Most projects don’t fail at launch—they fail at landing.

Teams pour time and energy into planning, execution, and delivery. But when it comes to closeout, things start to unravel. Legal details get deferred. Financials linger. Documentation is scattered. And the lessons that could improve the next project quietly disappear.

Not because people don’t care—but because by then, everyone has already moved on.

That tension sat at the center of a recent Meaningful Project Closeout virtual roundtable, where practitioners compared notes on what actually happens at the end of a project—and what it would take to do it better.

Closeout Has a Momentum Problem

We started with a simple question:

What’s your biggest frustration with project closeout?

The answers were immediate—and familiar. Project managers are already thinking about what’s next. Final documentation turns into a scramble. No one is quite sure who owns what. Even getting the right people into a final review can feel harder than it should.

“By the time we get to closeout, everyone has mentally moved on.”

That’s the issue in a sentence.

Closeout isn’t breaking down because it’s complicated. It’s breaking down because it happens at the exact moment when attention is at its lowest. Treating it like a final step—something to “wrap up”— almost guarantees it will be under-resourced and incomplete.

It’s Not One Task—It’s a System

Most firms think of closeout too narrowly.

In reality, it’s a system made up of several different kinds of work, all happening at once. There’s the legal dimension, where documentation needs to stand up long after the project is over. There’s the financial side, where accounts have to be fully reconciled and closed. There’s the administrative work of organizing materials so they’re actually usable later. And then there’s the piece that’s easiest to skip: capturing the story of the project in a way that’s useful for marketing, proposals, and future teams.

None of this is new. Most firms do some version of it already.

What’s missing is the connective tissue—the sense that these aren’t separate tasks, but parts of a single process that needs ownership, structure, and follow-through.

The Shift: Don’t Wait Until the End

The most practical ideas shared in the session had one thing in common: they remove the idea that closeout happens at the end.

One approach focused on triggering closeout activities throughout the life of the project. Documentation is captured when it’s fresh. Requests don’t rely on memory. The process moves forward even when attention shifts elsewhere.

It’s not a dramatic overhaul—but it changes the dynamic completely.

Another perspective centered on the project debrief. Instead of treating it as a routine wrap-up, the debrief becomes a bridge to what comes next—structured to surface insights that feed directly into proposals and staffing decisions.

“We started treating the debrief as the first meeting of the next project.”

That small shift turns closeout from a retrospective into something forward-looking—and much harder to ignore.

Technology Helps—But It Doesn’t Solve This

Tools came up, as they always do. Systems that promise to centralize project data, make information searchable, and reduce the friction of tracking things down later.

And to be fair, they can help.

When project information is organized well, it’s significantly easier to reconstruct what happened and reuse it. AI is starting to play a role here too—especially in tagging, organizing, and surfacing information that would otherwise stay buried.

But no one suggested that technology is the answer on its own.

Without a defined approach to closeout, better tools just make the gaps more visible. You end up with cleaner systems—but the same missing information.

What This Really Comes Down To

Project closeout isn’t just administrative cleanup. It’s one of the few points in the project lifecycle where you can reduce risk, capture knowledge, and improve future performance—all at once.

And yet, it’s consistently treated as optional.

The firms making progress aren’t necessarily investing more—they’re being more deliberate. They start earlier. They decide who owns the process. And they treat what they learn from each project as something worth keeping.

If there’s a single place to start, it’s this:

Make closeout someone’s job—and make it part of the project, not the aftermath.

Where This Breaks Down in Your Firm

If you’re honest, you can probably see exactly where this is falling apart.

Is it ownership? Timing? Documentation? Follow-through?

Or is it that everyone assumes someone else is handling it?

We’d love to hear—what’s the hardest part of closeout in your firm right now?

Want to Hear How Others Are Handling It?

This article pulls out a few themes, but the full conversation goes deeper.

In the full session, members talk candidly about what they’re actually doing—where their processes work, where they break down, and what they’re still trying to figure out. It’s less about a perfect model and more about seeing how different firms are approaching the same problem in real time. If you’re rethinking your own closeout process, it’s a useful way to pressure-test your assumptions. Purchase the Meaningful Project Closeout recording here. [Be sure to login for SDA member pricing.]

How well do you know the difference between compliment and complement (or variations thereof)? Test yourself by filling in the blanks (answers are at end of this post; no peeking ahead of time!).

1. I’m trying to __________ you on your choice of memes for that marketing blitz, but others may feel differently about that meme.
2.  The fancy restaurant staff on your cruise ship will offer food and wine that __________ each other.
3. “You get a car! You get a car! You get a car!” __________ of Oprah Winfrey.
4. The __________ upgrade on your cruise ship stateroom is __________ of the cruise line as you are a valued cruiser.
5. If you are __________ me about my singing skills, I’m going to be forever in your debt; but if you don’t __________ me, you’ll get social media shamed bigtime, __________ of me and my close friends.

Click Here for Answer Key. Let us know in the comments how you did!

