Project Closure - maybe the most overlooked phase of project management. I went digging in my PMI study guide to see how many times it was referenced and believe it or not, it is called out on only two pages (2 out of 531 pages). That number alone tells you the importance that is placed on closure.

I'd like to give you a different perspective on closure - one of motivation. We all know that we're supposed to take care of the administrative aspects during closure, but what about the human aspects of how to keep a team motivated in the last few months/weeks of a project? You know what happens. You see your team members becoming anxious and spreading rumors. Things like, "hey boss, where am I going next" or "did you hear that so-and-so just took a job in the manufacturing unit, makes you wonder what's going to happen to us when this project ends."

I've recently delivered a large data warehouse project to a client and faced the same dilemma that we see over and over again as we lead our projects. I can't tell you how many times I was asked by various team members "do you know of any other projects, what are you going to do next, I like working with you, etc." As a PM you have the same fears and anxieties as your team members, but it your job as the PM to identify and plan for your team member's future. Whether you work in a matrixed or hierarchical organization, or maybe you're a vendor at a client - you still need to consider the project team and keep them focused on the current project at hand to ensure deliverables are met down the stretch, but to be a true leader you also need to help resolve the anxiety and provide options for the future. As businesses move more and more towards project based organizational design, we need to consider how career planning fits into the project based organization.

During the above mentioned project I worked with every team member to understand their lessons learned from the existing project and where they'd like to move on. In other organizations that I worked with, career planning was something that was done once a year, regardless of project schedules, timelines, etc. I much rather prefer my current situation where we take into consideration career plans within the context of a project as opposed to "a year". It helps me do a much better job of evaluating performance and planning future steps.

Lastly I write about closure as this is my last PMI CIC Newsletter editorial. And yes, my motivation to close out this last newsletter has been less than stellar. It's been a fun two years and I have enjoyed working with the group. I hope the readers have enjoyed my "PM on the Street" perspectives. Feel free to stay in touch with me at ronald.lacy@intrasphere.com