MSP For Dummies

Chapter 21

Closing a Programme

In This Chapter

Recognising the right time to close your programme

Understanding the closure process

Everything comes to an end (though The Archers radio show is making a good stab at immortality), and at some point your programme needs to be closed.

If you've been part of the management team of a programme for three or four years and it's reaching the end of its last tranche, you need only a little advice on how to close your programme. No doubt you're already an expert on subjects such as your stakeholders, benefits and the outcomes (if not, check out Chapters 14, 15 and 16, respectively). Therefore, this chapter comprises just a few short checklists of some of the activities you may need to do when closing your programme.

I also reflect on when to close a programme (it's certainly not as simple as when the last project finishes), including the different circumstances in which you need to close a programme prematurely.

Knowing When to Close the Programme

The purpose of the Closing a Programme stage is to ensure that you've maintained focus on achieving the end-goal, which means:

• Recognising formally the delivery of new capabilities as defined in ...