An Insight Into Closure Documentation Processes At GeekyAnts
Prologue:
Documentation is an integral part of the project closure for hoards of reasons, not only does it indicate that the set goals were met but it also indicates the end of a collaboration and its outcome. In an account manager's role, closing out a project in a structured way is as important as leading it throughout the design and development process. Clients can refer to these closure documents as and when necessary later.
At GeekyAnts, we undertake projects based on different models; these projects can either be based on the Agile, Waterfall, or Hybrid model depending on the client’s requirements and the nature of the project. Given below is a list of documents that comprises the project closure project, we shall discuss these types of documents and their importance at length in this article:
- Project set-up document
- Code review document
- Milestone acceptance document
- Feedback form
Project set-up document
A project set-up document contains basic information about project management tools, use cases or user stories links, design links, QA testing tools, deployment platform, etc. While the specific details are subject to change depending on the project, you can keep track of all the details in one place and it also saves a lot of time for account managers if they have to look back at the particulars of the project. The project set-up document can also help in knowledge sharing while also empowering the team and letting them know of their roles and responsibilities during the project.
Code Review Document
Another good practice is maintaining Milestone/sprint-wise code review documents that developers curate. At GeekyAnts, we regularly follow peer-to-peer code review/ Team Lead to developer code review meetings to ensure that effective communication is being followed and everyone is on the same page regarding the expectations of the project. The feedback at the end of each code review call is documented to ensure that the team follows the discussed code standard practices going ahead and this document is shared with the client as a part of the closure handover process.
Milestone Acceptance document
Milestones are small phases within the project scope; a Milestone Acceptance document specifies the deliverables provided by the team based on the particular duration and the purchaser's acceptance of those deliverables. Following this, we will give the client seven days to review them and reach out to us in case of any queries and the milestone is considered closed once both parties duly sign the acceptance document. Lastly, an invoice will be raised against that particular milestone to document the findings of that sprint which is followed in the upcoming ones.
Feedback form
At GeekyAnts, we feel that having the right feedback from our clients is very important to gauge their experiences and improvise and refine our practices. As a part of this feedback form, we ask our clients to fill out a document at the end of the closure process that consists of their overall experience with our team and how likely they are to engage with us again in the future or recommend us.
Epilogue:
One of the primary reasons behind documenting the course of the project is that it helps maintain consistency. However, there is some level of cohesion needed so that the work is in alignment with what the client wants and this is where documentation comes into play and helps set clear expectations. It helps account managers maintain a narrative of the decisions made and how the client has responded to different situations. It helps to maintain better accessibility, cutting down on time spent making decisions during the project, maintaining consistency, reducing errors during development, and leading to lower training costs.
I hope this article has given you an insight into the importance of documentation during project closure and how we do it at GeekyAnts.