PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environment) provides answers to questions commonly asked by people involved in managing projects like:
- What is expected of me?
- What should I expect of the Project Manager?
- What kind of decisions am I expected to make?
- What should I do when things don't go as planned?
- What information is required/ available to help me make decisions?
- Whom can I approach for support?
- How can I adjust the method to my own project?
What is the core of the PRINCE2 method?
The PRINCE2 method was created for all project stakeholders. It is universally applicable - it provides principles, processes and techniques that enable managing any project.
PRINCE2 is a structured project management method characteristic by its logical, controlled & "good common sense" approach to managing projects.
Its main parts include:
- Process model
- Establishing the organization needed to manage the project
- Definition & enforcement of clear responsibilities for directing, managing & delivering the project to make it run in the most effective and economic way
- Applying management by exception, which plays a key role in problem solving within the project.
What benefits might your company expect from implementing the new version of PRINCE2: 2009 method valid from 16th June 2009?
- It is applicable to all types of projects and easy to integrate with other OGC standards , e.g. ITIL, MSP, P3O
- It is generally accepted and provides a common vocabulary for all project participants, what supports effective communication
- It offers more practical advice how to tailor the method (especially for small projects)
- It focuses on benefits, their monitoring and realization
- It is not bureaucratic: it does not require documents and meetings, but information and decisions
- More practical tips, less prescriptive, more flexibility
- Manual volume was decreased compared to 2005 version
- It shows clear linkages to other standards and bodies of knowledge (e.g. the PMI PMBOK Guide).
If you'd like to learn more about PRINCE2 I'd suggest you start with visiting
PRINCE2 on Wikipedia. There you will find useful basic info & a few links to further information sources.
There are lots of free stuff about PRINCE2 on the internet, but the core books are not available free of charge - at lease not legally. We strongly discourage you from downloading illegal copies. Instead we suggest you visit a legal online bookstore, e.g. the APM Group's or The Stationery Office's ones ;)
If you want to go a step further and become PRINCE2 certified, you can either:
- prepare yourself for the exam and then sit it in an Open Centre (all 4 Open Centres are in the UK) or
- attend a certification course run by an Accredited Training Organisation (ATO), or an affiliate of an ATO.
