Project Review & Closure Report

Template & Guide

This guide is intended to be read in conjunction with the following

template for the development of a Project Review & Closure Report for
small-medium projects. As such the Guide should be removed from the
front of the final document.

The project management templates are being continuously improved.

Feedback on suggested improvements to this Template would be
appreciated, and may be made by emailing to [email protected]

DISCLAIMER

This material has been prepared for use by Dreamsoft (M) Sdn Bhd(DMSB)
and DMSB trainers & trainees only. It follows that this material should not
be relied upon by any other person. Users rely on the material at their
own risk.

Version 2.0 (January 2009)

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What is a Project Review and Closure Report?

The Project Review and Closure Report is the final document produced for
the project and is used by senior management to assess the success of
the project, inform future projects, ‘tidy up’ any loose ends and formally
close the project. For a more complex project it would be more common to
separate the review and closure reports, especially where there are some
doubts as to progress of the project.

Why would you develop a Project Review and Closure Report?

A Project Review and Closure Report is developed to:

• Review the outputs and success of the project;

• Outline outstanding issues and recommendations; and

• Detail activities undertaken to close the project; and

• Inform future projects.

The document enables those who approved the resources to analyse how
well the project met the objectives by assessing the economics and impact
of the project and comparing these against what was originally planned.

Where an Agency, Division or Business Unit has a number of projects, the

Project Review and Closure Report can be used as a tool to measure
success and inform other future projects.

When would you develop a Project Review and Closure Report?

The Project Review and Closure Report is usually started towards the end
of the project and completed when all the project outputs have been
delivered to the Business Owner or when it has been decided to close the
project for some other reason. This may be the result of changed priorities
within the Agency, Division or Business Unit, a loss of funding or a
deadline date reached.

How to determine the lessons learned from the Project?

There are a number of mechanisms that can be used to determine the

lessons learned from a project. The following list is not fully
comprehensive, but provides a few suggestions, a combination of which
may best suit your individual needs:

• examination of project records and documentation;

• questionnaire or survey of a representative stakeholder sample;

• face to face interviews – either one-on-one or groups; and/or

• facilitated feedback sessions with a large group of stakeholders.

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It is important that stakeholder perceptions of the project are captured.
Although different stakeholder groups will have different perceptions of
the project, for future projects it is important to learn from their
perspective what worked well or could be improved.

What you need before you start:

• Agreement to proceed with the development of the Project Review

and Closure Report from the Project Sponsor.

• A copy of the project documentation, for example the Project

Business Plan, Project Status Reports, Project Risk Register.

• Knowledge and understanding of Project Closure.

Optional

• Any of the following documents - Project Proposal or Business Case1.

• Corporate/Business Plan for the Department/Business Unit.

• Departmental Project Management Guidelines.

What you will have when you are finished:

A completed Project Review and Closure Report that is ready for approval
by the Project Sponsor to enable an informed decision to be taken to close
the project. This type of report is extremely useful as a tool for continuous
improvement when a project is repeated at another time, for example
annual events such as organising a Conference or the development of an
Agency’s Annual Report.

How to use this template?

The template contains sections which are either optional or can be
developed at a number of levels of detail depending upon individual need.

1
For a definition of these underlined terms, refer to the Project Management Glossary
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The resulting document should be brief. Sections that are not required
may:

• be deleted;
• indicate that the section is not applicable; or
• refer to another document.

All documents developed based on this template should include an

appropriate acknowledgement.

A number of different text styles have been used within the template, as
follows:

• Text in italics is intended to provide a guide as to the kind of

information that can be included in a section and to what types of
projects it might be applicable.

• Text in normal font is intended as examples.

• Text enclosed in <angle brackets> is intended to be replaced by

whatever it is describing.

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 Copy: Uncontrolled

<Project Title>
Project Review and Closure Report

Organisational Unit
DEPARTMENT OF ...

Version 0.A (dd mmm yyyy)

(Ref:PM 936. Version 2.0 October 2009)

DOCUMENT ACCEPTANCE and RELEASE NOTICE

This is <release/version> <n.n> of the <Project Title> Project Review and Closure
Report.

The Project Review and Closure Report is a managed document. For identification of
amendments each page contains a release number and a page number. Changes
will only be issued as a complete replacement document. Recipients should remove
superseded versions from circulation. This document is authorised for release once
all signatures have been obtained.

