PRINCE2® (Projects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured project management method, PRINCE2 and certification programme for practitioners in the methodology who are accredited, qualified through training. PRINCE2 emphases dividing projects into manageable and controllable stages.
It was initially developed as a UK government standard for information systems projects, and the current owner, AXELOS, is a joint venture by the Cabinet Office and Capita, with 49% and 51% stakes respectively.
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History
PRINCE derives from an earlier method called PROMPT II (Project Resource Organisation Management Planning Techniques). In 1989 the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) adopted a version of PROMPT II as a UK Government standard for information systems (IT) project management. They gave it the name 'PRINCE', which originally stood for "PROMPT II IN the CCTA Environment". PRINCE was renamed in a Civil service competition as an acronym for "PRojects IN Controlled Environments". However, it soon became regularly applied outside the purely IT environment, both in UK government and in the private sector around the world. PRINCE2 was released in 1996 as a generic project management method. PRINCE2 has become increasingly popular and is now a de facto standard for project management in many UK government departments and across the United Nations system. In the 2009 revision, the acronym was changed to mean 'PRojects IN a Controlled Environment'.
In July 2013, ownership of the rights to PRINCE2 was transferred from HM Cabinet Office to AXELOS Ltd, a joint venture between the Cabinet Office and Capita plc.
Since 2006, the method has been revised. It launched as "PRINCE2:2009 Refresh" in 2009. The name "PRINCE2" (instead of "PRINCE3" or similar) remains to indicate that the method remains faithful to its principles. Nevertheless, it is a fundamental revision of the method from 1996 to adapt it to the changed business environment, to make the method simpler and lighter, to address current weaknesses or misunderstandings, and to better integrate it with other AXELOS Global Best Practice methods (ITIL, P3O, P3M3, MSP, M_o_R etc.). PRINCE2 is part of a set of Best Practice products and is closely aligned with a sister product for the management of programmes
- 'Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 - 2009 Edition',
- 'Managing Successful Programmes' 1999, fourth edition in 2011.
Both the Foundation and Practitioner Examinations are based on the 2009 revision 'Managing Successful Projects' manual
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Overview of PRINCE2
PRINCE2 is not a "waterfall" methodology or a "silver bullet" solution or a 'one size fits all' solution; it is a project management framework that can readily be tailored to any size or type of project.
PRINCE2 is a principles-driven project management methodology. PRINCE2 is based on seven principles, seven themes and seven processes.
The seven principles are:
- Continued Business Justification
- Learn from Experience
- Defined Roles and Responsibilities
- Manage by Stages
- Manage by Exception
- Focus on Products
- Tailor to Suit the Project Environment
The seven themes are:
- Business case
- Organization
- Quality
- Plans
- Risk
- Change
- Progress
The seven processes are:
- Starting up a Project
- Initiating a Project
- Directing a Project
- Controlling a Stage
- Managing Product Delivery
- Managing a Stage Boundary
- Closing a Project
The principles and themes come into play in the seven processes:
Starting up a Project (SU)
In this process the project team is appointed and a project brief is produced.
In addition the overall approach to be taken is decided and the next stage (initiation) of the project is planned. Once this work is done, the project board is asked to authorize the initiation stage.
Key activities include: forming the project board; appointing an executive and a project manager; designing and appointing a project management team; preparing a project brief; defining the project approach; preparing an outline business case, consulting the Lessons Logs of previous projects; and planning the next stage (initiation).
Initiating a Project (IP)
This process builds on the work of the start-up process, and the project brief is used to prepare other management documents that will be needed during the project. For example, the approach taken to ensure quality throughout the project is agreed, together with the overall approach to controlling the project itself (project controls). Project files are also created, as is an overall plan for the project. The business case is completed. A plan for the next stage of the project is also created. The resultant information can be put before the project board for them to authorize the project itself.
Key activities include: planning quality; planning a project; refining the business case and risks; setting up project controls; setting up project files; and assembling a Project Initiation Documentation.
Directing a project (DP)
This process dictates when the Project Board (which comprises such roles as the executive or sponsor) should control the overall project. As mentioned above, the project board must authorize the initiation stage and also authorize the project. Directing a Project also dictates how the project board should authorize a stage plan, including any exception plan that replaces an existing stage plan due to slippage or other unforeseen circumstances. Also covered is the way in which the board can give ad hoc direction to a project and the way in which the project should be closed down.
Key activities include: authorising initiation; authorising a project; authorising a stage or exception plan; giving ad hoc direction; and confirming project closure.
