On 26 October, the new, improved version of Unit 12: Closing Projects will go live.
Your progress will not be affected.

Learn how real project closure works—beyond ticking boxes—so you finish cleanly, hand over confidently, and capture lessons that actually stick.

When does a project actually close?

• When the remaining tasks are ticked off?
• When the client finally stops asking for “just one more thing…?”
• When the last contractor disappears without a forwarding email?
• Or does it close the moment someone says, “Good enough,” and quietly walks away?

Here’s the truth many project managers learn the hard way: most projects don’t close—they simply end.

Proper closure isn’t a single event at the finish line. It starts the moment the first task is handed over and accelerates as the project nears completion.

From that point on, every acceptance, every contract decision, every transfer, every cleaned-up access permission is part of the closing process.

Projects that close well leave no loose ends, hand over cleanly, and give the team a clear exit.

But closure isn’t just about wrapping things up—it’s also about capturing what was learned before that knowledge disappears.

Without a deliberate effort to extract lessons, organizations are doomed to make the same mistakes, experience the same frustrations, and miss opportunities to leverage the things individuals are doing well.

So, the question you need to ask yourself is: Do your projects end… or do they close?