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In many organizations, a final report is prepared after all project activities have been completed and the impact of the project results have been demonstrated in business performance metrics.
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Quick reference
Final Report
In many organizations, a final report is prepared after all project activities have been completed and the impact of the project results have been demonstrated in business performance metrics.
When to use
A final report is just that, final. It is the last thing completed by the project manager on the project, and is often prepared by the project management office after the project team has been disbanded. It is most commonly used with large projects or those funded by an external customer who requires it as a deliverable. It is seldom prepared for small projects.
Instructions
The final report is typically used as an “executive summary” of what happened on the project. The report will provide a brief overview of the project purpose and the project approach. It will then summarize the final results of the project execution and the impact that the project is making on the business performance metrics. The report will often include a summary of the results of the lessons learned session.
The final report can be used for several purposes.
- It may be required by contract if the project was funded by an external funding source such as a customer or government agency.
- It is used for continuous improvement activities within the project management office or with stakeholders who are responsible for projects. The best practices and lessons learned are used to improve project planning and execution on future projects.
- It is used by business operating managers. The results of the project, such as sales impacts, cost impacts, or productivity impacts, are used by the operating managers when making decisions about what future projects are funded and the likelihood of success. This allows them to improve both long-term strategic planning and short-term performance metrics.
- It is used when a project audit must be accomplished for legal or governance reasons. The report provides a summary of what happened and guides the auditors in their analysis.
- The report is used to assist functional managers when doing personnel performance appraisals for project team members. When operating in a matrix organization, the functional managers may not have had an opportunity to oversee an individual’s work. The final report will help to document the business impact of the project effort.
As can be seen from all these uses of the report, it is often read by many people. The report should be taken seriously. It is the long-term record of the project. Also, the report should be a stand-alone document. Many of the readers will not have a deep knowledge of the project, how it was planned, executed, and performed.
Login to download- 00:04 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen, let's wrap this up now by talking about the project final report.
- 00:09 The final report has many potential uses, but
- 00:11 one of the most important is that of continuous improvement.
- 00:15 When we think of continuous improvement,
- 00:17 what often comes to mind is the Shewhart cycle plan, do, check, act.
- 00:21 Professor Shewhart explained it this way.
- 00:23 The first step is to plan, we decide to take some action to improve the business.
- 00:28 In our case, it was that we decided to attempt the project.
- 00:32 The next step is to do, we implement the project plan and
- 00:36 conduct the work of the project.
- 00:38 Then we check, we complete the project deliverables and check to see if our plan
- 00:42 worked and whether the deliverables had the business impact that we expected.
- 00:47 Finally there is act, in this case, we take the results of the project to improve
- 00:52 what we will do next, this is why this is continuous improvement.
- 00:56 The actions from the previous project will have changed the business, hopefully for
- 00:59 the better.
- 01:00 We want to build on the success of this project to do an even better
- 01:04 job of planning the next project, so document your lessons learned.
- 01:08 And we'll leverage the results of this project and
- 01:11 the selection of the next project to get even better business results.
- 01:15 It's a good idea to create a final report,
- 01:17 just to document how to find information about this project.
- 01:21 The final report should be viewed as the executive summary of the project,
- 01:26 it does not need to have every project document and deliverable.
- 01:29 But it does need to explain the story of the project,
- 01:32 it should explain why the project was initiated and the original goal.
- 01:36 It should also have an outline of what was done in the project and
- 01:39 highlight any major obstacles or successes.
- 01:42 It should explain the impact of the project has had on business metrics and
- 01:46 finally it should include a summary of the lessons learned for
- 01:49 use on future projects.
- 01:51 Incidentally success or
- 01:52 failure is not just a project management success of on time and on budget,
- 01:57 it need to include the perspective of the project sponsor and key stakeholders.
- 02:01 Did the project achieve its goals and objectives that were the foundation for
- 02:06 the business case?
- 02:07 That's why the final report is often prepared after the project has been
- 02:11 completed for a short time, such as two or three months.
- 02:14 By then the project impact should be evident, did the new sales materialize?
- 02:18 Did we realize the cost savings or cycle time improvement?
- 02:22 This is a key part of determining the ultimate success or
- 02:25 failure of the project.
- 02:27 In that way, the final report will be used to help in the selection and
- 02:31 initiation of future projects.
- 02:33 The stakeholders will have a better understanding of what type of projects
- 02:36 are viable.
- 02:37 They'll be better able to make reasonable estimates of both project activity and
- 02:41 business impact.
- 02:42 Ultimately, this will improve the business's ability to develop and
- 02:46 implement that strategy.
- 02:48 The last thing I want to address with the use of a final report is that of personal
- 02:52 performance appraisal, an individual will approve when they get good feedback.
- 02:57 And by good feedback, I mean appropriate positive and negative feedback.
- 03:01 The positive feedback for what they're doing well and should continue and
- 03:04 negative feedback for the areas that are inadequate with recommendations for
- 03:08 how to change and improve.
- 03:09 The final report can be a valuable reference when doing an annual performance
- 03:14 appraisal and providing feedback to employees.
- 03:17 Now I don't mean we put the feedback in the final report,
- 03:21 rather whoever is doing the feedback refers to the final report.
- 03:25 Project work is often done in a matrix organization.
- 03:28 Consequences, that the person that individuals report to may not be familiar
- 03:33 with what the team member has been doing on a day to day basis.
- 03:36 So the project leader or core team lead from that function will need to provide
- 03:41 input on the person's performance.
- 03:43 Often, team members do not fully understand the business impact of
- 03:46 the work they've done.
- 03:48 The final report can help their manager conducting the performance review make
- 03:52 a better assessment of the business impact of the individual's effort.
- 03:56 The final report is not just a meaningless document that gets thrown together at
- 04:01 the end of the project.
- 04:02 It's the permanent record, it's used in business strategy,
- 04:05 continuous improvement, and for performance appraisals.
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