ABSTRACT
It is best for a project to be initiated according to sound management principles, and this is also true when a project nears its end. This requires progression through a series of steps, one product of which is a Project Closure Report. This captures the status of the project at its recommended point of closure, allowing the Project Steering Group to know the extent to which it has met – or expects to meet – the expectations set out in the Business Case. Whilst acceptance and approval of the Project Closure Report represents an agreement that the project’s activities can now come to an end, there remain two further steps to the managed journey of the endeavour and the people who participated in it. First, there is an opportunity to learn lessons which can be used to improve and develop individuals and institutions alike. If an agile approach to development has been applied, lessons may have been continuously identified and accommodated into working practice. Second, if the benefits of the project are yet to accrue at its point of closure, the project’s Sponsor can make an assessment some time later to determine whether the intended benefits were actually achieved, and to what extent they outweighed the eventual cost and operation of the project’s deliverable.
