Professional Portfolio

Running head: TEAM PROJECT PART 3 0

Team Project Part 3: Team Project Closeout

Sandra Nazaire-Dubuclet, Britney Welch, and Anne Marie Wouapet

Walden University

NURS 6441, Section 01, Project Management: Healthcare Information Technology

November 11, 2016

Team Project Part 3: Team Project Closeout

. The closeout of a project allows members a time to reflect on the events that have occurred, accolades, and lessons learned. During the project closeout tasks are completed, deliverables are accepted, completed work is transferred to operations, and the project is finalized (Coplan & Masuda, 2011). The closeout is probably one of the most anticipated moments in the project. Therefore, project managers need to develop strategies that are best in closing the project and making sure all loose ends have been tied. The information learned in this part of the project is useful information as it can assist project managers on future assignments. Understanding what worked well for the project and what improvements could be made is necessary feedback.

The purpose of preparing this closeout document is to assess the project, verify completion, and derive lessons learned as well as borrowing the best practices to be applied in the future projects. According to Gruber, Cummings, LeBlanc & Smith (2009), the process comprises of two major activities: administrative closure and contract closure. The two activity groups will be discussed in the next section.

Administrative Closure

The administrative component becomes the most significant part regarding project close out. The process defines interactions, activities, and related responsibilities, and roles, of the members of the project team as well as other stakeholders. The closure further integrated activities of collecting project records, analyzing project failure, and success, transferring the products of the project to product operations while archiving project information regarding future use (Laureate Education, 2013e). All the stakeholders took part in testing the system to ensure that it conforms to the set standards. Gathering of a lesson learned also took place in this phase after going live. Upon testing the system for conformity, the system was transferred to the CMC and started full operation in the organization. Necessary information had to be archived so that the organization can use it in the future. Moreover, a series of testing were carried out on the project to ensure that the system met the customer, sponsor and, stakeholder’s specification. The stakeholders, customer representatives, and sponsor verified that the deliverables had been delivered and accepted. Thus, the validity of closure is met for this project.

Contract Closure

Contract closure involves finalizing activities and interaction necessary to agree and terminate any contract agreements established for the project. Also, it involves finalizing activities related to supporting the formal closeout or administrative closeout of the project (Owens, 2008). In the contract closeout, verification of work was done to ascertain that all the activities had been completed correctly and satisfactorily. Stakeholders updated the contract records to reflect the final results obtained and the information archived for future referencing.

The major activities carried out of during contract closeout included confirming that the project addressed the requirements as well as the terms and condition stipulated in the contract. Also, members confirmed completion of exit procedure for the project closeout. Later formal closeout of the contracts associated with the project was done to mark the completion of the entire contract. Such contracts involve those done with external advisors and consultants.

Post Implementation Evaluation Report (PIER)

The preparation of the Post Implementation Evaluation Report (PIER) aims to determine the success or failure of the completed project. In the process of preparing this document, important aspects of the projects are highlighted, and the stakeholders determine whether they were completed satisfactorily (Project Management Institute, 2013). It is one of the project closeout document that contains vital information about the completed project. The PIER provides important historical information especially for the planned and the actual budget as well as the schedule for the completed project. System performance metrics as also collected and documented during the preparation of PIER. Such information is archived by both the organization and the project team led by the project manager.

Moreover, the PIER prepared had recommendations for related projects. For example, staffing and skills needed, organizational structure, schedule management, cost estimation and management, customer expectation management, quality control, and configuration management. Historical information is a very important source of information for future referencing especially when dealing with a similar project of same scope and cost. All the records were archived according to retention guidelines for ease of retrieval. Technical records will be turned over to relevant staff members responsible for system maintenance and upgrades or be used as an operation guideline for the system after complete deployment. The archived information comprises of the description of the files being stored, the location of storage, the application used to create the archived files (document type), and contact information for future correspondence (Coplan & Masuda, 2011).

Team Contribution and Kudos

It is difficult to recognize one individual since all members equally contributed to the success of the project. Each team member had a different strength which gracefully balanced the group dynamics. Sandra was very skilled in bringing everyone’s work together so that verbiage was well articulated and unified. Britney took on the role of assigning the work and timeframes in which it would be completed. While Anne Marie conducted thorough research, ensuring all areas were covered. The group worked extremely well together. Whenever needed, meetings were held via telephone to clarify information or initiate the next task. Everyone was extremely dependable, reliable and dedicated to the tasks.

Anne Marie’s Lesson Learned

In practice, lessons learned comprise of the processes important for identification, validation, evaluation, documentation, and conveying the information to the right individuals (Cortelyou-Ward, Noblin, & Martin, 2011). Utilization of these processes helps in identifying key information that can be used for future projects. Information gathered is usually archived or distributed to the right personnel, and if necessary, follow-up is done to ensure actions are taken.

Participating in the project was very educative. Assuming the role of a customer enabled me to understand the bottlenecks of project management. To begin with, we were able to match the final deliverable with the customer requirements. A schedule and work breakdown structure had been developed by the team members to help track the activities. This enabled us to allocate resources effectively within the budget. Understanding the idea of resources allocation was an important aspect since it enabled us to meet the costs budgets. If resources are not properly allocated, especially to activities lying in the critical path, the project schedule may be delay or even lead to the collapse of the project.

Another important aspect learned in this project is conflict resolution especially in the event of delays, deviation from requirements, or lack of resources. The best way to resolve the conflicts in such projects is convening meetings with necessary stakeholders to deliberate on the way forward. Stakeholders get to review the product delivered to the specification and requirements. If the customer representatives and the sponsor are not satisfied with the deliverable, then deviations are documented, and approvals made to take necessary action. By convening a meeting of the stakeholders together, the project manager gets an opportunity to clear up issues without necessarily pointing fingers at individuals.

