Many people have heard the name, but not everyone knows how to use the PRINCE2 management methodology in their projects. PRINCE technology was originally selected as the UK government standard for information systems projects. Later, all development and intellectual property rights were transferred to AXELOS Ltd. And AXELOS has made PRINCE2 completely open, although it still offers paid services for training and certification.
So let’s take a look at the details of the PRINCE2 methodology.
Definition and history of the technology
PRINCE2 is an acronym for PRojects IN Controlled Environments. The number ‘2’ in the name immediately indicates that the original standard has been completed; this is the full, expanded and improved version 2.0.
The original standard was developed in 1989 by CCTA (the UK’s Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency). And it was based on another standard called PROMPT (developed in 1975 by Simpact Systems Ltd). The abbreviation stood for Project Resource Organisation Management and Planning Techniques.
Within PROMPT there was a systems development module called PROMPT II.
The principles of the PROMPT approach were largely identical to those of the waterfall (cascade) development model:
- Initiation
- Specification
- Design
- Development
- Installation
- Operation (Operations/maintenance)
At the time of licensing by the UK government in 1989, the PRINCE method stood for PROMPT II IN the CCTA environment, as it was based on the principles contained in the PROMPT II module.
In 1990, PRINCE was released into the public domain (similar to open source) under the GPL licence.
Version ‘2’, released in 1996, was a major revision and, unlike the original standard, applied to any type of project, not just IT.
PRINCE2 was developed in collaboration with over 150 European organisations.
Since then, the standard has undergone several more major revisions, but the name has remained the same.
The current version — PRINCE2 6th Edition — was launched in 2017.
In 2018, the methodology was adapted for agile projects and renamed PRINCE2 Agile.
As the PRINCE2 methodology is in demand in different countries, it has been translated into many languages. The official WIKI portal can be found here.
Overview of the PRINCE2 Methodology
The methodology could safely be called PRINCE7 because it comprises seven principles, seven core processes and seven business tools (themes).
PRINCE2 is a process-based project management methodology for any type of project. It provides the most accurate and correct answers to the following key questions:
- What do we want to do/create (objective)?
- When will we start doing it (timing)?
- What do we need to do it (resources)?
- Do we need help to do it (people/team)?
- How long will it take (duration/deadline)?
- How much will it cost (budget)?
Like any methodology, PRINCE2 is needed to structure project management and deliver a tangible result. Without this, the project is likely to fail.
The PRINCE2 framework looks at all the key roles of the participants, their responsibilities, describes the stages of a project’s life and describes how change should be managed.
Let’s start with the basics.
7 Principles of the PRINCE2 Project Management Technique
- Continuous business case. A separate document that is updated at each new stage of the project to ensure its viability. Early termination of the business case is possible if the existence of the project is no longer relevant.
- Learning from Experience. Within each PRINCE2 project, it is mandatory to document lessons learned, so that new projects can refer to their internal lesson logs, or the lesson logs of parallel/previous projects, to avoid reinventing the wheel. If lessons do not lead to change, they are not learned.
- Define roles and responsibilities. Project management is only possible if the roles in the team are clearly defined. These are usually divided into four levels (bottom-up: team level, project manager level, project board level, company management level). The Project Management Team should include representatives of all stakeholders. According to PRINCE2, these are business sponsors, resource providers and end users.
- Management by stages (phases). Each phase is rigorously described. When moving from one phase of the project lifecycle to another, the risk documents, the overall project plan and the business case need to be updated. Of course, the implementation plan for the new phase should take into account the nuances identified during the implementation of the previous phase.
- Exception Management. If the PRINCE2 project exceeds certain limits for achieving individual objectives, control is transferred to a higher level to speed up the decision-making process.
- Focus on products. You need to create products that are of interest to end users, so their characteristics should be described and defined in detail. The time spent on needs analysis and product description should be correlated with other project inputs.
- Adapting to the Project Environment. The PRINCE2 methodology states that the following aspects should be considered — project size and complexity, timeframe, project importance and potential risks. Adaptation should be continuous and updated at each stage (before starting and even during the process).
If one of the principles is redesigned or modified, the management methodology will no longer be called PRINCE2.
7 Key Processes in PRINCE2
They are easily correlated with the stages of the project lifecycle.
- Project Launch. Team members, supervisor and manager are selected and appointed, project goals and objectives are formulated.
- Project Initialisation. The business case is clarified and launch documentation is gathered.
- Project management. Selecting the methods and tools by which the project board will exercise control.
- Stage Management. Determines how each new phase will be controlled, including the control of individual tasks and their packages.
- Product delivery management. At this stage it is necessary to formalise how tasks are passed from the project manager to the group managers (teams) so that these tasks are aligned with the overall progress and strictly meet quality requirements.
- Stage Boundary Management. Defines how the transition from one project phase to the next is managed.
- Project Closeout. Includes the procedure for handing over the project to the customer, providing support and maintenance, and analysing the results (benefits, recommendations, incidents, risks, etc.).
7 themes and their tools
Topic 1 Business Case involves the use of the following management tools:
- Benefits Management Approach
- Experience Based Participatory Design
- Direct management
- Stakeholder engagement
- Combining (grouping) elements
- Overall governance and partnership
Topic 2 Project Organisation:
- Choosing a communication management approach
- Identify key stakeholder groups (similar to stakeholders)
- Advisory group
- Workers
- Consumers and carers
- Joint design teams
Topic 3 Quality:
- An inventory of product features and characteristics
- Definition of a quality management approach
- Key performance indicators
- Research and pilot products
- Customer feedback
- Review of current practices and pathways
- Review of ideal practices and pathways
- Waste reduction
- Lean methodology to redesign and change practices, concepts and principles
- Identification of best practices
- Stakeholder engagement
- Core values
Topic 4 Plans/Planning
Product based planning includes the following steps
- Project Product Description
- Product structure (minimum requirement)
- Product flow diagram
- Identification of core values
- Problem solving with key stakeholders
- Care objectives and care plans
- Standardised training plans
- Train-the-trainer workshops
- The value of a flow map
- Focus Group
- Benchmarking tests
The last three are carried out at all levels of the plan (project, phase and team).
Topic 5 Risks:
- Risk register
- Choice of risk management approach
- Risk mitigation
Topic 6 Change:
- Release Register
- Choosing a Change Management Approach
- Release Resources
- Change Processes
- Activities
- Customer Involvement
- Tool refinement
- Approval of changes
Topic 7 Progress:
- Baselines for monitoring progress: project, phase and team plans
- Review and Analysis: Issue Register, Product Status Record, Quality Register, Risk Register
- Reporting: milestone report, milestone report, milestone completion report, project completion report
What the PRINCE2 + Agile Bundle looks like
PRINCE2 can be used as a high-level framework that can be applied to the main project life cycles: initialisation, planning, completion, etc. Only the main production (delivery) phase is agile.
PRINCE2 can therefore be adapted to work with any agile methodology: SCRUM, Kanban and others.
Tools for PRINCE2 Implementation
There are a number of specialised software products, such as the ‘in-Step PRINCE2 Edition’, specifically for implementing the PRINCE2 methodology. But there is nothing in the methodology itself that is overly complex or beyond the scope of classic project planning or project management. Therefore, PRINCE2 can be used with all project planning software and tools, including the cloud product Projecto.
