Hi Paul, Would welcome your feedback.
At the handover and closeout phase of the project, there are some distinct activities that must take place. Specifically at handover these include:
Acceptance: This is the formal procedure that says to the sponsor and the users that the project has discharged its obligations and delivered everything required of it. This is normally managed within an acceptance procedure that documents the criteria for products in the contract from the outset. If there are no criteria defined within the contract, acceptance criteria are usually defined within the Project Management Plan. It is normal for the sponsor and / or users to sign an acceptance certificate, confirming that the products delivered meet the criteria.
Commissioning: This is where users take on the products and become familiar with how to operate them. The products are transformed from a “raw” product into an operational asset. Commissioning can vary hugely in time. For a large war ship, for example, commissioning can last several months, for a software programme, commissioning may require less time. For example, once the IT Technicians are trained in the programme’s use, the software can be used within the organisation.
Transfer of responsibility: Is where users take over formal ownership of the products. For this to happen, users must ensure they have everything in place to not continually refer back to the project team.
Once handover is complete, the project team move to the closeout phase. Here a number of activities must take place. These include:
Team dissolution: Where the project team will need to be disbanded and redeployed in a co-ordinated and controlled manner. Most projects seek to disband the team in a gradual way, rather than all members leave the project at once.
Disposal of project facilities and assets: This requires all office facilities, computers, coffee machines etc to be returned to their owners, sold or disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner. All documents must be carefully indexed and archived for future use.
Thank you Paul, and yes closed book. I have been listening to the podcasts and they are very helpful in providing a clear understanding to the topics. I wonder though there is not one on this topic. But then again the book is very good in that one.
Thanks for the feedback, I am glad you like the pod casts. They are quite good at covering the topic in more detail. I know we didn’t do every topic, some are a bit difficult in this format. We also have been a bit busy recently. May be I can get John and me around the microphone soon. What topic would you like the most.
Hi, this is how I have answered, any feedback would be appreciated.
Project Scope is defining what project will deliver, when the project is going to deliver it and what quality it will be delivered in. It defines the boundaries of what will be delivered at the end of the project, and what will not be included in this project delivery. The project scope is defined during the concept Phase and will be based on the business case and its requirements.
The following are key components that help in developing the project plan and scheduling:
Product Breakdown Structure (PBS): It is decomposition of the main product into sub components, a hierarchical breakdown of the main product. It is recommended to start by doing this as it is a good practice to understand the product and what you plan to deliver. The outcome of PBS can be considered as a product delivery list.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): Decomposing the overall work into smaller tasks, providing a clear definition and understanding of what needs to be done to produce the final product. It is the same idea as with PBS, but focusing on the work to be done to implement the final product. I think it can also provide an opportunity to identify possible risks, needed skills and resources.
Organisation Breakdown Structure (OBS): It is an organisation chart for the project. It gives an overview of the people involved in the project, identifying their roles and responsibilities. It also demonstrates the reporting hierarchy for the project. It is combined with WBS to create a matrix of roles: Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM)
Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS): This is a way to map across from the cost in WBS to the finance system. CBS would be broken down to Manpower, overheads, materials and will be associated to the work package.
Peter, Its is a bit hard with out the picture, but assuming the drawing was as in the book it look fine
Laila
You seem the have the hang of this, your answer shows a good understanding of the topic. I can not really add anything.
By the way it is wet and cold in London today.