Introduction

For a very long time, people have been doing projects, and for a very long time some people have been messing up their projects. Good approaches and techniques are ‘out there’ but some people just don’t know they’re there.

PRINCE2 is a structured method that gives a clear but very flexible approach to running projects and builds in the things that work well. PRINCE2 helps you do the job of running a project, and also helps you avoid messing up. Whether you’re very experienced in running projects, or absolutely new to it, you’ll find PRINCE2 very powerful and may go on to become a PRINCE2 fanatic like me. Well, hopefully not as fanatical, but certainly enthusiastic! Enthusiastic because this stuff really works.

You may have heard some bad things about PRINCE2; that PRINCE2 makes a mountain of paper, that it’s only for very big projects, that it only fits very formal projects. None of that is right and when you read this book, you’ll soon see why.

If you see poor PRINCE2 projects, don’t make the mistake that so many people do and confuse the result with the tool. If you don’t use a tool properly, you can’t blame the results on the tool! Used well, PRINCE2 – with its 30 years of project experience – is amazing, and it really earns its keep.

About This Book

This book is based very much on practicality. You’ll find a fair bit of technical content here, but that takes a back seat to understanding the logic and thrust of PRINCE2. Once you have the logic clear, the technical bits become straightforward. For the fine detail of all of the PRINCE2 documents, consult the PRINCE2 manual – Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 by the Office of Government Commerce (published by The Stationery Office). PRINCE2 For Dummies isn’t intended as a complete replacement for the manual but rather as a practical commentary. I hope that the explanations in this book give you the thrust of the method with practical information on how to apply it well and productively, whereas like most manuals, the PRINCE2 manual can seem a bit fragmented and dry, and even rather theoretical.

PRINCE2 is a process-driven method and the processes cover from just before the start of the project until project closure. The Part II chapters that cover these processes each have a diagram – a process model. Just to warn you up front, these diagrams can look complicated but the trick is not to get too focused on them at first. Just have a quick glance to get the overall idea, then read the chapter. At the end of the chapter, have another look at the process model and you’ll see it as a simple roadmap for that part of the project. Everything falls into place!

PRINCE2 expects you to be using a particularly effective way of doing planning in the project, called Product-led or Product-based planning. If you haven’t had much project experience, be happy, because you’ll probably take to this way of working like a duck to water. But if you’ve done a lot of project planning using the more traditional start point of activity planning, you might find the product approach a bit more difficult. Don’t give up, though, because it’ll suddenly click into place. It took me a while to get my head round this way of planning when I first came across it – but it’s really easy now. So stick with it. Product planning is very, very powerful and it’s worth a bit of perseverance to understand it.

Foolish Assumptions

I assume that you:

Don’t know anything about PRINCE2 at all yet. If you do know a bit, that’s a bonus.

Want a project method to help you in your drive towards a successful project outcome – not to bury you under a pile of paper.

Are practical and pragmatic, and prepared to be flexible to get the job done.

Really want to use the method intelligently to get the maximum possible power from it.

How This Book Is Organised

This book broadly follows the structure of the PRINCE2 method with processes and themes. It looks first at the processes (when you do things), followed by the themes (what you do).

This section gives you an idea of what lies ahead.

Part I: How PRINCE2 Can Help You

In case you’re not too sure about methods, this section sets the scene and shows you that you already use methods, and even that you quite like them. Part 1 also covers how to get the power out of PRINCE2, so it’s a good dipping section.

Part II: Working Through Your Project

Part II is all about the processes, and it works through the project from start up right through to project closure. The processes in this part are the suggested when you do stuff. It also has a chapter on running Project Boards well.

Part III: Help with PRINCE2 Project Management

Part III covers what are known as the PRINCE2 components themes. These are about what you do – such as risk management. This Part also covers planning including the powerful product-based approach.

Part IV: The Part of Tens

Here you find some handy lists giving condensed advice on making PRINCE2 work well, writing sensible Business Cases, and doing Project Assurance (project auditing) really well. You can find even more advice free on the Dummies website, so point your browser at www.dummies.com.

Part V: Appendices

Here you find a bit about the PRINCE2 qualifications and also a useful glossary of the main PRINCE2 terms to give you a handy look-up when someone uses a term that you can’t quite remember the meaning of. Of course, you can learn the terms by heart and impress people at dinner parties with your grasp of technical language.

Icons Used in This Book

To help you navigate through the book, these icons highlight some of the key points:

The information next to this icon helps you understand a point, often using a real project.

The method has seven principles such as the ‘continued business justification’ of the project, and this icon shows significant points where the principle is worked into the method.

The key points are things that are really core to your understanding of the method, so make sure that these snippets really stick in your mind.

These are clear explanations of PRINCE2 terms (you can also find help in the glossary at the back of the book).

This icon draws your attention to an important pointer to bear in mind.

These snippets are all about stuff to steer clear of. They tell you how things can get really messed up, sometimes with details of how other people have done exactly that. Laugh at them, but don’t fall into the same trap!

Important things to keep in mind as you apply the techniques and approaches discussed.

Where to Go from Here

The great thing about For Dummies books is that you don’t have to read them all the way through. You can simply turn to the bit you want. The Table of Contents and the Index help you out. Of course, as a structured method, PRINCE2 has a structure, but even that won’t stop you moving in and out of chapters. When you’re starting up the project you may want to read Chapter 4 on checking out the project idea which covers that start up work. But then you may go off to look at the theme chapters for the Business Case (Chapter 11) and risk management (Chapter 15) to help you do that work.