PRINCE2
PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured project management
method[1] and practitioner certification programme. PRINCE2 emphasises dividing
projects into manageable and controllable stages.
PRINCE2 – Structure
It is adopted in many countries worldwide, including the UK, Western European
countries, and Australia.[2] PRINCE2 training is available in many languages.[3]
PRINCE2 was developed as a UK government standard for information systems
projects. In July 2013, ownership of the rights to PRINCE2 were transferred from HM
Cabinet Office to AXELOS Ltd, a joint venture by the Cabinet Office and Capita, with
49% and 51% stakes respectively.[4]
In 2021, PRINCE2 was transferred to PeopleCert during their acquisition of AXELOS.[5]
History
PRINCE was derived from an earlier method called PROMPT II (Project Resource
Organisation Management Planning Techniques). In 1989 the Central Computer and
Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) adopted a version of PROMPT II as a UK
Government standard for information systems (IT) project management. They gave it
the name 'PRINCE', which originally stood for "PROMPT II IN the CCTA Environment".
PRINCE was renamed in a civil service competition as an acronym for "PRojects IN
Controlled Environments". PRINCE2 is the second edition of the earlier PRINCE
method which was initially announced and developed in 1989 by the Central
Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), a UK government support
agency.[6] PRINCE2 was released in 1996 as a generic project management method.[7]
Since then, PRINCE2 became increasingly popular[8] and is now a de facto standard
for project management in many UK government departments and across the United
Nations system.
There have been three major revisions of PRINCE2 since its launch in 1996:
"PRINCE2:2009 Refresh" in 2009, and "PRINCE2 2017 Update" in 2017. The
justification for the 2017 update was the evolution in practical business practices and
feedback from PRINCE2 practitioners in the actual project environment.[9] More
recently, in 2023 AXELOS launched PRINCE2 7 - the 7th edition - which is described
below.
Overview of PRINCE2
Seven aspects of project
performance
These aspects are also called tolerances or performance goals. Tolerances define
the delegated levels of authority which are set by a higher level of management to a
lower level. The management level responsible must manage within the tolerances
provided only as long as they are not forecast to be exceeded. Otherwise they are
deemed to be an exception which requires escalating to the management level which
delegated them. This way of managing is known as 'management by exception' and is
one of the principles of PRINCE2. By managing in this way, it saves the time of senior
management. In some organisations tolerances can be key performance indicators
(KPIs). In the following table project level tolerances are summarised:[10]
Tolerance Defined in management
Example
type product
The printer must print documents in
Project/stage plan, work
Scope black/white, and should also print in
package description
colour.
Project/stage plan, work The work must be delivered within 2-3
Timescale
package description months.
Business case, stage plan, Printer might not work if it is exposed
Risk
work package description to water.
Printer should not suffer mechanical
Project product description,
Quality failure when printing between 2,000
product description
and 10,000 pages.
Sales should enable a net profit of
Benefits Business case, stage plan
between £200,000 to £400,000.
Project/stage plan, work The cost of the project should be
Cost
package description between £100,000 and £150,000.
Business case, stage plan,
Toner for the printer must be carbon
Sustainability work package description,
neutral.
product description
Management level Delegated tolerance level Escalated issue/exception
Business layer Project tolerance —
Project board Stage tolerance Project exception
Project manager Work package tolerance Stage exception
Team manager — Issue
Seven principles (why, or
guidelines to follow)
PRINCE2 is based on seven principles and these cannot be tailored. The PRINCE2
principles can be described as a mindset that keeps the project aligned with the
PRINCE2 methodology. If a project does not adhere to these principles, it is not being
managed using PRINCE2.
1. Ensure continued business
justification: The business case
is the most important document,
and is updated at every stage of
the project to ensure that the
project is still viable. Early
termination can occur if this
ceases to be the case.
2. Learn from experience: Each
project maintains a lessons log
and projects should continually
refer to their own and to previous
and concurrent projects' lesson
logs to avoid reinventing wheels.
Unless lessons provoke change,
they are only lessons identified
(not learned).
3. Define roles, responsibilities,
and relationships: Roles are
separated from individuals, who
may take on multiple roles or
share a role. Roles in PRINCE2
are structured in four levels
(corporate or programme
management, project board,
project manager level and team
level). Project Management
Team contains the last three,
where all primary stakeholders
(business, user, supplier) need to
be presented.
4. Manage by stages: The project
is planned and controlled on a
stage by stage basis. Moving
between stages includes
updating the business case,
risks, overall plan, and detailed
next-stage plan in the light of
new evidence.
