PRINCE2 principles: Free ebook

7 ^th edition of PRINCE2

is often a financial one i.e. will there be a return on investment (in terms of money). But the business justification can be made in other ways too.

Consider a proposal to equip a residential apartment block with a water sprinkler system in case of fire. Such a project would have clear benefits (in terms of saving people’s lives in a fire) but it probably cannot expect a return in investment in purely financial terms. The decision to invest in such a project would therefore need to consider the wider benefits to society of keeping its citizens safe.

Tailor to suit the projectStatistics

The final principle ‘tailor to suit the project’ highlights a key advantage of using PRINCE2 – its adaptability.

The verb to ‘tailor’ refers to the appropriate use of PRINCE2 so that it matches the needs of each project. PRINCE2 recognises that all projects are different in terms of their cultural context, geographical location, level of complexity, scale, and risk. This principle allows you to adapt the PRINCE2 methodology to suit the needs of your project – and still comply with the PRINCE2 approach to project management.Statistics

For example, one element of PRINCE2 that is routinely tailored is the schedule for project board meetings. Such meetings are not a requirement of the PRINCE2 methodology; regular highlight reports are considered sufficient. In many organizations, however, regular meetings are part of the corporate culture. They can be accommodated by PRINCE2, thanks to the tailoring principle.

If your organisation tailors PRINCE2, you should document the changes made to the method and describe these in the project initiation documentation (PID). In this way, the changes can be audited and provide evidence of compliance with PRINCE2 and business standards.

Tailoring whilst remaining compliant
When you are tailoring PRINCE2 , you must bear in mind that no part of the method should be ignored or removed. Even on a small project, you will need to address risk, quality and change control. If the method is changed too much, you will be in danger of running a ‘PINO’ (that’s ‘PRINCE2 In Name Only’) project.

Organizations can address the PINO problem by referring to the PRINCE2 Maturity ModelThe technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.. Organizations can use the model to establish their level of compliance with PRINCE2.

Tailoring goalsThe technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The goal of the tailoring principle is to adapt the PRINCE2 method to the needs of your project thereby avoiding the creation of a ‘template-driven’ project management method in which everything is done unquestioningly. Remember that PRINCE2 focuses on decisions being taken by those with delegated authority based upon timely information, rather than focussing on documents, templates , and meetings.

SummaryMarketing

Hopefully you’ve learned something about the PRINCE2 principles after reading this ebook. As a trainer on a PRINCE2 courseMarketing, I often hear students refer to their employer as being one which manages their projects according to PRINCE2. After delving a little deeper, it becomes apparent that these organizations are usually not managing their projects according to PRINCE2 at all.

There is only one simple test of whether a project is a PRINCE2 project and it’s nothing to do with how many documents are written by the project management team. Nor is it to do with whether all the guidance in the PRINCE2 manual is being followed. The test is simply whether the project is applying all seven of the PRINCE2 principles .

PRINCE2 therefore is not a rigid and ancient text written down on tablets of stone which cannot be challenged and changed. On the contrary, it’s a very practical and workable set of best practices which can be applied to any project, no matter what type of project, scale or level of complexity and risk.

It’s by applying these principles sensibly on your project that you will gain the greatest benefit of the world’s most popular project management methodology.The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.