Revising the Progress Theme

To check on the detail as you plan your revision, have a look through the checklists to see where you feel confident and where you may still be a bit unsure. If you can’t tick an item with confidence, mark it down to have another look at it. The checklists cover the exam syllabus, but a bit more detail in addition to help you make sure that you’ve got the important areas locked in.

Revision checklist – Foundation

Have a look at this list as you prepare to revise for the Foundation exam. Make sure that you know each item thoroughly. If you don’t feel confident on any item, ‘give it a bit more wellie’ with some further revision (thank you Wallace and Gromit).

The purpose statement – what jolly fun; makes you really glad you’re learning PRINCE2 at exam level doesn’t it?

The four management levels

Reports in PRINCE2, what they’re for and how they work between the management levels

Progress reporting with the Highlight Report and Checkpoint Report

The two logs – Daily Log and Lessons Log – what they’re for and how they work

Work Packages and how they work – the Work Package is counted as a control, because the Project Manager uses it as an authority, and as a work definition, to regulate the flow of work to teams

Exception management – what it is and how it operates, and in which products it’s specified (for example, project level tolerances in the Project Initiation Documentation, or PID)

How exception management works between the management levels

The Product Checklist and its use in progress control

Time-driven controls (to a set frequency) and event-driven controls (things that kick in when something happens)

The concept of a management stage and a technical stage, and how the two types relate

Key factors when choosing management stage boundaries – including risk, Project Board preference, planning horizons (how far you can see ahead clearly) and maximum limits (for example, no management stage to be longer than three months)

Revision checklist – Practitioner

If you haven’t already had a look at the Foundation checklist above, do so now before going on to the Practitioner checklist, just to be sure that you’re still up to speed with the Foundation areas. Then have a look at these additional Practitioner points. As a handy hint in passing, do make especially sure that you’re familiar with the Work Package, because it’s a frequent visitor to the shores of the Practitioner exam.

Reports in PRINCE2 – do you understand each section in each report, and can you identify which section particular project scenario information should go in?

The two logs – Daily Log and Lessons Log, and again do you understand the contents?

Work Packages – the content, how they are used, by whom (Project Manager and Team Manager roles) and where in relation to the activities within the processes of Controlling a Stage and Managing Product Delivery

Exception management – can you see how to apply this within a project, and can you see quickly whether it’s been applied incorrectly?