TOPIC: what to do after project is terminated?

Hi everyone,

I am a little confused on what to do next after project is terminated questions. I did read that once the Project Manager gets notified of a project of a phase cancellation or termination , he/she needs to perform the close project or close phase activities. One cant just stop all work.

However, one of the Simulator questions has confused me -

The company has been sold out. Consequently, there is a major shift in direction and strategy. A multiphase project has been cancelled during execution of its final phase and no more budget or work is to be spent on the project. The PMO has assigned the PM to work on another project. Before moving to the other project, what must the PM do?

a. Communicate the status of the project to the team and produce a final report
b. Gain Senior management approval to manage another project
c. Produce the rest of the items on the contract agreement with the supplier
d. Complete the final phase of the project

I selected d . However correct answer is a which i feel is a subset of d.

Can someone please clarify and let me know how to approach these type of questions in the exam?

Thank you
Ritika

Option D: Complete the final phase of the project.

This implies that the project manager should complete the 'project work' in the final phase of the project.

The answer is A, because if the project has been cancelled, the first thing to do is to communicate the news (new status) to the team and all stakeholders and then work on the 'close project or phase' process to archive documents and follow any internal processes for closing the project including the production of the final project report.

I'm not yet a PMP, but this is at least how I understand it.

Hi Ritika,

I essentially agree with Luke, in that - if the project has been cancelled during execution of the final phase - you are not supposed to keep working on that phase and get it completed, as option D implies. What you have to do, as Luke points out, is to move to the "Close project or phase" process, which includes what option A describes; i.e., inform the project team about the status of the project and produce a final report.
The project cannot be completed in terms of the activities originally planned; however, the project manager has the responsibility to end it appropriately, by performing all the steps associated to the "Close project/phase" process.

Hope this helps clarify.

Gabriella

Thank you Luke and Gabriella.

That makes sense! The more I read the questions, the more the answer choice makes sense!

Hi thread starter! I also chose D! And thanks Gabriella! That makes a lot of sense!
I guessed the confusion is that we have read in RIta's PMP that says that you always close our a project, no matter the circumstances under which it stops, is terminated or completed (PMP Exam Prep page 164)!

Hi Ritika,

I think the key point of confusion is the word "phase." In fact, "phase" and "process" are not interchangeable.

A phase is a reference to life cycle. For instance you may have a small project that is one phase or a large project that is multiple phases (e.g., Planning Phase, Design Phase, Production Phase, etc.).

A process refers to the Process Groups of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing. These five processes occur once for a one phase project or 'X' times for a project with 'X' phases.

Option D: Complete the final phase of the project cannot be correct because you would be disregarding the cancellation of the project that was described in the question.

a. Communicate the status of the project to the team and produce a final report is correct because these two actions are part of the Close Project or Phase process, the only process for Closing. This process is required for every project, regardless of whether the project objective has been completed.

Hope this helps

Also important to note that project closure entails more than just creation the final report, but again in this case no other actions are listed so it is the best answer.