Project Tracking in PRINCE2 – PART 2
To remind you what I said in part 1 of project tracking, in the real world projects don’t always go to plan and this can happen for a variety of reasons, some of them internal and some of them external to the project. In this section I want to cover project tracking in terms of reviewing the stage status, reporting on issues, re-planning, taking corrective action, escalating problems, and premature closure.
The project manager will use the PRINCE2 process Controlling a Stage. to perform project tracking.
Starting at the beginning, the project manager has the stage plan authorised by the PRINCE2 project board. For the project manager to remain in control via project tracking, it is important that the progress of the stage should be checked on a regular and timely basis. The focus here is to compare what has actually happened against what was originally planned, and hence what is the forecast for project tracking in terms of the remainder of the stage end of the project. A balance needs to be kept between planning ahead and reacting to events.
The secret here to implement project tracking, is to have in place and effective monitoring system via setting up the project controls to supply a steady flow of project tracking information that will provide an overall view of progress made thus far. When considering the impact of issues or risks, the impact on the stage plan should be understood, but equally the impact on current PRINCE2 work packages and any knock on effects for the other work packages.
One of the most powerful controls, is the use of earned value calculations in your PRINCE2 project , as these enable the precise formula’s for capturing real progress and estimating an accurate forecast based on known earned value calculations various metrics and ratios.
PRINCE2 Project Tracking – three simple steps
- Gathering progress and status information
- Decide what actions are now required
- Implement those actions and ensure they are having the desired effect
Let us now look at some of the data gathering and project tracking actions:
A major project tracking control for the PRINCE2 project manager is that work does not commence until a work package is authorized.
Review recent checkpoint reports in particular, noting work package progress information and the status of any issues and risks. The project manager will be looking here to feel confident that progress is going to plan, hence to note any problems or concerns as part of project tracking.
The PRINCE2 stage plan is the central overall control for the project manager and as actual activities occur, then this data should be added to the plan so that remaining work and product creation for the stage can be forecast accurately.
The project support role is normally responsible for providing configuration management services as these are a vital input into project tracking, and the project manager may wish to request a product status account from them to help identify any variation between planned progress, reported progress and actual progress.
The PRINCE2 risk register should be checked (and updated if necessary), for any new risks or any existing risks which have been revised. The business case, stage plan or the project plan should now be checked in project tracking to establish what if any, impact has occurred due to the risk situation.
In a similar way, the issue register should also be checked, and both are done in the capture and examine issues and risks activity.
As PRINCE2 products are being created within each work package, then these products will have their quality criteria checked, and ultimately approved. The planned dates for all three of these steps should be compared against actual dates in project tracking. In particular the quality register must be checked to establish if there are any quality issues, for example excessive rework required after such a quality check.
Within tolerance, the project manager has the discretion to carry out any corrective actions, and these in particular should be reviewed regularly to ensure that such corrective actions are having the desired effect. Your project tracking system should include aspects of tolerance, particularly for when it is forecast to be exceeded.
The PRINCE2 stage plan will not only contain activity and milestone scheduling information, but also the resources required (human or otherwise), to carry out such activities. As part of authorizing and agreeing a work package, then such resource requirements needs to be available. As the stage progresses, the project manager will want to assess the utilization of such resources not only for the period under review, but also their availability for the remainder of the stage or project to ensure project tracking has all the right information upon which to base decisions.
The focus here is any project tracking variations from plan for the expected future resource availability.
Having gathered the data in the above analysis, the project manager now needs to decide exactly what actions are required. Such actions may include the following:
- Re-estimate the remainder of the PRINCE2 stage and project.
- Authorize a new or modified work package either because the plan states that a new work package is now required, or a modified work package containing any corrective actions. Once authorized, the work package can be executed.
The project manager will want to assess the estimated time and effort to complete all unfinished work within each work package and this should include work that has yet to start. In addition, to confirm that the configuration item record for each product within each work package, matches its status in the real world, and if necessary to update the record as part of project tracking.
Issues and risks will be regularly captured and examined, resulting in either corrective action being taken or escalation if PRINCE2 tolerance is forecast to be exceeded. If needed, the project manager may at any time seek project board advice before taking any action.
It may be that some of the PRINCE2 products during a stage are to be handed over to the customer as part of a phased handover. If this is the case, the project manager would want to request a product status account to ensure that such products have met their quality criteria and have been approved, and that the operational and maintenance staff are prepared to take responsibility for the products. Without a clear understanding of when products are to be completed, then you project tracking system will fail…
As part of managing issues and risks within the stage, the PRINCE2 project manager is responsible for reporting their progress up to the project board via the regular highlight report. This will allow the PRINCE2 project board to confirm that the stage is under control or to clarify any points or issues with the project manager. Remember, they are using the PRINCE2 principle of management by exception, and this feeds into your project tracking system.
The project manager will want to examine the amount of tolerance that has been set, and how much of such tolerance has already been used. This also should be included within the highlight reports.
If at any point during the stage, the project manager can see, that for any reason, stage or project tolerance is now forecast to be exceeded, then a PRINCE2 exception report must be created and sent to each member of the project board. This will contain information from your project tracking system. As a result of their response, the project manager will want to plan such response back into a stage plan. However, the project board may requested that the project manager creates the PRINCE2 exception plan, and this will trigger the managing a stage boundary process resulting in reviewing the exception plan at an exception assessment.
Finally, as a result of project tracking of the project within a stage, it may be necessary to use the process closing the project. This may be needed for a variety of reasons including:
- An issue has been raised causing the business case to be no longer viable
- The impact of a new or modified risk causes the project to be no longer achievable
- The business environment changes negating the need for the project
- The customer no longer needs the project
If at any point, for whatever reason, the PRINCE2 project board decide to implement a premature close the project, then the project manager will use, among other data, the information within the project tracking system and then use the closing a project process to do this.
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