| Prince2: Starting Up A Project |
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PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a Project Management method which was released in 1996 by the Office For Government Commerce (OGC). PRINCE2 consists of eight processes:
These eight processes are visualized in figure 1. The arrows give the connection between the different stages. More information about the complete PRINCE2 method can be found in the PRINCE2 Wiki . STARTING UP A PROJECT (SU) The purpose of Starting Up a Project is to set the Project up in the right way. The input of this process is the Project Mandate (figure 2). The Starting Up a Project phase consists of the following six activities:
These activities are described in the following sections. Appointing a Project Board Executive and Project Manager (SU1) Figure 3 shows the activity Appointing a Project Board Executive and a Project Manager . The first sub-activity is to establish the responsibilities for the Executive and the Project Manager. After the responsibilities are established, the Executive is identified from the project’s stakeholders. The Executive will be responsible for the project and is the owner of the Business Case The Executive will be making key decisions on the corporate/programme management's behalf [1 . In cooperation with the Executive, a Project Manager is appointed. The Project Manager is the person given the authority and responsibility to manage the project on a day-to-day basis to deliver the required products within the constraints agreed with the Project Board {Link without Title} . The appointment of the Executive and the Project Manager is formalized by signing the Job Descriptions. Designing a PM Team (SU2) Figure 4 shows the activity Designing a Project Management Team. Project Management Team is a term to represent the entire management structure of Project Board, Project Manager , plus any Team Managers and project assurance roles {Link without Title} . In SU2, only the structure of the Management Team and the Candidates is determined. The appointment of the people is being done in SU3. The first sub-activity of SU2 is to design the structure of the Project Management Team. If the structure is ready, candidates for each role are being identified. After this, for each role, the responsibilities and skills must be made clear. Appointing a PM Team (SU3) Figure 5 shows the activity Appointing a Project Management Team. First of all, the job definitions have defined. By using these job definitions, people are appointed to the different roles. The Project Board members do not work full-time on the project, therefore they place a great deal of reliance on the Project Manager A project support member is a member who supports the project by doing the Planning , Configuration Management , Administrative and Secretarial work [3 . The team manager is responsible for the delivery of products and reports the progress A project assurance member is a member who monitors the Business Case , the correct use of standards, the correct use of people and the scope of the project [3 . After the people have been appointed, it has to be confirmed in a formal document. Also the communication lines are part of this document. The deliverables of SU3 are the Project Management Team structure and the Job definitions. Preparing a Project Brief (SU4) Figure 6 shows the activity Preparing a Project Brief. This activity starts with preparing the formal terms of reference for the project. The formal terms can be used to refer to in case of obscurities or disputes. After the formal terms are prepared, it must be ensured that there is an Outline Business Case. The Outline Business Case is an outline of the information which describes the justification for setting up and continuing a PRINCE2 project. It provides the reasons (answers the question 'Why?') for the project. It is updated at key points throughout the project {Link without Title} . The deliverable of SU4 is the Project Brief. Defining Project Approach (SU5) Figure 7 shows the activity Defining Project Approach. First, a work approach must be made. A work approach consists of constraints on the way work must be carried out, and skills required conducting the work of the project {Link without Title} . So, for the work approach, work constraints and required skills must be identified. The deliverable for SU5 is the Project Approach. Planning an Initiation Stage (SU6) Figure 8 shows the activity Planning an Initiation Stage. Planning an Initiation stage starts with producing the Initiation Stage Plan. An Initiation Stage Plan is the result of the activities Project Brief, Risk Log and the Project Approach {Link without Title} . Next, the reporting and control arrangements for the Initial Stage must be defined. At last a Risk Log will be created. The deliverables of SU6 are the Project Brief, a Risk Log, a draft Initiation Stage Plan, the Project Management Structure and the Job Descriptions. After SU6, the Starting Up a Project phase is finished. PROCESS DATA DIAGRAM Figure 9 gives the process-data diagram of the Starting Up a Project phase of PRINCE2 . The process-data diagram is a combination of the Meta-process Model and the Meta-data Model . On the left side of figure 9, the processes are presented. This is the meta-process model. The processes are described above, in the sections 2.1 to 2.6. A short overview of the processes can be found in the table in section 3.2. The right side gives the concepts belonging to the processes. This is the meta-data model. The definitions of the concepts are given in the table in section 3.1. Table of concepts with definitions The next table gives an overview of the used concepts in the Starting Up a Project phase. The activity table with the explanations of the activities TEMPLATES The Starting Up a Project phase delivers several documents. To get an idea of how a deliverable must be created, templates are being offered by the OGC . These templates give a good view on the topics that must be described in the deliverables. For the following deliverables of SU, templates are available: |
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