PRINCE2 is much talked about.  But what is it?  A bird, a plane, superman?  No, actually it is simply a book but it sets down a superb and flexible structure for planning and controlling projects of just about any size and type.

In this project playground article, find out about it simply and quickly.

PRINCE2 is a project management methodology.  It stands for PRojects IN Controlled Environments and offers a ‘best practice’ approach within a simple structure to help you run projects better.  There is nothing frightening or daunting in PRINCE2 and it has been aptly described as “structured common sense”.  It is a large methodology since it includes in its remit the management of large projects as well as smaller ones, but it is fully adjustable and scaleable to meet the needs of specific projects, whether straightforward or highly specialised, very large or very small.

So why a ‘methodology’?

It is simply an approach to the job, with some techniques to help you do it.  Again, there is nothing frightening about this.  You undoubtedly have methods of your own for different things you do.  For example, how would you tackle a jig-saw puzzle?  Some start with all the bits of bold pattern, others find the edges and work in, others start with the sky.  You have your own approach or ‘method’ which helps get you started and complete the job more easily.  PRINCE is a method which has been developed over some 25 years, with input from a large number of projects and people to give you a practical, helpful and flexible approach for your projects.

The PRINCE Processes

The diagram below shows the 8 ‘top level’ processes.  As you can see, each top-level process has initials to identify it, rather than a number, which makes it more memorable.  The sequence of the model runs left to right.

Starting Up a Project

This process runs before the project gets underway.  It is preliminary work to answer the question “Do we have a project?”; to put in place the project organisational structure, if it is likely to go ahead; and to provide basic information about the project so that it can be planned in project initiation.  This basic information about the project is put into a document known at the Project Brief.  The senior management interests (and possibly corporate management) will use the information in the Brief to make a decision as to whether or not the project should be started with its planning or Initiation stage.

Initiating a Project

Initiation is the detailed planning of the project.  These plans are not only activity plans (such as Gantt Charts) but also plans for things such as how the required quality will be achieved and how risks will be managed.  These plans are individual components of a larger document known as the Project Initiation Document (PID).  If you are currently working in projects, but not with PRINCE, you might be familiar with a similar sort of document and know it as a Project Charter or Project Definition Report.  The PRINCE PID is very important for two reasons.  First, it provides the information needed for managers to decide whether or not to run the whole project – up to this point, they have only committed to Initiation.  Second, the PID is an ongoing reference document and is updated throughout the life of the project.

Managing Stage Boundaries

PRINCE makes powerful use of stages in projects.  The end of a stage marks an important check point for the project, where the Project Board checks that everything is in order and that the project is still viable, before giving their written Authority to Proceed with the next stage.  The process SB is the work of the Project Manager in assembling the information for the Project Board, including a plan of the next stage.

Directing a Project

This is the work of the senior managers who are overseeing the project and form the management body known as the Project Board, to whom the Project Manager is accountable.  The Project Board is appointed (normally) during SU which is why the DP bar on the diagram starts part way through SU.  The Project Board will work right through to the end of the project.  Project Board members have very clear roles and responsibilities in PRINCE, and they must have the time and availability necessary to fulfil them.  That time and effort will be concentrated in the front end (Start Up and Initiation) but they have to be available to respond quickly during the rest of the project if the need arises.

Planning

There are different levels of planning in PRINCE, but the same principles and techniques may be used at each level.  PL is a common approach to planning that is called upon by other processes as the need arises.  For example, it is triggered by IP when a project plan is drawn up as part of the Project Initiation Document (PID).  Some aspects of PRINCE planning will be very familiar if you are used to projects, but some techniques are rather different.  They are both simple and very powerful and most people find them immensely useful.  During the course the techniques will be explained to you and you will have lots of opportunity to practice with them in exercises and then in a project case study.

Controlling a Stage

This is the first of the repeating processes, and clearly it will happen for as many stages (or phases) as there are in the project.  Most approaches to project management break the project into stages and PRINCE exploits this to the full.  Within a stage, the Project Manager will be distributing work to the project team(s), monitoring progress, adjusting the run of the project and reporting to the Project Board at intervals.  All of this work is included in the PRINCE process ‘CS’.

Managing Product Delivery

Although the simplest of the processes, this is where the bulk of the project work is carried out.  It is the work of the Team Manager and the team generating the project deliverables or ‘products’.  A Work Package is accepted from the Project Manager, worked on, and then the products returned complete.  There is also an important progress reporting function and the Project Manager in CS may adjust the project according to the information being received from the Team Manager(s).  As an example of the scalability of PRINCE: in small projects with a single team, there is often no need for a Team Manager.  The Project Manager may direct the team themselves and the Team Manager role is not then needed for that project.

