PRINCE2 Processes

A PRINCE2 process consists of tasks structured to attain particular goals, in order to deliver a project
successfully, and they are crucial components of effective management and direction of a project. There
are seven, interconnected PRINCE2 processes:

Starting up a Project (SU)

Initiating a Project (IP)
Directing a Project (DP)
Controlling a Stage (CS)
Managing a Stage Boundary (SB)
Managing Product Delivery (MP)
Closing a Project (CP)
The PRINCE2 Process Model (below) shows the seven processes. Each process is triggered by a decision
or an event (e.g., the Project Mandate triggers the process Starting up a Project). The diagram frames
illustrates the chronological order in which the processes are carried out and shows which level of the
project management team is responsible.

PRINCE2 Process: Starting up a Project (SU)

The first PRINCE2 process is Starting up a Project (SU), which takes place prior to the project, is
designed to assure the key stakeholders that it will be a reasonable and rewarding undertaking. The trigger
for SU is the project mandate, a document provided by the commissioning organization (often
corporate/programme management) to explain the reasons and objectives for the project, as well as, in
some cases, high-level estimations of time and cost.
The SU process is carried out once on each project, and is oriented towards gaining the authorization
necessary for initiating the project. This authorization constitutes the trigger for Initiating a Project (IP),
which is the second PRINCE2 process.
There are six activities involved in Starting up a Project:

Appoint the Executive and the Project Manager

The very first project activity is the appointment of both an Executive, who will be responsible for
continued business justification on the project and for representing the interests of the business stakeholder
on the Project Board, and a Project Manager, to whom the Executive delegates day-to-day management of
the project.

Capture previous lessons

A Lessons Log contains lessons learned on this and other projects. It is crucial to produce a pertinent
Lessons Log, and to keep it up to date throughout the project, in order to facilitate the success of the
project. During SU it is populated with lessons we can apply on this project from previous projects.

Design and appoint the project management team

In order to ensure that every necessary role on the project management team is appropriately filled, and
that everybody knows who is responsible for each role, it is important to design role descriptions for the
project management team. This is chiefly the responsibility of the Project Manager, while the selection of
individuals to fulfil each role is carried out by the Executive.

Prepare the outline Business Case

The Executive is responsible for creating an outline Business Case, which contains the explanation for why
the project is necessary or useful. The sources used when creating this are the project mandate and the
Lessons Log. After developing the outline Business Case, a Project Product Description is written which
documents the customers quality expectations about what should be delivered from the project i.e. what
products must be delivered. Where possible, acceptance criteria are documented i.e. the measureable
characteristics of the project (end) product which would make it acceptable to the customer.

Select the project approach and assemble the project brief

It is the Project Managers responsibility to create the project approach and the Project Brief, and to submit
these to the Project Board for approval. The project approach articulates how the project will be carried out
(e.g., whether products will be built from scratch or bought off the shelf, etc.). The Project Brief details the
purpose, constraints, and requirements relevant to the project, and includes the outline Business Case
(provided by the Executive), the Project Product Description (created by the Project Manager, with input
from the Senior User), and the project approach (with input from the Senior Supplier).

Plan the initiation stage

Before the project can be initiated, the Project Manager must develop an Initiation Stage Plan, to be sent,
together with the Project Brief, to the Project Board. Once these management products have received
authorization from the Project Board, the Initiating a Project process can begin.

PRINCE2 Process: Initiating a Project (IP)

Every project has at least two management stages: an initiation stage, and at least one stage in which the
specialist product(s) are created. The Initiating a Project (IP) process is carried out during the initiation
stage, to ensure that the following points are clear to the project management team and the external
stakeholders:

o
o
o
o
o

Project tasks:
what will be done,
why it must be done, and what the benefits will be,
how it will be done,
how risks and issues will be kept under control,
how the expected quality will be achieved;
Control (i.e., how project progress will be monitored and controlled);
Communication (i.e., who needs to be communicated with, by whom, when and in what form);
Roles and responsibilitiesthat is, who holds which responsibilities in performing and monitoring the
project tasks.
Eight activities are involved in the IP process. These are centred around the development of management
products that provide information about the points outlined above, in order to enable the Project Board to
evaluate the projects viability.

Prepare the Risk Management Strategy

Two management products are involved in managing project risks. The Risk Management Strategy
describes the procedure, roles and responsibilities, and guidelines for managing risks, including the
standards for assessing risk impact. The Risk Register which is setup and will be used to maintain the
status of all risks on the project.

Prepare the Configuration Management Strategy

Configuration management involves maintaining up-to-date records for all products created within a
project. The Configuration Management Strategy describes how configuration management will be carried
out within a project. During this activity, the Project Manager also creates the Issue Register which will be
used to maintain the status of all formal issues throughout the project. An initial set of Configuration Item
Records are also set up to keep track of the baseline management products.

