You can also download the solution to check your answers at the bottom of the revision post (but no cheating please)!!
We’re committed to making learning PRINCE2 as easy and enjoyable as possible – so before you attend one of our PRINCE2 courses we provide a comprehensive pre-course workbook which contains loads of quizzes and guidance to make preparing for the course as interactive as we can.
A project is a unique series of actions designed to accomplish a unique goal.
The Project brief is the first key document in PRINCE2’s prescribed method for starting up a project.
A project is defined as a temporary organisation, created to deliver one or more business products based on and agreed Business Case.
The Project Manager will spend most of their time on the Controlling a Stage process which describes the day to day monitoring and control activities for the project.
The Project Initiation document collates most of the documents from the SU (Starting up a Project) and IP (Initiating a Project) processes.
The Project Initiation Documents, including the Project Plan are part of the Initiating a Project process which examines the justification for the project.
The pre-project process that gathers the necessary data to start a project is the Start up a Project process.
The process that provides a controlled way to complete a stage and plan the next one is Managing a Stage Boundary.
Information is provided to the Project Board at the end of each stage about the current status of a project as part of the Managing a Stage Boundary process.
The project’s Products are delivered as part of the Managing Product Delivery process.
There can be up to four outputs from the Managing Product Delivery process.
Delivery of the products and preparation for project closure are part of the Closing a Project process.
All the products defined in the Project Plan are listed in order of importance in the Product Breakdown Structure.
The Team Manager creates a Team Plan to plan the project team’s activities. This is agreed with the Project Manager.
Information from upper management, outlining what is required from the project is contained in the Project Mandate.
The time from the start of the project and the close of the project and acceptance of the product is known as the Project Lifecycle.
The Project Board must be given an Exception Plan if a stage is expected to go out of the agreed tolerance.
The method and frequency that information is exchanged is defined in the Communication Management Strategy.
The Project Board approves the completion of a stage and authorises the start of the next stage during the Directing a Project process.
The Project Manager creates a regular Highlight Report for the Project Board to provide information on the process of each stage. This is produced on a time-driven frequency, e.g.: every two weeks.
The Project Board’s 2nd control point and 2nd activity is Authorising the Project.
Work Packages are allocated to the Team Leaders by the Project Manager.
The Team Manager provides Checkpoint Reports to the Project Manager, based on the regular team meetings.
A grouping of a certain set of techniques used in the development of the product is known as a Technical Stage.
Ok, so you’ve defined your project, setup all the tasks and resources but now you need to monitor the progress and check that everything is going to plan (or not as the case may be!!).
Microsoft Project offers you several ways of viewing the project, depending on the information you need to see, this is done via the ‘View’ menu. Here we look at how to access the different views.
To learn more about Views, and loads more in MS Project, why not attend our MS Project Training course here in Brighton, Sussex?
Different Ways of Viewing a Project
The VIEW tab on the Ribbon provides different ways of viewing a Project Plan.
A VIEW BAR also appears on the left hand side of the Gantt Chart, enabling you to change to different views.
Yet another way on the TASK TAB on the Ribbon, select the view from the Gantt Chart button.
Views are split into different types, either Task or Resource Views.
Useful Views
Gantt – Main View used for reporting data on a timescale
Calendar – Shows every task in the project on a day to day basis in a diary format
Network Diagram – Shows the tasks as a Flow Chart
Task Usage – Shows tasks with the list of resources working on them. Can be used to view working times and costs of tasks
Resource Usage – Shows resources and the tasks they are working on. Can be used to view resource working times and availability.
Resource Graph – Used to identify days when a resource is busy or over allocated
Resource Sheet – Used to enter information about resources
Tracking Gantt – Displays the original plan against the actual. Used for comparison and updating when running the project.
Available Tables
Many views are made up of tables. The Resource Sheet is a table, the Gantt Chart has a table. The table that is initially viewed in any view is the ENTRY table.
To change a table, select the VIEW TAB on the Ribbon
Select TABLES
Choose from one of the nine tables
Useful Tables
Cost – Shows a breakdown of cost – relative to task or resource
Work – Shows a breakdown of work hours – relative to task or resource
Entry – The initial data entered for a task or resource
Summary – Shows work and cost together – relative to task or resource
Variance – Shows variances between the original plan and the running plan
Note: The Default Table for the Gantt Chart is ENTRY. A quick way of switching tables is to right click in the square at the top left hand side of the current table.
Keystrokes for moving around Views & Tables
CTRL+HOME – Goes to the top of a table
CTRL + END – Goes to the bottom of a table
ALT+HOME – Shows the Start Date on the Gantt Chart, or in any graphical view
ALT+END – Shows the End Date on the Gantt Chart, or in any graphical view
Combination Views
More than one view may be shown in the screen at a time. For example you could have the Gantt Chart showing in the top part of the screen and the Resource Sheet in the bottom. Thus it is possible to see information about a Resource working on a task without having to switch between views. A split is created in the screen and the appropriate view displayed in the relative pane.
