The well known English phrase "last but not least

The well known English phrase "last but not least" could not better describe how important the project closeout phase is. Being the very last part of the project

life-cycle it is often ignored even by large organizations, especially when they operate in multi-project environments. They tend to jump from one project to another

and rush into finishing each project because time is pressing and resources are costly. Then projects keep failing and organizations Interim Management Provider take no corrective actions, simply

because they do not have the time to think about what went wrong and what should be fixed next time. Lessons learned can be discussed at project reviews as part of the

closeout phase. Closure also deals with the final details of the project and provides a normal ending for all procedures, including the delivery of the final product.

This paper identifies the reasons that closeout is neglected, analyzes the best practices that could enhance its position within the business environment and suggest

additional steps for a complete project closeout through continuous improvement.

Project managers often know when to finish a projects but they forget how to do it. They are so eager to complete a project that they hardly miss the completion

indicators. "Ideally, the project ends when the project goal has been achieved and is ready to hand over to customer" (Wellace et. al, 2004, p156). In times of big

booms and bubbles, senior management could order the immediate termination of costly projects. A characteristic example of that is Bangkok's over investment in

construction of sky-scrapers, where most of them left abandoned without finishing the last floors due to enormous costs (Tvede, 2001, p267). Projects heavily attached

to time can be terminated before normal finishing point if they miss a critical deadline, such as an invitation to tender. Kerzner (2001, p594) adds some behavioural

reasons for early termination such as "poor morale, human relations or labour productivity". The violent nature of early termination is also known as 'killing a

project' because it "involves serious career and economic consequences" (Futrel, Shafer D & Shafer L, 2002, 1078). Killing a project can be a difficult decision since

emotional issues create pride within an organization and a fear of being viewed as quitters blurs managerial decisions (Heerkens, 2002, p229).