Wrapping up a project

Why is this important? #

We often only work with a client for a short period of time. But they may rely on the things that we deliver long after we have moved on. This applies to work we deliver during Discovery and Alpha (other teams and suppliers may need to build on our work) or Beta and Live (services that we have helped launch will need to be maintained).

Wrapping up a project well also helps us keep a good relationship with people and organisations that we work with. Leaving a client happy makes it more likely that they will want to work with us in future.

Finally, this is also a good opportunity to reflect on how the project has gone as a whole. How successful have we been at achieving the outcomes we wanted to? What do we want to build on or change for future projects?

What do you need to think about? #

• What needs to be handed over or maintained? Where are you in the project life-cycle?
• Does the team need to create anything as part of the wrap-up?
• Who is going to be the owner for this work once you leave? Who are you handing things over to?

Checklist #

Penultimate sprint (or earlier) #

• Revisit the scope and make sure you’ve done everything you needed to
• If a support contract is in place, make sure you follow the guide to getting a project ready for support.

Final sprint #

• Run a whole project retro
• Check client has access to any documents or key pieces of information that they might need in the future. Make this tidy to help them find things later on. e.g. user research outputs or technical documentation

Final week #

• Create a Project Download, summarising the work that we can use for future sales pitches.
• Write a note to everyone who worked on the project. Use this to celebrate the work that has been done, and to look forward to what happens next.
• Meet with client to close down the project and make sure they are happy. Are there other opportunities that we can support them on?
• Get feedback from the client.
• Get email confirmation from the client that the project has wrapped up.

Last updated: 9 May 2023 (history)