Project Management Professional / PRINCE2 The Seven Principles Syllabus

The Seven Principles syllabus — full chapter and topic list

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

1. 1

   Justification and Learning Principles

   3 topics

   • Continued business justification
     • A justifiable reason to start and continue throughout the project
     • Documented and reviewed justification; stopping unviable projects
     • Link to the Business Case theme and the Directing/Managing processes
   • Learn from experience
     • Seeking lessons at the start, during, and at the close of a project
     • Lessons Log and Lessons Report as carriers of learning
     • Responsibility of every team member to actively seek lessons
   • Applying justification and learning together
     • Re-confirming justification at each stage boundary
     • Feeding lessons back into the Business Case and future projects
2. 2

   Organisation and Control Principles

   3 topics

   • Defined roles and responsibilities
     • Representing business, user and supplier interests
     • Everyone knowing what is expected of them and of others
   • Manage by stages
     • Planning, monitoring and controlling on a stage-by-stage basis
     • Management stages as control points and commitment gates
     • Minimum of two stages: initiation plus at least one delivery stage
   • Manage by exception
     • Tolerances delegated for the six performance aspects
     • Escalation only when tolerances are forecast to be exceeded
     • Efficient use of senior management time across the four levels
3. 3

   Product and Tailoring Principles

   3 topics

   • Focus on products
     • Defining and delivering products to agreed quality criteria
     • Product-based planning as the foundation for scope and acceptance
     • Reducing risk of scope creep, disputes and acceptance failure
   • Tailor to suit the project
     • Tailoring to environment, size, complexity, importance, capability and risk
     • Ensuring controls are appropriate and not excessive
   • How the principles together define PRINCE2 compliance
     • All seven principles must be applied to be a genuine PRINCE2 project
     • Universal, self-validating and empowering nature of the principles

The Seven Principles flashcards for Project Management Professional / PRINCE2

20 of 50 cards from the The Seven Principles deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. How many principles does PRINCE2 define, and what are they collectively called?

   PRINCE2 defines seven principles, collectively known as the Seven Principles. They are: 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.

2. List all seven PRINCE2 principles in order.

   1) Continued business justification, 2) Learn from experience, 3) Defined roles and responsibilities, 4) Manage by stages, 5) Manage by exception, 6) Focus on products, 7) Tailor to suit the project.

3. What is the single most important rule about the PRINCE2 principles for a project to be called 'PRINCE2'?

   All seven principles must be applied (not necessarily all processes or themes). A project is only a genuine PRINCE2 project if every one of the seven principles is used.

4. What are the three defining characteristics of the PRINCE2 principles?

   They are: universal (apply to every project), self-validating (proven in practice over many years), and empowering (give practitioners confidence and ability to shape and influence the project).

5. What does the 'Continued business justification' principle require?

   It requires that a PRINCE2 project must have continued business justification — a justifiable business reason for starting the project, which must remain valid throughout the project's life and be documented and approved.

6. Which management product captures the business justification in PRINCE2?

   The Business Case, which documents the justification and is reviewed and updated throughout the project to confirm the justification remains valid.

7. Under 'Continued business justification', what must happen if justification disappears mid-project?

   The project should be stopped (prematurely closed). Stopping a project that no longer has business justification is a positive contribution, freeing resources for more worthwhile work.

8. Is continued business justification needed only at the start of a PRINCE2 project? Explain.

   No. Justification must be continued — it must remain valid throughout the entire project life, not merely at the start. It is reconfirmed at key decision points such as stage boundaries.

9. What is the underlying lesson of the 'Learn from experience' principle?

   PRINCE2 project teams learn from previous experience: lessons are sought, recorded, and acted upon throughout the life of the project rather than being forgotten or repeated.

10. At which three points in a project does the 'Learn from experience' principle apply?

    When starting a project (seek lessons from previous/similar projects), as the project progresses (record and act on new lessons), and as the project closes (pass lessons on to future projects).

11. Which two management products support the 'Learn from experience' principle?

    The Lessons Log (records lessons as they are identified during the project) and the Lessons Report (compiles and passes lessons on, typically at stage or project end).

12. Whose responsibility is it to learn from experience in a PRINCE2 project?

    It is the responsibility of everyone involved in the project — no one should assume that lessons are limited to others; all team members actively seek and apply lessons.

13. What does applying 'continued business justification' and 'learn from experience' together achieve for a project?

    Together they keep the project both worthwhile and improving: business justification ensures the project remains worth doing, while learning from experience ensures it is done better by avoiding past mistakes and reusing what worked. Justification answers 'should we?'; learning answers 'how do we do it well?'.

14. How do 'continued business justification' and 'learn from experience' reinforce each other at a stage boundary?

    At a stage boundary the Business Case is reviewed to confirm justification (continued business justification) while the Lessons Log/Report captures and applies what was learned in the stage (learn from experience), so the next stage is both justified and informed by experience.

15. What does the 'Defined roles and responsibilities' principle state?

    A PRINCE2 project has defined and agreed roles and responsibilities within an organisation structure that engages the business, user and supplier stakeholder interests.

16. Name the three primary (categories of) stakeholder interests that must be represented in a PRINCE2 project organisation.

    Business interests, User interests, and Supplier interests — the three principal stakeholder interests that the project organisation structure must engage.

17. What does each of the three stakeholder interests (business, user, supplier) want from a project?

    Business — wants value for money / a worthwhile return on investment. User — will use the products/outputs to gain benefits. Supplier — provides the resources, skills and goods to create the products.

18. Which PRINCE2 role represents the business interest, and which represents user and supplier interests on the Project Board?

    The Executive represents the business interest. The Senior User represents the user interest, and the Senior Supplier represents the supplier interest. Together they form the Project Board.

19. In PRINCE2, why must roles be both defined and agreed?

    So that everyone understands what is expected of them and accepts it. People must know their accountabilities and responsibilities and agree to them, ensuring no gaps or overlaps and clear engagement of stakeholder interests.

20. What does the 'Manage by stages' principle require?

    A PRINCE2 project is planned, monitored and controlled on a stage-by-stage basis. Management stages provide review and decision points, giving the Project Board control without continuous oversight.

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