Controlling a stage (CS)
PRINCE2 suggests that projects should be broken down into stages and this process dictates how each individual stage should be controlled. Most fundamentally this includes the way in which work packages are authorised and received. It also specifies the way in which progress should be monitored and how highlights of the progress should be reported to the project board. A means for capturing and assessing project issues is suggested together with the way in which corrective action should be taken. It also lays down the method by which certain project issues should be escalated to the project board.
Key activities include: authorising work packages; assessing progress; capturing and examining project issues; monitoring and controlling risks; reviewing stage status; reporting highlights; taking corrective action; escalating project issues; and receiving completed work packages.
Managing product delivery (MP)
The Managing product delivery process has the purpose of controlling the link between the Project Manager and the Team Manager(s) by placing formal requirements on accepting, executing and delivering project work. The Objectives of the Managing Product Delivery process are:
- To ensure that work on products allocated to the team is authorised and agreed,
- Team Manager(s), team members and suppliers are clear as to what is to be produced and what the expected effort, cost, timescales and quality are,
- The planned products are delivered to expectations and within tolerance,
- Accurate progress information is provided to the Project Manager at an agreed frequency to ensure that expectations are managed.
The key activities are: accept a work package, execute a work package and deliver a work package.
Managing stage boundaries (SB)
Whereas the Controlling a Stage process dictates what should be done within a stage, Managing Stage Boundaries (SB) dictates what should be done towards the end of a stage. Most obviously, the next stage should be planned and the overall project plan, risk register and business case amended as necessary. The process also covers what should be done for a stage that has gone outside its tolerance levels. Finally, the process dictates how the end of the stage should be reported.
Key activities include: planning a stage; updating a project plan; updating a project business case; updating the risk register; reporting stage end; and producing an exception plan.
Best practice includes the project board, including users, reviewing progress and approving any changes to the project plan at the boundary. This review can include team managers for valid experience-based opinions; and the responsibility of the project manager includes presenting their area of work competently to the board.
Closing a project (CP)
This covers the things that should be done at the end of a project. The project should be formally decommissioned (and resources freed up for allocation to other activities), follow-on actions should be identified and the project itself be formally evaluated.
Key activities include: decommissioning a project; identifying follow-on actions; preparing a benefits review plan and project evaluation review. The benefits review plan indicates a time when the benefits of the end product may be measured, how and what resources will be required.
Management Products
The PRINCE2 manual contains 26 suggested outlines for the PRINCE2 management products (PRINCE2 documents/templates).
The contents of these Product Descriptions for the management product should be tailored to meet the needs and requirements for each project and the organization. There are three types of management product: baselines, records and reports.
Benefits Review Plan
Project benefits can be measured during or post project. The Benefits Review Plan is created by the Project Manager during the Initiating a Project process and updated at the end of each management stage, the plan is used to define how and when a measurement of the project's benefits, expected by the Senior User, can be made.
Business Case
The Business Case is used to capture the justification for the project. The outline Business Case is created in the Starting up a Project (SU) process by the Executive and developed further in the Initiating a Project (IP) process by the Project Manager. It is reviewed and updated at the end of each management stage by the Managing a Stage Boundary process, and at the end of the project by the Closing a Project process.
It is a PRINCE2 principle that a project must have continued business justification.
If a Business Case makes sense at the beginning of a project by all means start that project, if the Business Case still makes sense during a project carry on with that project, but as soon as a Business case fails to make sense you must change or stop that project.
Checkpoint Report
The Checkpoint Report is a progress report created by the Team Manager and sent to the Project Manager on a regular basis (e.g. weekly/every 2 weeks), the report is used to report the status of the Work Package.
Communications Management Strategy
The Communication Management Strategy (also referred to as a communications plan outside of the PRINCE2 environment) contains a description of the methods and frequency of communication to stakeholders both internal and external to the project. It is intended to cover the flow of information in both directions to and from stakeholders (Information required to be provided from the project and information required to be provided to the project). The Communications Management Strategy will also include some form of Stakeholder analysis.
Configuration Item Record
The Configuration Item Record with provide a record of the following information:
- History
- Status
- Version
- Variant
- Details of any relationships between items/products
- Product owner/Product copy holders
Configuration Management Strategy
A Configuration Management Strategy is used to identify how, the project's products will be identified, controlled and protected (configuration Management will apply to both specialist and management products), this document is created by the Project Manager in the Initiating a Project process.
The Configuration Management Strategy will also include an Issue and change control procedure.
Daily Log
The Daily Log is used to record informal issues. The Daily Log is created in the Starting up a Project process.
End Project Report
The End Project Report is created during the Closing a Project process by the Project Manager to review how the project performed against the original Project Initiation Documentation (PID).
The End Project Report may also contain:-
- A Lesson Report (A review of what went well, what went badly and what should be done differently next time)
- Follow on Actions (e.g. unfinished work, ongoing issues and risks to be handed over).
