PRINCE2 Agile 2016

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22.3 PRINCE2 Agile guidance on Closing a Project

Tailoring guidance that may be appropriate is as follows:

  • Project closure may take the form of a workshop (see section 22.4) where the original baseline is checked in relation to the final outputs and outcomes of the project, and preparation for closure authorization can take place. This may include a review of the final release.
  • Benefits may have already been enabled and be delivering value.
  • End-of-project activities should already be in an advanced state of completeness due to frequent releases gradually improving how project closure is done and populating information. For example:
    • Project/process evaluation should be ongoing through the frequent use of retrospectives.
    • Continual use of ‘inspect and adapt’ would mean that the lessons report has been created as the project has gone along, and many of the lessons would have already been actioned and evaluated from retrospectives at both the project and delivery levels.
    • User acceptance would be happening regularly, although care should be taken to ensure that user acceptance is not too informal when closing the project in order to ensure that the customer’s quality expectations and acceptance criteria have been met.
    • Operational handovers (and acceptance) are likely to have happened many times due to the incremental delivery of products, so the final handover should be a routine event.
    • Training and technical documentation would be finalized, as it would have been created iteratively and incrementally throughout the project.

Table 22.1 shows PRINCE2 activities for Closing a Project and how they relate to agile artefacts and events (all product description references for PRINCE2 products are located in Appendix A).

PRINCE2 activities and products Applicable agile artefacts and events
  • Prepare planned closure:
    • Update project plan, A.16
    • Create product status account, A.18
  • Artefacts:
    • Project vision
    • Product backlog (done/not done)
    • (Final) release backlog (done/not done)
    • Potentially shippable increment
    • Information radiators
  • Event(s):
    • Release review
    • Release retrospective
  • Prepare premature closure:
    • Update issue register, A.12
    • Update project plan, A.16
    • Create product status account, A.18
    • Create additional work estimates
  • Artefacts:
    • Outstanding impediments
    • Project vision
    • Product backlog (done/not done)
    • (Final) release backlog (done/not done)
    • Potentially shippable increment (or part thereof, if shippable)
    • Information radiators
  • Event(s):
    • Release review
    • Release retrospective
  • Hand over products:
    • Create/update follow-on action recommendations
    • Update configuration item records, A.5
    • Update benefits review plan, A.1
    • Obtain acceptance record
  • Artefacts:
    • Potentially shippable increment
    • Product backlog (done/not done and value enabled)
  • Event(s):
    • Release review (or subsequently)
  • Evaluate the project:
    • Create end project report, A.8
    • Create the lessons report, A.15
  • Artefacts:
    • Project vision
    • Product backlog (done/not done, value enabled)
    • Release backlog (done/not done, value enabled)
    • Information radiators
  • Event(s):
    • (Final) release review
    • Project/release retrospective
  • Recommend project closure:
    • Close issue register, A.12
    • Close the risk register, A.25
    • Close the quality register, A.23
    • Close the lessons log, A.14
    • Prepare draft project closure notification
  • Artefacts:
    • Product backlog (done/not done, value enabled)
    • Decisions from the (final) release review or project retrospective

Table 22.1 PRINCE2 Agile activities for Closing a Project

22.3.1 How to ...

There are many behaviours, concepts, frameworks and techniques that are used in agile and referenced throughout this manual. Table 22.2 provides cross-references to some of the most relevant for use during Closing a Project.

Chapter and section references

Evaluate the project

Sections 26.4.1, 19.4.1

Manage releases

Chapter 27

Assess value

Section 9.4.1

Define quality criteria and acceptance criteria

Chapter 25

Use the definition of ‘done’

Section 11.4, Appendix H

Close a project that has been using agile

Section 22.4

Tailor any of the PRINCE2 management products

Chapter 23

Table 22.2 Relevant agile guidance for Closing a Project

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