Product-based Planning using PRINCE2
I have written another article on product-based Planning, but this one is different because I explain how to WORKSHOP the technique in detail. If this sounds like PRINCE2 is not in the real world, think again. This article gives you some ideas and approaches when using the powerful PRINCE2 technique called Product-based Planning.
It is helpful first to consider where product-based Planning is used in a PRINCE2 project. There are three levels of plan and four types of plan possible within a PRINCE2 project, all of which use product-based Planning. These are:
- The Project Plan (mandatory)
- The Stage Plan (usually used)
- The Team Plan (optional)
The Exception Plan is only ever needed should the Project Plan or stage plan cause the project manager to forecast that the Tolerance of that plan is to be exceeded.
In such a case, if the project board requests it, an Exception Plan will be created, and if approved, replace the plan that would no longer finish within Tolerance.
Therefore an Exception Plan must have the same level of detail as the plan it replaces – so these, too, need to use product-based Planning!
For each of these situations, the Product-Based Planning Technique is used.
In PRINCE2, all plans are documents, and the planning process is used to create such a document. The planning process consists of several activity steps. It is the general activity of defining and then analyzing the products done to perform product-based Planning.
The Product Based Planning Technique consists of four steps:
- Create a Project Product Description for the project’s final product (used for Project Plan only)
- Create the Product Breakdown Structure
- Create a Product Description for each lower-level product
- Create a Product Flow Diagram
The first activity is to design the plan, typically only used once in the project during PRINCE2 product-based planning to agree on how it will be presented and used. When creating the next stage plan at the end of a stage, deciding on the design and layout, for example, would be option
For a small and straightforward project, the four PRINCE2 product-based planning steps listed above may only consist of one step.
Suppose the project only has one primary end product. In that case, the diagrams are not required — maybe only the Project Product Description is needed – but this would be an extreme example of applying product-based Planning.
For slightly more complex projects, there may only be a handful of products, and the two diagrams within PRINCE2 product-based planning can be sketched out in minutes.
However, this will still mean product descriptions must be created for significant products. The guideline here is” Does creating a product description add value”. The critical question is, “Would determining the product quality criteria be helpful?”
Even if there were (say) four products to be created, then the Product Breakdown Structure may be optional. Still, the Product Flow Diagram will enable the creation sequence of the products, giving vital activity scheduling information after you have performed product-based Planning.
But how product-based Planning is applied to a particular project may be more than just all or nothing. For example, if the resources for the initiation stage plan are apparent and straightforward, then a simple statement of the time frame and those resources may be sufficient.
During the initiation stage, the project plan is created and uses the product-based planning technique. Because of the high-level nature of the Project Plan, not all products may be known at this time, or, for those that are known, not all of the details can be determined at this point.
This suggests that when planning a particular stage at some future point for a given project, existing and incomplete product descriptions can now have extra information added, along with creating new product descriptions by decomposition, known for the first time and their sequence at this point during product-based Planning.
The planning process consists of several activity steps. It is the general activity of defining and then analyzing the products, that is done to perform product based planning.
Product-Based Planning In The Real World
As with most product-based Planning, it is best done within a team environment such as a planning workshop. This has the advantage of using the combined knowledge, skills, and experience of all those present. The best practical way of carrying out such a workshop is by doing the following:
- Distributing a draft copy of the Project Product Description and refining the information via a flip chart or overhead projector.
- Create the product breakdown structure. Consider splitting the participants into groups or facilitating them as one large group. Give each participant a set of POST-IT Notes, and get them to name the products they believe necessary — one name per Post-It.
- Using a large sheet of paper usually mounted on a wall, get each Post-it laid out as a product breakdown structure. Be prepared for more than one opinion of the correct structure; it is essential to reach a compromise.
- Draft copies of all significant product descriptions can now be created, or you may choose to leave such creations until both diagrams have been created.
- Reusing the Post-it notes to create the product flow diagram will be pretty straightforward.
- The remaining steps of the planning process (after product-based Planning) will now be dealt with.
Estimating. PRINCE2 gives little advice on estimating, which is good because projects and industries will vary significantly in their use of estimating techniques. However, the following points may be helpful:
PRINCE2 Planning Top-down estimating
This is usually used when creating the project plan level.
This can be done using a flip chart with a few key people to determine the high-level technical tasks needed.
Examples such as design, development, testing, etc., can be used here. Using the experience of the people present, a top-level approach to costs and timescales for each of these activities can be estimated.
The activities used for each product can be summed together to get a ‘development cost/budget’ for each product within product-based Planning.
An example might be,” This activity will take around four weeks and will need, on average, three people working full-time”. Once you know the labour costs and other non-than human resources, it is easy to arrive at a cost figure. Drawing a simple Gantt Chart on the flipchart will give top-level estimates of the total project duration
PRINCE2 Planning Bottom-Up Estimating
This is usually used when creating the stage or team plan levels.
The secret here is to estimate the task duration rather than the work effort needed within each task. The time and costs for each task can be estimated by making assumptions about how many people will work on each task.
The tasks or activities needed to create each product can be set up in the correct sequence, showing the proper dependencies between each. Using a planning tool and the experienced advice from the team helps achieve this.
PRINCE2 Planning Scheduling
Using the name of each product in turn, get the participants to create new post-it notes, one for each activity that would be necessary to make each product. These new Post-it notes can now be used directly to create a traditional network diagram. The product Post-it notes will be represented on such a diagram as a milestone.
What happens next will depend upon the complexity of the project. PRINCE2 assumes the use of a planning tool, and it is often best to bring this planning meeting to a close and use the network diagram as an information source to enter activities directly into such a tool.
The remaining steps within scheduling can now take place, such as Critical Path analysis, resource levelling and loading, agreeing control points, and creating other costs and resource plans.
PRINCE2 Planning Risk Analysis
This consists of using the team to determine this particular plan’s risks. This uses risk analysis, including the selection of possible risk responses.
These actions will need to be built into the plan in the form of activities and resources — resulting in returning to previous steps to include these resources, for example, within the network diagram. It is important to take detailed notes here for inclusion within the Risk Register – particularly for each Risk Owner.
PRINCE2 Planning Completing the Plan.
This is the final step, and since in PRINCE2 all plans documents, the narrative sections of the plan can now be created — resulting in the completed draft document.
It is advised that copies of this draft be circulated to all involved in the Planning with requests for feedback to create a second draft. Project Assurance should review all draft copies of Plans.
It can also be helpful to give copies of such draft plans to project board members before an end-stage assessment so that the meeting can be used to clarify and make decisions on whether the project should proceed.
In summary, you can see that the powerful PRINCE2 product-based planning technique is used first, then followed by traditional methods to complete the plan documentation.
Want To Know More?
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.
