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Close Project or Phase

5 minutes 5 Questions

Close Project or Phase involves finalizing all activities for the project, phase, or contract. This process is performed to formally complete the project or a portion of the project and includes the necessary actions to close each project or a project phase. Closing a project or phase is crucial for organizational learning and knowledge transfer. This process ensures that the project is officially concluded and lessons learned are documented for future reference.

Guide to Close Project or Phase

What is Close Project or Phase?

This is a method used in project integration management to formally complete or end a particular phase or the entire project itself. It involves final documentation and handing over deliverables.

Why is it Important?

Close Project or Phase ensures a project is officially finished, with all obligations met and deliverables handed over. It facilitates learning through the review of project outcomes and processes, which can be used as a reference for future projects.

How it Works?

The process begins by confirming the project or phase has been completed according to its objectives. All documentation is then finalized, reports are generated, and deliverables are handed over to the appropriate stakeholders. The project or phase is then officially closed.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Close Project or Phase

1. Understand the process:
Ensure you fully understand the process and the role it plays in project integration management. This will help when answering multiple choice questions.

2. Master the terminology:
Make sure you can clearly define all the terms related to this concept. Definitions may feature in the examination.

3. Familiarize with relevant documents:
Familiarity with project documents and reports that are typically reviewed and produced during the close phase can boost your understanding and response to the related questions.

4. Focus on learning from experience:
Emphasis on the importance of reviews and lessons learned from the project or phase as these topics often appear in the exams.

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CAPM - Project Integration Management Example Questions

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Question 1

Towards the end of a project, all tasks have been completed but the project cannot be closed due to certain external dependencies. As Project Manager, what should be your best approach in this situation?

Correct Answer: Identify the dependencies and develop a plan to address them before closure.

The best approach in this situation is to 'Identify the dependencies and develop a plan to address them before closure.' As a project manager, it is important to ensure all elements of a project, including dependencies, are addressed before closing a project. This ensures a complete and thorough project closure and prevents leaving loose ends that may cause issues later. The suggestion to 'Close the project and mark the dependencies as risk for future projects' is not a good approach as it does not solve the current problem and only shifts it onto future projects. 'Clarify to the stakeholders that these dependencies are not your responsibility' also does not solve the problem at hand and can also affect relationships with stakeholders. Finally, requesting an extension and additional budget to hire experts is not the most efficient solution. It could in some cases be part of a plan, but without first identifying and understanding the dependencies, this option may lead to unnecessary costs and delays.

Question 2

At the end of a software development project, all project tasks are completed, but the sponsor asks to keep the project open until the system is stable when it goes live. What should you do?

Correct Answer: Close the project and move the system stability tracking to operations.

Option with 'answer_text': 'Close the project and move the system stability tracking to operations.' is the correct answer. According to the project management principles, once all the project tasks are completed, the project should be closed not kept open. The remaining work, such as ensuring system stability when it goes live, should be transferred to operations or a dedicated support team, which is aligned with standard practices. The answer 'Keep the project open indefinitely until the sponsor is satisfied.' is incorrect because it is not a feasible or standard approach to keep a project open indefinitely. The option 'Deny the request, close the project immediately and pass on the responsibility to another team.' doesn't consider the sponsor's request, which is a wrong move in managing stakeholders' expectations. The answer 'Ask the sponsor to deal with system stability concerns.' is also wrong as it is inappropriate and unprofessional to ask the sponsor to deal with these kinds of technical issues.

Question 3

You are the project manager on a high-profile software development project. The project has run a bit over-budget and is late. You are now in the Project Close phase and one of your senior stakeholders demands the addition of new features, how would you handle this situation?

Correct Answer: Explain to the stakeholder the impact of her demand on the project scope, cost and timeline. Propose that her requests could be considered for future phases or projects.

The best approach is to explain to the stakeholder the impact of their demand on the project scope, cost, and timeline. As the project is already over-budget and late, adding new features at this stage would further delay the project and increase costs. Proposing that the requests could be considered for future phases or projects is a good way to handle the situation, as it acknowledges the stakeholder's input while maintaining the integrity of the current project. Accepting the stakeholder's demands unconditionally is not appropriate, as it disregards the project's constraints and could lead to further issues. Rejecting the demands without explanation would be unprofessional and could damage the relationship with the stakeholder. Restarting the entire project to accommodate new features is impractical and would waste the time and resources already invested.

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