7.4
Project Termination
When hearing the term “project termination” most people think about the termination of a project caused
by failure. But the term is not dependent upon the success of the project. It also happens that a successful
project can end earlier than originally planned. But for most people the word “termination” has a negative
meaning. This abstract will focus more on reasons and problems of termination than on the “normal”
closure phase. Sometimes the term “termination” is used as an equivalent for “project closure”. Another
word is “close-out”, also used as an equivalent. The term termination is used for an ending of a project
before it was planned. If a project ends in the planned time it is mostly called project closure. Close-out
in literature is often used as an “umbrella term”. Project closure will be discussed later in this chapter.
7.4.1
Reasons for Termination
Termination of a project is predictable, but how is it terminated and when? It may have a deep and long
lasting impact on the organisation and its employees. The success of projects to come may depend not
only on the success of past ones, but also on how unsuccessful projects are treated by the organisation
and its stakeholders. Companies have the option of initiating various corporate projects with varying
degrees of risk. If an organisation chooses to accept greater risks, it should avoid disciplining members of
projects that turn out to be unsuccessful. If team members believe they will be punished for participating
in beeing a member unsuccessful projects, they might be less willing to terminate failed projects and
may become unwilling to take a risk.