5. Manage by exception: A
PRINCE2 project has defined
tolerances (6 aspects above) for
each project objective, to
establish limits of delegated
authority. If a management level
forecasts that these tolerances
are exceeded (e.g. time of a
management stage will be
longer than the estimated time
in the current management
stage). It is escalated to the next
management level for a decision
how to proceed.
6. Focus on products: A PRINCE2
project focuses on the definition
and delivery of the products, in
particular their quality
requirements.
7. Tailor to suit the project:
PRINCE2 is tailored to suit the
project environment, size,
complexity, importance, time
capability and risk. Tailoring is
the first activity in the process
initiating a project and reviewed
for each stage.
Not every aspect of PRINCE2 will be applicable to every project, thus every process
has a note on scalability. This provides guidance to the project manager (and others
involved in the project) as to how much of the process to apply. The positive aspect of
this is that PRINCE2 can be tailored to the needs of a particular project. The negative
aspect is that many of the essential elements of PRINCE2 can be omitted sometimes
resulting in a PINO project – PRINCE in Name Only
Seven PRINCE2 practices and the
management products used to
support each practice
Practice Management products which support the practice
Business case
1 Business case Benefits management approach
Sustainability management approach
Communication management approach
2 Organizing Project management team structure
Role descriptions
Product description
Quality management approach
3 Quality
Quality register
Product register
Plan (project, stage, team, exception)
4 Plans Project product description
Work package description
Risk management approach
5 Risk
Risk register
Issue management approach
6 Issues Issue register
Issue report
7 Progress Digital and data management approach
Daily log
Lessons log
Checkpoint report
Highlight report
Lessons report
Exception report
End stage report
End project report
Seven processes (who does what
and when from start to finish)
1. Starting up a project, in which
the project team is appointed
including an executive and a
project manager, and a project
brief is produced.
2. Initiating a project, in which the
business case is refined and
project initiation documentation
is assembled.
3. Directing a project, in which the
project board directs the project
manager and oversees the
project.
4. Controlling a stage, in which the
project manager authorises work
packages to team managers,
manages issues and risks, and
reports progress to the project
board.
5. Managing product delivery,
which provides an interface
between the project manager
and the team manager(s) by
placing formal requirements on
accepting, executing and
delivering project work.[11]
6. Managing stage boundaries, in
which the project manager
prepares the information for the
project board to decide whether
to authorise the next stage or
close the project.
7. Closing a project, in which the
project is the formally closed,
follow-on actions are
documented and assigned,
lessons are learned, and benefits
are evaluated.
People in PRINCE2
The 7th edition of PRINCE2 introduced a major new aspect to the method - the role of
people. The purpose of a project is to deliver change, which will affect the people who
perform business as usual (BAU) activities. How well the project delivers the change,
depends on the capabilities of the project team, the strength of the relationships
between them, and the people impacted by the change. For these reasons, PRINCE2
recommends that projects must incorporate change management to be able to
successfully implement the change into the organization.
Integration with other
techniques
The management products described by PRINCE2 are only used for the "high-level"
management of the project. Within its tasks, task managers must still decide on their
own project management framework. Some suggestions given in the PRINCE2
manual are product based planning, change control, quality review technique, Kanban
boards, Gantt charts, PERT charts and critical path analysis.
PRINCE2 can also be used to manage projects that use agile software development
methods.[12]
Quality review technique
The quality review technique ensures a project's products are of the required standard
(i.e. meet defined quality criteria). This takes place in a quality review meeting, which
identifies errors in the product. The quality review meeting will not attempt to solve
the problems it identifies. The meeting brings together people who have an interest in
the project's outputs (or products) and people on the project team able to address
issues identified.
History of PRINCE2
editions
Below is a list of all the editions of PRINCE2. As of 1 January 2020, "PRINCE2 2017"
was renamed "PRINCE2 6th Edition". Also, the previous edition, "PRINCE2 2009" was
renamed "PRINCE2 5th Edition". There were no other changes except the name of the
brand. The reason for the name change was to "ensure the format of the name is
aligned with that used by other frameworks within the project management
industry".[13] As list of all versions of PRINCE2 are printed in the cover of the PRINCE2
manual:
Release year Release name Release edition
1996 PRINCE2 1996 PRINCE2 1st Edition*
1998 PRINCE2 1998 PRINCE2 2nd Edition*
2002 PRINCE2 2002 PRINCE2 3rd Edition*
2005 PRINCE2 2005 PRINCE2 4th Edition*
2009 PRINCE2 2009 PRINCE2 5th Edition
2017 PRINCE2 2017 PRINCE2 6th Edition
2023 PRINCE2 2023 PRINCE2 7th Edition
(*nth names added for other editions in order for context, but they were not referred
to these names originally. However, they are referenced as such in the PRINCE2
manual cover page.)
