Project Management PRINCE2 and Other Methodologies Syllabus

What are the four categories of stakeholder interest represented on a PRINCE2 Project Board?

Business, User, and Supplier interests—balanced by the Executive (business), Senior User (user), and Senior Supplier (supplier).

What is the purpose of the Quality theme in PRINCE2?

To define and implement the means by which the project will verify that products are fit for purpose, covering quality planning and quality control.

In PRINCE2, what is the difference between Quality Assurance and Project Assurance?

Quality Assurance is an independent corporate/programme function checking that products/processes meet organizational standards; Project Assurance is the Project Board's responsibility to independently assure the project on their behalf (business, user, supplier assurance).

What is a Product Description in PRINCE2 and what does it define?

A management product defining a product's purpose, composition, derivation, format, quality criteria, quality method, and quality responsibilities—agreed before the product is developed.

What is the purpose of the Plans theme in PRINCE2?

To facilitate communication and control by defining the means of delivering the products (the where, how, by whom, and when).

What are the three levels of plan in PRINCE2?

Project Plan, Stage Plan, and Team Plan (with an Exception Plan created when tolerances are forecast to be exceeded).

What is Product-Based Planning in PRINCE2 and what are its four steps/products?

A technique to identify and define products before activities. Steps: 1) Write the Project Product Description, 2) Create the Product Breakdown Structure, 3) Write Product Descriptions, 4) Create the Product Flow Diagram.

What is the purpose of the Risk theme in PRINCE2?

To identify, assess, and control uncertainty (threats and opportunities) and, as a result, improve the ability of the project to succeed.

What is the PRINCE2 recommended risk management procedure (its five steps)?

Identify (context and risks), Assess (estimate and evaluate), Plan (responses), Implement (responses, assign owners/actionees), and Communicate (throughout, cutting across the others).

What are the PRINCE2 risk response types for threats?

Avoid, Reduce (mitigate), Transfer (e.g. insurance), Share, Accept, and prepare Contingent plans (Fallback).

What are the PRINCE2 risk response types for opportunities?

Exploit, Enhance, Share, Reject, and Accept.

In PRINCE2 risk management, what is the difference between a risk owner and a risk actionee?

The risk owner is accountable for managing/monitoring a particular risk; the risk actionee carries out the specific response action(s), supporting and reporting to the risk owner.

How is a risk's expected value / exposure typically calculated?

$\text{Expected Value} = P(\text{risk}) \times \text{Impact}$, i.e. probability multiplied by the monetary impact of the risk.

What is the purpose of the Change theme in PRINCE2?

To identify, assess, and control any potential and approved changes to the project baseline (issue and change control).

What are the three types of issue in PRINCE2?

Request for Change, Off-Specification (a product not or forecast not to meet its specification), and a Problem/Concern.

What PRINCE2 role or body may be delegated authority to review and approve changes?

A Change Authority (delegated by the Project Board), operating within a change budget; otherwise the Project Board decides.

What is the purpose of the Progress theme in PRINCE2?

To establish mechanisms to monitor and compare actual achievements against those planned, to provide a forecast for the project's objectives and continued viability, and to control any unacceptable deviations.

What are the two types of progress control in PRINCE2?

Event-driven controls (triggered by an event, e.g. end-stage assessment, exception report) and time-driven controls (at defined intervals, e.g. checkpoint reports and highlight reports).

In PRINCE2, what is a Highlight Report versus a Checkpoint Report?

A Highlight Report is a time-driven report from the Project Manager to the Project Board on stage progress; a Checkpoint Report is a time-driven report from the Team Manager to the Project Manager on Work Package progress.

How many PRINCE2 processes are there and what are they?

Seven: 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).

What is the purpose of the 'Starting Up a Project' (SU) process in PRINCE2?

A pre-project process to ensure the prerequisites for initiating are in place by answering 'do we have a worthwhile and viable project?'; it produces the outline Business Case and the Project Brief and triggers Initiation.

What key management product triggers the 'Starting Up a Project' process?

The Project Mandate (from corporate/programme management), which is refined into the Project Brief during SU.

What is the purpose of the 'Directing a Project' (DP) process and who owns it?

It enables the Project Board to be accountable for the project by making key decisions and exercising overall control while delegating day-to-day management to the Project Manager; it runs from the end of SU to the end of the project.

What is the purpose of the 'Initiating a Project' (IP) process?

To establish solid foundations for the project—understanding the work before committing significant spend—by creating the Project Initiation Documentation (PID), including the detailed Business Case and management approaches.

What does the Project Initiation Documentation (PID) contain in PRINCE2?

The assembled baseline for the project: project definition, Business Case, team structure/role descriptions, quality/risk/change/communication management approaches, Project Plan, project controls, and tailoring.

What is the purpose of the 'Controlling a Stage' (CS) process?

To assign, monitor, and control work within a management stage; the Project Manager handles day-to-day management—authorizing Work Packages, reviewing progress, capturing/escalating issues and risks, and reporting via Highlight Reports.

What is the purpose of the 'Managing Product Delivery' (MP) process?

To control the link between the Project Manager and Team Manager(s) by placing formal requirements on accepting, executing, and delivering project work (via Work Packages) and ensuring products meet quality criteria.

What are the three activities of the 'Managing Product Delivery' process?

Accept a Work Package, Execute a Work Package, and Deliver a Work Package.

What is the purpose of the 'Managing a Stage Boundary' (SB) process?

To enable the Project Board to decide whether to continue by providing an End Stage Report, reviewing performance/Business Case, and planning the next stage (or an Exception Plan).

