| All trademarks are acknowledged. Prince2, MSP and | | | | about 30% of the activities are new. |
| MoR are trademarks of the Office of Government | | | | - The three Prince2 Techniques have been embedded |
| Commerce. | | | | into the Themes. Product Based Planning into Planning, |
| Key Highlights | | | | Quality Review into Quality and Change Control into |
| The new Prince2 was launched on 16th June 2009 | | | | Change. Product Based Planning is far less prescriptive |
| after a development period of nearly two years. | | | | than it was before. |
| Although the core concepts are fundamentally the | | | | - There are now 26 Prince2 Management Products, 2 |
| same it is presented in a much clearer and logical way. | | | | have been added and 12 removed. |
| There are plenty of practical examples and real world | | | | - There are now 5 Appendices. The Product |
| guidance, better integration with other approaches | | | | Descriptions of Prince2 Management Products, Roles |
| (Managing Successful Programmes, Management of | | | | and Responsibilities and the Health Check remain and |
| Risk, Agile, Project Management Institute) and it is 125 | | | | include more comprehensive descriptions, particularly |
| pages shorter. There is a chapter on tailoring the | | | | about products. There is a new Governance |
| method for different situations, for example for small | | | | Appendix, showing how Prince2 addresses the |
| projects or those within a programme and guidance is | | | | Association for Project Management's project |
| also given for people issues such as team dynamics | | | | governance principles and there is a Product Based |
| and leadership. | | | | Planning Examples Appendix showing a number of |
| How was it developed? | | | | different suggested ways Product Breakdown |
| The development process took place over a | | | | Structures and Flow Diagrams could be created. |
| two-year period and involved consultation with a range | | | | Principles |
| of public and private sector organisations, and also | | | | The new manual sets out 7 principles. These are: |
| professional and standards bodies, such as the | | | | - Continued business justification. All Prince2 projects |
| Association for Project Management, the Project | | | | should be justifiable throughout the life of the project. |
| Management Institute and the British Standards | | | | - Manage by stages. A Prince2 project is divided up |
| Institute. Several trials of the method were run at the | | | | into chunks of time called Stages. Each Stage has it's |
| British Council, Standard Bank and Staffordshire | | | | own detailed plan. At the end of a stage there is an |
| County Council. | | | | assessment point where senior management decide |
| Key changes to content | | | | whether to continue to the next stage. |
| - 7 Prince2 Principles have been defined. The ideas | | | | - Manage by exception. Each level of management |
| behind them will be familiar to users of the old manual. | | | | need only escalate up to the level above if the work |
| All Prince2 projects will follow these high-level guiding | | | | they have been delegated is forecast to exceed the |
| concepts, even if they do not adhere to the more | | | | agreed levels in terms of time, cost, quality, scope, risk |
| detailed instructions in the rest of the manual. | | | | or benefits. |
| - The 8 Components have been replaced with 7 | | | | - Learn from experience. Lessons learned from |
| Themes, although the scope of information covered is | | | | previous projects or operations should be used to help |
| the same. Configuration Management has been | | | | manage the current project. |
| incorporated into the Change Theme, and the Controls | | | | - Defined roles and responsibilities. There will be a clear |
| Component has become the Progress Theme. Plenty | | | | organisation structure for the project with clearly |
| of guidance, practical examples and references to a | | | | defined roles and responsibilities. Everyone involved in |
| range of useful techniques, such as how to estimate, | | | | the project management team will be allocated an |
| identify risk and carry out investment appraisals, have | | | | applicable role. |
| been added. | | | | - Focus on products. Prince2 places a primary |
| - There are now 7 Processes. The old Planning | | | | emphasis on the outputs from the project rather than |
| Process has gone, it is now set out in the Planning | | | | the activities to create them. Each product has a |
| Theme. At the process level the scope and sequence | | | | clearly defined specification. |
| is the same as before but at the sub-process level | | | | - Tailor to suit the project environment. Prince 2 is |
| there are quite substantial changes. Sub-processes are | | | | tailored to suit the project's environment, size, |
| now called activities, there is no coding scheme and | | | | complexity, importance, capability and risk. |