Ever checked the number of management products PRINCE2 shows...: 26.
Ever checked how many outputs the PMBOK lists...: 80!
I certainly have miscounted, so if you can correct me, please let me know the correct number... Note that PRINCE2 explains that a product is an output of the project. So Management Products and outputs here are considered synonyms!
As an organization we certainly do not want that every project, the expected content for these management products is reinvented or rediscussed. So we create (even better, reuse) templates for each of these management products. A great help for an organisation, what an invention! Templates...!!
Wrong, so wrong... Let me explain.
Don’t lose important product information anymore!
Have you ever been part of a planning workshop; a workshop in which the scope of the project is determined? The idea of these workshops is to identify and describe the products to be delivered by the project.
Our experience in projects, in training and in coaching sessions was that a lot of information was lost once the workshop was done. The information remaining was most of the time limited to the product breakdown structure. But all interesting information discussed about the products themselves… lost. What was the purpose of this product again? Didn't we discuss quality criteria? Wasn't there a consensus about the composition of this or that product?
Do you share this experience?
Until now! We developed a PostIt that supports our project teams with capturing the key information about the identified products, and this during the workshop. Our PostIts provide space, not only for the product title, but also for the type of product, its purpose and its quality criteria. In case more information needs to be captured – we use the back of the PostIt.
Last week, again the same remark I hear soooo often… “There are too many products we have to create according to PRINCE2®. It’s not agile at all. We don’t have time for all of that. We have to manage the project!”.
I do hear and understand this call of so many project managers. But why would PRINCE2® not be agile? Or their teacher did not well explain the concepts of PRINCE2®, or the students didn’t understand the teacher, or for those that didn’t had a teacher, they probably misinterpreted some concepts, or ...
Now, how can I convince project managers that PRINCE2® is agile?
Get the budget you need fot your projects!
Always have a clear view on all your project management products AND give your project a kick start with our product breakdown structure of project management products.
A product breakdown structure is generally considered as a must have for every project to ensure the entire scope of the project will be covered. But very often, project managers do not include their own products in such a product breakdown structure. The result of this is that no explanation exists of the reasoning for needing a specific budget for the project management activities.
The product breakdown structure we provide you (in different formats) shows the all management products expected by PRINCE2®. They are grouped for Starting Up a Project, the Initiation stage, and the subsequent delivery stages so that you will have all products in your project when these are needed. Moreover, for each delivery stage it is indicated what is expected during the stage itself, and nearing the end of the stage. For the last stage, a separate branch exists to list the closure related products.
“Steven managed the SEPG (Software Engineering Process Group) in Tectrade, and was capable of aligning the company in various areas, such as analysing and testing methods. His expertise on these topics has given me and many others a very solid base for our own analysing skills. He is a true Process Improver and a good People and Project Manager.”
Bart Derhore