Project Management Professional / PRINCE2 PRINCE2 Foundations, Overview and the Project Environment Syllabus

PRINCE2 Foundations, Overview and the Project Environment syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for PRINCE2 Foundations, Overview and the Project Environment in Project Management Professional / PRINCE2, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Introduction to PRINCE2 as a Method

   5 topics

   • What PRINCE2 is and what it is not
     • PRINCE2 as a non-proprietary, generic project management method (PRojects IN Controlled Environments)
     • Origins: CCTA/OGC, PROMPT II, and AXELOS/PeopleCert stewardship
     • Scope limits: aspects deliberately excluded (specialist techniques, leadership skills, detailed tools)
     • Relationship to bodies of knowledge (APM BoK, PMBOK) and to ITIL/MSP/MoP
   • Definition and characteristics of a project
     • Project as a temporary organisation created to deliver business products
     • Five characteristics: change, temporary, cross-functional, unique, uncertainty
     • Distinguishing projects from business-as-usual operations
   • The six aspects of project performance to be managed
     • Cost, timescales, quality, scope, benefits (outcomes), risk
     • How tolerances are set against each aspect
   • The integrated elements of PRINCE2
     • Principles, themes, processes and the project environment
     • How the four elements interlock to form a complete method
   • Benefits of adopting PRINCE2
     • Common vocabulary and consistency across projects
     • Manage-by-exception efficiency for senior management
     • Reusable, scalable framework recognised across UK public and private sectors
2. 2

   Customer/Supplier Context and Stakeholders

   3 topics

   • The customer/supplier environment assumption
     • Customer who commissions and pays; supplier who provides skills and resources
     • Single or multiple suppliers, internal or commercial relationships
   • Categories of stakeholder
     • Business, user and supplier interests
     • External stakeholders and influencers
   • Programmes and portfolios as context
     • Projects sitting within MSP programmes and MoP portfolios
     • Corporate or commissioning management as the project's host
3. 3

   Tailoring and Adopting PRINCE2

   4 topics

   • Tailoring versus embedding
     • Tailoring by a project team to suit a specific project
     • Embedding by an organisation to adopt PRINCE2 as standard
   • What can be tailored
     • Processes, themes, roles, management products and terminology
     • Combining roles and adjusting management product formats
   • Factors influencing tailoring
     • Project scale, complexity, importance, capability and risk
     • Agile delivery contexts and PRINCE2 Agile considerations
   • Documenting tailoring decisions
     • Recording in the PID and tailoring section
     • Avoiding the danger of un-tailored or over-bureaucratic application

PRINCE2 Foundations, Overview and the Project Environment flashcards for Project Management Professional / PRINCE2

19 of 51 cards from the PRINCE2 Foundations, Overview and the Project Environment deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. What does the acronym PRINCE2 stand for?

   PRojects IN Controlled Environments (version 2).

2. How is PRINCE2 best described as a method?

   It is a structured, process-based, generic project management method that can be tailored and applied to any type or size of project regardless of industry, geography or culture.

3. Name three things PRINCE2 is NOT (its deliberate exclusions).

   PRINCE2 is not: (1) a set of specialist/technical delivery techniques, (2) leadership capability or interpersonal skills, and (3) detailed tools, templates or contracting/procurement methods.

4. PRINCE2's definition of a project: what is a project?

   A temporary organization that is created for the purpose of delivering one or more business products according to an agreed business case.

5. List the five characteristics that distinguish project work from business-as-usual.

   Change, Temporary, Cross-functional, Unique, and Uncertainty.

6. Why is a project described as 'temporary'?

   Because it has a defined start and a defined end; once the desired change has been delivered, business-as-usual resumes and the temporary project organization is disbanded.

7. List the six aspects (variables/tolerances) of project performance that must be managed in PRINCE2.

   Costs, Timescales, Quality, Scope, Benefits and Risk.

8. In the six aspects of performance, which aspect answers 'How good?' and which answers 'How much?'

   Quality answers 'How good (must the products be / fit for purpose)?' and Scope answers 'How much (what will be delivered)?'.

9. Which of the six performance aspects answers the question 'Why?' (the project's justification)?

   Benefits — the reasons for doing the project and the measurable improvements expected.

10. Which performance aspect addresses 'How achievable?' and concerns uncertainty?

    Risk — managing the uncertainties (threats and opportunities) that could affect the project's objectives.

11. List the four integrated elements of PRINCE2.

    Principles, Themes, Processes, and the Project Environment (tailoring PRINCE2 to the project environment).

12. What is the role of the seven PRINCE2 principles?

    They are the guiding obligations and good practices, derived from successful and failed projects, that determine whether a project is genuinely being managed using PRINCE2; they are universal, self-validating and empowering.

13. List the seven PRINCE2 principles.

    Continued business justification; Learn from experience; Defined roles and responsibilities; Manage by stages; Manage by exception; Focus on products; and Tailor to suit the project.

14. What do the PRINCE2 'themes' describe?

    Aspects of project management that must be addressed continually and in parallel throughout the project (the 'what' and 'why' that must be set up and kept active).

15. List the seven PRINCE2 themes.

    Business Case, Organization, Quality, Plans, Risk, Change, and Progress.

16. What do the PRINCE2 'processes' describe?

    A progression through the project lifecycle — the activities, with their recommended inputs and outputs, needed to direct, manage and deliver a project successfully (the 'who does what and when').

17. List the seven PRINCE2 processes.

    Starting up a Project (SU), Directing a Project (DP), Initiating a Project (IP), Controlling a Stage (CS), Managing Product Delivery (MP), Managing a Stage Boundary (SB), and Closing a Project (CP).

18. State at least four key benefits of adopting PRINCE2.

    It is generic/best practice and widely understood; provides a common vocabulary; ensures continued business justification; gives controlled, organized start, middle and end; provides regular reviews against plan and business case; enables manage-by-exception (efficient senior use of time); involves stakeholders at the right time; and promotes learning and continual improvement.

19. How does PRINCE2 promote effective communication among project participants?

    By providing a common structure, vocabulary and set of defined roles, so all participants share a consistent understanding of the project and the language used to describe it.

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