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At Inspirandum, our use of PRINCE2 is very
to most people's ... and yours can be too. PRINCE2 has been getting a bad name for some time, but that is not right. It is not the so much the method that's the problem but the fact that it's misunderstood and then badly applied. It is sad but true that there is much more bad use of PRINCE 'out there' than good use. But that doesn't have to be true of you or your projects.
first ... the criticisms • PRINCE2 slows you down • It is bureaucratic - it makes a paper mountain • PRINCE2 is huge - it overwhelms small and medium size projects • It is paper based and project management needs much more than paper • It is inflexible being a strict 'structured method' • Well it is OK for big projects, like Government ones, but not ours • It stops you being creative and we need to react fast to a changing environment this list could go on and on because at Inspirandum we have heard pretty much all of it
how about this for a different list? • PRINCE2 is really powerful and helped me plan and control the project better • We needed to go fast, and PRINCE2 really speeded us up • We found that the method helped us deliver on time, to quality and to budget • We found the problems in the planning which meant we didn't face them during the project • The method can be used really informally, we needed little written reporting - most of it was verbal • With PRINCE2 I can think through really rapidly what we need on this project, and also what we don't need
a dynamic method - put your brain in gear Different lists then, and the second one is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the power of this method. But just like any tool kit you need to understand how to use it. While the PRINCE manual is good at saying what the method is, there is very little on how to use it flexibly and productively. The truth is that PRINCE2 is a hugely powerful and adaptable method and you can fit it closely to the exact needs of your project. It even fits projects where the manual itself hints that you can't - you just have to know how to use it. That comes from learning it from someone who has used it for some time, not a company whose trainer has only just passed the exam themselves and has never used the method on a project. One trainer we turned away because of their complete lack of practical PRINCE2 experience on projects was a bit upset and said "I am an excellent communicator and I can train in anything." Oh yes? Apply to your local hospital then and they are bound to let you teach trainee brain surgeons after you have read a book or two and studied a CD with practice brain surgery questions. In case you think we are a bit tough on people, we didn't actually say that on the phone - tempting though it was! Without good PRINCE project experience, it is like trying to teach woodwork when you have only ever read about saws, planes and chisels. We take our training very seriously and will show you how to make PRINCE really pay for itself and be a genuine help in running your projects. We often say on our courses "If PRINCE doesn't help you run your projects better and more easily, enjoy the course and then throw the manual out of the window". We know that you don't have time to play 'project games' when you are in a busy work environment. We show you how PRINCE2 can make your project life easier, Inspirandum PRINCE2 courses are based on experience that goes back to PROMPT II, the forerunner of the PRINCE2 method. We bring very many years of practical experience to bear, as well as qualified educational expertise in our course construction. This works to give you an excellent training experience and the confidence that you can go back and use PRINCE really well on projects as well as having the knowledge and understanding you need for the exams.
an example of flexibility - and going against the manual You have to be prepared to use PRINCE imaginatively as you do with any tool kit. After all, that's what being a practitioner is all about. One example is with research projects. The manual instructs that the only plan that you must have in a project is the project plan, and to be a project the work must have a clear start and a clear end. Well that rules out PRINCE on research projects then because you don't know when the end will be and you certainly can't prepare a project plan for the whole research project. But PRINCE is better than the manual suggests, and PRINCE fits research projects extremely well because of its staged approach. The first specialist stage is run and the research is checked to see if the line of investigation still looks promising. It will now be clear what needs to be done next so the next stage is authorised and run. Then the new information is examined and again it is asked if the work looks promising and worth continuing. If yes, the next stage is run and so on. The PRINCE staged approach with its stage gates (End Stage Assessments) is superb in this environment. But notice there is no project plan, just a succession of stage plans. This is the sort of practical detail we pack into our training so that you are not one of those that end up saying "PRINCE doesn't fit this project".
Inspirandum and PRINCE2 Our approach to the method then is very practical and project focused. PRINCE is there to help the project, not the project there to have something to do PRINCE on. We show how to get the real power out of the method so that it is a genuine help and people leave our courses confident that they know how to use it well and productively. Our 'practitioner' courses are just that - teaching people how to be 'practitioners'. We do have a great deal to help with the exams, including an exam workshop built into the course, but we also show very clearly how to make the method work well and 'earn its keep' on real projects where reputations can be won and lost.
PRINCE2 is powerful - don't miss out As for the criticisms on the list at the start of this article, yes there are answers to all of them. Come on our PRINCE practitioner course to hear the detail, or if you would like some advice on how to release PRINCE power in your organisation then do contact us about a short consultancy visit. Don't miss out on a highly effective help on projects - and waste significant resource - though lack of knowledge on how to make the PRINCE really buzz.
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