Prince2 Without the Jargon

Prince2 is a Project Management methodology. It is used to manage time, costs and resources. To do this, it recommends the user to follow a number of best practices; Principles, Processes and Themes of the methodology.

The Principles are:

1. The project should have a purpose
2. Learn from experience
3. Define roles and responsibilities for members of the project
4. Manage the project by stages
5. Provide a restricted amount of freedom for management levels
6. Focus on products
   
7. Tailor Prince2 to suit the project

The Processes are:

1. Directing a Project - Directing a Project involves providing authorisation and monitoring progress, this role may be filled by a business mentor or bank manager

2. Starting Up a Project - Starting up a project is intended to be a short pre-project process that aims to ensure that the project has solid foundations

3. Initiating a Project - Initiating a Project focuses on whether there is sound justification for the project and compiling detailed plans for the project

4. Controlling a Stage - This involves monitoring and controlling of the stage's activities and reacting to unexpected events

5. Managing Product Delivery - This stage covers: Planning work; Ensuring work is done; Ensuring Quality; and Reporting on Progress
   

6. Managing a Stage Boundary - This stage covers: Planning the next stage; Updating Documents; and Reporting on Performance of the Stage
   

7. Closing a Project - This final stage involves making sure aims and objectives have been met, disbanding the team, signing off the project and completing documents

The Themes are:

1. Business Case – this is the purpose of the project

2. Organisation – this refers to the project team; their roles, responsibilities and relationships

3. Plans – Prince2 offers a series of plan levels that can be tailored to the project

4. Progress – Progress involves monitoring the project, this is aided by breaking the project down into stages and then having stage boundaries to measure the performance of the project

5. Risk – Prince2 defines when risks should be reviewed, defines an approach for the analysis and management of risk and monitors these through all the processes

6. Quality – Prince2 starts by establishing the customer's quality expectations and then develops these by implementing standards and quality inspection methods; to maintain quality throughout the project

7. Change – this involves two activities: managing changes; and managing products

These do not all have to be completed individually. The purpose of tailoring is that, depending on the project, areas can be integrated. For example, in a business start-up, a business plan could include: Plans; Risks; Quality; and the Business Case. Doing this saves a lot of time and improves efficiency.

Shaun Gurmin.