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PMP lesson · Closing & Integration · Closing the project · lesson 1 of 4 · about 7 minutes

Closing a project or phase (including early termination)

All approaches (agile closes releases and products similarly)Free preview
Goal: After this lesson you can list the closing activities in the right order and close properly, even when a project is terminated early.

1The situation

Everyone wants to leave

The robot cell has been accepted. The functional managers want their engineers back immediately. The subcontractor still has an open claim for waiting time, two punch-list items remain, and nobody has scheduled the lessons-learned session.

Across the plant, a different project was just cancelled by the steering committee. Its team is being approached by other managers, and the vendor asks: “Should we keep working?”

Both projects need the same thing: a proper close.

2What closing includes

Closing a project (or a phase) finishes all activities in an orderly way:

Accept
Deliverables
Formal acceptance against criteria.
Settle
Contracts
Claims resolved, procurements closed.
Learn & release
People and knowledge
Lessons learned, archive, release resources.
Close formally, in order: accept → close contracts → transfer → lessons → report → archive → release → sign-off. Keep key people until lessons and records are done.

3The closing activities

1 · Confirm acceptance

All deliverables formally accepted against criteria.

2 · Close contracts

Claims settled, payments made, procurements closed.

3 · Transfer

Hand over product, documents, support to operations.

4 · Lessons learned

Final session; update the register and OPAs.

5 · Final report

Objectives, scope, cost, schedule, quality, benefits plan.

6 · Archive

Project records stored for future use and audits.

7 · Release resources

People and equipment released, with recognition.

8 · Sign-off

Formal closure by the sponsor.
Roughly in this order; some happen in parallel.

4How it looks on the exam

Exam-style question 1. After a portfolio review, the steering committee terminates a partially completed project. Team members are being approached by other managers, and the vendor asks whether to continue. What should the project manager do NEXT?
A. Perform the closing activities: document status and reasons, settle procurements, capture lessons learned and release resources formally
B. Release the team and stop the vendor; documentation is unnecessary
C. Continue to a natural stopping point
D. Appeal the decision
Show the answer and the decode
Answer: A.
In simple English
Legitimate early termination.
What is the question really asking?
The next step.
Key words / trigger
“terminates a partially completed project”
PMP logic
Terminated projects are closed formally.
Why the wrong answer looks attractive
Stopping everything at once seems efficient, but leaves contracts and knowledge unresolved.

5Remember this

Your memory card

  • Close in order: accept → contracts → transfer → lessons → report → archive → release → sign-off
  • Keep key people for lessons and records
  • Terminated projects are closed formally
  • Resolve claims before closing contracts
The full lesson in the PMCLEAR app also has:
  • the rest of the lesson (Early termination)
  • a worked example
  • the common traps (wrong vs right)
  • 2 exam-style questions with the decode
  • a 3-question quick check
Open the full lesson → Create a free account
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