15.5. Party time
When a final RC build is confirmed and makes its way through the staging process, out to the world, it's time to celebrate. After many weeks, months, or even years, whatever it was you were supposed to have made has been finished. It's a rare and special thing to finish a project: in the tech sector, most projects never get anywhere near this far. As PM, it's your job to make sure there's an opportunity for everyone involved to celebrate together. Avoid corporate or organizational cliché (it's impossible to celebrate in a conference room). Instead, go to the nearest pub, reserve the big table at your favorite restaurant, or invite folks over to your home. Drink and eat better than you have in a long time (and eat and drink more of it). If you're not the festive or social type, find out who on the team is, and conspire with them to organize something.
Completing projects doesn't happen often in most lifetimes. Creating good things that other people will use in their lives is an incredible challenge. It's a time worthy of extraordinary celebration: live it up.
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