What is PRINCE 2 ®?

PRINCE 2® is a structured project management method.

 

Why is project management important?

Most organisations need to add new services, improve services, change services, re-organise or just generally change.

Change is accomplished through projects. E.g. new offices, new products, new processes.

 

Why have structured project management?

Without structured project management

• teams tend to be inefficient
• higher cost
• longer schedule
• higher risk
• lower quality
• too much time spent firefighting
• too many surprises for senior management

Structured project management means managing the project in a logical, organised way, following defined steps. A structured project management method is the written description of this logical, organised approach.

 

Coverage of PRINCE 2®

PRINCE 2®says that a project should have:

• An organised and controlled start, ie organise and plan things properly before leaping in;
• An organised and controlled middle, ie when the project has started, make sure it continues to be organised and controlled;
• An organised and controlled end, ie when you've got what you want and the project has finished, tidy up the loose ends.

PRINCE 2® does not cover people management skills (Project Laneways has other courses for that)

What are the benefits of PRINCE 2®?

PRINCE 2® is about doing the right projects, at the right time, for the right reasons. It gives you common systems, procedures and language for projects. PRINCE 2 ® also provides:

• Better control and use of resources
• A means of managing risks and issues
• Flexible decision points
• Regular reviews of progress against the project plan and business case
• Assurance that the project continues to have a business justification
• Early visibility of possible problems
• Good communications between the project team and other stakeholders
• A mechanism for managing deviations from the project plan
• A process for capturing lessons learned
• Ability to change anything in the project once it has started but still avoid scope creep

Putting all of this together should enable you to save time and money while delivering projects more effectively.

 

Where did PRINCE 2® come from?

PRINCE 2® was developed by the UK government in 1996 based on earlier methodologies. It has become the de facto standard in the UK and its use has spread globally.

The PRINCE 2® methodology and standards are administered by the UK APM Group who have a branch in Canberra . All training, exams etc are accredited by them.

 

How does PRINCE 2® help my organisation?

• It is best practice
• It provides a consistent methodology that works across the organisation and can be taught
• It can be tailored to suit your organisation
• It increases reliability of project delivery
• It reduces project surprises
• It provides strong project governance and yet decreases the time that senior management need to be involved in projects
• If you are a council or otherwise work with State Government , then it will help you work with with other government agencies.

 

What sort of projects can PRINCE 2® be used for?

• Any size
• Any type
• Small, medium or large
• IT, or non IT

See “Who uses PRINCE 2®” –below

 

Who uses PRINCE 2®?

• PRINCE 2® training is now delivered in 57 countries
• Worldwide
  • Approx 4000 people per month sit the PRINCE 2® Foundation Exam
  • Approx 2000 per month sit the PRINCE 2® Practitioner Exam
• PRINCE 2® manuals are now published in 18 languages
• PRINCE 2® is refreshed approx every 2 years
  • Next one due in late 2008
• It's a de facto standard in the UK – virtually all Organisations use PRINCE 2® (e.g. the Scotland Yard Homicide squad )
• It's heavily used across Europe
• Widely used in Australia e.g.
  • It is widely used in the Victorian and other state governments
  • Used at the Federal level
  • Many companies who have head offices in the UK or Europe
  • A number of local councils
  • A number of large publicly listed Australian companies
  • A number of small (approx 20-100 staff) consulting/service companies
  • Organisations in the health and education sectors

 

It's not just the IT departments using this. At least half of the use of PRINCE 2® is for non IT projects. Examples of non IT PRINCE 2® projects are

• Drafting new government policy
• Drafting new government legislation
• Creating a local council strategy
• Building roads, bus stops, public toilets
• Reconfiguring manufacturing floor plans
• Process improvement
• Annual budget rounds of large organisations.
• Social research
• Consultancy assignments
• …… and so on

 

Why should I learn PRINCE 2®?

• It is useful and well recognised and international qualification
• It is growing to become almost a mandatory requirement if you are to run a Government project
• Many people value the project management training to compliment practical experience
• A great route into project management
• Even experienced project managers find they learn something

 

What's PMBOK and what is the difference?

PMBOK stands for the Project Management Body of Knowledge – a US-based project management methodology. It is also used a bit in Australia .

It takes a very different approach –

• PMBOK talks about the theory of project management, listing many of the possible tools and approaches. Broadly leaving it to the Project manager to decide which tools to use and how to apply them.
• PRINCE 2® provides an easy to follow set of processes and templates.

PRINCE 2® is much easy to learn and apply.

It is appears that PRINCE 2® is far more popular in Australia.

 

I tried PRINCE 2® and it's got too much paperwork. I tried PRINCE 2® and it's too bureaucratic!

• Were you actually trained in PRINCE 2®? Trying to use the templates or follow the book without training is just about impossible.
• Were you trained to pass the exam or use the methodology? – Because they are two separate and very different things.
• Were you given hints and tips about tailoring the methodology to your organisation, to your type of project, to your size of project?
• Were your offered a follow up service providing easy advice on suitable use?
• Did your trainer discuss how it could be used for really small projects?

 

I know a Project Manager who used PRINCE 2® and she/he was useless!

• Our courses will take a participant and make them better at project management. Our course cannot take a new starter and make them a project management guru.
• PRINCE 2® does not cover people skills ( Project Laneways can address that with a different course)
• However good PRINCE 2® is, if it is being used by someone who is incompetent and inept, he/she will not be a very good Project Manager .

 

Why use Project Laneways instead of one of the many other PRINCE 2® companies out there?

• We have a very experienced instructor (Dan Skelsey) (approx a 1000 people trained in approx 100 courses in 5 contents)
• He always gets good feedback
• He is also an actual Project Manager
• Our Foundation course is three days – not four days
• We offer the exam guarantee – a free second try
• Our course includes
  • Worked examples of PRINCE 2 course documentation (a number of courses don't seem to offer this)
  • A free copy of the “Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE 2”
  • The ability to consult the trainer after the course on practical application – usually free by phone and email.

 

 

PRINCE 2® won't work with Rapid Application Development and similar new approaches to software development!

Yes it will and our trainer has worked on merging the two. They are actually very complimentary

 

Any more questions?

Ask Dan Skelsey on 03 9038 9236 or at dan@project-laneways.com.au