PRINCE2 - Overview

PRINCE2 is one of the most popular project management methodologies. the term "PRINCE" refers to PRojects IN Controlled Enviroments.

PRINCE2 offers two levels of professional certifications ie Foundation and Practitioner.

The 7th edition of PRINCE2 Official Manual was released in 2023 and a number of significant changes were introduced in the latest version of PRINCE2.

As per PRINCE2 7th edition, a "Project" is defined as "A temporary organization that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to an agreed business case".

A few points to remember are the "temporary organization", "purpose of delivering", "business products" and "agreed business case".

PRINCE2 highlights that the basic characteristics of any project include: 1. Being Unique: Every single project is different from the other.

2. Change: The purpose of any project is meant to introduce some change.

3. Temporary: Every project must have a starting date and an end date.

4. Cross-functional: Every project needs cross-functional skills and resources to accomplish the required tasks of delivering the product.

5. Uncertainty: Keeping in view all the other characteristics, it is not difficult to understand that every project has uncertainty and risks associated with it.

PRINCE2 is composed of 5 integrated elements: 1. The PRINCE2 Principles; These are 7 Guiding obligations. All of the 7 principles have to be applied to a project to be considered as a PRINCE2 project. The seven PRINCE2 principles are:

• Ensure continued business justification
• Learn from experience
• Define roles, responsibilities, and relationships
• Manage by stages
• Manage by exception
• Focus on products
• Tailor to suit the project.

2. People; People are at the centre of PRINCE2, as their needs, capabilities, motivation and relationships are all crucial for the success of any project.

3. The PRINCE2 Practices These are the 7 essential aspects of project management that need to be applied consistently and throughout the project lifecycle. The Practices have replaced Themes in the PRINCE2 methodology. There are Seven Practices in PRINCE2 7th edition:

• Business Case,
• Organizing,
• Plans,
• Quality,
• Risk,
• Issues, and
• Progress.

4. The PRINCE2 Processes; The 7 processes describe the entire project lifecycle. they include

• Starting up a Project
• Initiating a Project
• Directing a Project
• Controlling a Stage
• Managing Product Delivery
• Managing a Stage Boundary
• Closing a Project

5. The Project context. The principles, practices, and processes are applied by the people involved to ensure that the method is fit for the project context.

Project Performance targets are the baseline against which the success of any project is measured. PRINCE2 discusses 7 performance targets for a project:

• Benefits (Why we are doing this project? Who will receive the benefit?)
• Cost (How much? Is it affordable?)
• Time (How long? The start and the finish date)
• Quality (Is it fit for purpose?)
• Scope (Exactly What will be delivered?)
• Sustainability (What is the impact on the environment?)
• Risk (How much risk is involved?)

PRINCE2 speaks about 3 possible Project delivery methods:

• Linear Sequential Approach: or what we normally call Waterfall method
• Iterative-Incremental Approach: or what we normally call Agile Approach
• Hybrid Approach: As the name suggests, this uses a few elements of linear sequential approach and few elements of iterative-incremental approach.

PRINCE2 discusses the Agile approach in quite some detail in PRINCE Agile Manual and offers PRINCE2 Agile Foundation and Practitioner level certifications too.

There are also a lot of training providers who offer educational courses which cover PRINCE2 and how it can be applied to your work. A few examples can be found below, but there are many other providers out there, so make sure to thoroughly research what each is offering.

Allcourses - https://www.allcourses.ie/courses/project-management/

Future Learn - Project Management courses

ICS Learn - Project Management courses

ITOnlineLearning - PRINCE2 courses

Knowledge Train - Knowledge Train - PRINCE2 courses

PRINCE2.com - PRINCE2 training courses

QA - QA Project Management courses

Training.com.au - Project Management courses in Australia

Training.co.nz - PRINCE2 courses in New Zealand

The Knowledge Academy - Project Management courses TAFEcourses - TAFE project management courses

Mindfluential Solutions - https://www.mindfluentialglobal.com/