<Project Name> Project Charter

Close-Out Document <Template>

<Project Name>

<Branch>

National Project Management System

Business Projects-IT-Enabled

Delivery Close-Out Phase

File Name Version Number1

<Project Name> Close-Out Document

Instructions

This document is your template forproducing a project close-out document, a mandatory NPMS deliverable.

Document Purpose

The purpose of this document is to mark the completion of the project by assessing the project’s performance, identifying the lessons learned, and confirming that essential contractual and other project closure activities have been completed.

This document also transfers assets, deliverables and all ongoing administrative functions to an in-service business organization. Included in this transfer is the commitment to measure the benefits/outcomes delivered by the project.

Using this Template

Using this template
To create a project close-out document from this template, simply:
  1. Replace the title on the cover page with the name of your project and the organization information.
  2. Replace the <italicized text> in the document header with your project name and information.
  3. Save your document with a filename that is in accordance with current branch document naming standards.
  4. Update the filename in the document footer by right-clicking and selecting Edit Footer.
  5. Complete the entire template. Each section contains abbreviated instructions, shown in italics, which can be removed once your document is finalized. Tables are also provided as a suggested layout for some of the information required.
  6. Update the table of contents by right-clicking and selecting Update Field, then Update entire table.
  7. Delete this page when the close-out document is complete.

Revision History

Version Number / Description / Date Modified / Author
1.0

Recommendation

It is recommended that this Project Close-Out Document be accepted and mark the end of thisproject.

Review and Approval

This section contains the signatures of key stakeholders, signifying they have reviewed and accepted the project close-out document and have agreedto close the project.

Edit the signature blocks to reflect the organizations involved.For approval authorities, refer to Annex A (Full>l) or Annex B (Lite) of the NPMS Procedures for Business Projects-IT-Enabled.

______

Full nameDate

Title <Business Owner Organization

______

Full nameDate

Title <Delivery Organization>

Table of Contents

Instructions

Revision History

Recommendation

Review and Approval

1Purpose

1.1Background

2Project Completion Work

2.1Work Completed (as part of project wrap-up)

2.2Outstanding Issues

3Project Performance Assessment

3.1Baseline

3.2Project End-Result

3.3Project Deliverables

3.4Project Costs, Schedule

3.5Stakeholders/Clients

3.6Project Scope Changes

3.8Overall Project Assessment

4Lessons Learned

5Post Implementation Business Benefits

Annex A – Close Out Document Checklist

1Purpose

The purpose of this document is to mark the completion of the <Project Name> Project by assessing the project’s performance, identifying the lessons learned, and confirming that essential contractual and other project closure activities have been completed.This document also transfers assets, deliverables, and all ongoing administrative functions to an in-service business organization. Included in this transfer is the commitment to measure the benefits/outcomes delivered by the project.

1.1 Background

<Insert sufficient business and project background information to describe why the project was required and what outcomes it was intended to produce. This text may include the original problem or opportunity statement.>

2Project Completion Work

2.1Work Completed (as part of project wrap-up)

This section will cover some or all of the following aspects:

  • contract closure (current status, estimated final closure date; for ongoing support/maintenance contracts, refer to who is responsible, renewal periods, costs, etc.)
  • financial closure (invoice approvals, payments, financial system transactions, transfer of remaining funds)
  • asset transfer(disposition of hardware, software licenses, furniture, etc.)
  • administrative closure(transfer of administrative functions to an in-service support organization; transfer includes handover of project deliverables to a responsibility center)
  • human resources(FTEs returned to home units, departures of contracted resources)
  • information management - describe where the documents have been stored or archived, using a table format such as the following:

Deliverable / Medium / Location (Logical or Physical Storage)
Project Management Deliverables / Electronic / EDRM #s or Shared Drive Path
Signed Contracts / Paper document / e.g. File Cabinet ##, PDP III, 3a2, cubicle 106L

In larger projects, these elements may be expanded into separate sections.

2.2Outstanding Issues

This section identifies any outstanding deliverables, issues, or actions from the project that remain to be completed.Where appropriate, provide recommendations as to how these may be dealt with. If there are remaining deliverables, list them in table format along with an estimate of the work effort required to complete them.

3Project Performance Assessment

3.1Baseline

<Reference the documents thatconstitute the baseline for performance assessment purposes. For all projects, the business case and the project charter are the key baseline documents. For an enterprise system, the baseline will includebusiness transformation documents such as the Business Blueprint and any legacy assessments (system or business).

3.2 Project End-Result

<This section provides a quality assessment of the product or end-result that the project delivered. The assessment is expressed in terms of how well the project has addressed project requirements, specifications, expectations, and intended benefits.>

3.3Project Deliverables

In table format, provide a list of the key deliverables that were to be produced along with the estimated and actual delivery dates. Required deliverables that were not completed are to be listed above in the OutstandingIssues section.>

3.4Project Costs, Schedule

Provide data related to project costs and schedule. Estimates are compared to final actuals along with the final variance. The data may be provided in table format.Variances should be explained using narrative.>

3.5Stakeholders/Clients

In a table, provide a list of the key stakeholders and the organizations towhich they belong.>

3.6Project Scope Changes

<Provide data regarding project scope in this section.Scope comments should reference the approved scope statement (i.e., from the business case).Describe at a high level how the scope baseline changed and provide an explanation of why the approved changes were required.

