BUS402 Study Guide
Unit 4: Closing Phase
4a. Identify necessary steps to close out a project
- Why do some project managers avoid the activities in the project closing phase?
- What are the advantages of documenting lessons learned after a project?
- What is a post-project review process?
Project close is the final stage of a project management life cycle, where project activities are finalized. The key activities in project completion are gathering project records, disseminating information to formalize acceptance of the product, service, or project, and performing project closure. During this phase, any contracts with vendors should be closed out, the project team is released, final payments are made, and post-project evaluations occur. Many organizations also have a lesson-learned meeting or session which is documented so they can learn from previous challenges and apply them to the next project.
In project closing, documents are archived in a way that others can access them, and usually these documents include the project charter, scope statement, original budget, change documents, and lessons learned. Depending on the team and project, there is often a celebratory meeting or social event once the project is closed.
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4b. Identify tools used in project management;
- What are the differences between Agile and traditional waterfall project management methods?
- What types of projects might be used for Agile vs traditional waterfall methods?
- What technology tools can be used for project management?
Agile is an iterative short project management process focused on customer feedback and satisfaction. In such processes, the customer is allowed to verify that the features are being developed as they want and to suggest improvements. Agile is different from the traditional Waterfall project management approach in that waterfall methods are rigid and tend to work best when the project manager knows the requirements of the project from the beginning. Agile is often used for projects where all constraints may not be known, and therefore, the project needs to be managed using a flexible process.
Many organizations, depending on the type of project, use a mix of traditional waterfall approaches and Agile methods to meet their needs.
Project managers will use a variety of tools for project management including project management software, visualization methods, and artificial intelligence (AI).
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Unit 4 Vocabulary
This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.
- Agile
- project close
- Waterfall