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

In the customer/supplier model, define the 'customer' and the 'supplier'.

The customer is the person/group who commissions the work, will benefit from the results and typically pays for the project. The supplier is the person/group who provides the specialist resources and skills required to deliver the project's products.

Why does PRINCE2 base its model on a customer/supplier relationship even within a single organization?

Because the same dynamic exists internally: one part of the organization (customer) commissions and funds the work while another part (supplier) provides the resources to create the products, ensuring both interests are represented.

Define a 'stakeholder' in the PRINCE2 context.

Any individual, group or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by the project.

PRINCE2 groups the principal interests/stakeholders into which three categories?

Business, User, and Supplier.

What interest does the 'Business' stakeholder category represent?

It ensures the project delivers value for money — the project remains worth the investment and the business case is sound (represented by the Executive).

What interest does the 'User' stakeholder category represent?

Those who will use the project's products to realize benefits, or who will operate/maintain or be impacted by them; they specify needs and ensure the solution meets them (represented by Senior User(s)).

What interest does the 'Supplier' stakeholder category represent?

Those providing the skills and resources to create the products; they ensure products are delivered to the required quality (represented by Senior Supplier(s)).

Define a 'programme' as the context for a PRINCE2 project.

A temporary, flexible organization created to coordinate, direct and oversee the implementation of a set of related projects and activities in order to deliver outcomes and benefits related to a set of strategic objectives.

Define a 'portfolio' as the context for a PRINCE2 project.

The totality of an organization's investment (or a segment of it) in the changes required to achieve its strategic objectives — i.e. all the programmes and projects undertaken to meet strategy.

How can a PRINCE2 project sit within a wider organizational context?

A project may be standalone, part of a programme, and/or part of a portfolio; when within a programme/portfolio, some management activities (e.g. business case, assurance, governance) may be set or supported at the programme/portfolio level.

In PRINCE2, define 'tailoring'.

Adapting the method to suit the project's context — its scale, complexity, importance, team capability and risk — for example by adjusting themes, terminology, roles and management products to the specific project.

In PRINCE2, define 'embedding'.

What an organization does to adopt PRINCE2 across all of its projects — standardizing its use through process integration, standards, training, tools and assurance (embedding is done by the organization; tailoring is done by the project).

State the key difference between tailoring and embedding.

Tailoring is performed by the project management team and relates to a single project; embedding is performed by the organization and relates to adopting PRINCE2 across all of its projects.

What is the purpose of tailoring PRINCE2?

To ensure the method matches the project's environment and that the project controls are appropriate to the project's scale, complexity, importance, capability and risk — avoiding both robotic over-application and unsafe under-application.

List the main things that can be tailored in PRINCE2.

The processes (combined or adapted), the themes (applied via management products), the management products (combined, split or renamed), the roles (combined or split), the terminology, and the use of tolerances — but not the seven principles.

Which integrated element of PRINCE2 must NOT be tailored or omitted?

The seven principles — they must always be applied; if they are not, the project is not being run as a PRINCE2 project.

When tailoring management products, what are the options?

Management products can be combined, split, renamed, presented in different formats (e.g. document, presentation, conversation, data entry) or aligned to existing organizational standards, provided their purpose is still fulfilled.

How may PRINCE2 roles be tailored?

Roles can be combined (e.g. one person holding several roles) or split (a role shared among several people), but the accountabilities defined for each role must still be assigned and not lost.

List several factors that influence how a project should be tailored.

The project's scale, complexity, importance/risk, the type of project (e.g. lifecycle/agile/sequential), team capability and maturity, geography and culture, commercial/contractual context, and whether the project sits within a programme or portfolio.

How does whether a project is part of a programme or portfolio influence tailoring?

The programme/portfolio may impose standards, terminology, reporting, assurance and governance that the project must align with, so the project tailors PRINCE2 to fit the wider framework rather than defining everything independently.

Why must tailoring decisions be documented, and where are they recorded?

To ensure decisions are deliberate, justified, communicated and agreed — preventing inappropriate omission of controls. They are typically recorded in the Project Initiation Documentation (PID), often within a tailoring section, and may reference organizational standards.

Which management product captures the overall approach to tailoring PRINCE2 for a specific project?

The Project Initiation Documentation (PID) — it documents how the method (processes, themes, roles, management products) has been tailored for that project.

Who is responsible for ensuring PRINCE2 is appropriately tailored for a project?

The Project Manager (with the Project Board's approval), guided by any organizational/programme standards and supported by project assurance.

What is the risk of NOT tailoring PRINCE2 ('robotic' application)?

Applying the method without thought leads to 'robotic' project management — excessive bureaucracy and effort with no added value — or, if controls are wrongly omitted, to 'PINO' (PRINCE2 In Name Only).

What is meant by 'PINO' in the context of tailoring?

PRINCE2 In Name Only — claiming to use PRINCE2 while failing to apply its principles, so the method's benefits are not actually achieved.

Distinguish 'outputs', 'outcomes' and 'benefits' as used around the benefits aspect.

An output is a specialist product delivered by the project; an outcome is the result of the change derived from using the outputs; a benefit is the measurable improvement resulting from an outcome that is perceived as an advantage by stakeholders.

Why is 'continued business justification' so central to PRINCE2's value proposition?

Because it ensures there is always a justifiable reason to start the project and that justification remains valid throughout; if continued justification is lost, the project should be stopped, protecting the organization's investment.

How does PRINCE2 distinguish 'management products' from 'specialist products'?

Management products are created for the purpose of managing the project (e.g. plans, reports, registers) and are used by PRINCE2 itself; specialist products are the actual deliverables the project is set up to produce for the customer.

What does 'generic' mean as a benefit/characteristic of PRINCE2?

PRINCE2 is independent of industry, sector, technology and project type, so it can be applied to any project and integrated with specialist/technical delivery models or other frameworks.

In tailoring, what does adjusting 'tolerances' refer to?

Setting the permitted deviation (for cost, time, quality, scope, benefits and risk) appropriate to the project's size and risk, so that manage-by-exception escalation triggers are suited to that project's context.

Summarize the relationship between principles, themes, processes and tailoring in one sentence.

The principles are mandatory and unchangeable; they are applied through the themes (continually addressed aspects) within the processes (lifecycle activities), all of which are tailored to suit each project's environment.