PRINCE2 Projects involving multiple owning organizations
PRINCE2 Multi-owned Projects
The guidance for tailoring PRINCE2 in a multi owned project is like that for the commercial customer/supplier context. However, in multi organization projects, tailoring can become extremely complicated.
Project boards may have more members than can practically make effective decisions.
If the parties have equal authority, a consensus must be built on each decision, which can be time consuming. As a result, project managers may begin to take decisions that are beyond their remit so that momentum is maintained.
For complicated situations, consideration should be given to adopting program management as a more effective means of governance.
When the project is being sponsored by several separate organizations, ensure governance is unambiguously defined, especially with respect to whom can make which decisions, how risk is allocated and what happens in the case of non-performance.
PRINCE2 Projects within programs
If the project is part of a programme, people undertaking programme management roles may also defined, influence or constrain tailoring. As a project within the programme may have different contexts, including any combination of simple project, agile and commercial, all the guidance for those situations may apply to the project.
If the project is part of a programme, take care to ensure that the management products and other documentation are clearly labelled to identify the project, so that readers are not confused as to whether it is a programme level documents or which project within the programme it relates to.
Effective use of PRINCE2 in an organization
In large organizations, there can be hundreds of projects.
Requiring each project manager to work directly from PRINCE2 to create a management approach and controls for each project is wasteful both in tailoring time, and the learning needed at senior management, stakeholders and project management team levels.
There are other potential situations that need resolving:
- The lessons from one project may not be easily exploited on other projects and soap teams will continually invent different ways of doing the same thing
- Building, the information support systems can be a problem if there is no common approach
- Training is likely to be generic and less effective if it is not focus on the organizations challenges.
For the above reasons, organizations often find it more effective and efficient to develop their own project management method, based on PRINCE2 and tailored to suit their needs and circumstances.
The increase in business performance from effective use of project management methods across an organization is more likely to be effective for organizations of higher maturity.
Adopting PRINCE2 in an organization involves two key activities:
- Tailoring PRINCE2 to create the organization’s own project management method
- Imbedding the tailored methods by ensuring that people in the organization understand and use its appropriately
Tailoring PRINCE2 to create an organization’s project management method
An organization’s project management method should form a seamless part of the organizations overall governance and management system.
Tailoring PRINCE2 for an individual project can be carried out as summarize in the diagram below:
The same concepts are applicable when creating an organization’s project management method based on PRINCE2
In addition, rather than consider the circumstances of just an individual project, all the projects that the organization typically undertakes need to be considered, together with any other organizations, or externally adopted, policies, processes and practices as shown below:
The way in methods is drafted, influence is the extent to which it will be used.
A method which has a consistent look and feel with a logical structure is likely to promote more confidence in its users than one which is documented in a variety of formats, styles and media.
You need to ensure that the content is consistent, especially the terminology, whether in information systems, documents, posters, videos, presentations all websites. The greater the consistency between the parts, the easier it will be for people to understand.
Tailoring PRINCE2 to create such an effort would be undertaken by the owner of the project management method. A project manager would normally only have to deal with those aspects which are unique to the project being managed, as shown in the diagram above
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