Project Brief
The Project Brief is used to provide a full and firm foundation for the Initiation Stage (1st stage) of the project and is created in the Starting up a Project process. The Project Brief is used by the Project Board to authorize the Initiation Stage (1st stage of the project). In the Initiating a Project process, the contents of the Project Brief are extended and refined and the Project Brief evolves to form the Project Initiation Documentation (PID), The Project Brief is archived after the creation of the PID.
Risk Register
The Risk Register provides a record of identified risks (threats and opportunities) relating to the project. It is used to capture and maintain information on all of the identified threats and opportunities relating to the project. The Risk Register is maintained and regularly updated by the Project Manager. The typical contents of the Risk register include the following:-
- Risk Identifier
- Risk Author
- Risk Description
- Probability, Impact and Proximity
- Risk Response
- Risk Owner and Risk Actionee
- Status.
Quality Register
This register contains details of all planned quality activities, dates and personnel involved. It will be updated to show the current status of all quality checking activities. It shows whether the delivered products are complete, have met their quality criteria and the agreed processes have been observed.
Issues Register
A set of notes about change requests, problems and complaints sent by all project members.
Lessons Log
A set of notes of lessons learned (often the hard way) which may be useful to future projects. The lesson learn document or information may stored in Project Repository
Principles
The PRINCE2 principles can be described as "best practice", a "mindset", they keep the project aligned with the PRINCE2 methodology. If a project does not adhere to these principles, it is not being managed using PRINCE2.
Continued business justification
The business case is the most important document, and is updated at every stage of the project to ensure that the project is still viable. Early termination can occur if this ceases to be the case. At lower levels, use of time and resources should be justified, such as the need to have expensive meetings. (e.g. it is good practice to begin each meeting with a sentence about what its goal is--and if such a statement is hard to find then the meeting may not be necessary.)
Manage by exception
Regular meetings, especially the dreaded "weekly team meetings" are considered inefficient and unnecessary. Instead, work packages are assigned by team managers to team members including deliverables with time and quality tolerances. If work progresses smoothly then the workers have no need to interfere with the team manager's time. Only if something deviated from the plan is communication and management required from them. Some team managers may request short status updates such as weekly emails or informal chats, to monitor for any exceptions, but no formal management is required unless an exception occurs.
Learn from experience
Each project maintains a lessons log and projects should continually refer to their own and to previous and concurrent projects' lesson logs to avoid reinventing wheels.
Defined roles and responsibilities
Roles are separated from individuals, who may take on multiple roles or share a role. By naming and defining roles in the PRINCE2 standard it becomes clear exactly who has what responsibility and decision making powers, avoiding arguments. Roles in PRINCE2 are structured in four levels (corporate or programme management, project board, project manager level and team level). The project manager level includes the project manager but can also include some optional roles like the project assurance authority.
Manage by stages
The project is planned and controlled on a stage by stage basis. This includes updating the business case, risks, overall plan, and detailed next-stage plan after each stage in the light of new evidence.
Focus on products
Each work package is defined by one or more deliverable products, preferably with tolerances to time, cost, scope and quality quantified in advance. Even management activities such as stage planning are defined by their final output, such as a physical report containing the new stage plan. This allows all parties to clearly specify what is required, and to allocate responsibility for delivering and controlling it.
Tailoring
PRINCE2 should not be applied blindly in a dogmatic, bureaucratic form. (This would lead to wasted time on paperwork and create false senses of security). Rather it is defined to be a method in need of tailoring to specific projects. Typical adjustments include the replacement of deliverable reports and project documents by informal (verbal or email) equivalents, alterations to the structures of the project board and management team to reflect the goals of the project (e.g. replace majority board voting by sole executive decisions in cases where the project's goal is to serve only the executive's interest rather than users or suppliers); assignment of multiple roles to individuals on smaller projects; and increased emphasis on stage replanning for research-intensive projects which may need to change directions as new findings are delivered. A typical criticism of PRINCE2 is that the deliverable structure can lead to focus on producing deliverables for their own sake, to "tick the boxes" rather than do more useful work. If this is occurring, it demonstrates a failure of management to apply PRINCE2 and tailoring correctly.
Integration with other techniques
PRINCE2 describes only high-level aspects of project management and leaves the choice of management tools and frameworks within its tasks to the task managers. It specifically mentions the following:
- Product based planning
- Change control
- Quality review technique
and in passing mentions as possible tools,
- Gantt charts
- PERT charts
- critical path analysis
PRINCE2 can also be used to manage projects that use agile software development methods.
