The project has no agreed closure criteria. How do I close it responsibly?

Undefined project completion boundary

Agree closure conditions with the sponsor and relevant delivery, business, and operational owners. Separate acceptance, transition, commercial matters, and residual actions so each receives an explicit decision. Closure can include transferred obligations, but should not pretend they disappeared.

What to do now

List remaining deliverables and obligations
Agree evidence-based closure criteria
Assign owners for accepted residual work
Obtain the authorized closure decision

Recommended action flow for undefined project completion boundary: List remaining deliverables and obligations then Agree evidence-based closure criteria then Assign owners for accepted residual work then Obtain the authorized closure decision. Escalate when a material obligation has no accepted owner or decision.

When to escalate

Escalate when

A material obligation has no accepted owner or decision.

Who decides

The sponsor and accepting business or service owner

Example

The sponsor closes delivery after accepted handover while a named owner retains a minor improvement backlog.

Mistake to avoid

Closing the project solely because its planned end date has arrived.

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