Prince2 – An Overview

Prince2 is a worldwide project management methodology. It stands for “PRojects IN Controlled Environment”. The “2” comes from the earlier methodology, Prompt2. Prince2 started off in the UK, but has now grown to become a worldwide standard.

This training methodology first came about as it was decided that the standard of project management in the public sector in the UK was poor. Once established it became the standard for all government information systems projects, and all project managers working in the public sectors were given Prince2 training. Although originally instigated for the public sector, due to its success it soon started to be used in many areas across business. Project managers working in a variety of different areas within both the public and private sectors now receive Prince2 training, something that is offered by many different training companies around the UK and the rest of the world.

Prince2 covers many different areas of project management. It covers a framework for project management, looking at different processes that managers can go through during the running a particular project. It is essentially the best practice for project management. It helps managers plan, organise and run and project and the project team towards the eventual goals. It focuses more on the delivery of a project rather than the actual process. Therefore it can be used as a guideline for any type of project. With Prince2 organisation is key. One of its main aims is to provide managers with the knowledge and training to be able to deliver a project on time and on budget.

Prince2 breaks project management into various different stages; something that makes the process easier to control. It means that managers can use each stage to simplify all of the tasks that need to be completed. It highlights the importance of proper execution of projects so it can stay on course so it is completed as the original objectives require. Communication is a key component of Prince2. For a project to be completed successfully communications between all relevant team members is crucial. The importance of the control of resource is something that is covered as for a project to be successful all resources, such as finance and the expertise of the team, need to be utilised to the best possible effect. Management of risks and any possible issues is another area that is focused upon. Also of importance are regular reviews of the project. This allows managers, clients, team members, and anyone else involved, to be able to see where the project is at and which areas have to be altered to continue successfully.

According to Parity Training, who are a training company who provide Prince2 training, “Prince2 is the de facto standard project management method”. It is used as a standard of thinking, planning and running a project from the original preparation through to its completion.

Andrew Marshall ©

Prince2 Training

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