Plan The Next Stage or Exception Plan

Plan the next stage or Exception Plan.

 

As a project approaches the end of a current stage, then the project manager must produce the Stage Plan for the next management stage.  It is important to remember that the project manager should be seen as a facilitator in this respect and not attempt to create the plan on their own.  

The project manager will want to involve and consult with, other key roles including the specialist team, the project board, project assurance, and any other stakeholders who can add value and need to be involved.

 

PRINCE2 will use the product based planning technique at the start of creating the next Stage Plan, and then add other aspects of the document such as activities, resources, controls and so on.

 

The first step in preparing the Stage Plan is to review the components of the Project Initiation Documentation, and this may include updating the following:

Checking whether any change is needed to the customer’s quality expectations, acceptance criteria or the project approach.  

 

Next, the four strategy documents should be reviewed and updated if necessary to ensure that the strategies remain appropriate and this should also include the use of controls in the next stage.

 

As a result of performing products based planning, new or modified Product Descriptions and Configuration Item Records will need to be created, along with the Product Breakdown Structure and Product Flow Diagrams for the next stage.

 

As the project progresses through its various stages, different specialist products will need to be created, and for this reason the project management team and their role descriptions should be checked and updated if required.  

 

For example, the next stage may use a different supplier, and that organisation may want to be included on the project board in the role of Senior Supplier.

 

The Project Plan must be reviewed as it will contain the high-level detail that will be extrapolated into the next Stage Plan.  However, as the result of coming to the end of the current stage, the Project Plan will need to be updated with the latest actual data and future forecasts.

 

The Issue and Risk Registers should be reviewed to ensure any actions or responses are either dealt with at this point in time or included along with their associated resources within the next Stage Plan.  Both registers should be updated as appropriate.

 

As a result of creating the schedule within the next Stage Plan, then key quality management activities along with their target review and approval dates for each product should be added to the Quality Register.

 

Should the stage or project no longer the forecast to complete within tolerances, then it no longer has the approval of the project board. if after receiving an Exception Report, the project board requested an Exception Plan, then this point marks the end of the current stage.  Therefore if the Exception Plan is approved it marks the start of the next stage.

 

Apart from the difference of creating an Exception Plan rather than a next Stage Plan, all of the above activities will still need to be carried out.  The only difference being is that the Exception Plan will be approved or otherwise at an Exception Assessment rather than the normal End Stage Assessment.

 

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