The PRINCE2 7 Plans practice
The purpose of the PRINCE2 Plans practice is to facilitate communication and control by defining
the products to be delivered (the ‘what’ ) and the means to deliver them (the ‘who’, the ‘how’, the ‘where’, and estimates of the ‘when’ and for ‘how much’ ) to satisfy the project business case (the ‘why’ ).
The definition of a plan
A proposal that outlines the what, where, when, how, and who of the project as a whole (or a subset of its activities). In PRINCE2, there are the following types of plans: project plan, stage plan, team plan, and exception plan.
Plans enable understanding and communication
Plans integrate three perspectives:
- the user’s expectations of the products to be delivered
- the benefits to be realized
- the project management team’s assessment of the most effective approach to meet these expectations
The business support for the project includes the commitment of funding, people, and resources.
The development of a plan enables the project management team to assess and understand:
why: the user’s driving requirements and the benefits they expect to realize
what: the products to be delivered and their associated acceptance criteria and quality specifications
how: the delivery method and any constraints
when: the sequence and estimated duration of delivery activities
where: the locations and facilities involved in delivery and acceptance
who: the required skills and responsibilities of the project team and how they will be organized
How much is the estimated cost of the agreed products and the associated delivery and management activities?
Additionally, it will enable the project management team to assess and understand:
- risks that may be encountered in the course of delivery
- issues that affect the accuracy or realism of the plan.
Plans enable control
Plans provide the backbone of the information required to manage a project. When approved, a plan provides a baseline against which progress can be measured and issues assessed. Without a plan, no reference point exists against which scope, benefits, quality, risks, issues, and progress can be monitored and controlled.
An approved and baselined project plan represents the agreed scope of the project.
A stage plan represents the scope of a stage, and a team plan, where used, defines the scope of work allocated to a specific team.
A clear understanding of what is and what is not within the approved project scope is essential to avoid uncontrolled changes, often called scope creep.
Scope creep refers to the gradual expansion of a project’s scope beyond its original boundaries, which can lead to increased costs, delays, and a loss of focus on the project’s objectives.
Guidance for effective planning
PRINCE2 provides a comprehensive approach to planning and a flexible set of plans. Planning considers all phases of the project lifecycle and all products and activities that occur within the project.
Planning occurs continuously as all issues regarding the plan’s impact must be considered.
Planning horizon
Plans are always based on estimates. Estimates can become increasingly uncertain due to the length of a project, the type of products or delivery model, or the complexity or dynamic of the project environment.
For this reason, planning activities and plans should only cover a period whereby it is possible to plan with reasonable confidence. This period, known as the planning horizon, is the timeframe within which the project’s scope, activities, and resources can be reasonably predicted and planned for.
The planning horizon will impact the level of detail that can be planned. If the project plan has a long planning horizon, it will be a high-level plan; the stage plan has a shorter planning horizon and is a more detailed plan.
In a shorter planning horizon, more detail can be planned.
Plans that extend beyond the planning horizon incorporate uncertainties that introduce their own risks to the project. For example, a plan that details the day-to-day activities of team members a year or more in the future will almost certainly be inaccurate.
The PRINCE2 principle of manage by stages addresses the need to keep plans within reasonable planning horizons. This approach involves breaking the project into manageable stages, each with its own plan, which allows for more accurate planning and control.
For this reason, a PRINCE2 project has:
- A project plan is a high-level description of how and when the objectives will be achieved. It shows the significant products, activities, and required people and resources. (It provides a baseline against which to monitor progress throughout the project’sproject’s life.)
- A stage plan for the current stage is a detailed document based on more precise estimates that are achievable within the planning horizon.
Levels of plans
All PRINCE2 plans have the same fundamental structure. What differs is the purpose, scope, and level of detail. For example, a project plan covering the entire project lifecycle is less detailed than a stage plan covering only a single stage.
Whatever the type of plan, it should provide sufficient information for the project management team to be confident that it represents a realistic assessment of the products to be delivered and the work required.
Project Plan definition
A high-level plan showing the major products of the project and when, how, and at what cost they will be delivered.
The project plan is not just a document, it’s a roadmap to success. It provides confidence to the project board that the project will fulfil its business case, and informs the project management team that they have a viable approach to deliver the required products within the approved resources and tolerances.
The project plan should identify the number of stages, details of the stage boundaries, and proposed work packages into which the product delivery activities will be organized.
These work packages typically represent the top level of the project’s work breakdown structure. The project plan should state whether each work package will be delivered sequentially or iteratively.
In an iterative-incremental project, some work packages may be detailed in a subsequent stage plan, but their general purpose and scope should be stated in the project plan. This ensures that the stage plan aligns with the overall project strategy outlined in the project plan.
The project plan is created during the project’s initiating stage and baselined upon its approval by the project board, a key governance body responsible for overseeing the project’s progress and ensuring it aligns with the organization’s strategic objectives.
In the process of managing a stage boundary, any necessary changes to the project plan should be approved by the project board and reflected in an updated and baselined project plan.
Stage plan definition
A detailed stage plan is used for project management control throughout a stage. A stage plan is prepared for each stage.
The stage plan is similar to the structure of the project plan, but each element is divided into the level of detail required for day-to-day control by the project manager.
The information provided in a stage plan should be traceable back to the project plan.
An indicator that a project is at risk of scope creep is when activities or products in a stage plan cannot be linked to a high-level element of the project plan.
Each stage plan should include a product breakdown structure showing the products’ scope and relationships.
Each stage plan should also include a work breakdown structure for the stage, identifying the major activities to be performed during the stage and the people and resources involved in each of these activities.
The stage plan for initiating a project is created during the process of starting up a project.
Subsequent stage plans are prepared near the end of the current stage.
This approach allows a stage plan to:
- be produced close to the time when the planned activities will occur
- exist for a much shorter duration than the project plan, accommodating the planning horizon
- be produced with the knowledge of the performance of earlier stages.
Team plan definition
A plan is used to organize and control the work of a team when executing a work package. Team plans are optional in PRINCE2.
A team manager produces a team plan to facilitate the execution of one or more work packages. The need for these plans is determined by the size and complexity of the project and the nature of the resources involved.
A team plan can be helpful when the team is a temporary organization with staff from different parts of an organization.
Exception plan definition
A plan that follows an exception report and explains how the project will respond to the exception within the stage.
When a project or stage exceeds (or is anticipated to exceed) an agreed tolerance, a project manager will raise an exception report to the project board.
If the project board decides to address the exception within the stage, the project management team will prepare an exception plan that covers how directed actions will be performed.
Subject to the magnitude of the exception plan’s impact, it may be limited to remediation actions such as more frequent inspections in response to a quality exception.
If resolving the exception requires actions beyond the scope of the current stage, those actions must be addressed through a change to the project plan.
Exception plans are not required for team plans used to manage the delivery of work packages.
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