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

Give ad hoc direction

Respond to requests

The Project Board is likely to receive a number of requests for advice from the Project Manager, covering:

• A request for change
• An off-specification
• A problem or concern

Formal requests will be raised in the form of an Issue Report.
The composition for an Issue Report can be found in the folder ‘Product Description outlines’ as part of the product description - but it essentially documents the cause, impact, options and recommendation for dealing with the request.

Shown below under Request:, Project Board (or Change Authority) response: and Considerations:

Request:

Project Board (or Change Authority) response:

• Approve the change
• Reject the change
• Defer decision
• Request more information
• Ask for an Exception Plan (if the request for change cannot be implemented within the limits delegated to the Change Authority)

Considerations:

If a request for change involves extra cost, there are three principal ways to fund it:

• Use the change budget (if being used and if of sufficient size)
• Increase the project budget
• De-scope other elements of the project

Tolerance should not be used to fund requests for change.

Request:

• Project Board (or Change Authority) response:
• Grant a concession
• Reject the off-specification
• Defer decision
• Request more information
• Ask for an Exception Plan (if the concession cannot be granted within the limits delegated to the Change Authority)

Considerations:

• The Project Board may decide to accept the off-specification without corrective action.
• This is referred to as a concession.
• When a product is granted a concession, the Product Description will need to be revised before the product is handed over to the user.

Request:

• Project Board (or Change Authority) response:
• Provide guidance
• Ask for an Exception Plan

Considerations:

Could the problem/concern be resolved by relaxing the stage tolerances?

Resource issues, in particular, frequently have to be escalated to Project Board members.
Committing resources is a key Project Board duty.
The Project Manager should be expected to provide adequate notice of resource requirements and to negotiate the resourcing needs and timing in the course of planning.

However, if the agreed resources are not then made available according to plan, progress may be affected quickly and seriously.
In these circumstances, the intervention of Project Board members inevitably carries more weight than the Project Manager’s efforts.

Project Board members should be generally receptive to informal requests for direction.
However, the nature and frequency of the requests can provide indications of strengths and weaknesses at the project management level.

Project Board members should expect frequent requests whenever plans are being prepared, but if requests continue to arise after the plan is approved, look for clues:

• Is the Project Manager sufficiently experienced?
• Is the plan sufficiently clear and detailed?
• Are the requirements sufficiently stable?
• Are the tolerances too tight?

Anything that may have a significant impact on the plan should be recorded as a risk, problem/concern, request for change or off-specification - is this happening? If so, are the issues really important or just trivia? If not, is the Project Manager maintaining adequate change control/Risk Management? [see ‘The Complete Risk Management package’]

Are the Project Assurance arrangements adequate/appropriate? Should the Project Board delegate more or less authority to the Project Manager and/or to Project Assurance? Or should the manager set up a working level Change Authority?

Many issues do need to be escalated to the Project Board, e.g. any significant changes to scope, approach, products, budgets or schedules.
If the requests are reasonable and there is evidence that the plans and project management disciplines are operating adequately, Project Board members can respond with appropriate guidance and help - and be reassured that the day-to-day management is secure.

However, if the clues point to project management weaknesses, Project Board members may need to drill down further - or direct Project Assurance Efforts - to check on the adequacy of plans and the application of controls and to identify and resolve the weaknesses.

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.