Project Integration Management - Close Project or Phase

This phase finalizes all activities across all the process groups to formally complete the project or the phase. The project manager is responsible for reviewing all prior information from the previous phase closures to ensure all the work is completed.

Lets look at the Inputs, Tools and Techniques and Outputs of this process:

1) Project management plan

• This plan defines what constitutes project completion

2) Accepted deliverables

• May included:
• Approved product specifications
• delivery receipts
• work performance documents 
• partial or interim deliverables for phased or cancelled projects

3) Organizational process assets

• Project or phase closure guidelines or requirements
• Historical information and lesson learned knowledge base

4) Expert judgement

• They (other PM's, PMO, professional associates) ensure the project or phase closure is performed to the appropriate standards

5) Analytical techniques

• Regression analysis - series of input variables are examined in relation to their corresponding output results in order to develop a mathematical or statistical relationship
• Trend analysis - uses mathematical models to forecast future outcomes based on historical results (Budget, cost, schedule or scope) 

6) Meetings

• Can be face to face, virtual, formal or informal and the types of meetings can be:
•  lessons learned
• closeout
• user groups
• review meetings
• You should conduct many meetings to keep everyone informed on what is going on with the project. Documentation of these meetings with meeting minutes will help track discussions and decisions that were made. 

7) Final product, service or result transition 

• Transition of the final product, service, or result that the project was authorized to produce

8) Organizational process assets updates

• Project files
• Project or phase closure documents
• Historical information and lessons learned 

Source: PMBOK 5th ed.