PRINCE2 7 Managing Change, Scope Creep, and Tolerance Exam Questions
KEEPING A FIRM HAND ON PROJECT ISSUES
As a PRINCE2 7 Coach, Trainer and Consultant (not to mention an ex-examiner!), by far and away the most common question and confusion is about project changes and tolerances.
Not interested in PRINCE2 7 – just project management best practices? Then read on, because this article is ALL about managing change – in ANY project …
I was spurred to write this article by an excellent question raised by one of my smart students (you know who you are!)———————————–
I have a question about a scenario in the Change Theme which is causing some confusion in understanding particularly with respect to prioritizing and considering tolerances, and wonder if you can confirm/correct my understanding.
In a scenario where there are many RFC’s raised in a project, the Project Manager would record the issues in the Issue Register (assuming they are all to be managed formally), then assess the issues, recommend actions and recorded the information in the Issue Report/s.
If the Project Manager recommends any actions that are forecast to breach tolerance, then he/she would have need to seek advise from the Project Board as well?
If in the PRINCE2 Exam, a question is asked whether it is appropriate to use the MoSCoW technique to prioritize the RFC’s, is the answer ‘Yes’?My understanding is that it is OK for the Project Board/Change Authority to use the MoSCoW technique to prioritize the RFC’s.
In addition, when the Project Board performs the ‘Decide on corrective Actions’ step for each RFC in the prioritized list, it may ‘Approve the change’, ‘Reject the Change’, ‘Defer decision’, Request for more info.’, or ‘Ask for an Exception Plan’.
Is my understanding correct?
Okay dear reader, first let me get your emotions bubbling even further – here are just 3 excerpts from typical exam questions including part of the above question:
1. A change authority has been appointed for the project. During development, several changes were proposed to the end-product design. The change authority used the MoSCoW technique to prioritize those change impacts – is this appropriate?
(Note: this is giving you a rib-digging on whether you fully understand the change request sequence of steps)
2. Marketing wants to add a new product item to the project, and this has been approved by the project board. It is expected to delay stage completion by 5 days and cost an extra $2,500. The Stage cost tolerance of $2,000 has not been used – neither has the change budget of $800 been used yet. How could this change be funded?
(Note: this confidence-killer is just teasing you and suggesting tolerances and change budgets can be used as a slush fund – don’t be tempted!)
One more …
3. Two work packages must occur one after the other and cannot be done in parallel.
Both have zero tolerances. During execution, there is a problem in the first work package, so the team manager rescheduled that first work package to one week later. He reported this fact to the project manager in his weekly checkpoint report. Is this okay?
(Note: – no it’s bloody not! Again those cunning foxes the Examiners, are testing your mettle about the rules behind tolerances – and finding out whether you fully understand them…)
Okay, have I got your juices flowing yet? Help is at hand – I will now demystify the whole can of worms …
Managing Change Basics
To be following PRINCE2, a project must, as a minimum:
- define its change control approach. This approach must minimally cover: how issues are identified and managed
- assess whether identified issues might have a material impact on the business justification of the project (PRINCE2 7’s continued business justification principle)
- the roles and responsibilities for change control (PRINCE2 7’s defined roles and responsibilities principle), including a defined change authority
- define how product baselines are created, maintained and controlled
- maintain some form of issue register to record identified issues and decisions relating to their analysis, management and review
- ensure that project issues are captured, examined, managed and reviewed throughout the project lifecycle
- use lessons to inform issue identification and management (PRINCE2 7’s learn from experience principle).
PRINCE2 7 requires that the following products are produced and maintained:
- Issue register captures and maintains information on all the issues that are being formally managed
- Issue management approach Identifies how, and by whom, the project’s products will be controlled and protected
- If the issue register does not contain sufficient detail (e.g. for the options appraisal, recommendation and decision), then a separate issue report can be used but this is an optional management product
- The project’s controls for issues and change will be defined and established during the initiating a project process, then reviewed and (if necessary) updated towards the end of each management stage by the managing a stage boundary process
All very good.
Next, you MUST understand there are FIVE types of issues (of which TWO are types of change that can occur in any project:
- Problem or a concern
- External project event
- Business Opportunity
- ARequest for change
- Off-specification
IMPORTANT. It is only the Business/commissioning level who can request an Exception Plan – if a Work Package tolerance is forecast to be exceeded, then the Team Manager raises this as an Issue.
