Project Closure and Benefits Realization
What this domain tests
This domain tests orderly closure and whether outputs become outcomes. Expect questions on transition, final reports, lessons learned, contract closure, and benefits measurement after the project ends.
Core rules
- Closure includes confirming acceptance, transferring deliverables to operations or the customer, releasing resources, closing contracts, archiving records, and measuring customer satisfaction.
- Lessons learned should be captured throughout and analyzed at closure; a register written only at the end loses causes and context.
- The final report records scope achieved, schedule and cost performance, unresolved issues, and benefits status. It is not the same as the charter.
- Benefits realization compares outcomes with the business case. A benefits realization plan defines metrics, baselines, targets, measurement timing, and an owner. The project manager may contribute, but the benefits owner is usually accountable after transition.
- Outputs are deliverables; outcomes are the measurable changes those deliverables enable. A new scheduling system is an output; reduced waiting time is an outcome.
Worked example
A clinic installs a patient portal. The output is the portal; the outcome is a 20% reduction in phone bookings within six months. The plan sets the baseline at 1,000 calls/month, target at 800, measurement at months 1, 3, and 6, and assigns the operations director as benefits owner. The PM closes the project after acceptance and training, but benefits tracking continues. Reasoning: delivery completion and benefit realization are separate governance events.
Traps
- Closing when deliverables are accepted but no transition or support plan exists.
- Treating lessons learned as blame sessions or a one-time document.
- Confusing output delivery with benefit realization.
- Leaving contract closure to the procurement team without PM confirmation.