Projektendes

Projektendes is a term used in German-language project management to describe the formal end stage of a project. It denotes the point at which all deliverables have been accepted, objectives met, and the project is formally closed by the sponsoring organization. The term is sometimes written as Projektende; Projektendes can be seen as a variant or as the genitive construction das Ende des Projekts in everyday usage.

The closure process typically includes finalizing deliverables, conducting a post-implementation or post-project review, and compiling a lessons-learned log. It also involves releasing project resources, closing contracts, archiving documents, and handing over remaining responsibilities to operations or maintenance teams. A closure report summarizes performance against scope, schedule, budget, and quality criteria, and documents risks or issues that remained unresolved at closure.

Criteria for closure usually require formal sign-off by the project sponsor and key stakeholders, acceptance of deliverables, and completion of contractual obligations. Governance often involves a project board or steering committee that approves the closure and ensures that all acceptance criteria are met.

Significance and limitations: properly executed Projektendes provides accountability, enables organizational learning, and reduces ongoing risk from unfinished commitments. In practice, some organizations embed closure activities within ongoing operations, or adapt them to agile or iterative environments, where release and product lifecycle considerations influence how a project ends.