Spotlight on PRINCE2®

In the project management industry, you will probably hear the phrase “PRINCE2” more than any other. We’re here today to help you break down what PRINCE2 is and bust a lot of the jargon behind it.

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PRINCE2 stands for PRojects IN Controlled Environments and is a process based methodology for managing projects. A methodology, as you will remember from the last post in this series, is a system of processes used in an area of activity and the PRINCE2 methods comprise of seven processes, principles and themes.

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It is accredited by AXELOS and used extensively by the UK government, but it is also widely recognised and used in the private sector, both in the UK and internationally. PRINCE2 can be tailored to meet industry specific requirements or organisational requirements and can be adapted to all types of projects.

PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner Virtual Classroom

Firstly, we’ll focus on the PRINCE2 Principles. The Principles are the guiding requirements and good practices which determine whether the project is genuinely being managed using PRINCE2:

• Continued business justifications
• Learn from experience
• Defined roles and responsibilities
• Manage by stages
• Manage by exception
• Focus on products
• Tailor to suit the project environment

PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner Online training

Next, the PRINCE2 Themes will describe aspects of project management that must be addressedin parallel throughout the project. They explain the specific treatment required by PRINCE2 for various project management disciplines and why they are necessary:

• Business Case – What value would delivering the project bring to the organisation?
• Organisation – How will the project team’s individual roles and responsibilities be defined?
• Quality – What the quality requirements and measures are and how the project will deliver them.
• Plans – Steps required to develop the plans and PRINCE2® techniques that should be used.
• Risk – How the project management will address the uncertainties in its plans and the project environment.
• Change – How the project management will assess act on unforeseen issues.
• Progress – The ongoing viability and performance of the plans and how and whether the project should proceed.

Official PRINCE2 Manual

And finally, the PRINCE2 Processes which describe the steps of the project lifecycle:

• Starting up a project
• Directing a project
• Initiating a project
• Controlling a stage
• Managing product delivery
• Managing stage boundaries
• Closing a project

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