Britney’s Lessons Learned

I have obtained an abundance of knowledge planning this project. With this being the first professional project I have had a hand in managing it allowed me the opportunity to understand the components of project management. There were many successes and few failures along the way, all of which inform the next HIT project undertaken (Coplan & Masuda, 2011). Reflecting on the lessons learned shed light on areas of success and areas that need improvement. Overall, the outcome of the project was successful and will serve as a reference in the management of future projects.

Things That Went Well

When beginning the project planning phase, the team collaborated very well together and developed a mutual vision for the project. Having similar views on how to effectively communicate and determine roles assisted in the team dynamics. It was another big success building the work breakdown structure (WBS). This portion of the project helped guide and visually depict the project components. Use of the WBS was helpful in defining project deliverables and subtasks. Once the WBS had been developed the team could clearly define each activity and task.

Things to be Improved

Developing schedules in Microsoft Project continues to be a struggle for me. This may be due to my unfamiliarity with the system. Though the completed schedule was detailed and accurate, it was not easy getting there. It took several YouTube tutorials and referencing Microsoft Project 2010 the missing manual for me to successfully complete it. Understanding sequence tasks, such as; finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish assisted in the process of scheduling. Since certain tasks could not begin until others were finished and some tasks start or finish at the same time, it was easier for me to understand the need for dates to be adjusted accordingly.

Sandra’s Lessons Learned

Capturing lessons learned is a valuable tool for all projects (personal or business), as it provides an opportunity to reflect and address the accomplishments and failures of a project, thereby serving as a “best practice” guide for future projects. The keys are, understanding what went wrong, so not to repeat the mistakes, and gaining insight on what was done correctly to serve as a blueprint for future undertakings.

Several lessons can be learned from group work as each member brings their expertise, experience, and vision to the table. Learning to respect each person’s viewpoints and strengths is key. One significant lesson learned from participating in this team project is communication. Effective communication is vital to the success of any team, as this can be the difference between successfully completing a project versus simply completing the assignment. It helped that our group devised a plan of how we would communicate, and gave clear instructions of each person’s role in the initial stages of the team project. Gardner (2005) stated that creating a communication plan is necessary for encouraging productive discussion and feedback that can facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge.

Another lesson learned was the importance of establishing, from day one, member expectations, roles and responsibilities and ensuring equally distributed workload. I’ve been in many groups where the work was not evenly distributed, and expectations were assumed rather than made part of the plan. When members have a clear understanding of what their responsibilities are on a team, they are more likely to foster positive collaborations and accountability (Oliveira, Tinoca, & Pereira, 2011). This group was successful in achieving the goals of the project because we realized this concept. We understood that successful collaborations do not just happen, but that it requires that each member pulls their weight, and share in the goals and objectives of the project.

Summary

To sum it up, the paper provided necessary information regarding project closeout. Customer acceptance of the deliverable is a most important step in project closeout. The project team has to ensure that customer requirements are captured before completing the project closeout process. Moreover, a PIER is necessary to help in seeking clarification and deriving lessons learned in the project implementation process. Information gathered is usually conveyed to the appropriate personnel or archived for use in a future project with similar scope and cost.

References

Coplan, S., & Masuda, D. (2011). Project management for healthcare information technology. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Cortelyou-Ward, K., Noblin, A., & Martin, J. (2011). Electronic health record project initiation and early planning in a community health center. Health Care Manager, 30(2), 118–124.

Gardner, D. (2005). Ten lessons in collaboration. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 10(1). doi.10.3912/OJIN.Vol10No01Man01

Gruber, D., Cummings, G. G., LeBlanc, L., & Smith, D. L. (2009). Factors influencing outcomes of clinical information systems implementation: A systematic review. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, 27(3), 151–163.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013e). Project closeout [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Microsoft Corporation. (2012c). Project management goal: Initiate a project. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/project-management-goal-initiate-a- project-HA102598143.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA101978264

Oliveira, I., Tinoca, L., & Pereira, A. (2011). Online group work patterns: How to promote a successful collaboration. Computers & Education, 57(1), 1348-1357. doi.10.1016/j.compedu.2011.01.017

Owens, K. (2008). Triumphs and tribulations of an EMR go-live. The Journal of Medical Practice Management, 23(6), 379–381.

Project Management Institute. (2013). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (5th ed.). Newtown Square, PA: Author.

Project Charter

A. General Information

B. Project Objective:

Explain the specific objectives of the project. For example: What value does this project add to the organization? How does this project align with the strategic priorities of the organization? What results are expected? What are the deliverables? What benefits will be realized? What problems will be resolved?

1. Assumptions

List and describe the assumptions made in the decision to charter this project. Please note that all assumptions must be validated to ensure that the project stays on schedule and on budget.

Project Scope

Describe the scope of the project. The project scope establishes the boundaries of the project. It identifies the limits of the project and defines the deliverables.

List any requirements that are specifically excluded from the scope.

1. Project Milestones

List the major milestones and deliverables of the project.

1. Impact Statement

List the impact this project may have on existing systems or units.

Roles and Responsibilities

Describe the roles and responsibilities of project team members followed by the names and contact information for those filling the roles. The table below gives some generic descriptions. Modify, overwrite, and add to these examples to accurately describe the roles and responsibilities for this project.

Resources

Identify the initial funding, personnel, and other resources committed to this project by the project sponsor.

1. Project Risks

Identify the high-level project risks and the strategies to mitigate them.

1. Success Measurements

Identify metric and target you are trying to achieve as a result of this project. For example, overall cost savings of $50K or reduce processing time by 25 percent.

Signatures

The signatures of the people below document approval of the formal Project Charter. The project manager is empowered by this charter to proceed with the project as outlined in the charter.