The Problem: Being Heard But Not Heeded

At a recent gathering of A|E accounting personnel, they were heard voicing the issues that often surprised management at year-end. More importantly, they weren’t taking action on the facts being delivered to them. For example, why didn’t they stop working with the client who is not profitable and doesn’t pay on time? Why don’t they realize that man cannot live on bread alone, architects can’t live just on K-12 schools or multi-family housing, and engineers can’t just chase municipal water projects?

My observation from my years as a consultant, hearing this complaint from many, many clients, and as a Controller in industry, listening to my staff complain, was that they had not built up their credibility within leadership enough. They had not presented solutions along with the facts, analysis, and trends.

The Hidden Challenge: Overlooking Your Secret Strengths

This credibility gap is often compounded by a deeper issue that operations professionals face. As Harry McCracken, global technology editor at Fast Company, explains in his article “Why you’re overlooking your secret career strengths (and how to start recognizing them):“ “When a talent comes naturally, without deliberate effort, we often don’t recognize it as a strength.”

He uses Katherine, a talented up-and-coming leader at a high-growth technology company, as his example. Still, it could be anyone in operations in the A&E industry who recognizes their value and strengths but considers themselves unheard.

“Like many leaders, Katherine was aware of the skills that were closely tied to her job description, but didn’t have the full picture of the value she was bringing to the organization.”

“When a talent comes naturally, without deliberate effort, we often don’t recognize it as a strength. Skills like critical thinking, problem solving, or strategic insight can feel so effortless that we don’t notice them in ourselves. Or sometimes, we assume others are equally adept at the same skills, and dismiss their value.”

This scenario is what I see happen time and time again. We are operations people; we just get it, but because we do, we often forget that the technical guys don’t have the same skill set. Our biggest challenge is to have an impact. We must have credibility and deliver the message in terms that resonate with them. They are not adept at the same skills. Why do MBA candidates spend so much time creating PowerPoint decks? They know they must tell a story and communicate their advice on the client’s terms.

The Foundation: Building Credibility

As John Maxwell says in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, you must first become self-aware. Harry McCracken further explains, “Uncovering the true essence of your unique contribution can be an illuminating process that strengthens your personal brand and boosts your leadership effectiveness.”

How do you build credibility in our world?

You know your stuff. If a junior architect complains that the time system isn’t correct, and they didn’t spend all that time on the project, can you literally trace the project report back to their timesheet? If someone asks how the project multiplier is calculated, can you quote the formula verbatim? If someone asks why client or project diversity is important—you know why and you’ve done the research—can you communicate it?

You study, and you obtain an industry- and position-specific credential. Suppose you missed the opportunity to obtain the education required for an MBA or the experience needed for a CPA or CMA. In that case, several credentials are valuable in our industry: CDFO, CDT, LEED AP, CPSM, SHRM-CP, and the new CDFO-FM. These are generally a combination of education, experience, and examination. They take time, but they’re worth it. You’re worth it.

You join, are active in, and take on a leadership role of an A|E industry organization—and let management know. SDA comes to mind—obviously—but also make sure you’re in consideration for your local Chamber of Commerce’s leadership training or ACEC’s Leadership series, to name two. ACEC offers associate memberships, too.

Make sure you don’t overlook your secret career strengths. Recognize and articulate the natural talents that you might take for granted but that add tremendous value to your organization.

Learn a new vocabulary. So rather than:

• “Here are the Ajera Reports.” → “Here is the financial data and analysis I’ve prepared so we can review project performance.”
• “Here’s the benefits package.” → “Here is the newly designed benefits structure I’ve put together for us to discuss.”
• “Here’s the salary plan.” → “Here is the research and incentive compensation plan I’ve structured for us to evaluate.”

Liz Harris, FSDA, at Kevin Harris Architects, explains it like this: “The work is identical—but now the expertise behind it is visible. And that matters because when administrators name their analysis rather than the paperwork, others start to see the role differently. And just as importantly, so do they.”

The Payoff: What Becomes Possible

Once you are aware of your intrinsic strengths, hone your skills, build your credibility, and recognize the value that operations information can deliver to the overall health of the firm, here’s what becomes possible:

You will have greater influence on the outcomes. “Owning and leveraging your key strengths can increase your confidence, clarity, and credibility, making you more magnetic and influential.” Your operational leadership will keep the firm on a steady financial course.

You will increase your influence to fuel innovation. “Unearthing strengths like vision, creativity, or strategy can give you permission and embolden you to step outside your lane, challenge the status quo, speak up with new ideas, and pursue opportunities you may have previously dismissed.” Having the financial and operational facts—and their impact—at your fingertips, along with your improved credibility and self-assurance, will put you and operations front and center in firm management.

Reference: “Why you’re overlooking your secret career strengths (and how to start recognizing them,” Harry McCracken, global technology editor, Fast Company.

SDA does not endorse any products or services mentioned, and SDA does not assume responsibility for any circumstances arising out of the interpretation, application, use, or misuse of any information presented. SDA recommends that the reader consult the appropriate legal, financial, or human resource counsel before implementing the information contained herein.