Differences between 2009
and 2017 versions
2009 version 2017 version[10] Type
Management
Benefits review plan Benefits management approach
product
Communication management Communication management Management
strategy approach product
Management
Risk management strategy Risk management approach
product
Management
Quality management strategy Quality management approach
product
Configuration management Management
Change control approach
strategy product
New aspects introduced in
the 7th edition
PRINCE2 7th edition
Performance target for sustainability
Renaming of some principles
Renaming of themes to practices
Change practice now called Issues
Configuration management strategy
Introduction of new management products: sustainability management approach,
digital and data management approach, project log.
Advantages and criticisms
PRINCE2 provides a method for managing projects within a clearly defined
framework, but project management is a complex discipline and using such a
framework is no guarantee of a successful project.
Some of the advertised benefits of PRINCE2 are: increased quality of the finished
products, efficient control of resources, avoidance of either "heroic" (under-regulated)
or "mechanistic" (over-regulated) working, and increased confidence among the
project team.
PRINCE2 is sometimes considered inappropriate for small projects or where
requirements are expected to change, due to the work required in creating and
maintaining documents, logs and lists. The deliverable structure may also lead to
focus on producing deliverables for their own sake, to "tick the boxes" rather than do
more useful work.
The general response of PRINCE2's authors to criticism has been to point out that the
methodology is scalable and can be tailored to suit the specific requirements and
constraints of the project and the environment.[14] This strong emphasis on tailoring
has led some users to complain that PRINCE2 is unfalsifiable, i.e. it is impossible to
tell whether PRINCE2 "works" or constitutes "best practice" if any problems
encountered with a project can be blamed on inappropriate application of PRINCE2
rather than on PRINCE2 itself.
The experiences of the Blair administration in the UK between 1997 and 2007 (and of
subsequent UK governments) arguably undermine PRINCE2's claim to be "best
practice", given the string of high-profile failed IT projects charged to the taxpayer
during that time,[15][16][17] and the controversy surrounding the financial relationship
between the Blair government and PRINCE2's co-owners Capita.[18][19] PRINCE2's
training material addresses these failures, blaming them on inappropriate tailoring of
PRINCE2 to the project environment, and advocating for more PRINCE2 training for
government project managers to solve the problem.
Differences from PMP
Project Management Professional (PMP) from Project Management Institute may be
f f
the US and American countries prefer PMP. Asia, Africa and the Middle East area have
no strong preference for PMP or PRINCE2. The important thing is that PMP (PMBOK)
can be used with PRINCE2.
PRINCE2 and PMP acknowledge each other's existence in their advertising material
and attempt to position themselves as complementary products – PRINCE2 as a
"methodology" and PMP as a "standard"[20] – which can be used alongside each
other. In practice, companies and practitioners choose one system or both depending
on the project environment, their geographical location and costs involved.
See also
Agile software development
Comparison of project-
management software
Gantt chart
List of project management topics
Work breakdown structure
References
1. "What is PRINCE2®?" (https://ww
w.axelos.com/best-practice-soluti
ons/prince2/what-is-prince2) .
AXELOS. Retrieved 1 February
2017.
2. PRINCE2 Consulting
Organisations List (http://www.pri
nce-officialsite.com/ConsultingOr
ganisations/ConsultingOrganisati
onsList.asp)
3. David Hinde (2012). PRINCE2
Study Guide (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=lVVf-qoDZiUC&p
g=PT16) . John Wiley & Sons.
p. 16. ISBN 978-1-119-97097-2.
4. Reid, Amy (30 July 2013). "Capita
acquires majority stake in ITIL
and PRINCE2" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20160130015056/http
s://www.apm.org.uk/news/capita
-acquires-majority-stake-itil-and-p
rince2) . Association for project
management. International
project management association.
Archived from the original (http
s://www.apm.org.uk/news/capita
-acquires-majority-stake-itil-and-p
rince2) on 30 January 2016.
Retrieved 22 February 2016.
"AXELOS has been revealed as
the name of the new joint venture
between Capita and the Cabinet
Office set up to manage the best
management practice training
tools and accreditations,
including PRINCE2, and ITIL. [...]
Capita and the Cabinet Office
have established a 51:49 per cent
stake in the new organisation that
will own the intellectual property
(IP) of this portfolio of products
[...]"
