Reviewing and Reporting PRINCE2 7 Progress
PROGRESS USING THE CONTROLLING A STAGE PROCESS
As part of controlling a stage, the project manager will regularly review the progress of work through checkpoint reports and maintain the project registers and logs.
The project manager will use this information to update the stage plan with actual progress achieved. The format and frequency of checkpoint reporting will depend on the needs of individual work packages.
It is also useful to look at trends to get a view of the overall ‘health’ of the management stage. For example, the management stage may seem to be progressing well in terms of the products being completed against the schedule.
However, the issue register may reveal an increasing number of issues which are not being resolved and which may be a cause for concern. Similarly, a high number of outstanding items against a product in the quality register may show design issues with that product.
The following management products assist in reviewing progress:
Issue Register
Contains details of all formal issues raised during the project.
Product Status Account
Provides a snapshot of the status of products within the project, management stage or a particular area of the project.
Quality Register
Records all planned and implemented quality activities.
Risk Register
Records identified risks. In addition, a daily log is a useful tool for recording actions. Project actions may arise from many sources and small actions may simply be recorded on the daily log and marked off when completed.
The daily log can also be used to record informal issues and any other notes or observations that are not captured by any other registers or logs. The daily log is a useful way of recording individual observations that on their own may seem insignificant, but when collated may alert the project manager to a new issue or risk.
Capturing and Reporting Lessons
The lessons log is used for capturing and reporting lessons when reviewing progress.
One of the principles of a PRINCE2 project is that the project management team learns from experience, which means that lessons are sought, recorded and actioned throughout.
It is often in the reviewing of progress that lessons are identified. Lessons could include information about management or specialist processes, products, techniques or procedures that either made a contribution to the project’s achievements or caused a problem.
Examples might include the performance of the project management team, the success of tailoring PRINCE2 to the project, or the analysis of quality statistics and measurements. Larger projects are more likely to make use of a lesson
report as part of this process, where more detail would be helpful. Although lessons may be identified and recorded during a project, learning lessons involves taking action to implement improvements.
These actions may apply to the current project, in which case they should be incorporated into the appropriate plans and work packages, or they may be relevant to different projects.
Reporting Progress
The following management products are used for progress reporting:
Checkpoint Report
Provides the project manager with details of progress against the work package and is typically produced by the team manager.
Highlight Report
Provides the project board with details of progress for the whole project and/or management stage. The project manager produces this report.
End Stage Report
Provides the project board with details of progress towards the end of each management stage (except the final stage), including information on the progress to date, the overall project situation and (together with the next stage plan) sufficient information to ask for a project board decision on what to do next with the project.
The report is produced by the project manager.
End Project Report
Provides the project board with information needed to evaluate the project and authorize closure. It is produced by the project manager towards the end of the project.
Raising Exceptions
The output from reviewing progress is a decision as to whether the work package, stage plan or project plan remains, or is forecast to remain, within agreed tolerances:
Work Package-level Exceptions
Having agreed on work package tolerances with the team manager, the project manager should be kept informed of progress through regular checkpoint reports. If a work package is forecast to exceed its tolerances, the team manager should inform the project manager by raising an issue.
The project manager will advise of any corrective actions required.
Stage-level Exceptions
If the stage is forecast to exceed its tolerances, the project manager should produce an issue report to capture and analyze the details of the deviation and then provide an exception report for the project board.
Based on the information in this report, the project board may request that the project manager produce an exception plan to replace the plan that was forecast to exceed tolerance.
The project board may also remove the cause, accept and adjust tolerance, or request more time to consider or reject the recommendations. If an exception plan is requested, the project board will conduct an exception assessment, similar to the end-stage assessment, to review and approve the exception plan.
Project-level Exceptions
If the forecast is for project tolerances to be exceeded, the project board no longer has the authority to direct the project and must refer the matter to corporate, programme management or the customer for a decision. The project board may request the project manager to produce an exception plan for the project.
PRINCE2 Progress Responsibilities
Senior user
Ensure that progress towards the outcome remains consistent from the user perspective.
Senior supplier
Ensure that progress towards the outcome remains consistent from the supplier perspective.
Project manager
Authorize work packages. Monitor progress against stage plans. Produce highlight reports, end stage reports and the end project report. Produce exception plans and reports for the project board when management-stage-level or project-level tolerances are forecast to be exceeded. Maintain the project’s registers and logs.
