Directing Projects with PRINCE2

• Introduction
• Overview of PRINCE2
  • Key definitions
  • Structure of PRINCE2
  • The role of senior management in PRINCE2
  • Overview of PRINCE2
• Project Board duties and behaviours
  • Overview
  • Be accountable for the project
  • Provide unified direction
  • Delegate effectively
  • Facilitate cross functional integration
  • Commit resources
  • Ensure effective decision making
  • Support the Project Manager
  • Ensure effective communication
• Starting up a Project
  • Purpose
  • Context
  • Confirm the understanding of the project mandate
  • Appoint the Executive and Project Manager
  • Capture previous lessons
  • Design and appoint the project management team
  • Prepare the outline Business Case
  • Prepare the Project Brief
  • Prepare the Initiation Stage Plan
  • Summary
• Authorize initiation
  • Purpose
  • Context
  • Approve the Project Brief
  • Approve the Initiation Stage Plan
  • Communication
  • Suggested Project Board agenda
  • Summary
• Authorize the project
  • Purpose
  • Context part 1
  • Context part 2
  • Context part 3
  • Communication
  • Review the End Stage Report for initiation
  • Approve the Project Initiation Documentation
  • Approve the next Stage Plan
  • Suggested Project Board agenda
  • Summary
• Authorize a Stage or Exception Plan
  • Purpose
  • Context part 1
  • Context part 2
  • Review End Stage Reports
  • Approve Stage or Exception Plans
  • Assess project viability
  • Suggested Project Board agenda
  • Summary
• Give ad hoc direction
  • Purpose
  • Context
  • Respond to requests
  • Respond to reports
  • Respond to external influences
  • Focus of individual board members
  • Communication
  • Summary
• Authorize project closure
  • Purpose
  • Context
  • Confirm handover and acceptance
  • Approve the End Project Report
  • Approve the Benefits Review Plan
  • Communication
  • Suggested Project Board agenda
  • Summary
• Reviewing benefits
  • Purpose
  • Context
  • Hold benefits reviews
  • Close the Business Case
  • Communication
  • Suggested agenda for benefit reviews
  • Summary
• Tailoring PRINCE2
  • Purpose
  • Introduction
  • Environmental factors
  • Project related factors
  • What does tailoring involve?Adapting the themes

Key sections

• Introduction
• Business case
• Organization
• Quality
• Plans
• Risk
• Change
• Progress
• Introduction to processes
• Starting up a projectDirecting a project
• Initiating a project
• Controlling a stage
• Managing Product Delivery
• Managing a Stage Boundary
• Closing a Project
• Tailoring PRINCE2 to the project environment
• Directing Projects with PRINCE2

Authorize the project

Context - part 1

© Crown copyright 2005 Reproduced under licence from OGC

The decision whether to authorize the overall project is taken by Project Board members at the end of the initiation stage (see the diagram).
The initiation stage consists of project management activity, mostly planning, and takes place before the specialist project delivery (or ‘execution’) activities commence.

The purpose of initiation is to agree the answers to a number of crucial questions about the investment and work being embarked upon - and these are addressed in the following sections.
It is only when the answers to these questions have been agreed that the Project Board members can authorize the project consistent with their duty to provide unified direction.

Why do we want to undertake the project?
There must be some benefits.
What will they be?
Who will gain the benefits?
What will be the value of the benefits?
How will we know that they have been achieved and how will we measure them?

On the other hand, what will be the costs? Might they outweigh the benefits? What about the uncertainties? Are the business risks worthwhile?

All these questions must be resolved in the project’s Business Case and supported by a risk assessment.
At the beginning of project initiation, the Business Case may or may not be clear, but by the time the Project Board authorizes the project, members must have a clear, common understanding of the business justification for the project.
The Business Case is then updated and monitored throughout the project, acting as the key Project Board control - consistent with the PRINCE2® principle that a project must have continued business justification.

It is easy to assume that merely by delivering the products of the project the benefits will be realized, but this is often not the case.
The realization of benefits needs to be actively managed and monitored.
If the project is part of a programme, benefits management may be handled entirely at programme level.
If not, it is wise to include a Benefits Review Plan alongside the Business Case to ensure that the target benefits are managed and achieved, whether this starts during the project or after project completion.

What does the project deed to deliver?
Another PRINCE2 principle is that the focus of project work must be on its products and on product quality.
In project work, there is no point in any activity unless it contributes to a product.
Consequently, focusing on the products provides us with the best means of clarifying the scope of the project.

The products’ quality criteria also have an impact on activities, in that these determine the nature and extent of the quality controls that need to be applied.
For example, project X may be generating the same type of products as project Y but project X may require an urgent, short-term solution whereas project Y is required to implement a robust long-term solution - the activities, products and quality controls are likely to be very different.

PRINCE2 requires a Quality Management Strategy and a set of Product Descriptions (with project-specific quality criteria).
These management products pin down exactly what the project will create and are derived from the Project Product Description which was included in the Project Brief.

The Quality Management Strategy outlines the key methods, techniques and tools to be used and specifies any standards that must be observed.
It is supported by a Configuration Management Strategy, describing how the products of the project will be stored and controlled, e.g. in terms of naming standards, version control, baselines and detailed change control.

The specialist aspects of developing the project products are summarized in the project approach and in the Product Descriptions.
The Product Descriptions contain the details of quality methods to be used in developing and checking each of the products.

Deciding on the specialist technical approach is not all, though.
There must also be a thorough understanding of how the work will be controlled.
PRINCE2 provides all the generic controls required but these must be tailored to the needs of the specific project - the project controls are documented in the Project Initiation Documentation.
Where similar types of project are conducted frequently by an organization, it is good practice to undertake measurement and analysis of project performance for the purposes of continual improvement.
Aspects of performance that organizations may wish to analyse are discussed in ‘Measurement of project performance’ under ‘Approve the End Project Report’ in the section covering ‘Authorize project closure’.
Arrangements for project controls should therefore include details of any measurements that must be collected in the course of monitoring.

Who will be the key players in the project management team?
The Project Board members, Project Manager, Team Managers?
How will the Project Assurance function be fulfilled? What kind of Project Support will be required?

Some of these appointments have already been agreed in the course of Starting up a Project (see the section covering ‘Starting up a Project’) but it is not unusual for there to be changes during initiation.
Provision may also have to be made for participants who may join the project later on, such as external suppliers.

The project management team structure, roles and responsibilities have to be defined and agreed with the personnel concerned as part of project initiation.

With the approach defined, the planners can establish the resourcing required for the project, the availability of those resources and, ultimately, estimate the costs. These are laid out in resourcing and finance sections of the Project Plan.

The effort then needs to be profiled over time, taking into account the availability of resources, the dependencies between the products and any external dependencies (products that are ‘out of scope’ but nevertheless needed for the project to be completed).
The timing of the key activities and products is summarized in the Project Plan.

All references above are in Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 unless stated otherwise.

PRINCE2® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.