What is Controlling a Stage?
In PRINCE2, projects are divided into manageable stages. The Controlling a Stage process is all about keeping each stage on track. It’s like being the captain of a ship, ensuring everything runs smoothly and any course corrections are made promptly. This process is essential for maintaining control and ensuring the project delivers its intended outcomes.
By the process of controlling a stage can seem a bit daunting when you see the number of activities. Indeed, it’s a busy process, but it’s very straightforward when you take on board that it is simply the day to day work of the project manager (not counting the end stage stuff that the process managing a stage boundary covers)
Key Activities in Controlling a Stage
- Authorizing Work Packages
- What it is: This involves giving the green light to specific tasks or sets of tasks (work packages) within the stage.
- Why it matters: It ensures that work is only started when it’s properly planned and resourced.
- Reviewing Work Package Status
- What it is: Regularly checking in on the progress of work packages.
- Why it matters: It helps identify any issues early and ensures that work is progressing as planned.
- Receiving Completed Work Packages
- What it is: Accepting completed work packages and verifying they meet the required standards.
- Why it matters: It ensures that the work done is up to scratch and ready for the next phase.
- Reviewing Stage Status
- What it is: Periodically reviewing the overall status of the stage.
- Why it matters: It provides a big-picture view, helping to ensure the stage is on track to meet its objectives.
- Reporting Highlights
- What it is: Providing regular updates to stakeholders on the progress and any significant achievements or issues.
- Why it matters: It keeps everyone informed and engaged, ensuring transparency and trust.
- Capturing and Examining Issues and Risks
- What it is: Identifying, documenting, and analyzing any issues or risks that arise during the stage.
- Why it matters: It allows for proactive management and mitigation of potential problems.
- Escalating Issues and Risks
- What it is: Bringing significant issues or risks to the attention of higher management when they can’t be resolved at the current level.
- Why it matters: It ensures that critical problems are addressed promptly and effectively.
- Taking Corrective Action
- What it is: Implementing measures to address any deviations from the plan.
- Why it matters: It helps keep the stage on track and ensures that any issues are resolved quickly.
- Updating the Project Plan
- What it is: Making necessary adjustments to the project plan based on the progress and any changes.
- Why it matters: It keeps the project plan current and relevant, ensuring it accurately reflects the project’s status.
- Updating the Business Case
- What it is: Reviewing and updating the business case to ensure it remains valid.
- Why it matters: It ensures that the project continues to deliver value and aligns with business objectives.
Tips for Passing the PRINCE2 7 Foundation Exam
- Understand the Concepts: Make sure you grasp the key activities and their importance. Don’t just memorize—understand why each activity matters.
- Use Real-World Examples: Think of real-world scenarios where you can apply these activities. This helps in retaining the information and understanding its practical application.
- Practice with Mock Exams: Take as many practice exams as you can. This familiarizes you with the exam format and helps identify areas where you need more study.
- Join Study Groups: Collaborate with others preparing for the exam. Discussing concepts and sharing knowledge can provide new insights and reinforce learning.
- Stay Positive and Confident: Believe in yourself! You’ve got this. A positive mindset can make a big difference in your exam performance.
Revising the PRINCE2 7 Controlling a Stage process
The controlling a stage process is basically so simple that if it didn’t already exist, you could quickly design it yourself. If you think exactly what the activities would need to be, then it would be similar to the following list:
- Controlling the flow of work out to the project teams
- Giving out work assignments (work packages) to team managers
- Checking progress on the work packages
- Giving the work back when it’s finished
- Dealing with any new issues and risks that are sent in
- Checking how the stage is it going against its plan and whether the risk situation has changed or whether anything is affecting the business case
- If the stage is going off track, taking action in one of two ways:
- Dealing with it if it within the project managers delegated authority; that may involve changing the plan had it, and so aspects help further work packages are given out to teams
- Referring the problem to the project board if it’s beyond the project manager’s authority to deal with – such as when a stage will go significantly over its planned time no matter what the project manager does
- Dealing with it if it within the project managers delegated authority; that may involve changing the plan had it, and so aspects help further work packages are given out to teams
- Reporting progress to the project board with the information and that the frequency set down in the communications management plan or the “controls” section of the project initiation documentation
There’s nothing difficult about the above list. When you see the activities in groups, such as the three activities dealing with the control of work packages, then the process actually becomes very easy to absorb.
Revision checklist – PRINCE2 foundation exam
PRINCE2 Foundation Exam Controlling a Stage
- You understand how this process gives out work assignments, checks progress on them, and agrees their completion
- You understand how new issues and risks are dealt with
- You understand how to check that the stage is progressing in an acceptable manner or, and if it is going off track either dealing with the problem or referring it to the Project Board
- You understand the purpose of a Work Package both as an instruction and as a control
- You understand that a team may have one or more Work Packages within a stage
- You are familiar with the boundary between the Controlling a Stage and Managing Product Delivery processes as a customer/supplier interface
- You are familiar with the fact that this process is used for each stage within the project
- You are familiar with the activities within the process in terms of the purpose of each, and what management products each involves
- You appreciate that the Controlling a Stage process will trigger the Managing a Stage Boundary process either to prepare for an end stage assessment, or as a result of an exception situation, where the Closing a Project process may be triggered instead
- You understand the purpose and use of the Highlight Report, that it is created by the Project Manager, sent to the Project Board and others as laid down within the communications management approach
- You are familiar with the difference of project management actions covering the “Take corrective action” and “Escalate issues and risks” activities
- You are familiar with the use of tolerance and its influence on whether an issue should be escalated to the Project Board or dealt with by the Project Manager
- You are familiar with the formal and informal use of issues including the use of the Issue Report and the information it contains
Understanding PRINCE2 work packages
A work package is simply a work assignments given to a team manager by the project manager. You can think of the work package as being an instruction pack where the project manager tells the team manager:
- What is to be produced in the assignment?
- How things are to be communicated to the project management level from the delivery level – such as team progress reporting via the checkpoint reports
- How the finished work is to be returned all reported as complete
The work package, then, is both an instruction and then authority to produce a single product or perhaps to or three products which it makes sense to work on together.
For example for a cabling in a new office suite, there is a need, say, for mains electrical cabling, lighting cabling and computer cabling.
A decision has been made to give out work to a table in company, and there company will send in a table in team.
But it makes sense for the team to do all the cabling at once and so “build” the three products in parallel rather than do all the mains cabling and finish it, then tackle the lighting and finally the computer cabling.
The work package will specify that there are three products involved, and it will include copies of the three product descriptions.
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