Team Manager
Agree work packages with the project manager. Inform project support of completed quality activities. Produce checkpoint reports. Notify the project manager of any forecast deviation from work package tolerances.
Project Assurance
Verify the business case against external events and project progress. Verify changes to the project plan to see whether there is any impact on the needs of the business or the business case. Confirm management stage and project progress against agreed tolerances.
Project Support
Assist with the compilation of reports. Contribute specialist tool expertise (e.g. planning and control tools). Number, record, store and distribute issue reports and exception reports. Assist the project manager in maintaining the issue register and risk register. Maintain the quality register on behalf of the project manager.
Guidance For Effective Progress ManagementAligning with corporate governance processes
A starting point for any project in an organization will be to identify the timing of corporate, programme management or customer governance processes from which the project will require decisions or authority. It is usually advisable to design the project’s control processes to align with corporate, programme management or the customer timings.
Programme and portfolio controls
If the project is part of a programme or portfolio, then the programme or portfolio will usually mandate the progress controls for the project. This will typically include defining common controls, processes, tolerances and timings.
PRINCE2 Progress evaluation techniques
Milestone chart
This is a graphical chart showing key planned and actual milestones in a management stage
S-Curve
This is a graph showing cumulative actual figures for example costs or hours, plotted against time. The curve is usually shaped like the letter “S”, reflecting the fact that a project typically consumes fewer resources and costs than the start and end of the project, and more in the middle.
The steeper the curve, the more resources are required. When planned and actual figures are shown on the same chart, this can be used to identify potential overspend all forecast areas where tolerances may be exceeded.
Earned value management
This is a technique to measure the scope, schedule and cost performance compared with plans, by comparing the completed products and the actual cost and time taken against its schedule and cost estimates. PRINCE2’s approach to product-based planning provides information to support earned value management.
Burn charts
This is a technique for showing progress, for example during the time box, where work that is completed and work still to be done, are shown with one or more lines, and the chart is updated regularly or possibly daily.
This is one of the most popular techniques when using an agile approach and burn charts come in two forms: burn-down charts and burn-up charts. Burn-down charts are the most well known and they show how much work remains, whereas burn-up charts are slightly more complex and they show how much work has been done.
Kanban board
Kanban is a term that covers the use of Kanban systems, which are visual management systems that limit the number of work items in circulation. A Kanban board is a tool used in Kanban to visually display the work in the system or time box.
It is usually made up of a series of columns and possibly rows where work items move from left to right as they move through the various states in order to be completed. A Kanban board acts like a dashboard and enables the team to see blockers and areas where the flow is not smooth.
Measuring the progress of a management stage involves looking backward at the progress made against plans, and forward at what still needs to be completed with what time and resources. There are many techniques available to measure project progress.
PRINCE2 Peer Review
A peer review is where people experienced in project management but outside the project management team are asked to evaluate the project. There are many peer review techniques and the quality management approach should identify the technique(s) appropriate to the project. Example
Example of a peer review technique
The OGC Gateway™ Process
OGC Gateway reviews examine projects prior to key decision points in their lifecycle to provide assurance that they can progress successfully to the next stage.
The process is used in UK central government, the health sector, local government and defence, and has been adopted by numerous other countries.
OGC Gateway reviews are ‘peer reviews’ in which independent practitioners from outside the project use their experience and expertise to examine the progress and likelihood of the successful delivery of the project.
The reviews take place at different points in a project’s lifecycle and are as follows:
- OGC Gateway review 0: strategic assessment
- OGC Gateway review 1: business justification
- OGC Gateway review 2: delivery strategy
- OGC Gateway review 3: investment decision
- OGC Gateway review 4: readiness for service
- OGC Gateway review 5: operations review and benefits evaluation
OGC Gateway reviews 0 and 1 happen prior to the project being authorized to start.
Reviews 2 and 3 happen during the investigative stages prior to a full business case being approved.
Review 4 happens prior to any new operations or services being launched. Review 5 is equivalent to a PRINCE2 post-project benefits review.
An OGC Gateway review is not the same as a ‘gate’ or decision point (such as the end-stage assessment), but a means of providing added assurance as input to the decision on whether the project is likely to meet its objectives. The cost and time of conducting gateway reviews should be included in the project plan and stage plans.
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