5. www.peoplecert.org
https://www.peoplecert.org/news
-and-announcements/peoplecert-
completes-axelos-acquisition (htt
ps://www.peoplecert.org/news-a
nd-announcements/peoplecert-c
ompletes-axelos-acquisition) .
Retrieved 11 July 2024. {{cite
web}}: Missing or empty
|title= (help)
6. "PRINCE2 Methodology Overview:
History, Definition & Meaning,
Benefits, Certification" (https://my
managementguide.com/prince2-
methodology-overview-history-de
finition-meaning-benefits-certific
ation/) . 10 August 2011.
7. Lewinson, Mary (10 August
2011). "PRINCE2 Methodology
Overview: History, Definition &
Meaning, Benefits, Certification"
(https://mymanagementguide.co
m/prince2-methodology-overview
-history-definition-meaning-benefi
ts-certification/) . Retrieved
14 August 2019.
8. "How Many PRINCE2 Certified In
The World? | PRINCE2 Worldwide
Popularity | Infographic |
Knowledge Train" (https://www.kn
owledgetrain.co.uk/project-mana
gement/prince2/prince2-course/
prince2-popularity-grows) .
www.knowledgetrain.co.uk. 19
May 2023. Retrieved 13 July
2024.
9. "Introducing the PRINCE2 2017
Update" (https://www.axelos.co
m/prince2-2017) (Press release).
Axelos. 11 December 2017.
10. "Managing Successful Projects
with PRINCE2, 2017 Edition" (http
s://www.axelos.com/store/book/
managing-successful-projects-wit
h-prince2-2017) . Axelos.
11. PRINCE2 manual
12. "PRINCE2 Agile®" (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20150315054000/
https://www.axelos.com/best-pra
ctice-solutions/prince2/prince2-
agile) . www.axelos.com. Axelos.
Archived from the original (http
s://www.axelos.com/best-practic
e-solutions/prince2/prince2-agil
e) on 15 March 2015. Retrieved
6 March 2015.
13. "PRINCE2 2017 is renamed
PRINCE2 6th Edition | UK" (http
s://www.prince2.com/uk/blog/pri
nce2-2017-is-renamed-prince2-6t
h-edition) . www.prince2.com.
Retrieved 24 June 2021.
14. "OGC Best Management Practice
– PRINCE2" (https://web.archive.
org/web/20081225083835/htt
p://www.best-management-practi
ce.com/Knowledge-Centre/Best-
Practice-Guidance/PRINCE2/) .
Archived from the original (http://
www.best-management-practice.
com/Knowledge-Centre/Best-Pra
ctice-Guidance/PRINCE2/) on 25
December 2008. Retrieved
22 April 2009.
15. "The Blair IT projects" (https://ww
w.zdnet.com/home-and-office/ne
tworking/the-blair-it-projects/) .
ZDNet.com.
16. King, Anthony; Crewe, Ivor (2013).
The Blunders of our
Governments. Oneworld
Publications. ISBN 978-
1780742663.
17. "The costly trail of British
government IT and 'big bang'
project disasters" (https://www.th
eguardian.com/technology/2014/
aug/19/costly-trail-british-govern
ment-it-disasters-universal-credi
t) . theguardian.com. 19 August
2014.
18. "Blair avoids MPs' questions on
Capita" (https://www.telegraph.c
o.uk/finance/2935817/Blair-avoid
s-MPs-questions-on-
Capita.html) . Telegraph.co.uk. 2
April 2006.
19. "Capita chairman quits after
criticism of loans to Labour" (http
s://www.theguardian.com/politic
s/2006/mar/24/uk.partyfunding)
. theguardian.com. 24 March
2006.
20. "Project Management
Professional (PMP) ® Handbook"
(https://web.archive.org/web/201
11122042800/http://www.pmi.or
g/Certification/~/media/PDF/Cer
tifications/pdc_pmphandbook.as
hx) . Project Management
Institute. Archived from the
original (http://www.pmi.org/certi
fication/~/media/pdf/certificatio
ns/pdc_pmphandbook.ashx) on
22 November 2011. Retrieved
18 September 2009.
External links
Official website (https://www.axelo
s.com/best-practice-solutions/prin
ce2)
Guidelines for Managing Projects
(fully consistent with PRINCE2) (htt
p://webarchive.nationalarchives.go
v.uk/20090609003228/http://www.
berr.gov.uk/files/file40647.pdf)
from the UK Department for
Business, Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform (BERR)
PRINCE2.wiki (https://prince2.wik
i/)
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=PRINCE2&oldid=1248772389"
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