New improvement requests keep preventing closure. What should we do?
Open-ended completion scopeCompare new requests with the approved completion and acceptance criteria. Resolve genuine defects and obligations, but move discretionary improvements to a separately owned decision process. The sponsor should make any material scope extension explicit rather than allowing closure to drift indefinitely.
What to do now
- Compare each request with agreed obligations
- Separate defects from optional improvements
- Assign a destination for future enhancements
- Confirm closure against the approved boundary
When to escalate
A disputed request materially affects acceptance or a contractual obligation.
The sponsor and accepting business or service owner
Example
A new dashboard request enters the product backlog after the contracted reporting scope is accepted.
Mistake to avoid
Treating every new idea as evidence the original project is unfinished.
Prevent a repeat
Verify that transferred obligations and important lesson actions are completed after the project closes.
Suggested ApprovedFlow setup
- Projects
- Documents
- Tasks
- Approvals
Keep the closure decision and final evidence with the project and transfer accepted residual actions to named ongoing owners. See the platform
Related cases
- The project has no agreed closure criteria. How do I close it responsibly?Undefined project completion boundary
- The vendor contract is still open after delivery. Who should close it?Unfinished commercial closeout
- Users keep asking for small extras. How do I prevent scope creep?Accumulating unapproved scope
- How do we close a risk properly?Unsupported risk closure