Prepare the Quality Management Strategy

In order to facilitate the needs of the users, it is important that their quality expectations be clearly stated,
agreed upon, and upheld for the duration of the project. The Quality Management Strategy contributes to
this, by specifying techniques, standards, and responsibilities for maintaining quality on the project. A
Quality Register is also set up during this activity. This will maintain the status of all the quality control
activities which will be performed throughout the project.

Prepare the Communication Management Strategy

Defining the content and frequency of communication activities within the project management team and
with external stakeholders is essential to ensuring that everybody knows what is expected of each other
and of themselves. The Communication Management Strategy defines these communication requirements.

Set up the project controls

In order to enable the Project Board to effectively delegate everyday project activities to the Project
Manager, it is important to set appropriate levels and mechanisms of control. This includes the following:

reporting requirements (frequency, format);

the number and length of stages;
issue, exception, and change management (capture, analysis, escalation to a higher level of management);
tolerances;
methods used for monitoring by the different management levels.

Create the Project Plan

The Plan for the overall project is created in consultation with both the user(s) and supplier(s).

Refine the Business Case

An outline Business Case is developed by the Executive as part of Starting up a Project. During the IP
process, the Project Manager fleshes out this management product with more detailed information, e.g.,
estimates of cost and time; newly identified (major) risks; expected benefits.
The updated Business Case contributes to the Project Boards decision over whether to authorize the
project. It will then be updated at the end of every stage with new forecasts for the projects time, costs and
benefits.

Assemble the Project Initiation Documentation

A number of management products are developed during the IP process. Several of these are collected into
a single body of documentation, the Project Initiation Documentation (PID), which is presented to the
Project Board, together with the next Stage Plan, in order to elicit authorization of the next management
stage.

PRINCE2 Process: Directing a Project (DP)

The Directing a Project (DP) process enables the Project Board to delegate day-to-day responsibility the
project to a Project Manager, while taking important decisions and exercising ultimate control over the
project. This is because the Project Board is accountable for the success or failure of the project.
PRINCE2 describes five DP activities. These are chiefly to do with authorizing, advising, and specific
instances of direction. For example, the Project Board might grant formal approval to a baseline document,
authorize commitment of resources, or respond to an exception situation.

Authorize initiation
Once the Project Brief and the Initiation Stage Plan have been developed (as part of the Starting up a
Project process), the authorization of the Project Board is required for the Project Manager to proceed to
the Initiation Stage.

Authorize the project

The Project Board bases its decision over whether to continue with the project on an evaluation of the
Project Initiation Documentation, taking into account the following key points:

the projects overall viability;

whether the Project Plan will deliver the Business Case satisfactorily;
the strategies (e.g., risk management strategy) and controls (e.g. reporting requirements) are adequate and
in place to facilitate the implementation of the Project Plan;
the existence of a Benefits Review Plan, which enables the measurement and evaluation of the projects
anticipated benefits.

Authorize a Stage or Exception Plan

Management stages are a key tool for the Project Board in exercising high-level control over a project.
Authorization must be granted at every stage boundary, and the Project Board must evaluate project and
stage progress to date, and review the next Stage Plan and the updated Project Plan and Business Case, in
order to decide whether the project remains viable. If not, then the Project Board should not authorize the
next stage.
Authorization is also important if a project requires an Exception Plan. This happens when a project or
stage is forecast to exceed its tolerances. Following its review of the Exception Report, the Project Board
may instruct the Project Manager to create an Exception Plan. This must then be approved, based on
similar considerations to those involved in a stage boundary, and subsequently replaces the baseline plan.

Giving ad hoc direction

Situations in which the Project Board might offer ad hoc direction to the Project Manager include the
following:

requests for advice (e.g., confirming available options for dealing with a project issue);

delivery of a report (e.g., an Exception Report, Highlight Report or Issue Report);

alteration of the project environment;
concerns raised by the Project Board itself, or one of its members;
corporate/programme management decisions;
identification of a risk.

Authorize project closure

When all of the work on a project has been completed and the project product delivered to the users, the
Project Manager recommends that the Project Board authorizes closure of the project.
This is the final activity that the Project Board undertakes, and in order to do so, it must confirm whether
the project has achieved its objectives, and that the project has no further contribution to make. Once
project closure has been authorized, the Project Board notifies corporate/programme management.
It is important to note that the project does not need to have achieved its objectives in order for the Project
Board to authorize closure. If the project becomes unviable, then the Project Board may decide upon its
premature closure.