Take special notice of the FIVE possible decisions/actions they can take:
THE IMPORTANT BIT!
Drill this into your head – changes of any type all fall UNDER the umbrella of baseline documents and Tolerance.
Tolerance is setting the rules for Management By Exception. The escalation of a Tolerance situation must first be escalated when that tolerance is FORECAST to be exceeded – we don’t sit around at the bar on the Titanic saying “so far – so good”
“Keep drinking chaps – I have escalated the fact we have exceeded ship hull-to-ice Tolerance to the captain – another large gin and tonic please bar-keep!”
So no matter how much detail an exam question is giving you about some situation regarding changes – whether its about to happen, whether it might happen, or even it has happened – the FIRST criteria you must ascertain – is, “has this situation caused (the Forecast of) Tolerance to be exceeded?“
If it HAS – then you *MUST* escalate it immediately – no ifs buts or and! Even If the situation does not appear to exceed tolerances, then follow the change control process.
See it this way, Tolerance is the umbrella under which ALL changes and issues occur
Now onto the next knotty problem:
Change Authorities, Budgets and Concessions
The first point is to remember the THREE levels of Tolerance authority (see below graphic):
WITHIN those authority levels (although it is normally never done at project level) are three aspects that must be understood:
- Change Authority. Keep a clear head – this is saying nothing more than “those at each tolerance level are responsible for managing change WITHIN that tolerance
- It’s just that common practice for the Project Board (because they have busy days playing golf – *joke*), that they will often delegate their change and issue management responsibilities to a “Change Authority“
- They can ONLY delegate the actions – NOT the ‘buck stops here’ responsibility for project-level tolerances
- It is Corporate or Programme Management who ALONE have the authority to SET project level tolerances for the Project Board – the Project Board ALONE can set Stage level tolerances, and the Project Manager ALONE who can set Work Package tolerances
If you are not clear about that, my graphic below will do the job to clear your head:
IMPORTANT
The Change Authority must still obey Tolerance settings
A Concession at any level, can only be made WITHIN Tolerance settings
A Change budget is ONLY there (if it is set up) to pay to fund the approved changes and any management costs involved for each change (such as the resource costs of analyzing the change)
EXAM HINT. Resist any question suggestions that change budgets (or risk budgets) or worst of all Tolerances – can be used to fix off-plan spending. No They Can’t!
Moving on – next up, you need to be crystal clear about the steps in taking an issue from first identification, right through to resolution.
The PRINCE2 Issue and Change Management Procedure
Again, a common ploy in tricky exam questions is to set the reader up (that’s you!), by suggesting a course of action has already been put in place – the smart Project Manager will first remind themselves of the following graphic (go to bed memorizing this, and wake up drawing it!)
Pay close attention to the blue boxes showing the FIVE steps: – Capture, Assess (Impact Analysis), Recommend, Decide, and Implement.
Ask yourself this question:”If some form of issue situation arises, HOW does the project manager know the correct action to move the situation forward?”
See, don’t just view the above graphic as “a PRINCE2 procedure for managing issues”, rather, see it as a superb problem-solving techniquefor managing day-to-day project situations –
It *really* is that good!
Many exam questions try to get you to side-step the Assess step.
And here’s another point. For small simple projects or small simple issues, those FIVE steps above may be done in a very informal, quick and simple manner. The Examine step could be a desk-side chat, or a swift sketch – taking just 15 minutes or so.
Step FOUR above is the killer – no matter how small, simple, or informal – the Decide step must be carried out by the appropriate level of Tolerance authority – Got It?!
Think on this, how can you know if the situation will cause tolerance to be exceeded if you don’t first examine/analyze the situation?
How can you Propose (the next step) any sort of action unless you have first analysed it?
And while I am at it. Do you remember the first those 3 exam question snippets I gave you?
Notice in the diagram above, the Examine/Impact Analysis Step – see that little green box? It suggests that you need, for each issue, to ascertain its Severity and Priority.
This is where MoSCoW could come into play …Also – and this is where Tolerance and issue management collide – we come to the Decide Step. In any exam question, ask yourself WHO has the Tolerance authority to decide.
That’s It. DO drop me an email when you become a PRINCE2 Practitioner – or just a better Project Manager by following my advice above.
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