PRINCE2; Project Management Methodology

A project is a sequence of activities that has a definite start and a definite end and is endive to deliver unique products or services. Prince2 is a process-based approach to project management. Prince2 (an acronym for projects in controlled environments, ver-2) is a program management methodology. This program was created and developed by a government agency in the United Kingdom. The methodology of prince2 and prince2 training covers the management, including organisation and control of the projects. 

Prince2 is also used to refer to the prince2 training and authorising practitioners of the methodology who must undertake accredited qualifications to obtain prince2 certification. Prince2 is based on seven principles (continued business justification, learning from experience, understanding roles and responsibilities, managing in stages, managing by exception, focusing on services and products and customising to meet the project environment), seven themes (organisation, business case, plans, quality, risk, progress and change) and seven processes. The themes and principles come into action in the seven processes in prince2. 

In prince2, starting up a project is the first process in which the project team is appointed, a project brief is prepared, and the next stage of the project is planned. After the completion of this work, the board is asked to authorise the next stage, which is initiating the project. Initiating a project is the next process in prince2 that builds on the work of starting up the process, including the project briefs that are augmented for forming a business case. Directing a project is the process in prince2 that dictates how the Project Board should control the overall project. Directing a Project also dictates how the project board should authorise a stage plan, which includes any stage plans that easily replace the existing stage plan. 

Controlling a stage in prince2 suggests that projects should be broken down into stages, and these sub-processes dictate how each individual stage needs to be controlled. Fundamentally, this shows the way the work packages are authorised and received. This also specifies the methodology in which progress should be monitored and how the highlights of the progress should be reported to the project board. Managing Stage Boundaries (SB) in prince2 dictates what should be done towards the end of a stage. In prince2, the purpose of managing product delivery is to control the link between the project manager and the team managers. Closing a project covers the things that should be done at the end of a project in prince2.  

Prince2 certification and Prince2 Training are governed by the passing of two exams – the Prince2 Foundation and the Prince2 Practitioner. It needs lots of hard work to pass the prince2 exam. Prince2 training helps to pass the exam. The Prince2 Foundation exam is a one-hour, multiple-choice exam. The prince2 Practitioner examination lasts for around 2.5 hours. It is basically an objective-testing, comprehensive exam, but at present, paper-style multiple-choice style tests are provided to the students. The prince2 Practitioner exam consists of classical multiple-choice questions where the correct sequence has to be determined and true/false assertion tests where there is a statement and a reason given.