Project Sign-Off Sheets: Where, When and How to Use Them

2. A project sign-off sheet is essential to formally close a
project or acknowledge delivery of a key deliverable. A
sign-off sheet is an essential part of any project.
We’ll discuss what it is, when to use it, and how to
make the most of it before you dive into debriefing.
Learn how to use them in your projects in this guide.

3. What is a Project Sign-Off Sheet?
A project sign-off sheet is essential to
formally close a project or
acknowledge delivery of a key
deliverable.
★ The project’s intended goals and
whether they were met or not
★ The project’s key deliverables
and whether they were actually
delivered
★ Comments and observations, if
any
★ The project start and end dates
The document is then signed by all
involved parties. Their signatures
formally (and more importantly,
legally) close the project.

5. What is a Deliverable Sign-Off
Sheet?
A project sign-off sheet is typically used for completed projects,
but what if you’re breaking the project down into multiple
deliverables?
It’s a better practice to send deliverable sign-off sheets as you
wrap up major deliverables.
Three reasons why:
★ Sending deliverable sign-off sheets keeps clients in the loop
as to the status of the project
★ Signing off on each deliverable ensures that clients don’t
request major revisions at the end and stretch the project’s
scope.
★ In long projects, stakeholders might change over time as
people exit the company or change roles. Periodic
deliverable sign-off ensures that there is constant
verification of delivery.

6. When is a Sign-Off Sheet Used?Project sign-off is one of the many activities you’ll do at the end of aproject. This is the phase where you’ve handed over all deliverablesand are about to dismiss the project team.The typical steps in this phase include:
1. Project sign-off and completion of all other legalformalities.
2. Gather feedback from clients, internal stakeholders, andproject team (this is a good time to collect NPS scores aswell).
3. Project post-mortem and debriefing Release resources4. Celebrate

7. Who Should Sign the Sign-Off Sheet?
The short answer is “all involved parties”, but that’s not particularly helpful.
The longer answer is:
★ Stakeholders - both internal and external
★ Sponsors or project owners
★ Anyone else interested in the project’s outcome or quality (such as a key
internal executive)

8. Sign-off Sheets Offer a Way to Register Complaints
★ Every sign-off sheet has a section to add “comments”. While this is strictly
optional, parties often use this section to formally express their reservations.
★ Of course, the sign-off stage isn’t the time to resolve issues - that should have
been tackled months ago. But it does give parties a platform to document their
complaints.
★ Not only is this useful for record keeping, but it can also protect parties in case
of any future problems.

9. How to Create the Project Sign-Off Sheet
Although there are plenty of variations, most sign-off sheets have
the following elements at least:
★ Project identification: Include details about the project
including the following required fields: Project name,
Project sponsor, Project manager, the document creation
date.
★ Duration details: Include the project’s start and end dates
as well as the total duration based on these dates.
★ Project goals: Briefly list the key goals of the project. Also,
note whether these goals were met or not (a yes/no answer
is sufficient use the debrief for a detailed post-mortem).

10. How to Create the Project Sign-Off Sheet
★ Project deliverables: List the key deliverables of the project and
whether they were delivered. You can also include the number of the
deliverable (“3rd of 8 deliverables”), the delivery date, and the name of
the person who approved it.
★ Comments: Any comments related to the project, filled by the
stakeholder. These can be reservations, deliverable-focused comments,
or even praise for the project manager and her team.
★ Signature and date: Finally, include room for the stakeholder to sign
the sheet. This should include the stakeholder’s name, designation,
signature, date, and an acknowledgment that by signing, they agree
that the project has been finished satisfactorily.

11. What about deliverable sign-off sheets?
In such cases, include the project identifiers as you normally
would (project name, manager, ID, etc.). But after that,
include the following:
★ Deliverable name
★ Deliverable number (out of total deliverables), such as
“Deliverable #2 of 4”
★ Delivery date

12. 3 Tips for Using Project Sign-Off Sheets
★ Bring up issues early
A client bringing up an important issue in the sign-off stage indicates poor
communication leading up to project delivery. Avoid this problem by creating a
better communication plan. In particular, address key issues early and often.
★ Make sure that stakeholders understand the deliverable/project requirements
This is a common situation when you’re dealing with long projects and large
companies. Stakeholders come and go and not all of them have the same
understanding of the requirements for each deliverable or the project as a whole.
Avoid this problem by making sure stakeholders understand the requirements. If
someone new comes in, brief them on the requirements, and, if possible, get them to
sign-off again.
★ Follow-up regularly
Delays in signing-off on deliverables are common across projects and stakeholders.
This creates unnecessary delays as project teams are left waiting for the go-ahead
before moving onto other deliverables. Avoid this issue by adopting an aggressive
follow-up schedule. Stay in regular touch with stakeholders and, if necessary,
escalate the issue to a higher authority.