132 Trial Monitoring: A Reference Manual for Practitioners 14.2 Other steps in the phasing-out process Programme managers should ensure that the project they are terminating is complete in all its substantive and administrative aspects and that no loose ends are left pending. Project-management literature describes various steps to be completed during a project’s close-down phase.195 Many of these are administrative steps, such as finalizing payments, shutting down computer systems and disposing of equipment. In the OSCE, such administrative activities are common to the closure of any type of project and, therefore, they are not covered in detail here. In addition to administrative matters, it is important for final project reports to be completed and published before a programme closes. The activities described below reflect other important issues that managers should consider when phasing out a trial-monitoring programme or completing a phase of a project. 14.2.1 Handling files and other substantive material A major concern for trial-monitoring programmes prior to closing down is deciding on the fate of programme material. This includes determining if, where, and how hearing reports, memoranda and copies of case-file documents will be stored. OSCE administration departments have procedures in place for the handling of information, including sensitive information pertaining to personnel and other matters. Likewise, programme managers should ensure that confidential and other sensitive information is properly archived or destroyed, in accordance with the applicable regulations. To the extent possible, managers also need to examine how materials can be accessed after the closing of operations, in case any interested party makes such a request for access. As regards the use of copyright material, Chapter 12.2.5.2 can provide further guidance. In regard to the possible handover of materials to a successor organization, Chapter 14.1 should be reviewed. 14.2.2 Compiling lessons learned and good practices Programme managers charged with ending a programme or a distinct phase of a programme can make an invaluable contribution to future projects by compiling a document describing the good practices and lessons learned from a monitoring operation. It is advisable that such a review cover as many operational elements as possible; the chapters of this manual can serve as an outline for such an exercise. Even if complete information regarding all aspects of a programme is not available to managers at the time a project is closed, they should do their best with the information at their disposal. Impact assessments and other evaluations compiled throughout the life of a programme can be helpful in this regard. Documenting good practices and lessons learned can be a part of – and contribute to – the drafting of both internal and external final reports. These practices and lessons can also be used in internal debriefing reports, which can assist the organization in setting up future operations to ensure that they are more effective and benefit from previous experience. Lessons learned can also be included in accountability reports to donors; in fact, many donors now include a request for such information in their end-of-project reporting templates. Good practices and lessons learned from a programme’s activities, possibly in a more refined form, can also be issued in a public report. In this way, a programme’s experience can also benefit justice actors in the host country, future project managers in the same country, and project managers elsewhere in the world dealing with similar challenges. 195  For instance, see H. Maylor, Project Management (2005, Third Edition, Prentice Hall, UK).