PROJECT MANAGEMENT

PRINCE2

Makadiya Miraj
PGP/009/02
 Project Management PRINCE2

PRINCE2

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 emphasises 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.

HISTORY

PRINCE has been derived 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
1. 'Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 - 2009 Edition'.
2. '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 - Structure
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:

1. Continued Business Justification
2. Learn from Experience
3. Defined Roles and Responsibilities
4. Manage by Stages
5. Manage by Exception
6. Focus on Products
7. Tailor to Suit the Project Environment

The seven themes are: The seven processes are:

1. Business case 1. Starting up a Project
2. Organization 2. Initiating a Project
3. Quality 3. Directing a Project
4. Plans 4. Controlling a Stage
5. Risk 5. Managing Product Delivery
6. Change 6. Managing a Stage Boundary
7. Progress Closing a Project

PRINCE2 - structure

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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

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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

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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.

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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
projects 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 will 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 projects products
will be identified, controlled and protected (configuration Management will apply to both

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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:
1. Risk Identifier
2. Risk Author
3. Risk Description
4. Probability, Impact and Proximity
5. Risk Response
6. Risk Owner and Risk Actioner
7. 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.
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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 be stored in Project Repository

PRINCIPLES

The PRINCE2 principles can be described as best practice, a mind-set, 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 isand if such a statement is hard to find then the meeting may not be necessary.)

Manage by exception
PRINCE2 asserts regular meetings, like weekly team meetings, are 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.

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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 replanting
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.

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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:
o Prerequisites: none
o Format: multiple choice
o 75 questions
o Five trial questions
o 35 marks (50%) required to pass
o One hour in duration
o 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:
o Prerequisites: PRINCE2 Foundation, PMP, CAPM, IPMA-D, IPMA-C, IPMA-B,
or IPMA-A
o Format: objective testing, 8 questions X 10 items, 55% marks required to pass, open
book: official PRINCE2 manual

PRINCE2 Professional

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The PRINCE2 Professional qualification confirms the holder is able to manage a non-
complex PRINCE2 project across all aspects of the project lifecycle.
Examination:
o Prerequisites: PRINCE2 Practitioner
o Format: 2 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:
o Prerequisites: PRINCE2 Foundation, PRINCE2 Practitioner, PMP, CAPM, IPMA-
D, IPMA-C, IPMA-B, or IPMA-A
o 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:
1. Study using an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) online course and take exam
online (ATO will book this for you).
2. 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

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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 doesnt 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

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