PREPARED: DATE:___/___/___
(for acceptance) (<name>, <Project Title> Project Manager)

ACCEPTED: DATE:___/___/___
(for release) (Project Sponsor, <name, title>)

1. BUILD STATUS:
The most recent amendment first.

Version Date Author Reason Sections

<n.n> <dd mmm <Name> <e.g. Initial Release> <All>
yyyy>

2. DISTRIBUTION:

Copy No Version Issue Date Issued To

1 <n.n> <dd mmm yyyy> <Name, Title, Organisation>
2
3
Electronic

This document has been derived from a template prepared by the Dreamsoft (M)
Sdn Bhd. The structure is based on a number of methodologies as described in the
Dreamsoft (M) Sdn Bhd Project Management Guidelines.

<Project Title>: Project Review & Closure Report – Version 0.A Page ii
 Executive Summary

1. Executive Summary

1.1. Background

Briefly describe the background to the Project.

1.2. Reason for Closing the Project

State the reason why this project is being closed. This usually is because the
outputs have been delivered, the closing date has been reached and/or the
budget has been expended. A project may be closed for other reasons, for
example a change in policy or agency priorities, a loss of funding or a
deadline date reached.

1.3. Highlights and Innovations

Describe the highlights of the project and any innovations used or developed
by the project.

1.4. Summary of Recommendations

List the recommendations that appear in this Report. One of the

recommendations should be for the Project Sponsor to agree that the project
can be deemed closed. For ease of reference, each recommendation should
be uniquely numbered and a reference provided to the relevant section within
this Report.

2. Project Performance

Summarise the actual performance of the project against the planned

performance. All projects vary to some extent from the original plan, these
variations should be identified and the reasons for the variance described.

2.1. Performance Against Objectives

Describe the actual performance of the project in relation to the achievement

of the planned project objectives.

2.2. Performance Against Outcomes

Describe the actual performance of the project in relation to the achievement

of targeted outcomes. Were all planned targeted outcomes achieved, to what
degree? Some outcomes may not be achieved at this point in time. In this
case details should be given as to when the outcomes are anticipated to be
achieved and who is responsible for their ongoing measurement and reporting
of progress towards their achievement.

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 Appendices

2.3. Performance Against Outputs

Describe the actual performance of the project in relation to the delivery of

the outputs. Were all planned outputs delivered, to what degree? Were they
all accepted? Did the quality of the outputs meet expectations?

2.4. Performance Against Schedule

Describe the actual performance of the project against the project schedule.

2.5. Performance Against Budget

Describe the actual performance of the project against the project budget.

2.6. Recommendations

List the recommendations that arise from this section of the Report.

3. Lessons Learnt

You may wish to briefly describe the methodology used to collect the lessons
learnt.

3.1. What Worked Well?

Describe the project management and quality management processes that

were perceived to be appropriate and/or effective for the project, as reflected
by the stakeholders and the project records/documentation.

3.2. What Could Be Improved?

Describe the project management and quality management processes that

were perceived to be inappropriate and/or ineffective for the project, as
reflected by the stakeholders and the project records/documentation.

3.3. Recommendations

List the recommendations that arise from this section of the Report.

4. Closure Activities

This section should cover the various activities required to close the project.
Where relevant, the sub-sections should include:
• Project Staff: - Describe what steps are being taken to manage the
movement of project staff from the project to other roles, including the
timing of their move and the capture of their project knowledge.
• Issues Management – Identify any outstanding issues and who will
continue to progress the issues.

<Project Title>: Project Review & Closure Report – Version 0.A Page 2
 Appendices

• Risk Management – Identify any risks that will transfer to an operational

area and who will; take on responsibility for monitoring them.
• Financial Management – Outline the final financial position and what will
happen to any excess funds.
 Asset Management - Describe any assets which were required by the
project, and who will manage them upon completion of the project.
• Records Management – Identify what arrangements have been put in
place for the storage, security and backup of hard copy and soft
(electronic) copy records and project documents.
• Post Project Responsibilities - List any matters that are outstanding, what
actions are required to address them and who is responsible. This should
include such things like outcomes yet to be achieved, outputs not yet
delivered, maintenance of the outputs or other operational matters such
as meeting future training requirements that are outstanding or have not
been formally agreed prior to this stage.
Where appropriate, if the project is to be repeated at another time, for
example annual events such as organising a Conference or the
development of an Agency’s Annual Report, identify how the report will
be utilised as a tool for continuous improvement.

4.1. Recommendations

List any recommendations that arise from this section of the Report. It would
be expected that one of the recommendations would be for the Project
Sponsor to agree that the project can be deemed closed as it has fulfilled all
of the requirements as documented in the relevant Project Business Plan or
Brief, or where this is not the case, the Project Sponsor is satisfied that all
outstanding items have been satisfactorily addressed.

5. Appendices

This section is optional.

Where necessary, appendices can be attached to provide any relevant

supporting information, such as:

• A list of the stakeholders who participated in the review

• Any information to promote improvement of future projects of a similar
nature, as all necessary information is contained within a single document.

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