5 Ways Your Project Closeout Plan Can Make or Break Your Project

By Contractor WorkZone.

As you and your employees and subcontractors come to the close of a project, the steps you take to properly close out that project go a long way in determining the overall success of that particular job.

Closing out a project well can leave your employees, subcontractors and perhaps most importantly, the client feeling satisfied, useful and just plain good about the whole process. Not closing out a project in an organized, professional manner will likely make all parties doubt whether they’d want to ever do it again. Here are 5 ways your project closeout plan can make or break your project.

Stay On Time and On Budget – It’s pretty simple. A proper project closeout with an organized punch list like the Defects Pro snag list app helps you properly estimate the work left to do, create deadlines, updates, notes, and communicate with everyone involved to get the work done on time. And since time is one of our most important and expensive commodities, completing work in a timely manner will help you stay on budget and get you on to the next project faster. Very rarely is there a project that goes over time, while staying on budget.

Appearance of The Work – Allowing ample time to finalize the work means allowing time to clean up the work site and make the finished project look presentable. This can go a long way toward making the client happy with your service and limiting any possible buyer remorse. Take the example of buying a car. Would you rather buy a car that’s been washed, waxed and detailed? Or buy the same car for the same price, that’s been left sitting out in the lot covered in dirt and smudges. Be sure to build extra time into your schedule that allows you make your project presentation ready. Pro tip: take quality pictures of your finished work to help get you more business down the road.

Expectations for The Client – The last thing you want at the end of a project is to surprise the client with an unexpected delay, or mistaken work. A proper closeout plan executed on the Defects Pro punch list app allows you to communicate with your team better so you can communicate expectations to the client. A delay or imperfection will sit easier with a client if they feel they’ve been brought in on the closeout process and know what to expect sooner rather than later.

Expectations for Employees – Speaking of communicating with your team, a good closeout plan keeps you in touch with every person involved with the project; from employees of all levels to subcontractors who you might not see as often. Having one place to align with your team on the snags left to solve improves your ability to delegate tasks and complete work faster. Plus, when people know what’s expected of them at the end of a project, they can more easily take responsibility for the work and that takes stress off of you.

Save Yourself Money – All this adds up to you saving money. When you improve the speed and quality of a project closeout, you improve the mood of your team and you get the client to see the value of your service. A proper closeout gets you on to the next project and, with a little luck inspires clients to hire you again or recommend you to their peers.

About Contractor WorkZone

Contractor WorkZone is home to a series of mobile apps specifically built for contractors and small businesses.

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Source: Trimble