PRINCE2 Process: Controlling a Stage (CS)

Within a PRINCE2 project, as we have seen, the Project Board retains responsibility for the overall
success of the project, but delegates the day to day management to the Project Manager. The Controlling a
Stage (CS) process describes the activities of the Project Manager within each management stage of a
project (following the initiation stage), including authorizing project work, reviewing stage progress, and
submitting the appropriate reports to the Project Board.
There are eight activities in the CS process:

Authorize a Work Package

The Project Manager and the Team Manager must come to an agreement on the work that will be
performed by the team. This is presented as a Work Package, which will detail the following information:

what must be produced;

how much it will cost;
how long it will take;
the tolerances for its targets of cost and time etc.;
when reports must be submitted;
configuration management requirements;
who will approve the finished products.

Review Work Package status

While the team is carrying out the work needed to complete the Work Package, the Team Manager should
submit Checkpoint Reports to the Project Manager at regular intervals, determined in the Work Package.
The Project Manager reviews these reports in order to update the Stage Plan with information about work
completed and adjustment to forecasts for the work remaining in the current stage.

Review completed Work Package

Once the team has fulfilled all of the requirements in the Work Package and products have been approved,
the Project Manager updates the Stage Plan to indicate that the Work Package has been completed.

Review stage status

The Project Manager must regularly review the status of the stage in order to ensure control over the
progress being made. Mechanisms for enabling this control include reviewing management products such
as Checkpoint Reports (submitted by Team Managers), the current Stage Plan, the various registers and
logs (i.e. the Quality Register, Issue Register, Risk Register and the Daily Log), the Product Status
Account, and the Benefits Review Plan.

Report highlights

In addition to monitoring the stage themselves, Project Managers should keep the Project Board
appropriately informed. This entails creating the time-driven
time
Highlight Report,, which presents the current
achievements and actual progress of the project, and also describes any corrective actions that the Project
Manager may be intended to carry out, as well as forecasts for the remainder of the stage and the project.

Capture and examine issues and risks

The Project Manager must make sure that the various logs and registersEMPLOYED
registers
on a project are
kept up to date, in order to provide the framework for referring issues and risks to the appropriate authority
and making decisions about the most desirable response. This activity includes two procedures that the
Project Manager must also perform: the risk management procedure, and the issue and change control
procedure.

Escalate issues and risks

In some cases the Project Manager will have the authority to handle a risk or issue, but in other cases it is
necessary to refer the situation to the Project Board. This happens when an issue or risk threatens to (or
actually does) exceed tolerance levels. This is also known as an exception, and triggers an Exception
Report, which is written by the Project Manager and submitted to the Project Board.
Board

Take corrective action

In the cases when an issue or risk is not anticipated to exceed tolerance levels, the Project Manager does
not submit an Exception Report. However, it may still be necessary to take corrective action.
The trigger for this activity is Review Stage Status, and the consequence of this activity is Authorize a
Work Package. Thus, the various activities of the CS process feed into one another in iterative cycles until
the stage is complete.

PRINCE2 Process: Managing Product Delivery (MP)

The PRINCE2 project management methodology operates on the assumption that the project is based upon
a customer/supplier environment. The process Managing Product Delivery (MP) describes the tasks and
responsibilities of the Team Manager in their role as supplier, that is, in accomplishing the goals of a Work
Package.
The MP process involves three steps, which are carried out once for each Work Package:

Accept a Work Package

It is vital that the Team Manager and the Project Manager reach an agreement about the contents of the
Work Package, i.e., what the team will deliver, and what their constraints, tolerances, and resources will
be.
Once agreement has been obtained, the Team Manager creates a Team Plan, which details what must be
done in order to deliver the required products and ensure that appropriate quality activities are carried out.

Execute a Work Package

The Team Manager is responsible for the work done by the team, within the limits specified within the
Work Package. This includes assigning tasks, monitoring progress, and updating the Team Plan with
information about actuals and new forecasts. If this new information seems at any point to threaten the
agreed tolerance levels, then this constitutes a project issue that must be referred to the Project Manager.
Although, as mentioned above, responsibility for the Work Package is delegated to the Team Manager, it is
important that the Project Manager remains informed of ongoing progress. The Team Manager should
therefore submit regular Checkpoint Reports at intervals specified within the Work Package.

Deliver a Work Package

Once the products described by the Work Package have been created, the Team Manager must ensure that
each product is approved by the appropriate individual, and that all the necessary quality activities have
been performed. This is done by checking the Configuration Item Records, which maintain the current
status of the products, and the Quality Register.
Once each product satisfies its approval criteria, it can be handed over. The Team Manager then updates
the Team Plan to indicate the completion of the Work Package, and notifies the Project Manager.

