How to Revise the PRINCE2 7 Managing a Stage Boundary process – Part 2
This process should be executed at, or close to, the end of each stage. Projects sometimes go to plan, and in response to an exception report (if the stage or project is forecast to exceed its tolerances), the project board may request that the current stage and possibly the project be replanned.
The output from replanning is an exception plan submitted for the project board’s approval in the same way a stage plan is submitted for approval. Exceptions are another possible trigger for this process.
Managing a stage boundary purpose
The purpose of the process of managing a stage boundary is to enable the project manager to
provide the project board with sufficient information to be able to:
- review the success of the current stage
- prepare the next stage plan
- review the updated project plan
- confirm continued business justification and acceptability of the risks.
Therefore, this process should be executed at, or close to, the end of each stage.
Projects do not always go to plan, and in response to an exception report (if the stage or project is
forecast to exceed its tolerances), the project board may request that the current stage and possibly
the project is replanned.
The output from replanning is an exception plan that is submitted for the project board’s approval in the same way that a stage plan is submitted for approval. Exceptions are another possible trigger for this process.
Managing a stage boundary objective
The objectives of the process of managing a stage boundary are to:
- assure the project board that all products in the current stage plan have been completed and approved
- prepare a stage plan or exception plan for the next stage
- review and if necessary, update the project initiation documentation, in particular the business case, project plan, user’s quality expectations, management approaches, project management team structure, and role descriptions
- provide the information needed for the project board to assess the continuing viability of the project
- record any information or lessons that can help later stages of this project or other projects
- request authorization to start the next stage.
For exceptions, the objectives of the process of managing a stage boundary are similar to those
listed above but include preparing an exception plan and seeking approval to replace the project or
current stage plan with the exception plan.
Managing project exceptions
For exceptions, the objectives of the process of managing a stage boundary are similar to those listed above but include preparing an exception plan and seeking approval to replace the project or
current stage plan with the exception plan.
Exception situations that do not need the stage boundary process
An exception need not lead to real planning. It is a fairly common misunderstanding to think that every exception forces a stage boundary. Such a misunderstanding can result from focusing on the PRINCE2 documents and mechanisms to the exclusion of day-to-day reality.
The mindset here is to think “real life” and you will see that PRINCE2 actually fits, and is mechanisms come into a better context.
As an example, if the stage goes slightly over cost tolerance, the project board may decide then it has been a little tight and tolerances in the first place, and simply increase it by a small amount.
Or it may be that the overspend is due to some unforeseen complexity, the board may have just authorized a small increase in the stage budget. In such a case, the project manager would carry on with the work in line with the original plan, perhaps working to a revised tolerance.
Or it may be that the project board decides that the project is no longer viable. In such a case, the project board would NOT instruct that a new plan be prepared, the rather that the project should be shut down. This will trigger the closing a project process instead of the managing a stage boundary process.
Creating and updating the PRINCE2 7 management products
The products created on a stage boundary are those associated with planning. Also remember that a plan is a comprehensive set of information within PRINCE2, including product plans, activity plans and resource plans.
It also has to include financial plans, although the official Manual does not mention much on this fact.
Because the plan includes product plans, it is important for you not to forget that in turn that means the planning diagrams at stage level and also product descriptions for the stage level products.
Some, or perhaps all, of the products at this new level of detail we’ll need to be version controlled (“configuration managed”) to use the PRINCE2 7 term, so configuration item records will need to be set up to the old version information about the products.
You can already see that the managing a stage boundary process results in many management products being created.
For the exams, be sure that you understand what products are created, not forgetting the end stage report, but also other wide range of products that make it updated.
Most of those updated involves things within the PID, so to help get to grips with this you can simply think of the work is mostly updating any parts of the PID that need it.
However, it is not just the PID, so do not forget things such as the registers. You may still feel a little overwhelmed as you consider all the products in play, but remember that PRINCE2 is logical, so the use of products is actually rather straightforward.
Clearly if work on a new stage plan reveals a couple of significant risks that had not been previously supported, details of those risks should be entered into the risk register, so the register will be “updated”.
Then again, the stage planning may reveal the need for a product which will have to comply with a company, industry or legal standard. Perhaps up to this point in the project it was not realized by any products would need such compliance, so the standard was not mentioned in the quality management approach.
Now that the need has been identified, the approach will, logically enough, require updating.
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