. However, quick corrective actions may be
taken to resolve and fill such gaps and avoid any of the significant impacts on the
overall project continuity and other project areas.
 Another lesson that could be acquired in the project is around project risk
management. Every project is prone to some of the risks; however, the number and
probability of the risks increase in the construction projects. There are negative
impacts that may come up with the occurrence of such risks (Wang, Wu, and Wang,
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Project Closure & Review
2013). Therefore, it is necessary that the risk management process that is executed
and included in the project is dynamic in nature.
 There are various resources involved in the project and the contribution of each of
these resources is significant for the project success. The project provided the ability
to understand the mechanisms that may be followed to keep the resources involved
and maintain the productivity levels of these resources. These included one-on-one
discussions with the resources, resolution of resource conflicts through collaboration,
and implementation of the project policies in accordance with the resource benefits.
 Time management and adherence with the estimated timeline is another lesson that is
acquired from the project.
Conclusions
The project of the development and implementation of environmental management plan for
the contaminated construction site was done in the set of phases and the concepts of project
management were applied so that the project areas could be managed. The utilization and
implementation of these project areas provided the ability to make sure that the set of best
practices were included in the project and the project aims and goals could be achieved as
well.
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Project Closure & Review
References
Brioso, X. (2015). Integrating ISO 21500 Guidance on Project Management, Lean
Construction and PMBOK. Procedia Engineering, 123, pp.76-84.
Cuevas, A., Gil, P., Sanchez, V. and Hernandez, A. (2018). Feasibility Study using the
PMBOK Methodology. International Journal of Advanced Engineering, Management and
Science, 4(8), pp.594-596.
Fanning, F. (2014). Adapting PMBoK Guidance to Public Sector Projects. Organization,
technology and management in construction: An international journal, 6(3).
Hairul Nizam Md Nasir, M., Sahibuddin, S., Ahmad, R. and Sanim Mohd Fauzi, S. (2015).
How the PMBOK Addresses Critical Success Factors for Software Projects: A Multi-round
Delphi Study. Journal of Software, 10(11), pp.1283-1300.
Jamali, G. and Oveisi, M. (2016). A Study on Project Management Based on PMBOK and
PRINCE2. Modern Applied Science, 10(6), p.142.
Matos, S. and Lopes, E. (2013). Prince2 or PMBOK – A Question of Choice. Procedia
Technology, 9, pp.787-794.
Rooij, S. (2009). Scaffolding project-based learning with the project management body of
knowledge (PMBOK). Computers & Education, 52(1), pp.210-219.
Rose, K. (2011). Book Review: Construction Extension to the PMBOK Guide Third Edition.
Project Management Journal, 39(1), pp.98-98.
Wang, W., Wu, J. and Wang, D. (2013). The Risk Management Framework of Aero-Product
Development Based on PMBOK. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 380-384, pp.4637-4642.
Zwikael, O. (2009). The Relative Importance of the PMBOK® Guide's Nine Knowledge
Areas during Project Planning. Project Management Journal, 40(4), pp.94-103.
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