What is the purpose of the 'Closing a Project' (CP) process?

To provide a fixed point to confirm acceptance of the project product, verify objectives were met (or nothing more can be done), hand over products, and produce the End Project Report, Lessons Report, and recommendation to close.

How does PMBOK differ from PRINCE2 in fundamental approach?

PMBOK (PMI) is a broad knowledge/standards framework describing tools, techniques, and good practices (process groups and knowledge areas) but is not prescriptive; PRINCE2 is a prescriptive, process-based method of governance emphasizing principles, product focus, and the Business Case—it says 'what' to do but less on specific techniques.

What are the five PMBOK Process Groups (traditional editions)?

Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing.

How does Agile differ from PRINCE2/PMBOK (predictive) approaches?

Agile is iterative and incremental, delivering working products in short cycles (sprints) with flexible scope and fixed time/cost, valuing collaboration and responding to change; predictive (waterfall/PRINCE2) fixes scope up front and manages change formally against a plan.

In Agile (e.g. DSDM/PRINCE2 Agile), how are time, cost, and scope/quality typically fixed versus variable compared with traditional projects?

Agile fixes time and cost and flexes scope/features (prioritized via MoSCoW); traditional projects tend to fix scope and flex time and cost.

What does the MoSCoW prioritization technique stand for?

Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won't have (this time)—used in Agile to prioritize requirements against fixed time and cost.

What is Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) and who developed it?

A method (from Eliyahu Goldratt's Theory of Constraints) that plans and manages projects by focusing on resource constraints and using aggregated time buffers rather than padding individual task estimates.

In CCPM, what is the difference between a project buffer and a feeding buffer?

The project buffer is placed at the end of the critical chain to protect the project delivery date; feeding buffers are placed where non-critical paths feed into the critical chain to protect it from delays on those paths.

What is the 'critical chain' as opposed to the 'critical path'?

The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent tasks ignoring resource limits; the critical chain is the longest sequence accounting for both task dependencies and resource constraints/contention.

What behavioral problems does CCPM aim to eliminate by removing task-level safety time?

Student syndrome (delaying work until the deadline nears), Parkinson's Law (work expanding to fill available time), and the loss of early finishes due to multitasking and dependencies.

What is Six Sigma and what quality level does it target?

A data-driven methodology to reduce defects and variation in processes; a Six Sigma process targets no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO), corresponding to a $6\sigma$ process capability (with a $1.5\sigma$ shift).

What do the five phases of the Six Sigma DMAIC cycle stand for?

Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control—used to improve existing processes.

What is the formula for Defects Per Million Opportunities (DPMO) in Six Sigma?

$$\text{DPMO} = \frac{\text{Number of Defects}}{\text{Units} \times \text{Opportunities per Unit}} \times 1{,}000{,}000$$

How is process Sigma / process yield conceptually related to defects in Six Sigma?

Yield is the proportion of defect-free outputs; higher process sigma means lower DPMO and higher yield. For example, a $3\sigma$ process has about 66,807 DPMO (~93.3% yield) whereas a $6\sigma$ process has 3.4 DPMO (~99.99966% yield).

What is the difference between DMAIC and DMADV in Six Sigma?

DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) improves existing processes; DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify)—part of Design for Six Sigma—creates new processes or products.

What is Process Sigma capability index $C_{pk}$ used for?

It measures how well a process fits within its specification limits accounting for centering: $$C_{pk} = \min\!\left(\frac{USL - \mu}{3\sigma},\ \frac{\mu - LSL}{3\sigma}\right)$$ Higher $C_{pk}$ indicates a more capable, better-centered process.

When choosing between a predictive and an adaptive (Agile) approach, what factors favor Agile?

High uncertainty/changing requirements, need for early/frequent value delivery, close customer collaboration, small co-located empowered teams, and low cost of change—favor an adaptive/Agile approach.

When choosing an approach, what factors favor a predictive (plan-driven) method like PRINCE2/waterfall?

Well-understood, stable requirements; high need for up-front certainty on scope, cost, and schedule; regulatory/compliance constraints; fixed-price contracts; and a high cost of late change.

What is a hybrid project approach and give an example?

Combining predictive and adaptive elements to suit context—e.g. PRINCE2 Agile, which keeps PRINCE2 governance (Business Case, stages, Project Board) while using Agile delivery (sprints, MoSCoW, timeboxing) within stages.

What does 'tailoring an approach' involve when adapting PRINCE2 to a specific project?

Adapting themes, processes, roles, terminology, and management products to the project's environment, size, complexity, risk, and team capability—while retaining the seven principles, which must not be dropped.

Which element of PRINCE2 must NOT be tailored away, and why?

The seven principles—because a project is only a genuine PRINCE2 project if all seven principles are applied; themes, processes, and management products may be adapted, but the principles are non-negotiable.

In PRINCE2, what is an Exception Plan and when is it created?

A plan created to recover from or prevent a deviation, replacing a Stage Plan (or Project Plan) when a tolerance is forecast to be exceeded; it must be approved by the appropriate management level (Project Board for a Stage, corporate for the Project).

What is a Work Package in PRINCE2?

The set of information about one or more required products collated by the Project Manager to formally pass responsibility for work (and its execution/delivery) to a Team Manager or team member, including tolerances and constraints.

What is the DPMO/yield relationship known as the '1.5 sigma shift' in Six Sigma?

An empirical allowance that a process mean drifts by about $1.5\sigma$ over the long term; this is why a nominal $6\sigma$ (short-term) capability corresponds to 3.4 DPMO rather than the ~2 defects per billion of a perfectly centered $6\sigma$ process.