PRINCE2 Walk Through Initiation and Planning
PRINCE2 – The Initiation Stage
Within PRINCE2 Walk Through Initiation and Planning, the following steps cover traditional planning techniques, first identifying the activities needed to create each product, then estimating such activities, and making the schedule or sequence of such activities (usually shown as a network diagram or Gantt Chart view). They will then go on to identify risks and their associated response activities, and finally add the narrative of the PRINCE2 plan document.
Because of this, the Project Manager will create new PRINCE2 Product Descriptions and their quality criteria, along with a Configuration Item Record (CIR) for each product. This record forms part of the data and the status for each product held within configuration management.
Also, at this point, the Project Product Description may need to be further refined, for example, as better data is understood for the acceptance criteria of the project end product.
The PRINCE2 detailed Business Case is now being developed, using timescale and cost information derived from the Project Plan. This detailed Business Case will be used throughout the project, particularly at the end of each management stage, where it is updated and used as a basis to proceed or otherwise by the project board.
A new PRINCE2 management product is now created based on some information contained within the business case called the Benefits Management Approach. As the name suggests, this includes a description of each future benefit, its timing, measurement, and the resources required to carry this out. The Benefits Management Approach is kept separate from the Project Initiation Documentation as it will be used after the project has finished to continue and track the remaining benefits until their eventual realization.
PRINCE2 – creating the project initiation documentation (PID)
The above can now be assembled and form the PRINCE2 Project Initiation Documentation. The project manager will now request that the project board authorize the project. They will use this named activity within the PRINCE2 Directing a Project process (DP).
This will always be the first end-stage assessment within any PRINCE2 project (as the initiation stage is always the first management stage in a PRINCE2 project).
However, a similar activity needs to take place if this project is to proceed any further, and that is to prepare a Stage Plan for the next stage.
The PRINCE2 Managing a Stage Boundary (SB) process is used for this purpose and will use the product-based planning technique. As this is the end of the initiation stage, the End Stage Report will also need to be created along with an optional Lessons Report.
Authorizing the PID will occur within the Authorize the Project activity, and authorizing the PRINCE2 next Stage Plan will appear at the Authorize a Stage or Exception Plan activity. Both are activities within the Directing a Project process and will generally occur at the same meeting, which is the end-stage assessment.
At this end-stage assessment, as is typical, the project board can approve the next Stage Plan, prematurely close the project, or request that the project manager reworks some aspect of the documentation.
Assuming all is well, the PRINCE2 Project Board will set stage tolerance for the next stage, advise the project manager of the frequency and detail to be included in the regular Highlight Reports and approve the next Stage Plan. This will trigger the project manager to give the first Work Package within this newly approved stage.
Likely, the number and detail of Work Packages within a PRINCE2 management stage and any associated Team Plans have already been thought through during the planning of the relevant management stage.
Whether they have or not, the PRINCE2 method defines that the specialist team should only start work on any product creation once a Work Package containing such work has been authorized by the project manager and accepted by either the team manager or the team members themselves.
The PRINCE2 Team Manager role may optionally be given to an appropriate individual within the specialist team (if the specialist team is a third party, then it may well be that their project manager takes on the role of Team Manager – but remember, there can only be one Project Manager).
The team manager may optionally produce a Team Plan, showing that one or many Work Packages can be delivered within the constraints.
Every Work Package must contain at least one PRINCE2 Product Description. The project manager may optionally set tolerances at the work package level.
Once the Work Package has been agreed upon and accepted, work can start on creating the specialist products contained within the Work Package. At any given point during a stage, there may be one or several Work Packages, possibly given to different teams, being worked on simultaneously.
Alternatively, Work Packages may be given out one after another. This is a very flexible system, and the manner and formality will depend on the nature of the specialist work within the stage. It exemplifies where PRINCE2 can be tailored for a specific project or management stage.
90% of the project budget is spent within the PRINCE2 Managing Product Delivery (MP) process since this is where the specialist products are created.
The ‘execute a work package’ activity is where the specialist products are developed and their quality checks carried out, followed by their approval by the appropriate authority or individual.
The team manager or the team members will produce regular Checkpoint Reports providing information on the status and future forecast of the creation of specialist products. These are sent to the project manager as a report or a meeting.
The project manager will use the PRINCE2 activity of Review Work Package Status to determine the progress of the creation and the approval of these specialist products.
Since the Project Board has approved the PRINCE2 Stage Plan, the project manager must look at progress within the stage.
If the project manager determines that the management stage is forecast to remain within tolerance bounds, they may take corrective action to minimize such tolerance deviations. This may entail giving the specialist team new or modified Work Packages.
In addition, the project manager will need to review the stage status and use the PRINCE2 activity of report highlights, which will generate a Highlight Report to be given to the project board so that they understand the current situation and forecast future progress within the stage.
The project manager will update the Stage Plan with actual progress and modify future actions to ensure the stage plan is predicted to complete within tolerance.
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