What is PRINCE2?

PRINCE2 is a best practice way of Project Managing changes to an organization so that it can more effectively and efficiently provide products and services to its customers and partners. PRINCE2 stands for PRojects IN a Controlled Environment and is in its second version. Effective use of PRINCE2 means that the purpose that everyone is working towards is clear which avoids confusion, frustration and conflict. By offering clarity there are few surprises and things are delivered in an orderly way. PRINCE2 is owned and managed by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which is a part of the United Kingdom Government. The OGC publish the PRINCE2 manual, which is a large and heavy document, which describes the different aspects of the methodology. Although the manual is large, the methodology is based on a set of sound and sensible commonsense concepts that are invaluable in Project Management. PRINCE2 consists of components, processes and techniques that help chunks up the work of making and managing changes. This involves setting out what must be changed, whos going to carry out the work of actually designing and implementing the changes and then wrapping a set of procedures around all of this to ensure delivery takes place in an orderly controlled manner to meet the expectations of the Projects Customers. PRINCE2 is a best practice methodology that sometimes gets criticized for being overly bureaucratic however in our view that is simply a poor implementation of PRINCE2. PRINCE2 can be used in so many situations, from very large projects to relatively small ones, slow moving organizations to very fast paced hard deadline Projects. PRINCE2 takes it in its stride. For example, we have used PRINCE2 to implement new building fit-out projects, make changes to IT projects, set-up new Departments, Procure new suppliers, and so on. For some Projects we applied a more formal approach to PRINCE2 for example in the Procurement project (we were spending a lot of money), but there have been others that were a lot less formal. For example, putting in new functionality on a website that had a very hard deadline. Learning PRINCE2 is an investment that will pay for itself time after time.

Tags: Best Practice, Commonsense Concepts, Components, Controlled, Controlled Environment, Customers,Expectations, Implementing Changes, Large Projects, Managing Change, Methodology, Office of Government Commerce, OGC, PRINCE2, Processes, Project Management, Project Managing, Projects,Techniques Posted in Project Management by . No Comments MAY 11

Business Case Template

A Project according to PRINCE2 is a management environment created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to a specified Business Case. The

Business Case is the single most important set of information for the project and is fundamental to its success. A Business Case allows an organization to make best use of its limited resources. It allows senior managers of an organization or Programme Manager in a wider Programme, to better understand the worthiness of a Project, its chances of success as well as how it compares to other Projects, before making a decision. A Business Case sets out why a Project is worth pursuing, i.e. the benefits that could be obtained if the project finishes successfully. It also sets out the cost and time that will be incurred in trying to achieve the benefits. Every Project has risks and so the Business Case must set out the key risks and options that were considered in devising the approach to get the benefits. With all of this information an informed investment appraisal and decision can be given as to the worthiness of a Project. The best practice structure of a Business Case as set out by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and HM Treasury includes the following 5 Cases: Strategic Case This section seeks to confirm necessity, business need and alignment to strategic fit, i.e. Why are we doing this? Is it a good idea for the organization? Economic Case This section sets out appraisal of options, costs vs benefits incl. analysis of associated risks & sensitivities, constraints and dependencies. Financial Case This section sets out the affordability and availability of funding to support the Project Commercial Case Here we set out the commercial and procurement approach to be taken to secure appropriate suppliers to support delivery Project Management Case This section describes how the Project will be controlled, managed and how achievable it is.

Tags: Appraisal of Options, Benefits, Business Case, Business Products, Commercial Case, Constraints,Controlled, Cost, Costs versus Benefits, Dependencies, Economic Case, Financial Case, Funding, HM Treasury, Investment Appraisal, Limited Resources, Making a Decision, Management Environment, Office of Government Commerce, OGC, Options, PRINCE2, Procurement, Programme, Programme Manager, Project,Project Management Case, Risks, Strategic Case, Strategic Fit, Suppliers, Time Posted in Business Cases by . No Comments MAY 11

What is a Work Breakdown Structure?

Work Breakdown Structures are basically a way of breaking big undertakings or projects into successively smaller chunks of work. These smaller chunks of work all contribute to the achievement of the bigger undertaking. Thats it pretty straightforward really. For example, if you were building a house (quite a big project I would say), then you intuitively know that there are different chunks of work that need to be carried out to build that house. You have to get an architects design, lay the foundation, build the walls, build the floors, build the stairs, build the windows, put the roof on, and so on. Now for each of the chunks of work we have just identified, we can break them into even smaller chunks of work. Well, all these are the chunks of work or work packages or deliverables are part of the Build a New House Work Breakdown Structure. The example Work Breakdown Structure is shown as a diagram illustrating each layer breaking down the layer above in more detail.

(Click Image to Enlarge) Work Breakdown Structure Example for Building a House


Tags: Break, Chunks of Work, Project Management, Successful Project Delivery, Tools, Work Breakdown Structure, Work Packages Posted in Work Breakdown Structure by . No Comments MAY 11

Why are Work Breakdown Structures useful?

I think Work Breakdown Structures are probably the most useful tool that Project Managers have to help them be successful. Yes thats right Work Breakdown Structures are critical to success. The reason for this is that once a project has been broken into small packages of work, you have a far better chance of getting your head around what actually needs to be done. You can tackle each work package or deliverable at a time. For example, you can far more easily

Describe what the work is Estimate how long it will take Estimate how much money it will require Identify who needs to be involved Work out more effective what could go wrong Explain what is required; and so on

And you can do all this with confidence that all the work packages will contribute to your ultimate goal. For example, if someone asked you to build a house, unless you do this for a living every day of the week, youd probably find it be pretty difficult (I know I would) to estimate how long it will take, how much it will cost, who needs to be involved, and so on. However most of us find it much easier to imagine a smaller activity and are far more likely to get an estimate closer to what it would be in reality. Work Breakdown Structures really are so powerful in getting a project started on a firm footing.