Quality review technique
The quality review technique ensures a project's products are of the required standard (i.e. meet defined quality criteria). This takes place in a quality review meeting, which identifies errors in the product. The quality review meeting will not attempt to solve the problems it identifies. The meeting brings together people who have an interest in the project's outputs (or products) and people on the project team able to address issues identified.
There are defined roles including a Chair, Presenter, Reviewer(s) and Scribe.
Accredited Training Organisations (ATOs)
AXELOS requires that any organisation providing official PRINCE2 training must go through a strict accreditation process in order to validate the quality of the course content and delivery. Once approved, the organisation can use the title Accredited Training Organisation (ATO)
Certifications
PRINCE2 certifications requires passing the requisite examinations.
PRINCE2 Foundation
The PRINCE2 Foundation certification confirms the holder has sufficient knowledge and understanding of the PRINCE2 method to be able to work in a project management team working with this method.
Examination:
- Prerequisites: none
- Format: multiple choice
- 75 questions
- Five trial questions
- 35 marks (50%) required to pass
- One hour in duration
- Closed book
PRINCE2 Practitioner
The PRINCE2 Practitioner certification confirms the holder has achieved sufficient understanding of how to apply PRINCE2 in a scenario situation. He or she will, with suitable direction, be able to start applying the method to a real project.
Examination:
- Prerequisites: PRINCE2 Foundation, PMP®, CAPM®, IPMA-D, IPMA-C, IPMA-B, or IPMA-A
- Format: objective testing, 8 questions X 10 items, 55% marks required to pass, open book: official PRINCE2 manual
PRINCE2 Professional
The PRINCE2 Professional qualification confirms the holder is able to manage a non-complex PRINCE2 project across all aspects of the project lifecycle.
Examination:
- Prerequisites: PRINCE2 Practitioner
- Format: 2 ½ days in residential Assessment Centre. Group activities and exercises based on a fictional project case study. No written examination.
PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner
The PRINCE2 Agile qualification confirms the holder is able to apply the project management principles of PRINCE2 whilst combining agile concepts such as Scrum and Kanban.
Examination:
- Prerequisites: PRINCE2 Foundation, PRINCE2 Practitioner, PMP®, CAPM®, IPMA-D, IPMA-C, IPMA-B, or IPMA-A
- Format: Objective testing, 50 questions, 60% of marks required to pass, duration 150 minutes, open book: official PRINCE2 Agile guide.
Examinations and training
Two ways:
- Study using an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) online course and take exam online (ATO will book this for you).
- Sit the exams at the end of a training course with an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) or Accredited Trainer
Register
The APM Group publishes a successful candidate register which can be searched on the web. The register records the details of candidates who have sat PRINCE2 examinations.
Trainers
Trainers must be re-accredited every 3 years and undergo a surveillance check (either in the form of a visit by an assessor to a training course or a telephone interview which assesses their professional knowledge and training capability) every 12 months.
Exemptions
Qualified PRINCE2 Practitioners who go on to study for the APMP qualification of the Association for Project Management (APM) are exempt from certain topics of the syllabus that are covered in the PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification.
Scalability
Project management is a complex discipline and it would be wrong to assume that blind application of PRINCE2 will result in a successful project. By the same token, it would be wrong to assume that every aspect of PRINCE2 will be applicable to every project. For this reason every process has a note on scalability. This provides guidance to the project manager (and others involved in the project) as to how much of the process to apply. The positive aspect of this is that PRINCE2 can be tailored to the needs of a particular project. The negative aspect is that many of the essential elements of PRINCE2 can be omitted sometimes resulting in a PINO project - Prince in Name Only. In order to counter this, APM Group have defined the concept of a PRINCE2 Maturity Model.
Adoption
PRINCE2, as a method and a certification, is adopted in many countries worldwide, including the UK, western European countries, and Australia.
Advantages and pitfalls
PRINCE2 is a structured approach to project management. It provides a method for managing projects within a clearly defined framework. PRINCE2 describes procedures to coordinate people and activities in a project, how to design and supervise the project, and what to do if the project has to be adjusted if it doesn't develop as planned. In the method each process is specified with its key inputs and outputs and with specific goals and activities to be carried out, which gives an automatic control of any deviations from the plan.
Divided into manageable stages, the method enables an efficient control of resources. On the basis of close monitoring the project can be carried out in a controlled and organised way. The various management roles and responsibilities involved in a project are fully described and are adaptable to suit the complexity of the project and skills of the organisation.
PRINCE2 is sometimes considered inappropriate for small projects or where requirements are expected to change, due to the work required in creating and maintaining documents, logs and lists. However, AXELOS claims that the methodology is scalable and can be tailored to suit the specific requirements and constraints of the project and the environment.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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