Every business has its own projects that are split into smaller, specific, manageable tasks. Each of these tasks has its own importance, urgency, and purpose - once completed, it brings us closer to completing the larger task and, ultimately, the project. All of these tasks have certain aspects in common: they are connected to the business, share a budget, depend on certain services and people, etc. Failing to close a project when it should be or at all means that it still has some importance and continues to drain our resources.
In today’s fast-paced world, it’s common to focus on results and omit the rest. But we often fail to close projects at the right time, when they’ve served their purpose and should die in peace. So they linger somewhere in the background. An unfinished task or project is like a pebble in your shoe that constantly distracts you.
Nothing happens to the wise man against his expectation. — Seneca
Most of us begin anything with a vision of success. We plan from start to the moment when the goal is achieved, ignoring everything beyond. This vision of success can blind us, causing us to refuse to accept that it must end one day. Closing a project (especially the successful one from the past) may stir certain emotional reactions. You might feel regret for the hours you put into it. Or you are too proud to let it go with a vision of resurrecting the dying project. Or you feel hopeless, because it is your only project and you have no other plan. Or you are annoyed that it did not work out again and become discouraged to start the next one.
So you try harder to rescue what you have built, but you only make things worse. You put extra hours, money, and resources into it, losing valuable time, resources, and opportunities in the process. But no matter the reason, once it has peaked or the goal has not been met, it’s important to turn your attention to terminating it. Continuing to support a failing project can be costly and ultimately futile.
INDICATIONS
The project has met its goal
After that it is going downhill. You do not have to end it immediately, depending on its nature, but keep decreasing resources and finally close. Why would you feed a dying project for more years when it peaked a year ago? There’s no sense in continuing to invest in a project that has peaked and is on the decline.
The products, services, or ideas you sell are no longer trendy or needed
Replace them with fresh, new ones. And if it is the entire project, to fill the void, fluently transition to planning and executing a new one.
The project did not meet the expected criteria
You achieve nothing by prolonging its existence. You already compared a data over time and made a decision.
The project has surpassed the budget or deadline
When a project goes over budget or takes longer than expected, it may be necessary to re-evaluate or close it.
You’ve let the project languish
You changed your focus on different projects and neglected it for too long. A project that has been uncared for is unlikely to resurrect on its own.
Testing or experimentation is complete
Once you have collected and compared data, it’s time to make a decision about the project’s future.
WHAT TO DO
If you are unaware of irreversible death of your project, you have only yourself to blame. Not knowing when to end comes from poor planning. Ideally, along the plans of how to make project successful, define the conditions under which the project should be closed. That way, when you do close the project, you can do so with a sense of achievement (regardless of the project’s ultimate outcome). Knowing when to stop is a valuable skill to have in general.
The most obvious signals that a project has reached its end are budget, deadline or comparable data. Thorough planning may also hint that certain projects or tasks are not worth starting in the first place. The general rule is to know your exit strategy that is based on actual data that you can compare with over time. If it is too vague, do not even start.
Also review your existing projects regularly.
And, do not be fooled into thinking that small or unimportant projects can be ignored. It is not just about the project itself. In reality, these projects are connected to various services, products, employees that consume your resources. Over time, these small projects can quickly pile up and drain your resources. Like the things in the garage that one day you plan to sell.
One of the fundamentals of the business is to use resources effectively; not to waste it. To effectively run a business, you must learn to close tasks that are done, clear your mind, and disconnect from all the links they are connected to. And leave emotions or sentiment out of it and govern the business based on data and objective criteria, rather than relying on emotions or personal opinions, which is like gambling.