PRINCE2 Management Stages

MASTER PRINCE2 STAGES

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DEALING WITH THE PLANNING HORIZON

PRINCE2's principle of manage by stages reflects that it is usually not possible to plan the whole project from the outset. Planning becomes more difficult and uncertain the further into the future it extends. There will be a time period over which it is possible to plan with reasonable accuracy; this is called the 'planning horizon'.

It is seldom possible to plan with any degree of accuracy beyond the planning horizon. A great deal of effort can be wasted on attempts to plan beyond a sensible planning horizon.

For example, a detailed plan to show what each team member is doing for the next 12 months will almost certainly be inaccurate after just a few weeks. A detailed team plan for the short term and an outline plan for the long term
is a more effective approach.

Fixing The Planning Horizon

PRINCE2 addresses the planning horizon issue by requiring that both high-level and detailed plans are created and maintained at the same time, reflecting the relative certainty and uncertainty on either side of the planning horizon.

These are:

a project plan for the project as a whole. This will usually be a high-level plan, providing indicative timescales, milestones, cost and resource requirements based on estimates
a detailed stage plan for the current management stage, aligned with the overall project plan timescales. This plan is produced before the start of that stage, and must not extend beyond the planning horizon

Definition: Project plan

A high-level plan showing the major products of the project, when they will be delivered and at what cost. An initial project plan is presented as part of the PID. This is revised as information on actual progress appears . It is a major control document for the project board to measure actual progress against expectations .

Definition: Stage plan

A detailed plan used as the basis for project management control throughout a management stage.

The management stages make up the project lifecycle and are the fundamental building blocks for the plans and governance of a project. See section 9.3.1.1 for further guidance for designing a plan with management stages.

What is the relationship between project life-cycles, phases and stages?

Project lifecycles are often described in terms of project phases, where the term 'phase' is used as an alternative to 'stage' or 'management stage'.

For example, BS 6079-1:2010 states:
Most projects, irrespective of size and complexity, will naturally move through a series of
distinct phases from conception to completion. This applies as much for sequential
development (e .g. analyse, design, build, test) as for iterative and agile development.
Generally, the early phases comprise investigative work, which determines the work in the
later implementation phases.
In BS 6079 Part 1, there is no assumption regarding the use of the words 'phase' or 'stage' with respect to level in the work breakdown structure; for example, a stage is not assumed to be a sub-part of a phase or vice versa

Designing a plan

The number of management stages

Repeated for:

Project plan
Stage plan
Team plan (optional)

Although the use of management stages in a PRINCE2 project is mandatory, the number of management stages is flexible and depends on the scale, duration and risk of the project.

A simple project may only need two stages, the first including initiating the project and the second for undertaking the planned work and closing the project. Larger projects may need additional management stages to enable the project management team to have an optimal level of planning and control.

Defining management stages is fundamentally a process of balancing:

how far ahead in the project it is sensible to plan
where the key decision points need to be on the project
the amount of risk within the project
too many short management stages (increasing the project management overhead) versus too few lengthy ones (reducing the level of control)
how confident the project board and project manager are in proceeding

The length of management stages

PRINCE2 does not define how long a management stage should be . Management stages should be shorter when there is greater risk, uncertainty or complexity (for example, at the beginning of projects). They can be longer when risk is lower, typically in the middle of projects.

Factors that will influence this decision include:

planning horizon to any point in time The planning horizon may vary depending on the nature of the work being undertaken. For example, the work involved in installing a computer system during an application migration project may be better understood and less risky than the work involved with migrating the application itself
The ends of management stages do not necessarily need to occur at the same time as the ends of delivery steps, but there are often benefits if they do. For example, the project board may wish to be able to understand any effects on the business case of the results of a 'proof of concept' before committing to a full-scale deployment
Programmes may be organized around groups of projects structured
around distinct step changes in capability and benefit delivery tranches. It may be a requirement to align the end of a management stage with the end-of-tranche review within the programme. This will allow the project to contribute fully to the assessment of the ongoing viability of the programme itself
Level of risk. Management stages can be very useful as a means of bringing project board control to risky projects . Management stage breaks can be inserted at key points when risks to the project can be reviewed before major commitments of money or resources

Management stages and delivery approaches

Another method of grouping work is by the set of techniques used or the products created. This results in a delivery approach covering elements such as design, build and implementation .

Delivery approaches are a separate concept from the management stages already introduced, and the work comprising delivery steps is always included within a management stage as work packages or activities.

Delivery steps often overlap but management stages do not.

Delivery steps are typified by the use of a particular set of specialist skills. Management stages equate to commitment of resources and authority to spend.

Often the boundary of the management stage and a delivery step will coincide ; for instance, when the management decision is based on the output from delivery activities. However, on other occasions management stage and delivery step boundaries will not coincide.

For example, there might be more than one delivery step per management stage.

When a delivery step spans a management stage boundary, the extent to which the product(s) of the delivery step should be complete at the stage boundary should be clear in the product description(s) concerned.

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