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PRINCE2 Plans 

 May 8, 2016

By  Dave Litten

PRINCE2 Plans

Identify Activities and Dependencies

This is the 3rd step of the PRINCE2 approach to plans

The objective is to make a list of activities that need to be done, and this is much easier now that you have the information from Product Based Planning documents which includes the Product Breakdown Structure and Product Flow diagrams together with the Product Descriptions.

There are a number of ways to identify activities and these include:

  • Making a list of activities for each product in the Product Flow diagram
  • Create a Work Breakdown Structure for each of the products in the product breakdown structure.

It is very important to include the Management and Quality-checking activities, like testing the products and preparing for Quality Review. Also include interacting activities with external parties, such as receiving external product or sending out a product to be independently tested.

Remember to keep it simple. You don’t need to list the activities that the teams will do each hour, such as Quality Review Meeting. You don’t need to list all the tasks that occur to prepare for and have the meeting.

Dependencies

Look for dependencies between the activities and note these. There are two types of dependencies – internal and external – and there is a clue in the name. Internal dependencies denote it’s within the project, while external denotes outside of the project. An example of an internal dependency is that activity C cannot start before activities A and B have been completed.

External dependencies may be:

  • The delivery of a product from another project
  • A purchase order will be used to source a product
  • A decision by Program Management which is outside the Project Team.

PRINCE2 Plans – Prepare Estimates

This is the 4th step of the PRINCE2 approach to plans. Estimating is about deciding how much time and resources are required to carry out a piece of work to an acceptable standard. The Project Manager should do as little estimating as possible as, it’s better to ask someone who has more experience.

Estimating involves:

  • Identifying the type of resource required, as specific skills are often crucial. Consider non-human resources, such as equipment (e.g., testing equipment), travel and money
  • Estimating the approximate effort required for each activity, as we can never really guarantee an exact time for an activity.

These estimations together provide an overview of the time and costs for the project, and this information is used to build the Project Plan. It is important to challenge each estimate, as different people will give different estimates for the same piece of work.

The PRINCE2 manual lists a number of very useful tips that you should follow when estimating:

  • Assume that resources will only be productive for, say, 80% of their time
  • Resources working on multiple projects will take longer to complete tasks, as it will take time to switch between them
  • People are generally optimistic and often underestimate how long a task will take
  • The most important point is to make use of other people’s experience when estimating, and to involve the persons responsible for creating the products. In fact, it is a good idea to make them responsible for creating the effort estimates
  • Always build in provision for problem-solving, meetings and other unexpected events, as they will occur
  • Cost each activity rather than try to cost the plan as whole
  • Communicate any assumptions, exclusions or constraints you may have to the Users.

Here a number of estimating techniques that can be used. Note: You don’t need to be aware of them for both exams. I have included some of the techniques mentioned in the PRINCE2 manual and others.

  • Estimating Technique
  • Top-down estimating /Analogous Estimating
  • Estimate at a high level and use experience to do this
  • Bottom up estimating
    This technique is time-consuming but more accurate.

Start with estimating each individual activity and then add together. This is very useful when creating Stage Plans.

Delphi Technique
For instance, provide questionnaires and ask for multiple estimates. This could be done via email; no need for face-to-face meeting. Could also be used for ideas.
Published estimating data

“Look around you” to see what information is there. Look in past projects to see if there are any guidelines or other published data.

Expert Judgment /Comparative Estimating

Pick up the phone or walk down the hall and ask an expert. You could ask a number of experts and then compare.

Parametric Estimating

Parametric estimating is based upon historical data for the same type of activities.

Three-point estimates/PERT Estimates

Ask skilled resources for best, most likely and worst-case estimates for an activity, and then take the average of the three. This is a very useful technique, especially when you can’t get an agreement on one number.

One last thing to say on this topic of estimating is that you should use a Project Management software tool if your project is complex in any way, as you will needs help with the following:

  • Adding estimates together (e.g., for stage)
  • Resource availability (include hours available for project and for vacation time)
  • Easily identity if more resources are required or if resources are overloaded
  • Easy to assign resources to tasks
  • Easy to communicate plan to the rest of the team

PRINCE2 Plans – Prepare the schedule

This is the 5th step of the PRINCE2 approach to plans, there are many different approaches to scheduling and more and more people are using computer-based tools to help. The Project Manager must already have the following information before they can begin this task of scheduling:

The list of all activities, their dependencies, and the duration of effort for activities. So here are some of the steps that a Project Manager will do. I will comment on each topic

  • Define activity sequence
  • Assess resource availability
  • Assign resources
  • Level resource usage
  • Agree control points
  • Define milestones
  • Calculate total resource requirements & costs
  • Present the schedule

I just mentioned eight steps for this “Prepare the Schedule” activity, while you may have thought it was just one step. If you have ever done scheduling, you covered most of these steps. It is just that PRINCE2 has given a name to each of them and MS Project allows you to do most of them at one time.

