Project Management Professional / PRINCE2 The Practice Themes (Part 1): Business Case, Organization and Quality Syllabus

Which of the four levels of management sits OUTSIDE the project management team?

Corporate, programme management or the customer — they commission the project, set requirements and constraints, and appoint the Executive.

Which level 'directs' the project and which level 'manages' the day-to-day work?

The Project Board directs (the Directing level); the Project Manager manages day-to-day (the Managing level).

What are the three stakeholder interests that must be represented on the Project Board?

Business (Executive), User (Senior User), and Supplier (Senior Supplier).

Which Project Board role represents the business interest and chairs the board?

The Executive — ultimately responsible for the project, owns the Business Case, and is the single individual accountable for project success.

What does the Senior User role on the Project Board represent?

The interests of those who will use the project's products; specifies needs/benefits, ensures the solution meets those needs, and is accountable for realizing the benefits.

What does the Senior Supplier role on the Project Board represent?

The interests of those designing, developing, facilitating, procuring and implementing the products; accountable for the quality of products delivered by the supplier(s).

Can the Executive and Senior User roles be combined, and can there be multiple people in board roles?

The Senior User and Senior Supplier roles may be shared by several people, but there must be only one Executive. The Executive role cannot be shared, though one person could in principle hold more than one board role.

What are the four PRINCE2 principles relevant... what is the role of the Project Manager?

The Project Manager has day-to-day responsibility for managing the project on behalf of the Project Board within the constraints they set, ensuring the project produces the required products to the required quality, within time and cost.

What is the role of the Team Manager in PRINCE2?

An optional role responsible for producing the products allocated by the Project Manager (via Work Packages) to an appropriate quality, timescale and cost; reports to and takes direction from the Project Manager.

What is the role of Project Support in PRINCE2?

Provides administrative services, advice and guidance on the use of project management tools, configuration management, and administrative support to the Project Manager and Team Managers. It is the default responsibility of the Project Manager unless delegated.

Is the Team Manager role mandatory in PRINCE2?

No. The Team Manager role is optional; if not appointed, the Project Manager performs the Team Manager's responsibilities.

What is Project Assurance in PRINCE2 and who is responsible for it?

Project Assurance is the Project Board's responsibility to assure itself that the project is being conducted correctly. It covers business, user and supplier assurance and must be independent of the Project Manager.

What are the three areas of Project Assurance and which board member owns each?

Business Assurance (Executive), User Assurance (Senior User) and Supplier Assurance (Senior Supplier). Each can delegate to assurance personnel but remains accountable.

Why must Project Assurance be independent of the Project Manager?

To provide the Project Board with an objective, independent check that the project is being managed correctly — assurance cannot be delegated to the Project Manager because it would compromise that independence.

What is the Change Authority in PRINCE2?

A person or group to whom the Project Board may delegate responsibility for considering requests for change and off-specifications, and approving/rejecting them within a delegated change budget and limits.

Who holds change authority by default if no separate Change Authority is appointed?

The Project Board holds change authority; it may delegate some decisions to the Project Manager or a separate Change Authority within set cost/scope limits and a change budget.

What is the Communication Management Approach in PRINCE2?

A management product describing the means and frequency of communication to stakeholders both internal and external to the project — how and when information is sent and received.

Who prepares the Communication Management Approach and when?

The Project Manager prepares it during the Initiating a Project process, and reviews/updates it at stage boundaries.

What typically should a Communication Management Approach contain?

Communication procedures, tools/techniques, reporting, timing/frequency of communication, roles/responsibilities, stakeholder analysis, and the information needs of each interested party.

In PRINCE2, what is 'quality'?

The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of a product, service, process, person, organization, system or resource fulfils requirements — i.e., fitness for purpose / meeting requirements.

Define 'quality management' in PRINCE2.

The coordinated activities to direct and control an organization with regard to quality, including establishing a quality management system, quality planning, quality control and quality assurance.

What is the difference between Quality Assurance and Project Assurance in PRINCE2?

Quality Assurance is an independent corporate/organizational function checking that the QMS is functioning correctly; Project Assurance is the Project Board's responsibility to assure that the project is conducted properly. QA is independent of the project; Project Assurance is independent only of the Project Manager.

What is a 'quality criterion' versus 'quality tolerance' in PRINCE2?

A quality criterion is a description of a measurable quality specification a product must meet; a quality tolerance specifies the acceptable range of values within which a product is acceptable, defined in the Product Description.

What is the 'quality audit trail' in PRINCE2?

The path through the quality management products that links customer quality expectations → acceptance criteria → Project Product Description → Quality Management Approach → Product Descriptions/quality criteria → Quality Register → quality records → approval records → acceptance records.

What are 'customer's quality expectations' and where are they captured?

A statement about the quality expected of the project product, captured in the Project Product Description, agreed early (in Starting up a Project) — typically covering key quality attributes and standards.

What are 'acceptance criteria' in PRINCE2?

A prioritized list of measurable definitions of the attributes required for a set of products to be acceptable to key stakeholders; recorded in the Project Product Description and used at project closure to confirm acceptance.

What two complementary activities make up 'quality planning' in PRINCE2?

Defining the products required with their quality criteria, quality methods and quality responsibilities (in Product Descriptions), and producing the Quality Management Approach for the project.

What is 'quality control' in PRINCE2?

The means of ensuring that products meet the quality criteria specified — covers quality methods (in-process, appraisal, testing), maintaining quality and approval records, and gaining acceptance, recorded in the Quality Register.

What is the Quality Register used for?

A diary/audit record of all planned and completed quality activities and events (quality checks, reviews, tests), giving key information for status accounting and a summary of quality management activities.

What is the purpose of the PRINCE2 quality review technique?

A structured team-based quality control method to assess whether a product that takes the form of a document (or similar) is complete, adheres to standards, and meets its quality criteria — promoting consensus and product ownership.

What are the four roles in a PRINCE2 quality review meeting?

Chair (oversees the review and ensures it is conducted properly), Presenter (introduces the product and coordinates rework), Reviewer (assesses against criteria and raises questions), and Administrator (records actions and results).