What are the main changes to PRINCE2?
The most noticeable change is that there are now two guides for PRINCE2:
- “Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2” is aimed at people who work on projects on a daily basis
- "Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2” provides a guide for those who direct or sponsor projects.
Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2
This guide has been designed to be a role specific handbook for Project Managers, Team Managers and Project Support. The book provides a universally applicable project management method – the principles, processes and techniques that enable individuals and organisations to successfully deliver their projects.
Key features include outlining the principles and processes of PRINCE2, descriptions of the themes of project management and cross-references to project management techniques that may be useful to apply. Finally the guide provides context of when and how to use PRINCE2 for different project environments (e.g. standalone or as part of a programme).
The manual covers the questions frequently asked by people involved in project management and support roles. These questions include:
- What’s expected of me?
- What does the Project Manager do?
- What do I do if things don’t go to plan?
- What decisions am I expected to make?
- What information do I need or must I supply?
- Who should I look to for support? For direction?
- How can I tailor the use of PRINCE2 for my project?
There’s a lot more focus on benefits in the new managing guide than in the current method. In particular around how benefits need to be tracked and realised post project and how that relates to a programme environment.
Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2
This new publication is aimed at supporting the senior manager responsible for a project, specifically those managers undertaking an executive role on a project for the first time. Covering the duties and behaviours expected of members of the Project Board, Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 can be used as a reference guide at any stage to check what is required – both of the Project Board and of the Project Manager in return.
Key features include an overview of the PRINCE2 method, agendas and checklists for the reviews the Project Boards are expected to undertake and the decisions they are expected to make, descriptions of the management products they are expected to approve and descriptions of the responsibilities of the roles involved.
It covers the questions frequently asked by those people who sponsor or direct projects:
- What’s expected of me?
- What should I expect of the Project Manager?
- How do I know the Project Manager is applying PRINCE2 appropriately?
- How do I delegate authority to the Project Manager but keep control?
- What decisions am I expected to make?
- What information is required/available to help me make decisions?
- How do we tailor the use of PRINCE2 for projects of differing scale or type?
- What does an effective Project Board look like?
It is aimed at managers taking on senior project roles, either for the first time or for the first time in a PRINCE2 context and as a reference guide for managers who are more experienced in directing projects and/or using PRINCE2 but who nevertheless wish to check from time to time the detailed guidance on specific topics.
How do these publications compare the previous version of PRINCE2?
Table 2 - comparison to previous PRINCE2 (2005 version)
|
Area
|
PRINCE2 2009
|
PRINCE2 2005
|
|
Principles
|
7 principles
|
None
|
|
Themes/ components
|
7 themes:
· Business Case
· Organisation
· Quality
· Plans
· Risk
· Changes
· Progress
|
8 components:
· Business case
· Organisation
· Plans
· Controls
· Management of Risk
· Quality in a Project Environment
· Configuration Management
· Change Control
|
|
Processes
|
7 processes:
· Starting Up a Project
· Directing a Project
· Initiating a Project
· Controlling a Stage
· Managing a Stage Boundary
· Closing a Project
|
8 processes:
· Starting Up a Project
· Directing a Project
· Initiating a Project
· Controlling a Stage
· Managing a Stage Boundary
· Closing a Project
· Planning
|
|
Sub-processes
|
40 activities comprising recommended actions. No codes.
|
45 codified sub-processes comprising prescriptive actions
|
|
Techniques
|
2 techniques explained (Product Based Planning and Quality Review) and numerous cross-references to techniques from other bodies of knowledge, including ‘soft’ aspects
|
3 techniques explained (Product Based Planning, Change Control, Quality Review)
|
|
Project Environment
|
Context rich guidance on tailoring the method according to the project’s environment, including:
· Projects in a programme
· Commercial customer/supplier relationships
· Multi-owned projects
· Alignment with other lifecycle models and bodies of knowledge
· Project scale
|
Not covered
|
|
Management Products
|
26 management products with explicit guidance on their evolution and which ones can be combined.
|
36 management products
|
|
Roles
|
8 roles (project board, senior user, executive, senior supplier, project manager, team manager, project assurance, project support)
Suggested competences for each role.
Project Board roles now include “duties and behaviours”
|
10 roles (project board, senior user, executive, senior supplier, project manager, team manager, project assurance, project support, configuration librarian, project support office)
|
|
Checklists
|
Process based checklists
Governance checklist aligned to APM’s governance principles
|
Component based checklists
|
|
Project Board guidance
|
Role specific guidance for senior managers who sponsor or direct projects, including:
· What makes a good Project Board
· Suggested agendas for Project Board reviews
· Checklist of key decisions for each Project Board review
· Pre- and post-project responsibilities
|
Embedded within the main guide and aimed at Project Managers rather than Project Board members.
|
How have these changes improved PRINCE2?
PRINCE2 keeps it core value of being a universal method that can be applied to any project regardless of type, scale, culture or geography. The improvements are based on user feedback on what was liked/disliked aboutPRINCE2 and on the different challenges that face today’s projects.
The key improvements to PRINCE2 are:
- PRINCE2 2009 is less prescriptive and more flexible
- PRINCE2 2009 is less theoretical and more practical – based on the input of over 170 organisations and validated through pilots
- PRINCE2 now has a set of clearly defined principles. These principles can be used as a check that PRINCE2 is being applied in spirit in which the method has been designed – not too rigidly nor superficially
- The need to tailor the method is explicitly stated and guidance on how to tailor is provided
- It has been designed to align with other OCG products; Managing Successful Programmes (MSP™), Management of Risk (M_o_R®) and the new Project, Programme and Portfolio Offices (P3O™) guidance and will enable users to seamlessly integrate all four methods and frameworks
- The linkage with other standards and bodies of knowledge is clearly shown
- The importance of the soft aspects of project management is emphasised
- PRINCE2 is not bureaucratic – the method requires information and decisions, not documents and meetings