To help explain the following information, I will approach this from an MS Project point of view, as it is the most popular tool for creating Gantt charts and scheduling and allows many of the above-mentioned steps at the same time. Please note that the PRINCE2 manual does not promote any single software product.

I have done my best not to go into too much detail, as there are a lot of steps to preparing the schedule. Just try to get an overview of what happens in this activity. That is what you need to understand for the exam.

PRINCE2 Plans – Define activity sequence

The Project Manager can begin the task of scheduling, which is to determine the optimal sequence in which these activities can be performed. There is one scheduling term that I would like to explain which is Float (also referred to as “Slack”). Float is the amount of time that an activity can be delayed without affecting the completion time of the overall plan. This can also be seen as spare time.

Critical Path and Float: A good way to explain Critical Path is as follows: the critical path is the sequence of activities that have zero float, so that if any of these activities is delayed, the completion of the project will also be delayed. Normally, a Project Manager will identify the critical path of a project and pay more attention to monitoring these activities.

Assess resource availabilityThey create an overview of who is available to do the work, their experience, and the percentage and confirmation of schedule availability. The Project Manager will also confirm this with the manager of the resource to make sure they get them for the project.

Assign Resources

The Project Manager will assign the list of resources to the activities, starting with the activities that are part of the critical project path. They will confirm again that the resources are willing to do the work. One final tip: when assigning a task to a team, look for one Task owner to be responsible.

Level resource usage

The Project Manager will check that project resources are not overloaded and spread out the work. This is called levelling.

Agree Control Points

Control Points, like that for the Project Board, may now be added to the plan (e.g., Management Stages). The Project Manager will also add the activities to prepare for a stage end to the Plan such as End Stage Report and Next Stage Plan.

Define Milestones

A milestone usually refers to the completion of a key activity. For example, this could be the completion of an important Work Package in a stage. Milestones can help the Project Manager to see how the project is progressing according to the plan, so it is up to the Project Manager to decide how many milestones they will define.

Calculate total resource requirements and cost

This is usually a simple task if you are using a software tool. The following should also be added:

  • Costs of Project Management activities
  • Costs to verify the specialist products
  • Cost tolerances, e.g., allow ±10% costs
  • Risk Budget and Change Budget if required

Present the schedule

Most Project Managers present the schedule in a graphic format, such as Gantt chart or Critical Path diagram. They can also use a product checklist. Most planning tools offer a choice of formats.
Analyze the Risks

Actually the Project Manager is doing this constantly. A final Risk Analysis check is essential once the plan is ready (status draft complete) and updating the Risk Register if necessary.

PRINCE2 Plans – Document the Plan

Documenting the Plan is the 6th step in the PRINCE2 Approach to Plans, but this is something that should be started while creating the Plan. The objective is to add text to help explain the Plan and to make it easier to understand.

For instance, you might add the following text information into a separate document that will support the MS Project file:

  • Plan Description: A text description of the Plan to help explain it
  • Plan prerequisites: Aspects that must be in place for the Plan to succeed
  • External dependencies: List of external dependencies that will influence the Plan
  • Planning assumptions: List of assumptions upon which the Plan is based
  • Lessons incorporated: Lessons from similar or previous projects
  • Monitoring & Control: Describe how the Plan will be monitored and controlled
  • Budget Information: Cost & Time of project, and provisions for Risk & Change Budget
  • Tolerances: Overview of tolerances for the 6 project variables
  • Risk: Overview of Risk.

You should also consider the best format to use when giving information to the Project Board, so that you don’t overload them with unnecessary details. Most software planning tools are helpful here as they provide a choice of reports.

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Dave Litten


Dave spent 25+ years as a senior project manager for UK and USA multinationals and has deep experience in project management. He now develops a wide range of Project Management Masterclasses, under the Projex Academy brand name. In addition, David runs project management training seminars across the world, and is a prolific writer on the many topics of project management.

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