PROJECT MANAGEMENT

~CLOSING &

REFLECTING

Suzanne ChapmanHead, User Experience Departmentsuzchap@umich.edu

SCOPE PLAN EXECUTE MONITOR CLOSE & REFLECT

Closing and reflecting is JUST as important as the other phases...but is possibly the most neglected.

(stopping work on a project doesn’t count!)

But it’s hard!1. We’re busy and the next project has probably already

started.2. It’s uncomfortable to critique our own work.

* A Note About Failure

SUCCESSFAILURE

this isn’t failure

* A Note About Failure

it’s just in need of further excellence

SUCCESSFAILURE

* Art School Crit

Sometimes painful, always worth the pain.

1. It makes you smarter and more well-equipped for the next project.

2. Deliberate act of closing forces you to be reflective!

3. Helps you think more strategically. Was this worth doing? Would we do this again?

4. Gives project manager and the team the opportunity to debrief and share their opinions.

5. Closure! Projects should have end dates! Helps put a final stamp and end to your efforts (so you can make a clean break & move on with your life).

* Why Closing & Reflecting is Super Important

1. Agreement from team & management that it’s time to end the project

2. Organize & update project documents

○ document project goals, process, outcomes

3. Conduct end of project review

○ debrief conversations

○ document successes & lessons learned

4. Report/present/communicate results

* Steps

* Strategies for Reflecting

One size does not fit all!

(you established goals at the beginning, right?)Goal Results

expand focus to include more research-related activities and minimize communication

Focus expanded but room for more expansion in next iteration (Research Guides, Instructional Services could be more prominent)

better visual balance Much improved within constraints of outer framework

establish new procedures & best practices for management of home page content

Yes, fully achieved, documented on intranet and well communicated. Initial period post-launch had a few hiccups but these were resolved.

ensure new changes are compliant with web accessibility standards

Yes, thanks to Colin!

* Goal Alignment

Critique of original Critique of new

Space dedicated to communications content is disproportionate to core content and features

(comm = 95%, core = 5%)

Improved balance (comm = 66%, core = 33%)

next iteration should balance further.

Visual design is awkward, poor visual hierarchy, lacks typographic finesse

Much improved but structure & project scope limited ability to fully remedy this issue.

Path to find databases isn’t clear

Added frequently used databases to get users to these faster. Larger problem of guiding users to the rest of the databases remains.

* Critique & Results

* After Action Review (AAR)

Nice as a group activity, management run, self evaluation.

1. What was supposed to happen?2. What did happen?3. What worked?4. What didn’t? Why?5. What would you do differently next time?

Level -no issues -some issues-major issues

Upper-level management was supportive & responsive when needed

Had the time we needed

Had the skills needed

Had the resources needed ($, technology)

Project was well-managed and tasks tracked

Project plan had clear mission, useful goals, timeline

Team members pulled their weight

* Detailed PM Assessment

See full project management - closing & reflecting - self evaluation

Forces you to:● take the extra time to analyze

● reflect on “lessons learned”

● document the important details (especially useful if there will be a phase 2)

● write clearly, be thorough in the details (especially if you write for an external audience)

If you did documentation as you go, it should be pretty easy. “Report” could be as simple as having a detailed project brief (see sample and Project Stopgap summary).

* I <3 Formal Reporting

QUESTIONS?