Tailoring PRINCE2 For Simple Projects
It is important to notice that I’m using the term simple projects rather than small projects. The reason is that the term small projects Is ambiguous. For a large multinational organization, their definition of a small project may be a large project for a smaller organization.
Even simple projects must adhere to the seven PRINCE2 Principles.
It is the degree of formality for managing the projects that can be relaxed providing that the resultant risk remains acceptable.
For a simple project, it is highly likely that you’ll only need two management stages, The initiation stage plus one delivery stage.
PRINCE2 project trigger – The Project Mandate
For a simple project, the project mandate may simply be an e-mail that outlines the basic business need along with quality expectations along with the costs and timescales for the initiation stage of the project.
The reason for this is clear when you consider that a Simple project could hold a one day workshop resulting in the creation of a simplified project initiation documentation. So, in this situation, the initiation stage costs and timescales would be one day duration and the costs may only include the hourly rate of those attending.
The project brief may not be necessary.
The thinking behind this is simple, the project mandate is refined and expanded to form the project brief, and in turn the project brief is refined and expanded to form the project initiation documentation.
So, for a simple project, the project mandate will almost certainly have sufficient information to refined and expanded that directly into a simple project initiation documentation.
The project initiation documentation would include the justification for the project (this would be the business justification), a basic project plan, one or more product descriptions, and a summary of the project controls to be used.
The daily log, also known as the project managers diary, could be used to record risks, issues, lessons and quality results thereby negating the need for logs or registers.
What is interesting, is that once the project initiation documentation is signed off, there is only one delivery stage Remaining to be approved and implemented within the project.
Therefore, the project plan within the project initiation documentation, also details the remainder of the project, hence negating the need for a stage plan.
The normal checkpoints and highlight reports could be captured verbally possibly with the latter being sent within a simple e-mail to the project board. This negates the need for work packages, team plans, end of stage reports and issue reports.
At the end of the single delivery stage, and therefore the project, an end stage report could be produced to include the information for a lessons report, follow on action recommendations, and the benefits management approach.
The 30-minute video above describes all of this in detail.
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