Tags: Critical to Success, Deliverable, Estimate, Goal, Packages of Work, Project, Work Breakdown Structures, Work Package Posted in Work Breakdown Structure by . No Comments MAY 11

How do I create a Work Breakdown Structure?

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure is pretty straightforward as long as you remember the following; that it is an iterative process and each box should identify something that is completed (a deliverable or output). Start with the end in mind, and then successively break this down into completed deliverables. What is really important is to be clear on what you want to achieve with the project, i.e. be as clear as you can be with the objectives or goal or the end in mind. This makes the rest a little easier. For example, an objective may be to Implement a New Computer Application, or to Fit Out a New Office, or Setup a New Organisation, etc. It is good practice to make a goal Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time bound (SMART). Also, if you can, try and get a sense of the scope of the project. I think of scope as just a description of the things that will be affected through the project or the big things that need to be done. This will help identify things to be included in the Work Breakdown Structure. For example, if I was deploying a new computer application into a business, then the scope description may include the people who will use the application, their locations, the business processes that are affected, the type of computer application, the type of physical computers, the need for development, the need for testing, the need for training, and so on. I generally sketch out the Work Breakdown Structures on paper before drawing them out on the computer (I use Microsoft Powerpoint or Visio). I just prefer this but you may want to go straight to the computer. I generally draft a Work Breakdown Structure on my own to get a sense of a project before talking to colleagues. I think people appreciate a draft that you can discuss rather than starting from a complete blank sheet. However it is worthwhile developing a Work Breakdown Structures with colleagues in workshops. This tends to engender buy-in especially if the team are going to be responsible for delivery. Make sure you select individuals that bring a range of skills and perspectives into the workshop.

Tags: Deliverable, End in Mind, Goal, Iterative Process, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Visio, Objective,Output, Scope, SMART, Work Breakdown Structure, Workshop Posted in Work Breakdown Structure by . No Comments MAY 11

Creating a Work Breakdown Structure

First start with the objective of the project. In our example above, it is to build a house. Number this 1.0 as shown below.

(Click Image to Enlarge) Work Breakdown Structure Example for Building a House Top Layer For the next layer, think about what things need to be completed. I focus on the big things and dont worry too much about the order we can put them in the logical order later. So, from our example,

(Click Image to Enlarge) Work Breakdown Structure Example for Building a House Top Two Layers Now number these as 1.1, 1.2 and so on. For each of these completed deliverables follow the process again and break each one down further. And this gives us our example Work Breakdown Structure.

(Click Image to Enlarge) Work Breakdown Structure Example for Building a House Number each deliverable as indicated above, i.e. 1.2.1, 1.2.2, and so on under deliverable 1.2. For deliverable 1.3, number them 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3 and so on. Now the question is where do you stop because you could carry on to a very low level. I tend ask myself if the work is clear (unambiguous) and if it will take around 1-2 weeks. I find beyond this point, we run the danger of micromanagement, which without exception never goes down well with people and teams. Dont be too hard on yourself for not getting it perfect straight away. Remember this is an iterative process and you will probably not get it correct the first time, probably even the second time. I tend to keep refining, redrawing several times before I feel comfortable that I have all the major bases covered.


Tags: Deliverables, Iterative Process, Logical Order, Next Layer, Process, Work Breakdown Structure Posted in Work Breakdown Structure by . No Comments MAY 11

Turning a Work Breakdown Structure into a Project Plan / Gantt Chart

I think this is the smartest bit about Work Breakdown Structures. Once you have decomposed or split a project into bite-sized chunks, creating a Project Plan is really easy. What you have to do is to turn the Work Breakdown Structure (also referred to as a Product Breakdown Structure) onto its side and sequence the bite sized chunks or deliverables into a logical order of delivery. The rightmost deliverable is always the completed major deliverable. For example, I have taken the 1.1 House Designed Deliverable and put it into sequence. This is shown below.

(Click Image to Enlarge) Deliverable Flow to achieve Designed House This suggests we must appoint an architect, and then they can work on develop a design. When we have approved the design then we have a House Designed. This sequencing of deliverables from within a Work Breakdown Structure should be done for all deliverables. Below are the rest of the deliverables for the House Built Work Breakdown Structure example sequenced.

(Click Image to Enlarge) Deliverable Flow Streams to for Built House Example The next step is to link up the different threads of work. You will need to consider what relies on what else before the work can begin. The Built House example is illustrated below.

(Click Image to Enlarge) Deliverable Flow to achieve Built House To convert this to a Project Plan or Gantt chart is very straightforward. Im not going to run through how to use Microsoft Project here (for another time I think but from the Project Plan Gantt chart below, it is possible to see that it mirrors the same flow and dependencies as we had in out Deliverable Flow above.

(Click Image to Enlarge) Just so that you know, it took me minutes to populate Microsoft Project to produce this. Estimating time and cost is now far easier since we have broken our project into bite-sized chunks. It is simply a case of looking at each package of work or deliverable and estimate how long it might take, how many people might be involved, how much you may need to spend, and so on. For example, in the Gantt chart of the Build House project, all the packages of work have durations of 2 days, which of course is completely unrealistic. What I would do is go down the list of tasks, and ask myself how long they would take. Lets take appointing an architect. Appointing an architect might take 3-6 weeks as I would need to develop an evaluation criteria, contact a few, meet with them, brief them as to my requirement, get a proposal, then select one. So in the Gantt chart I would put in 30 working days. I always start of with a pessimistic or worse case timeline as I, like most people, have a tendency to underestimate things.