Project Closure Card: What is it and what benefits does it bring?

The project closure card is often neglected and not always completed, which is a mistake. A well-prepared project closure card serves as a tool for accumulating organizational knowledge and systematically improving project management.

Project Closure Card – what is it?

In brief, a project closure card contains conclusions summarizing the recently completed project. Practically every project is unique. During its execution, the project team faced specific issues and challenges, encountered unique risks, collaborated with new suppliers, etc. The team itself might have consisted of people working together for the first time, requiring them to adapt to one another. Interactions with the Project Sponsor or the Steering Committee could have had specific characteristics. During the project, the team might have come up with brilliant solutions worth sharing as best practices across the organization. All these insights should undoubtedly be included in the project closure card.

The project closure card is a document that should be required after every project. It should be filled out by the project team at the end of the project, discussed with the Project Sponsor, and officially approved.

A good project management system should incorporate a project closure card.

What should a project closure card include?

Project management is a field that should be systematically improved in every organization. A systematically completed project closure card contributes to this improvement. The format and content of a project closure card may vary across organizations, but some elements, considered best practices, should be included in every card:

Lessons learned – Key conclusions from the completed project. These can cover various aspects, and the project team should decide which elements are worth summarizing. Lessons learned aim to build a knowledge base that helps the organization execute future projects more effectively.
Post-project conclusions
Recommendations for future projects
Critical risks identified and how they were resolved
Degree to which project objectives were achieved
Reason for project closure
Post-project tasks
Number of days and percentage of schedule overrun
Value and percentage of budget overrun

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Benefits of completing a project closure card

Formally closing a project should be integral to every project’s lifecycle. Every project management methodology emphasizes formal project closure’s importance and tangible benefits. If a project ends only with the acceptance of its deliverables, valuable knowledge gained during its execution may never be utilized within the organization.

Human memory is fleeting, which is why organizations build their knowledge bases to improve project management. Accessing organizational knowledge at the start of a new project is invaluable. During the planning phase of a new project, the team should review and discuss lessons learned from previous projects to avoid repeating past mistakes. Such access to lessons learned is only possible when a project closure card is completed after each project.

A robust project and portfolio management system that supports building a lessons-learned database adds significant value.

Examples of project closure cards

A good project management system should include a project closure card. The following illustration shows an example of a project closure card available in the FlexiProject system. This system enables organizations to design custom cards tailored to their specific needs.

It’s worth noting that different aspects may be worth summarizing in marketing projects compared to investment projects. Therefore, it’s advisable to look for a project management system that allows creating various templates for project closure cards.

The importance of a project closure card in enhancing organizational success

In summary, the project closure card is crucial for systematically gathering organizational knowledge. As a result, organizations can improve and elevate their project management culture. Finally, such knowledge will enable more projects to end successfully.