PRINCE2 Process: Managing a Stage Boundary (SB)

In order to create regular control points for the Project Board, a PRINCE2 project must be divided into
management stages, at the boundaries of which the Project Board reviews project progress and decides
whether or not to commit further resources to the project.
The purpose of the Managing a Stage Boundary (SB) process is for the Project Manager to prepare for the
next management stage, by providing the Project Board with relevant and accurate information for making
a decision about the projects continued viability. This includes creating a Stage Plan (or an Exception
Plan), and updating the Project Initiation Documentation.
The SB process involves six activities, which the Project Manager must perform once during each stage.
As noted above, these activities are also carried out when the project goes into exception and an Exception
Plan is required.

Plan the next stage

In order to prepare a next Stage Plan with the appropriate level of detail, the Project Manager must discuss
any alterations to the project approach or acceptance criteria, and review the Project Initiation
Documentation (created during the initiation stage).

Update the Project Plan

In addition to the creation of a Stage Plan or Exception Plan, the Project Plan must also be kept up to date,
through inclusion of the actual results of the existing stage and new forecasts for time and cost for the
remainder of the project.

Update the Business Case

It is essential that the Business Case represent the current anticipated duration and cost of the project, so
that the Project Board is able to make a sound decision regarding the projects viability.
As part of this activity, the Project Manager also consults the Risk Register, to check whether the projects
aggregated risk exposure is acceptable, according to the pre-determined risk tolerance level. If necessary,
then the Risk Register and Issue Register should also be updated.
Finally, the Project Manager also assesses the project benefits, by reviewing any benefits reviews carried
out during the stage.

Report Stage End

In order to obtain authorization to begin the next Stage Plan, the Project Manager needs to create a
comprehensive End Stage Report. This document describes the following:

The performance of the stage that is just finishing;

The general progress of the project to date;
The projects current risk situation and any project issues;
Current project forecasts;

Alterations to the Business Case;

If applicable, the results of any benefit reviews.

Produce an Exception Plan

If the SB process is performed in response to an exception, then the Project Manager will be responsible
for writing an Exception Plan (rather than a Stage Plan). The Exception Plan is composed in the same way
as the Stage Plan, and covers the period from the exception to the end of the stage that it replaces. An
Exception Plan must be approved by the Project Board before it can be implemented.

PRINCE2 Process: Closing a Project (CP)

A PRINCE2 project does not simply end upon fulfilment of the project objectives (described in the Project
Initiation Documentation). The Project Manager is also responsible for making sure of the following:

Project products are delivered and approved;

Necessary ongoing maintenance is in place for the products that the project has created;
Benefits reviews have been either satisfactorily conducted or planned;
Preparations have been carried out to deal with unresolved issues and risks following the project.
Closing a Project (CP) thus entails five activities, which are carried out by the Project Manager, according
to the circumstances of project closure:

Prepare planned closure

Before requesting the Project Boards approval to notify the Project Board of the release of project
resources, the Project Manager must confirm that the expected products have indeed been delivered.
This is achieved by entering information about actual products, time, cost etc. into the Project Plan,
reviewing the Product Status Account, and checking the Project Product Description to ensure that the
project product meets its agreed criteria.
This activity is performed when coming to the end of the final stage.

Prepare premature closure

In some cases, the Project Board may order premature closure of the project. When this occurs, the Project
Manager must still seek authorization to release project resources, but before doing so must obtain
agreement on how any uncompleted products are to be recovered.
The Project Manager must also enter the appropriate information about the request for project closure into
the Issue Register, update the Project Plan with final information about the current actuals, and ascertain
the status of the projects products, by reviewing the Product Status Account.

Hand over products

Handing over products to customers/users can take various forms. In some cases, all products are
transferred as a single release at project closure; in other cases, there may be a phased delivery period. In
all cases however, the Project Product cannot occur without the agreed acceptance criteria being met. This
therefore requires that the appropriate acceptance methods are performed.
Before handing over any product, however, the Project Manager must ensure that adequate preparations
for follow-on actions are in place, and confirm that the Benefits Review Plan contains planned reviews for
any benefits that cannot be assessed until the product is already in use.

Evaluate the project

The PRINCE2 methodology is not just about the success or failure of a single project. Continuous
improvement of project management methodology and techniques, and learning effectively from past
lessons both require that the Project Manager evaluate how a project has been conducted, by measuring
project actuals against initial expectations. This evaluation, together with a Lessons Report, is recorded in
an End Project Report.

Recommend project closure

The Project Board is responsible for recommending that the Project Board closes the project. Upon
approval of this recommendation, project resources are released and the project closes. Once this occurs,
no further work is carried out on this project.