Initiating a project

• Purpose
• Objective
• Context
• Activities
  • Overview
  • Prepare the Risk Management Strategy
  • Prepare the Configuration Management Strategy
  • Prepare the Quality Management Strategy
  • Prepare the Communication Management Strategy
  • Set up the project controls
  • Create the Project Plan
  • Refine the Business Case
  • Assemble the Project Initiation Documentation

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

Activities

Refine the Business Case

The outline Business Case produced during Starting up a Project needs to be updated to reflect the estimated time and costs, as determined by the Project Plan, and the aggregated risks from the updated Risk Register.

The detailed Business Case will be used by the Project Board to authorize the project and provides the basis of the ongoing check that the project remains viable.
For more details on business justification, see the section covering ‘Business case’.

© Crown copyright 2005 Reproduced under licence from OGC

Diagram 1

PRINCE2® recommends the following actions:

• Review the Project Brief to check whether there are any corporate or programme management requirements for the format and content of the Business Case
• Seek lessons from similar previous projects, corporate or programme management, and external organizations related to Business Case development. Some of these may already have been captured in the Lessons Log
• Create the detailed Business Case with the additional detail gained, namely:
• The costs and timescale as calculated in the Project Plan
• The major risks that affect the viability and achievability of the project (from the Risk Register)
• The benefits to be gained
• The tolerances allowed for each of the benefits
• Create the Benefits Review Plan:
• Review the Business Case and check understanding of the benefits expected of the project
• Identify how the achievement of each benefit is to be measured and capture the current baseline measures
• Identify the timing of benefits reviews (most likely to align to stage boundaries)
• If the project is part of a programme, the Benefits Review Plan may be created, maintained and executed at the programme level
• If any new risks or issues are identified (or existing ones have changed), then update the Risk Register, Issue Register and/or Daily Log
• Consult with Project Assurance to check that the proposed Business Case and Benefits Review Plan meet the needs of the Project Board and/or corporate or programme management
• Seek Project Board approval for the Business Case and Benefits Review Plan (although the Project Board may prefer to review them later as part of the Project Initiation Documentation)

Diagram 2 shows the responsibilities for this activity.

© Crown copyright 2005 Reproduced under licence from OGC

Diagram 2

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