PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured method for effective project management. It is a de facto standard used extensively by the UK Government and is widely recognised and used in the private sector, both in the UK and internationally. PRINCE2, the method, is in the public domain, offering non-proprietorial best-practice guidance on project management. PRINCE2 is a registered trademark of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC).
We provide instructor-led training courses for the PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner qualifications
What makes projects different?
A project is a temporary organisation that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to an agreed Business Case.
There are a number of characteristics of project work that distinguish it from business as usual:
- Change
- Temporary
- Cross-functional
- Unique
- Uncertainty
There are six variables that project managers wish to control and manage effectively:
- Costs
- Timescales
- Quality
- Scope
- Risk
- Benefits
The key features of PRINCE2 are…
- Its focus on the existence of a justified business case
- A clear defined organisation structure for the project management team
- A product-based planning approach
- Its emphasis on manageable, controllable stages
- Scalability and flexibility to be applied at a level appropriate to the project.
Benefits of using PRINCE2
The benefits of using the PRINCE2 methodology are:
- PRINCE2 embodies established and proven best practice and governance for project management.
- It can be applied to any type of project – and can easily be implemented alongside specialist, industry-specific models (’engineering models’ or ’development lifecycles’).
- PRINCE2 is widely recognized and understood, and therefore provides a common vocabulary for all project participants – promoting effective communication.
- PRINCE2 provides for the explicit recognition of project responsibilities – so that participants understand each other’s roles and needs.
- Its product focus clarifies (for all parties) what a project will deliver, why, when, by whom and for whom.
- PRINCE2 plans are carefully designed to meet the needs of the different levels in the management team, improving communication and control.
- It is based on a ’management by exception’ framework, providing for the efficient and economic use of management time (whether at corporate, programme, Project Board or project management levels).
- PRINCE2 ensures that participants focus on the viability of the project in relation to its Business Case objectives – rather than simply seeing the completion of the project as an end in itself.
- It defines a thorough but economical structure of reports.
- It ensures that stakeholders (including sponsors and resource providers) are properly represented in planning and decision making.
- Adopting PRINCE2 promotes learning and continual improvement in organizations.
- PRINCE2 promotes consistency of project work and the ability to reuse project assets; it also facilitates staff mobility and reduces the impact of personnel changes/handovers.
- PRINCE2 is an invaluable diagnostic tool, facilitating the assurance and assessment of project work, troubleshooting and audits.
- There are scores of accredited training and consultancy organizations (ATOs and ACOs) operating worldwide, who can supply expert support for PRINCE2 projects or for organizations planning to adopt PRINCE2.
For senior management, PRINCE2 uses ‘management by exception’. The Project Board are kept fully informed of the project and stage status without having to attend regular, time-consuming meetings by way of planned controls, regular reports and exception situations which are brought to the Boards attention at appropriate points.
They are also able to delegate some duties to Project Assurance who will act on their behalf to verify and check at predetermined points in the project.
PRINCE2 may be used for any type of project in any type of environment; however it remains flexible enough to be applied to all sizes of projects and can be tailored to suit a project dependent on the circumstances.
PRINCE2 projects are focussed on delivering specified products to an agreed Business Case.
The Business Case is a key document which is reviewed constantly throughout the project and progress is measured against expected and achieved benefits.
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Posted by Alistair Wylie in PRINCE2® on September 18th, 2007 | 2 Comments »
The benefits of taking a PRINCE2 Training Course are:
- PRINCE2 is the most widely recognised project managment qualification
- A PRINCE2 Qualification will give you first class project management skills
- Sudying PRINCE2 will give you the confidence in managing projects successfully
- Implimenting PRINCE2 in your projects will give you common systems, procedures and language
- You will make fewer mistakes, learn from those that you do make, saving time, money and effort
- Being PRINCE2 qualified will greatly improve your employment prospects
- A PRINCE2 qualification is a great asset for your CV
- PRINCE2 is recognised worldwide and is the standard method for project management.
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Posted by Alistair Wylie in PRINCE2® on October 22nd, 2007 | No Comments »
All of our public PRINCE2 Courses are delivered using the new PRINCE2 2009 manual. If you’re moving from using PRINCE2 2005 to PRINCE2 2009, you’ll need to know what’s changed, so we’ve summarised the main differences below:
There are a number of changes from the PRINCE2 2005 edition manual to the new 2009 edition. These are as follows:
Read the rest of "PRINCE2 2009 update"
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Posted by Alistair Wylie in PRINCE2® on February 12th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Why did the APMG change the Prince2 exam format?
Reasons include:
- Reducing delays in delivering results to delegates, due to the popularity of PRINCE2 there are just too many candidates for the number of markers!
- Reducing costs associated with the labour intensive activity as marking essay exams
- Language-friendly assessment method, to become established within a new language there is a need for a number of expert markers with that language, this causes delays in conquering new markets
- Consistency of assessment, as the essay style exams are inherently subjective there was room for Prince2 exam results to vary depending on the marker, with objective examinations the marking is objective (the same for everyone).
