PRINCE2 METHODOLOGY

Prince2 Methodology



Prince2 Methodology

Introduction

Wedding photography can be a very personal thing. Many may possess technical shooting skills but one can only hope to find a wedding photographer to deliver that special something on your big day. Prince is a project management method. It covers the management, control and organisation of a project. "PRINCE2" refers to the second major version of this method launched in 1996 and is a registered trademark of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).  PRINCE2 is currently on it's 5th edition/revision which is widely known as PRINCE2 2009.PRINCE2 has become increasingly popular and is now a de facto standard for project management in the UK.

Prince2 Positives

PRINCE2 is a structured approach to project management. It provides a method for managing projects within a clearly defined framework. PRINCE2 describes procedures to coordinate people and activities in a project, how to design and supervise the project, and what to do if the project has to be adjusted if it doesn't develop as planned. In the method each process is specified with its key inputs and outputs and with specific goals and activities to be carried out, which gives an automatic control of any deviations from the plan.

Prince2 Negatives

PRINCE2 is sometimes incorrectly considered inappropriate for very small projects, due to the work required in creating and maintaining documents. However, this may often be because of poor implementation: PRINCE2 is fully scalable.

PRINCE2 is a process-driven project management method which contrasts with reactive/adaptive methods such as Scrum.

PRINCE2 is based on seven principles (continued business justification, learn from experience, defined roles and responsibilities, manage by stages, manage by exception, focus on products and tailored to suit the project environment), seven themes (business case, organization, quality, plans, risk, change and progress) and seven processes. The principles and themes come into play in the seven processes:

In this process the project team is appointed and a project brief (describing, in outline, what the project is attempting to achieve and the business justification for doing so) is prepared. In addition the overall approach to be taken is decided and the next stage of the project is planned. Once this work is done, the project board is asked to authorize the next stage, that of initiating the project.

Key activities include: appointing an executive and a project manager; designing and appointing a project management team; preparing a project brief; defining the project approach; and planning the next stage (initiation).

This ...