We did it! We identified our interested parties, gathered our requirements, prepped, mitigated risks, and hit our milestones, and all under budget. We've got our deliverables. It's over.

Not so fast.

Simply finishing project tasks and milestones
(and producing that deliverable, of course), are only part of bringing your project to a close.

The project manager must now assess the project data and compare it against the planned requirements and estimates. Once you've sent your deliverables and the settled payments and other financial matters, the project then becomes an operation. Now you can mark the official completion of the project. Congrats!

Still, you'll remember how important historical information was to the success of a project. You owe it to your future projects to record what you have learned and apply those learning to your next projects.

One of the best ways to take full advantage of historical information is to host a "lessons learned" session with the project team. During that meeting, the team collectively documents what went well, what did not, and what the team could have done differently.

The project manager should also provide the team with performance feedback, then release or reassign team members depending to better fit the organization.

In brief, the steps to project closure are to:

Secure final approvals from interested parties
Close all project accounts
Transition project team members to their next assignments
Hold post-project evaluations to recognize achievements and discuss lessons learned