Establish what was actually completed
Identify the outputs that were approved or delivered. Gather those files and compare their names with the handover record. Where several versions look similar, do not rely only on the most recent modification date. A later internal correction may differ from the version that was supplied. Record that distinction explicitly so that a future reader does not have to reconstruct it from timestamps.
Write a short closure note naming the project, its period, the responsible contact and the location of the authoritative outputs. Include any remaining issues and a reference to the place where they will continue to be handled. An archive should not imply that unresolved questions have disappeared. Someone returning to the work needs to distinguish completed activity from work transferred to another project.
Separate outputs from working material
A small collection of approved results makes retrieval quicker. Relevant decisions, source material and useful working stages can sit separately. Do not keep every automatically generated copy merely through habit. Before deleting material, however, check whether it is needed for documentation, contractual requirements or organisational rules. A general tidying routine cannot make those retention decisions on your behalf.
Avoid a deeply nested structure that makes sense only to people who remember the old team arrangement. For a small project, results, decisions and supporting material may be enough. The structure should reflect later searches. The running order and final print files for an event provide different entry points from the material retained for a technical documentation project. Choose names that describe the contents directly.
Read the collection from outside the project
Ask someone who was not involved every day to find a particular output using the closure note. Also ask them to identify which file is final. If they need several explanations, improve the names or written directions instead of retelling the whole project history verbally.
Check permissions, linked material and the intended backup arrangement. An archive stored only on a personal desktop is not reliably accessible to the team. Assign a contact for later questions and a point at which retention will be reviewed again. The project then ends with a usable collection whose purpose and limits are clear, rather than a folder whose meaning depends on one person's memory.
