Starting Up a Project in PRINCE2
The Starting Up A Project process is the first process to be triggered within PRINCE2. A project can be a standalone or part of a programme. In this case, a project may be initiated by either those within a programme, here called programme management or by appropriate senior management within an organization, here called corporate management.
Either of the above therefore triggers a PRINCE2 project by issuing a Project Mandate. This document should contain, as a minimum, the name of the prospective project board executive and the reasons for the need for the project.
As such, it may only be verbal instruction or an e-mail. Conversely, it could be the final report from a feasibility study. It must contain sufficient information provided by an appropriate authority level to trigger the first PRINCE2 process.
Starting Up a Project is the first process and uses the initials SU. This occurs pre-project and is used as a solid foundation before the first stage in a PRINCE2 project.
Developing detailed plans can consume many resources, and since many projects should not even be started in the first place, it makes sense for SU to be used as a ‘filter’ – both to prevent poorly conceived projects from beginning in the first place and to establish an understanding of the goals and objectives of the project.
In particular, to ensure that there are good business reasons to proceed with the project.
The Project Management Team needs to be designed and appointed, and guidance can be found within the PRINCE2 Organization Theme.
One of the first activities is to nominate the Executive of the Project Board and the Project Manager; the Executive will now design and appoint the remaining roles within the Project Board, including who will fill the Senior User and Senior Supplier roles and how Project Assurance is to be handled.
The project manager will design and appoint any other supporting roles that will be needed, such as project support, configuration management and the optional Team Manager role.
Starting Up a Project – management products.
Two main management products are the output from starting up a project, the Project Brief and a plan for the Initiation Stage.
The Project Brief contains the outline Business Case with sufficient information to justify carrying out the initiation stage and creating the Project Product Description, which includes aspects such as the customer’s quality expectations and acceptance criteria for the project’s end product.
The Project Brief also contains the Project Approach management document. It is essential to create this in the starting up a project process as this lays out the approach used by the project to deliver the end product, for example, basing the design on an existing product or developing an entirely new design, or whether or not resources used for the project will be provided internally or by the use of third parties.
The Project Brief can be seen as a refinement of the Project Mandate and is created in starting up a project. Similarly, the Project Brief will be refined further within the initiation stage to become the Project Initiation Documentation (PID).
A critical principle of PRINCE2 is that of management by exception.
This aims to set tolerance levels at the directing, managing, and delivering management levels within a project.
Tolerance is a limit within which a particular management level may manage without escalating to the next management level above. Corporate/Programme Management must set and agree upon the project tolerance during the Starting Up a Project process.
There are six objectives against which tolerances may be set: time, cost, quality, scope, risk, and benefits. Suppose any of these tolerances are forecast to be exceeded. In that case, an Exception Plan must be raised, which, if approved, would replace the existing plan that would have no longer been completed within tolerance.
Corporate or Programme management has the authority to set project level tolerances (and must do so at the Starting Up a Project process), the Project Board have the power to set stage level tolerances, and optionally, the Project Manager may set tolerances around a particular Work Package.
One of the PRINCE2 principles is to learn from experience. For this reason, the Lessons Log is created during starting of a project and filled with any lessons that can be learned from appropriate individuals and previous similar projects. The project manager would be expected to collect such data proactively.
The Lessons Log will be updated throughout the project, particularly as a source of information to create the optional Lessons Report at the end of each stage and the Lessons Report made as part of the Closing a Project process. In this way, lessons can be passed on to future similar projects.
The Daily Log is also created by the project manager as the first PRINCE2 management product to be made at the start-up of a project process and is used as a ‘diary’ by the project manager for the remainder of the project. But here at SU, it is also used to capture any risks and issues that need to be managed before the formal start of the project.
To proceed any further, the newly formed project board will need to decide at the end of starting up a project to determine whether it is worth investing in creating the PID. In particular, how much work effort and resources are needed in the initiation stage?
In this way, poorly conceived projects can be nipped in the bud before further action is wasted upon them. The information in the Project Brief and the initiation Stage Plan will give the project board sufficient information to make an informed choice at the end of Starting Up a Project.
The Starting Up a Project process culminates with the project manager requesting the Project Board consider authorizing the initiation stage. This uses the first activity, ‘authorizing initiation,’ within the directing a project (DP) process.
The project board may decide not to proceed any further. However, based on the evidence above, let’s assume that, in this instance, they agree to invest in the initiation stage. This will become the formal start of the project, and corporate/programme management will be informed that the project has been initiated.
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