PRINCE2 FOUNDATION & PRACTITIONER Certification Course Overview

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured project management method and practitioner certification programme. PRINCE2 emphasizes dividing projects into manageable and controllable stages.

It is adopted in many countries worldwide, including the UK, Western European countries, and Australia.

History

PRINCE was derived from an earlier method called PROMPT II (Project Resource Organisation Management Planning Techniques). In 1989 the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) adopted a version of PROMPT II as a UK Government standard for information systems (IT) project management. They gave it the name 'PRINCE', which originally stood for "PROMPT II IN the CCTA Environment". PRINCE was renamed in a Civil service competition as an acronym for "PRojects IN Controlled Environments". PRINCE2 is the second edition of the earlier PRINCE method which was initially announced and developed in 1989 by CCTA (the central computer and Telecommunications Agency), a UK government support agency. PRINCE2 was released in 1996 as a generic project management method. PRINCE2 has become increasingly popular and is now a de-facto standard for project management in many UK government departments and across the United Nations system.

Seven Principles

PRINCE2 is based on seven principles and these cannot be tailored. The PRINCE2 principles can be described as a mindset that keeps the project aligned with the PRINCE2 methodology. If a project does not adhere to these principles, it is not being managed using PRINCE2.

- Continued Business Justification: The business case is the most important document, and is updated at every stage of the project to ensure that the project is still viable. Early termination can occur if this ceases to be the case.

- Learn From Experience: each project maintains a lesson log and projects should continually refer to their own and to previous and concurrent projects' lesson logs to avoid reinventing wheels. Unless lessons provoke change, they are only lessons identified (not learned).

- Defined Roles and Responsibilities: Roles are separated from individuals, who may take on multiple roles or share a role. Roles in PRINCE2 are structured in four levels (corporate or programme management, project board, project manager level, and team level). Project Management Team contains the last three, where all primary stakeholders (business, user, supplier) need to be presented.

- Manage by Stages: the project is planned and controlled on a stage by stage basis. Moving between stages includes updating the business case, risks, overall plan, and detailed next-stage plan in the light of new evidence.

- Manage by Exception: A PRINCE2 project has defined tolerances (6 aspects above) for each project objective, to establish limits of delegated authority. If a management level forecasts that these tolerances are exceeded (e.g. time of a management stage will be longer than the estimated time in the current management stage). it is escalated to the next management level for a decision about how to proceed.

- Focus on Products: A PRINCE2 project focuses on the definition and delivery of the products, in particular their quality requirements.

- Tailor to Suit Project Environment: PRINCE2 is tailored to suit the project environment, size, complexity, importance, time capability, and risk. Tailoring is the first activity in the process Initiating A Project and reviewed for each stage.

PRINCE2 Certification Levels :

PRINCE2 Qualification constitutes different levels of Certification which are as follows:

- PRINCE2 Foundation

- PRINCE2 Practitioner

- PRINCE2 Professional

- PRINCE2 Agile

Where:

PRINCE2 Foundation is the basic level of certification. The staff member/employee working for the Organization can give their best techniques to the company which further increases their revenue and profits.

PRINCE2 Practitioner is the certification that enhances the skills required to manage the projects and handle risks efficiently.

PRINCE2 Professional certification is essentially for Prince2 Practitioners who want to take the further step and increase their proficiency in the PRINCE2 Methodology. This certification will test the ability of the professionals to manage non-complex projects across all streams. However Prince2 Practitioner certification is the pre-requisite for Prince2 Professional certification.

PRINCE2 Agile certification is a new module and it is suitable for those who have already received PRINCE2 and need further guidance on the application of agile methods. This certification is suitable for both small scale and large scale projects.