PRINCE2 Progress Theme overview
Progress is the measure of the achievement of the objectives of a plan
Controlling progress is central to project management, ensuring that the project remains viable against its approved business case
Progress control involves measuring actual progress against performance targets of time, cost, quality, scope, benefits and risk
This information is used to make decisions such as whether to approve a management stage or work package, whether to escalate deviations and whether to prematurely close the project, and to take actions as required
Progress can be monitored at work package, Management stage and project level
The PRINCE2 Principle of manage by exception is potentially important to the progress theme
Tolerances are the permissible deviation above and below the plans target for cost and time without escalating the deviation to the next level of management
There may also be tolerance levels for quality, scope, benefits and risk
To be following PRINCE2, a project must as a minimum:
- Define its approach to controlling progress in the PID
- Be managed by stages – PRINCE2 Manage by stages principle
- Set tolerances and the manage by exception against these tolerances – PRINCE2 Manage by exception principle
- Review the business justification when exceptions are raised – PRINCE2 Continued business justification principle
- Learn lessons – PRINCE2 Learn from experience principle
PRINCE2 Provides progress control through:
- Delegating authority from one level of management to the level below it
- Dividing the project into management stages and authorizing the project one management stage at a time – PRINCE2’s Manage by stages principle
- Time driven and event driven progress reporting and reviews
- Raising exceptions – PRINCE2 Manage by exception principle
The project controls should be documented in the PID
PRINCE2 Effective progress management
Aligning with corporate governance processes
The starting point for any project in an organization will be to identify the timing of corporate, programme management or customer governance processes from which the project will require decisions or authority
It is usually a vital to design the projects control process is to align with corporate, programme management or customer timings
Programme and portfolio controls
If the project is part of a programme or portfolio, then the program or portfolio will normally mandate the progress controls for the project. This will typically include defining common controls, processes, tolerances and timings
The Project delivery approach
It is important that the approach to managing progress works with, and supports, the projects chosen delivery approach rather than against it.
For example, in agile it will typically be more appropriate to focus on tracking how much of the requirements is being delivered – as opposed to time and cost overruns as tolerances would have been set in accordance with this
In agile, the frequent delivery of products that meet their acceptance/Quality criteria is a primary source of progress information and provides the basis for forecasting future progress
PRINCE2 Progress evaluation techniques
Milestone chart
This is a graphical chart showing key planned and actual milestones in a management stage
S-Curve
This is a graph showing cumulative actual figures, that is, costs or hours, plotted against time
The curve Is usually shaped like the letter ‘S’ reflecting the fact that a project typically consumes fewer resources and costs at the start and end of the project, and more in the middle
The steeper the curve the more resources are required. When planned and actual figures are shown on the same chart, this can be used to identify potential over spend or forecast areas where tolerances may be exceeded
Earned value management
This is a technique to measure the scope, schedule and cost performance compared with plans, by comparing the completed products and the actual cost and time taken against their schedule and cost estimates.
The PRINCE2 approach to product based planning provides information to support earned value management
Burn charts
This is a technique for showing progress such as during a Timebox, where work that is completed and work still to be done by shown with one or more lines, and the chart is updated regularly, typically daily
This is one of the most popular techniques when using an agile approach and burn charts come in two forms: Burn down charts and Burn up bar charts
Burn down charts are the most well-known and they show how much work remains, whereas Burn up charts are slightly more complex and they show how much work has been done
Kanban board
Kanban Is a term that covers the use of Kanban systems, which are visual management systems that limit the number of work items in circulation
A Kanban board is a tool used in Kanban to visually display the work in the system (or Timebox)
It is usually made up of a series of columns and possibly roles where work items move from left to right as they move through various states to be completed
A Kanban board acts like a dashboard and enables the team to see blockers and areas where the flow is not smooth
Measuring the progress of a management stage involves looking backward on the progress made against plans, and forward on what still needs to be completed with what time and resources
Peer Review
The OGC Gateway™ Process
OGC Gateway Reviews examine projects prior to key decision points in their life cycle to provide assurance that they can progress successfully to the next stage
The process is used in UK Central government, the health sector, local government and defense, and has been adopted by numerous other countries
OGC Gateway Reviews are ‘peer reviews’ in which independent practitioners from outside the project use the experience and expertise to examine the progress and likelihood of the successful delivery of the project
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