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PRINCE2 2009 - Progress part 9

The PRINCE2 approach

Use of management stages for control

Management stages are partitions of the project with management decision points.
A management stage is a collection of activities and products whose delivery is managed as a unit.
As such, this stage is a subset of the project and, in PRINCE2® terms, is the element of work that the Project Manager is managing on behalf of the Project Board at any one time.

Management stages:

  • Provide review and decision points, giving the Project Board the opportunity to assess the project viability at regular intervals, rather than let it run on in an uncontrolled manner
  • Give the ability to ensure that key decisions are made prior to the detailed work needed to implement them
  • Allow clarification of what the impact will be of an identified external influence, such as the corporate budget round or the finalization of legislation
  • Facilitate the management by exception principle by delegating authority to the Project Manager on a stage-by-stage basis.

The Project Board authorizes one management stage of the project at a time.
Towards the end of each stage, during the Managing a Stage Boundary process, the Project Manager will review the Business Case and Project Plan, update the project documentation with the results of the stage, and create an End Stage Report and Stage Plan to request authorization to commence the next management stage.
The End Stage Report, together with the Stage Plan for the next stage, should contain all the information necessary to enable the Project Board to conduct an end stage assessment and make a decision as to whether to proceed.
The Project Board only authorizes the next management stage if there is sufficient business justification to continue.
If the project no longer has a valid Business Case, the Project Board has the authority to prematurely close it.

The Project Board delegates the authority for day-to-day control of a stage, within agreed tolerances, to the Project Manager.
As long as the stage is forecast to remain within tolerance, the Project Manager has discretion to make adjustments as required.
This allows the Project Board to manage by exception, retaining the level of control it requires while reducing the administrative overhead of being involved.

PRINCE2® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.

This product contains EVERYTHING in the publications:

Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 - 2005 edition
Managing successful Projects with PRINCE2 – 2009 edition
Directing Projects with PRINCE2.
plus:
The Complete Project Management package.

And much more besides - at a fantastic price.