We spend a great deal of time discussing how to initiate, plan, execute, and recover projects. But I feel we talk much less about something equally important — knowing when a project is truly finished.
I have seen situations where most of the intended deliverables were completed, yet the project continued because of a few pending items, additional stakeholder requests, unresolved minor issues, or the absence of a clear closure decision.
This makes me wonder whether project closure is sometimes treated as an administrative activity rather than a management decision.
When should a Project Manager say, "The project is complete"?
Should every open item be resolved before closure, or can some be formally transferred to operations, support, or a subsequent initiative?
And what happens when stakeholders keep finding "just one more thing" that they would like the project team to deliver?
I would be interested in hearing how others establish clear closure criteria and prevent projects from continuing indefinitely.
What, in your experience, makes a project harder to close than it was to start?
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