Will the objective examination format raise or lower the PRINCE2 standards?
Actual standards will not be altered however there may initially be a perceived reduction in quality of the assessment procedure. The APMG may arrive with a new level of Prince2 certification that will evaluate people’s ability on actual projects in work environments.
Will there be a view from the project management community about those who have sat the long-answer (essay-style) exam as opposed to objective examination?
There is a perceived view that multiple choice (objective) exams are easier than essay style exams. Although this might not be a true reflection of the situation we expect that there will no doubt be a two-class system for the foreseeable future of those people who sat the ‘original Prince2 Practitioner exam’ and those who sat the ‘Multiple choice Prince2 Practitioner exam’
What feedback will be provided after the Prince2 examination about the results?
A feedback report will give the candidate advice as to how well they performed in the exam. We are unsure if feedback report will be provided to people who pass and people who fail the Prince2 exam – currently for long-answer (essay-style) exams only those who fail receive feedback, usually via the trainer.
If I am sitting the Prince2 Foundation multiple choice exam do I have to also sit the Prince2 Practitioner multiple choice exam – why not just have one exam?
Each Prince2 exam tests different levels of knowledge:
- The Prince2 Foundation level exam measures whether a candidate would be an informed member of a project management team on a project using the PRINCE2 method. To this end they need to show they understand the principles and terminology of the method.
- The Practitioner level exam is aimed to measure whether a candidate would be able to apply PRINCE2 to the running and managing of a project within an environment supporting PRINCE2. In addition to the Foundation qualification, they must show they can apply and tune PRINCE2 to address the needs and problems of a specific project scenario.
What are the implications of changing from sitting the essay-style to multiple choice examination?
We suggest that if you intend on sitting an objective Prince2 examination after receiving training geared towards the essay-style exam you seek additional training to give you the best opportunity to pass. It may, at first glance, look easy however objective exams are more difficult than they seem. There is a different approach to sitting the objective examinations, it includes understanding how the different questions work and understanding how to apply the PRINCE2 method to a scenario while extracting the correct information to answer a question.
What trials have been performed to verify the quality of the Prince2 exams?
The APMG have carried out trials across the country over the last few months and had numerous training days with all PRINCE2 certified trainers to take account of their input and feedback.
Will more or less people pass the Prince2 Practitioner exams now?
We have been told that there will not be a change in the number of people passing the Prince2 exams.
What will be the implications if the objective Prince2 examinations do not work?
Chaos. The world will come to an end. The project is being run by the APM Group – who certify people in PRINCE2, they have the best tools available to them. They are not performing an activity that has not been done before, the chances of failure are low and success is high – contact them if you are concerned that they will not work and log an issue in their issue log.
How long will it take to receive the Prince2 examination results?
It is anticipated that this may be approximately 6 – 8 weeks. However, this may shorten as time passes.
Will a Prince2 certificate still be issued upon successful completion of the Prince2 Practitioner exam?
Yes – the Prince2 certificates are not expected to change, they will be issued approximately 12 weeks after sitting the exam.
Will the Prince2 certificates for the objective examination look any different to the long-answer (essay-style) exam certificates?
There will be no change in the look of the Prince2 certificates.
Will the same Prince2 exam be used for each course or will there be a ‘database’ of questions that is randomly sampled from?
It is expected that there will be a database of questions (similar to the Prince2 Foundation exam) which are sourced randomly and make up the 9 questions.
Will there be a change in Prince2 course price for the new exams?
There will be no change in price, although Prince2 examinations are a large portion of the cost for an exam the additional cost of rewriting material and changing processes will not result in any decrease nor increase in price.
Until what date will I still be able to sit the essay style Prince2 examination?
You will have the option to sit the long-answer (essay) style Prince2 exam until the end of October 2007 at silicon beach training.
When will silicon beach training, offer the objective Prince2 examinations?
silicon beach training, will be offering the new Prince2 exam format from November and by January 1st 2008, all Accredited Training Organisations have to offer the objective examinations.
How long is the Prince2 exam? How long should be spent on each question?
The objective Prince2 exam will remain as 3 hours long, the number of separate questions will increase from 3 to 9 questions, each scheduled to take 20 minutes.
For more information see the question “What is the exact format of the Prince2 exam?”
What reading time is allowed with the new objective exams?
There will be no reading time allowed.
What can I take into an exam with the objective exam format?
Only the official OGC title: Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 can be taken into the exam. No written notes nor additional training provider material can be taken into the exam.
What will I be supplied with in the Prince2 exam?
You will receive a question booklet, an answer booklet and a pencil (including eraser).
What happens if I change my mind?
You can remove your mark on the answer booklet (using eraser) and then select your answer again.
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Posted by Alistair Wylie in PRINCE2® on October 16th, 2007 | 1 Comment »