Closing a Project

PRINCE provides a very clear start to projects with processes SU and IP, and now it provides a very clear shut down.  PRINCE projects don’t just fade out, but have a clear handover of project products and then a dismantling of the project organisation.  Opportunity is taken to carefully review the project to see what lessons can be learned for the future so that neither the good things or the bad things are wasted but serve to continually improve project management in the organisation.

The PRINCE Components

The 8 components are the ‘what’ of PRINCE project management and each may be used at many points during a project.  For example, risk management is certainly done at the start of a project to establish what risks exist and what management action should be taken to control them.  Yet risks also need to be monitored as the project progresses and new risks are often found.  Risk management will therefore be done at many points during the life of the project, as well as at the start.

Business Case

The Business Case is the justification for the project.  Although the project may not have direct benefits (for example a compliance project responding to a change in the law) most will have.  The Business Case includes information both on the benefits and how they will be measured at the end of the project.

Organisation

A key point to remember with the organisation structure is that roles have been specified and not jobs.  This allows the method to be adjusted to suit different types and sizes of projects.  A particular role may be shared by more than one person.  Equally one person may have more than one project role.  The senior management group overseeing the project is the Project Board.  The Project Manager reports to the board and in turn may have a number of Team Managers reporting to him or her.

Included in the roles are Project Assurance and Project Support.  Project Assurance is the responsibility of the Project Board members and it is like audit.  It is making sure that the project is being run properly, in the same way that in financial audit, auditors make sure accounts are accurate and comply with accounting rules.  The Board members may delegate the activity associated with assurance to other people (usually outside the project), however, those people must then report back to the Board members, who retain accountability for ensuring that the project is being run properly.  Project Support on the other hand is not detached from the project but is there to assist the project manager and other project roles.  This support is primarily administrative support (arranging meetings and taking notes, for example) though it may offer advice to the Project Manager as well if it has suitable people to do that.

Plans

There are 3 levels of plan in the method (not counting the optional programme level).  The Project Plan is developed during the Initiation Stage and is a high level plan of the whole project.  In PRINCE, this plan includes products (or deliverables), the activities needed to create the products, and resource.  In addition, control and risk management activity is added to produce the estimated time and cost of the project.  The Project Plan may be worked through a number of times to fine tune it, particularly if it has to fit in with other projects, as in a programme.

The second level of plan is the Stage Plan.  This is normally developed at the end of the previous stage, so it is right up to date with the latest project information.  Stage Plans obviously cover a shorter duration than the Project Plan – being just for the stage involved – but do so to a greater level of detail.

The 3rd and final level are Team Plans.  They are optional and, if used, are normally developed by the Team Manager on receipt of a Work Package within a stage.  They cover a shorter duration still, but are again more detailed than the preceding (Stage) Plan on which they are based.

Controls

There are a range of reports in the PRINCE2 method, designed to communicate key information at appropriate times and points in the project.  As with other aspects of PRINCE2, these can be adjusted to suit the individual needs of particular projects, or left out altogether if not needed.  The term 'report' has been used in many cases, not document, to allow PRINCE to be used very informally where this is the best approach.

Beyond that, clear controls and authorities are set down, and these map onto the roles in the project organisation.  The Project Manager is given clear bounds of authority and the method then operates on an exception management principle.  Once a Stage Plan is agreed by the Project Board, the Project Manager need not normally involve the Board in control issues until the end of the stage.  However, if the project deviates from the plan by more than the agreed amount, exception management comes into play and the Project Board is brought in quickly to consider the matter.  This allows clear and effective control of the project.  In many cases the deviation is not the fault of anyone in the project, it is just that unforeseen circumstances have arisen (perhaps beyond the boundary of the project, such as costs of components escalating more than was expected).  In extreme cases the Project Board may decide to close the project; this may be a far better action than to carry on and spend a lot of money generating a declining value of benefit.  In most cases, a decision will need to be made on how to bring the project back on track.

In common with many other approaches to project management, PRINCE sub-divides the project into stages.  At the end of each stage, the Project Board meets to receive a report on the project and to see the plans for the next stage.  They then issue an Authority to Proceed if they are content.  PRINCE stages are therefore management stages rather than technical stages.  The Project Board may be content for several technical stages to be completed before they meet to review the project.