Provide a summary table from the Project Change Register and/orfrom the Change Request Board minutes. Identify and assess the project changes made during the course of the project as approved in Change Requests.

Scope Change Type / Total # of changes / Level of Effort in Person Days / Estimated Cost Impact
Add / +
Remove / -
Defer
Modify
Administrative
Cancel
Total / net / net

3.8Overall Project Assessment

Provide an overall assessment of the project relative to approved scope, time, and cost, as well as project management and integration management processes. It is appropriate to note client and stakeholder acceptance, and to reference any external or independent assessments that occurred during the project (e.g., audit and evaluation reports).

4Lessons Learned

<This section identifies and describes the major successes, issues and challenges encountered during the course of the project. Provide a description and include any project documentation references (e.g., Risk/Issue Log, Lessons Learned Report, etc.) that provide additional details. Include the cause of issues and recommend improvements to correct a similar problem in the future. Recommendations derived from successes will contribute to continuous improvementbest practices. These should be shared locally and at branch and departmental levels. Additionally, recommendations regarding the NPMS should be forwarded to the NPMS Continuous Improvement Team.

A suggested approach to structuring this section is to determine the main categories that ought to be analyzedand to divide each of the chosen categories into two sections: lessons learned and recommendations. Examples of categories to cover:

  • Integration Management
  • Scope Management
  • Time Management
  • Cost Management
  • Quality Management
  • Project Management
/
  • Risk Management
  • Procurement Management
  • Communications Management
  • Human Resources Management
  • Information Management
  • Governance
  • Product Development

Present this section in a table such as the one shown below.

ID / Lesson Learned / Recommendation / Reference

5Post-Implementation Business Benefits

<Provide the specific planned/intended business benefits or positive results expected from the operations of the project end-result. These benefits/outcomes were identified in the business case. The project charter identified the specific metrics that will be utilized to evaluate the extent to which these business benefits are realized (Project Charter; section 2.2; Project Goals, Business Outcomes and Objectives). These metrics “are used to confirm that an objective and the outcome have been realized.” This evaluation will be conducted post implementation by operational resources. The intent of this section is to implement a Post-Implementation Business Benefits plan that is consistent with the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Outcomes Management approach.

For more information on outcomes see:.

The project should indicate how the metric will be monitored and measured, by whom, and how frequently. Responsibility for monitoring is identified in the TB Submission, or for smaller projects, in the project charter.

If there is to be an overall outcomes review meeting and approval process, these should be provided as well. For smaller projects, this post-implementation review and approval process may be all that is required for this section.>

<For Smaller Projects, use the following table.

Business Benefit / Action / Planned Date / Responsibility / Frequency
All / Post-Implementation Review of Business Outcomes (actual review)
All / Post-Implementation Review of Business Outcomes (approval)

<For Larger Projects that are part of the investment plan, use the following table.>

Business Benefit / Metric (Ongoing) / How Monitored / Responsibility / Frequency
Benefit (or outcome) 1
Benefit (or outcome) 2

Annex A – Close-Out Document Checklist

Close-Out Document Checklist
The Delivery Close-Out Phase is the final and most integral stage of the project. It not only gives the team the opportunity to tie-up all loose ends, including a transfer of outstanding issues to operational OPIs, but it allows for a thorough assessment of all aspects of the project. This assessment underscores any performance targets that were reached, surpassed, or not met. In addition, the continuous improvement process provides a valuable method for highlighting successes as well as deficiencies reported throughout the life of the project. These records form the basis for systematic improvements to the way similar projects will be delivered in the future.
This document records the completion of core deliverables and the status of the key close out activities. / √
If Complete
Core Deliverables
Statement of Requirements / 
Preliminary Project Plan / 
Feasibility Report / 
Business Case (equivalent to the Investment Analysis Report (IAR)) / 
Project Charter / 
Preliminary Project Approval (PPA (TB Submission if required) Briefing Notes (if required) / 
Project Complexity and Risk Assessment (PCRA) / 
Project Management Plan / 
Product Turnover / 
Close-Out Document / 
Records of Decision (e.g., emails or minutes) / 
Items Brought Forward: Check all that apply / √
Key Activities
Changes documented in Change Log / 
Open issues documented in Issue Log and transferred to an operational OPI / 
Location of the project and product deliverables recorded in the Information Management Plan / 
Action items assigned to OPI / 
Assets transferred to OPI / 
Lessons learned documented in Lessons Learned Log / 
Project Implementation Review completed / 
Invoices paid and contract closed / 
Fundstransferred and financial accounts closed / 
Human resources transferred to new home units; consultants released / 
Ongoing administrative roles transferred to operations (including any warranties) / 

NPMS Business Projects-IT-Enabled1