The 7 PRINCE2 Principles

PRINCE2 In Bite Sized Chunks

The 7 PRINCE2 Principles

PRINCE2 is based on seven principles, and these originated from lessons learned on projects that have gone well and those that have gone badly. If a project does not use these principles then it is not using PRINCE2.

Continued business justification. A PRINCE2 project has continued business justification. The business case drives the requirement for a project and there should be a justifiable reason to start the project, and this justification should remain viable throughout the life of the project, and this justification must be documented and approved within the Business Case.

Learn from experience. The project teams within a PRINCE2 project learn from previous experience, these lessons are sought out recorded and acted upon.

Previous or similar projects should be reviewed to see if lessons learned could be applied at the start of a project, and as the project progresses, lessons should be included in all reports and reviews, as the project closes the project should pass on these lessons for use on future projects.

Defined roles and responsibilities. A PRINCE2 project engages the business, user, and supplier stakeholder interests in defining the agreed roles and responsibilities. If the right people are not involved, or if people involved do not know what’s expected of them or what to expect of others then the project is doomed to failure.

Manage by stages. A PRINCE2 project is planned, monitored and controlled on a stage by stage basis. The use of management stages with end stage assessment control points at major intervals throughout the project, allow the viability of the project to be reviewed at key points.

Shorter stages offer more control while longer stages reduce the burden on senior management. PRINCE2 requires that there should be a minimum of two management stages: one for the initiation stage where the Project Initiation Document is created and at least one other management stage used as a delivery stage for the specialist products.

Manage my exception. PRINCE2 has three levels of management; directing by the project board, managing by the project manager, and delivering by the team manager and the specialist team. PRINCE2 set tolerances for these levels to establish the limits of delegated authority. There are six types of tolerance; time, cost, quality, scope, risk and benefit.

Focus on products. In a PRINCE2 project the focus is on defining and delivering products and in particular their quality requirements. In order to fulfill stakeholder expectations, there must be a common understanding of the products required and the quality expectations for them.

Each product will have a Product Description defining the purpose, composition, derivation, format, quality criteria and quality method.

Tailor to suit the project environment. The PRINCE2 method will need to be tailored dependent upon the project environment, the project size, its complexity, importance, capability and risk. The project controls will be tailored to suit these six aspects.

The Project Initiation Documentation will include a section stating how the method is to be tailored for this particular project.