Select the VIEW TAB from the RIBBON
Select The DETAILS box from the SPLIT VIEW options
Initially a Task Form is display in the lower part of the screen. This can be changed in the drop down box to the right of Details
This comprehensive down-loadable PRINCE2 Practitioner Exam Tips PDF has been created to help delegates who will be taking the PRINCE2 Practitioner examination. Just knowing the PRINCE2 syllabus is not necessarily enough to get you through the PRINCE2 Practitioner Exam – learning some good exam techniques can significantly increase your chances.
This guide is used by delegates on our PRINCE2 Practitioner Training course and we have now made it available to download here for all those who are interested in the PRINCE2 Practitioner Qualification.
Please note that this guide alone will not prepare delegates to sit the PRINCE2 Practitioner Exam! It is intended to be used in conjunction with our PRINCE2 Training courses. We offer both thePRINCE2 Foundation Training course andPRINCE2 Practitioner Training course here in Brighton, Sussex.
In this guide you will find helpful hints on how to manage the booklets and read the information you are provided with, as well as how to manage time during the examination, and some techniques you can use for answering the different styles of questions.
We hope that this will be a helpful guide for completing the sample PRINCE2 Practitioner papers you will be provided with. If you have any of your own tips you would like to add – feel free to add them in the comments section below.
Microsoft Project allows you to plan, monitor and schedule your resources to manage your projects effectively. This tutorial shows you how to change the standard working hours in Microsoft Project 2007.
If you want to learn more about Microsoft Project, check out our 2 day Microsoft Project Training in Brighton, East Sussex for a comprehensive introduction. We also provide Project Management Training and PRINCE2 Training to provide you with excellent project management skills.
Changing the Working Hours
In Microsoft Project, the default project calendar, called the Standard calendar, defines the standard working hours for all projects. The default working hours are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with an hour starting at noon for lunch.
You can modify the working hours to reflect the actual working hours for an entire project. You can also specify the length of the workday. For example, if the standard working hours at your company are 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM with an hour for lunch, you would need to adjust the project calendar.
If the work day is longer or shorter than eight hours and/or starts before 8:00 AM, you need to make these adjustments before entering any tasks or the durations for your project will be incorrect. By default, all tasks are scheduled to start at 8:00 AM. Therefore, if you have entered tasks and altered the working hours so that the work day starts at 7:00 AM, Microsoft Project will not recognize any work completed before 8:00 AM. Microsoft Project will then schedule the extra hour into the next working day and extend the duration of the project.
When you change the default working hours, you make the changes in the Options dialog box and in the Change Working Time dialog box for the Standard (default)calendar. The Options dialog box allows you to change the working hours and the duration of the work day. You can also indicate the number of working days in the month, with 20 days being the default. The changes you make in the Change Working Time dialog box must match the changes made in the Options dialog box. For example, you change the working hours in the Options dialog box to 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM, with eight hours in the work day. You then need to change the working time in the Change Working Time dialog box for the Standard calendar to 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM with an hour break, equalling an eight hour work day.
The Calendar page in the Options dialog box
If you change the settings on the Calendar page in the Options dialog box and then select the Set as Default option, each new project will be scheduled according to these settings. For this reason, you should not select this option unless all of your projects will be scheduled according to these settings. For example, if you set a project to have a seven hour work day, each new project will default to a seven hour day.
Select the Tools menu.
Select the Change Working Time command.
Select the Options command.
Select the time in the Default start time text box.
Enter the new start time.
Select the time in the Default end time text box.
Enter the new end time.
Change the working hours in the Hours per day spin box to correspond with the new working time.
Change the hours in the Hours per week spin box to correspond with the new working hours.
Change the days in the Days per month spin box as necessary.
Select OK.
Select the Tab WORK WEEKS
13. Click on DETAILS
14. Highlight the days to change, i.e. Monday – Friday
15. Choose – Set day(s) to these specific working times
16. Enter the same time that you entered on the Calendar page in the Options dialog box. (Allowing the time for lunch)
17. Click in the lines below the times
18. Select OK.
Adding a Non-Working Day
By default, the project calendar defines the standard working days (Monday through Friday) and nonworking days (Saturday and Sunday) for a project. The default calendar has no holidays, so you must mark the appropriate holidays as nonworking days. It is very important to mark all applicable nonworking days as durations are calculated according to this calendar. In any view, nonworking days are identified with gray shading.
The Change Working Time dialog box
Select the Tools menu.
Select the Change Working Time command.
Display the month in the calendar in which you want to add the nonworking day.
Select the day(s) on the calendar you want to add as nonworking.
Select the Exceptions Tab
Enter a Name for the holiday, i.e. Christmas Eve.
Click on the Start Date and the dates you selected should appear in the Start and Finish Date boxes
Welcome to the PRINCE2 Training Resources page, here you can find various resources including our PRINCE2 Quiz, PRINCE2 eBook and PRINCE2 Templates. You can use these resources to revise for your PRINCE2 exam or simply learn about PRINCE2 and all its features.
As much as we love PRINCE2, we will admit that the PRINCE2 manual can be a bit dry!
Read (and memorise as many as you can!) all of the following statements about PRINCE2. 
Welcome to the 
