PRINCE2 Initiation Stage – The PRINCE2 Plan!
The PRINCE2 Starting Up a Project process takes place pre-project, and is used to generate sufficient evidence so that the PRINCE2 project board can make an informed choice about whether or not to start the project. If their decision is yes, then the project board will want to know what is involved within the initiation stage, and this will include the resources, costs, and timescales.
There are two major activities that take place in the initiation stage, one is the use of the Initiating a Project process to create and assemble the Project Initiation Documentation (PID), and the second is the time, effort, and resources needed to prepare for the End-Stage Assessment when using the Managing a Stage Boundary process. This also ensures that the PRINCE2 initiation stage is not aimless and unstructured.
Remember, that for lengthy or risky initiation stages, the Controlling a Stage and Managing Product Delivery processes may be needed, and therefore the timescales, costs, and resources to carry these out must also be included within the initiation Stage Plan. Consider also, that the initiation stage is normally very interactive, and creates all of the documents contained within the PID.
The final aspect of Starting Up a Project is to prepare for the PRINCE2 initiation stage by creating the initiation stage plan. The purpose of including this plan as part of Starting Up a Project, is that if the PRINCE2 project board decide to proceed, then the project manager can start work straight away on the creation of the management products and activities needed within the initiation stage.
The PRINCE2 initiation stage is devoted entirely to planning and it is where the project initiation documentation is created.
PRINCE2 Initiation Stage Documents
It is highly likely that early draft versions of such documents will be reviewed by the PRINCE2 project board or by project assurance and so communication activities and resources will be quite high. It is important therefore that these are included within the initiation Stage Plan.
The chosen PRINCE2 project approach should be used as a basis for deciding what level of project controls will be needed for the initiation stage. The Senior supplier and other members of the project board will work with the project manager so that they can have discussions to help identify anything that may affect how the project is to be planned and implemented. The PRINCE2 project approach will want to address any constraints such as technology, timescales, budget, etc. Such constraints will affect the project solution outcomes.
The Lessons Log should be reviewed to check for any lessons that can be applied to project controls. PRINCE2 recommends that the project manager should be proactive in seeking out such lessons, rather than expect to just ‘capture’ them! For example, the project manager should liaise with project support as they may have record from previous similar projects that would be of help here (PRINCE2 calls them End Project Reports – as they contain any lessons learned during each past specific project).
But the project manager should go further. Possibly arrange meetings with specialist team members, subject experts, or with other key stakeholder, for example suppliers.
As part of the PRINCE2 controls, the project manager will want to define the reporting arrangements for the initiation stage.
The project manager will want to identify any constraints on the timescale all costs and take those into consideration when producing the Stage Plan for the initiation stage. Similarly, the Daily Log should be inspected for any risks and their impact during the initiation stage should be assessed and included in the Stage Plan.
There are four types of plan in a PRINCE2 project, the Project Plan, relevant Stage Plans, optional Team Plans, and should it be necessary, Exception Plans. All of these will use the PRINCE2 product-based planning technique, and the same is therefore true for the initiation Stage Plan.
The project board need to make a decision at the end of the Starting Up a Project process (remember, it is NOT a stage!), whether or not to to take the project forward and formally start the project, by agreeing to start the Initiation stage or not to proceed any further. If the decision is made to proceed, the project board is only committing the time and resources to carry out the initiation stage, not the rest of the project.
This course is DEPRECATED
The old PRINCE2 6th Edition Foundation and Practitioner syllabus was upgraded in 2024. Check out the brand NEW PRINCE2 7th Edition Masterclass, covering all the current syllabus, training material and online exam benefits HERE
Your Route To PRINCE2 6th Edition Practitioner
Study PRINCE2 6 Foundation and Practitioner Exams with our famous on-line course with streaming HD Video Lessons, study guides and mock exams. In the last fifteen years we have had 6,000+ Academy students successfully transform their careers as PRINCE2 Practitioners.