Risk Management

Many projects fail because of inadequate risk management.  Therefore it is to be expected than a mainstream methodology like PRINCE will include this component.  Good advice for effective risk management in projects is that the risk management should become part of the routine of project management; that way it is not overlooked or simply left out.  In PRINCE, this integration is exactly the approach taken.  Risk management is embedded not only in the processes but also in the controls such as Project Board meetings.

The approach to risk management in PRINCE is based on earlier CCTA advice.  It is simple but effective.  There is a Risk Log in which all risks and their countermeasures are recorded and this ensures that risks are visible.  The Risk Log is, in turn, part of the PID which is signed off by the Project Board at the end of Initiation.  It is also checked by the Board at the end of each stage.  Senior managers are therefore very aware of the risks that exist in the project and they also approve the countermeasures.

It is important to recognise here that PRINCE does not set out to eliminate risk.  It may be desirable and entirely right to take a very high risk strategy with a project.  PRINCE is concerned with managing risk, not simply avoiding it.  Risk management actually facilitates risk taking because the information is available to make decisions on the balance of risk in a project.

Quality Management

In the same way that the method does not seek to limit risk, neither does it set out to impose a particular level of quality.  Instead it is concerned with recognising the appropriate quality for a project, be that a high level or a low level.  It then includes a Quality Plan (once again a part of the PID) to show how that quality level will be delivered, and how it will be shown that the quality has been delivered.  This is an important aspect of project management that is sometimes neglected in the concern to meet time and cost deadlines. 

In PRINCE, once again, this important management discipline is embedded into the methodology both in terms of processes and responsibilities.  It is geared to take account of any relevant quality management system (QMS) already in existence in the organisation, and of the customer’s quality expectations for a specific project.

Configuration Management

Configuration Management the PRINCE term for version control.  It is an essential part of project management and all projects need to do it.  Different projects need different amounts of control, however, and once again the method must be carefully tuned to the project to ensure that it does not cause unnecessary expense and restriction.  In civil engineering projects, for example, there are often very large numbers of drawings which must be carefully tracked and cross referenced.  A change in one area of the construction may require careful changes to be made in dependent areas, and there must be absolute clarity on which drawing is the latest version.  In some small business projects and at the other end of the scale, it is only documents such as the project plan which need to be version controlled, and that may be done through the document property features of a word processor.

The Project Manager is responsible in PRINCE for determining the appropriate degree of configuration management control and the procedures needed in the project.  However, they may take advice from experienced project administrators who normally run the CM system.

Change Control

Uncontrolled change is a well documented problem that has led to disaster in a lot of cases, and severe problems in many more.  PRINCE does not set out to prevent change, but to control change. 

Change should sometimes be resisted in order that the project is kept as stable as possible, but at other times the change may be desirable or even essential.  A change in the law, for example, may require changes in the project, and it would be pretty hard to negotiate an exception for the convenience of your project.

Change control in PRINCE ensures that the integrity of quality checks are maintained (any change after quality approval must go through the change procedures) and ensures that every change is considered on its merits.  The impact is assessed to determine the benefits of the change, the resource and time impact on the project and how the change would affect the risk of the project.

Techniques

As a “methodology” PRINCE offers techniques to help with project management.  The set is limited because PRINCE does not set out to cover in detail techniques which are in widespread use, and therefore well documented, elsewhere.  It does offer specific techniques in the area of Quality Review and, very powerfully, in product planning.

Summary

The PRINCE2 methodology incorporates best practice in Project Management.  While it cannot guarantee success and is certainly not some magic project formula, it does provide a sensible and very usable structure for projects.  Because the approach guards against known causes of project failure, it is a valuable tool and repays the investment in using it.

Some of the specific benefits are:

·       It is business focussed and keeps attention on why the project is being run and the associated business benefits

·       It includes clear definition of project deliverables to ensure that the right products are delivered

·       It sets out clear roles and a clear organisational structure, helping to avoid confusion and misunderstanding

·       It incorporates risk management into the routine of project management, ensuring that the project is properly protected

·       It ensures that stages (or phases) of the project are planned and resourced, and ensures that resource accompanies the
     authority to perform project work

·       It provides clear quality management, to ensure that appropriate quality is planned and delivered

·       It includes simple but effective change control to guard against “scope creep”

·       It is adaptable and scalable, allowing use of a single and consistent project methodology across different types of project, and also in different sizes of project

SU

IP

MP

DP

PL

CS

MP

CP

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