Taking and managing risk forms the very essence of business survival and growth. If you don’t take risks your business is unlikely to grow, and if you don’t manage risks your business may fail. Not a good place to be is our first thought; fortunately we have project managers who are prepared to deliver new benefits with their associated risks and apply good risk management to ensure success. Well, that’s the idea anyway, so let’s share a best practice approach to risk containment.

Managing risks well requires a systematic, disciplined application of principles and processes to identify and assess the risks, and then plan for, and implement specific risk responses.

In this first article I will focus on the principles that effective Risk Management in projects must satisfy. These principles are:

• Aligns with the objectives – Your Risk Management approach should align with your project’s organisational objectives, focussing only on those uncertainties that have the potential to impact on the achievement of these objectives. The accumulation of all the risks in all the projects informs the total amount of risk, and may be way over the risk capacity and risk appetite of the organisation. Risk capacity refers to the maximum amount of risk an organisation can bear when considering factors such as reputation, capital, assets etc. whilst risk appetite is the amount of risk the organisation is willing to accept. In satisfying this principle the right risks are identified, appropriate priority action is given, and the appetite for risk does not exceed capacity to deal with the risk portfolio.

• Fit the context – The Effective identification of the threats and opportunities to your project is dependent on an understanding of the context of the organisation or activity under examination. This avoids ‘blind spots’ and subsequent unpleasant surprises. The context could include the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental environment, from both external and internal perspectives. Whilst risk management must take cognisance of the current context, it must also consider how that context may change over time.

• Engage stakeholders – Your Risk Management must engage stakeholders to get their input, and to factually define each risk to remove different and subjective perceptions of risk, so that the right, collective decisions are made when allocating resources to mitigate risks, and the right projects are put forward within the risk capacity of the organization. The primary outcome of this principle is a thorough risk identification process that aligns stakeholders to the risk profile.

• Informed decision making – Risk Management is linked to and informs decision-making across the organisation by helping the decision-makers understand the relative merits, threats and opportunities associated with alternative courses of action and thus make informed choices on which projects to run. Important decisions are taken with explicit consideration of the impact of risks.

• Facilitate continual improvement – Risk management must use historical data and facilitate the continual improvement of risk management.

• Create a supportive culture – Good Risk Management should create a culture that recognizes uncertainty and supports considered risk-taking, or taking calculated chances. A supportive culture is one that embeds risk management into day-to-day activities, where senior management demonstrate through their actions that risk management is important.

• Achieve measurable value – Using a structured approach to Risk Management must generate measurable and justifiable organisational value. To achieve this, baselines and processes to measure performance must be established.

The principles that I discussed are universally applicable concepts that have been self-validated in practice, and have been informed by corporate governance principles and serve as a guide for organisations to develop their own policies, processes and risk management strategy.

They should be seen as enablers to achieve measurable value from risk management.

In my next article we will be looking at how your organisation can adapt an approach for risk management, with a suggested process that is based on the principles discussed above.

Corrie Jordaan is a Senior Trainer and Consultant at Snap Tech.

Organizations require working project delivery frameworks to manage their projects of varied complexity, type and size. They want fast delivery of useful business products, whilst also recognizing the need for control, especially over costs, scope, quality and benefit potential. So speed on the one hand, a solution in the other, and governance balanced precariously on the nose! Is this possible?

Yes, to answer my own question, it is possible. Project methods like PRINCE2® have evolved into flexible and tailorable solutions, and agile ways of developing products have matured to provide us with exciting new and flexible options, including useful techniques like stand ups, velocity measurements of team efficiencies, and timeboxing.

Surly we can find ways of adopting the best of both waterfall, and iterative project management approaches.

This is not about being fanatic about either approach, it’s about finding the right practice for certain situations by taking the best of both in a way that makes sense. Die-hard proponents of agile or traditional project methods may feel that this is a dilution of the pure; I’m saying that there is some really good stuff in both areas, so let’s use it for the right, appropriate situations.

The “As is” state of project management

I think we have made considerable progress in maturing our project management capabilities, in the last five years many organizations have implemented “right practice” project methods that are applied quite consistently, are frequently updated and improved. They have backed up their methods with skills development programmes. The take up of PRINCE2 has been instrumental in contributing to this continuous and maturing improvement in the delivery of change, along with the release and take up of tried and tested approaches to Portfolio and Programme management.

If we look at a basic 1 to 5 maturity scale, I expect we will find a rough average position for portfolio management at around 2, programme management at 1.5, and project management at 2, with many organizations moving closer to 3 in project management.

But in spite of our improving capabilities in project management, we still do not deliver the varied types of projects with any consistency.

To understand this dilemma (of getting better, but, well, still not meeting our expectations) we have to look at the product (any product) development process, where results are rarely predictable.  Business change projects are not the performance of a routine set of tasks with a pre-determined outcome; they are empirical rather than defined, and require a level of innovative rather than just ‘process step’ thinking.

Our lessons show this, and Jim Highsmith, an Agile founder, observed that the failure to differentiate between highly uncertain (innovative) and highly certain (defined) project environments causes confusion when measuring project performance.

Let me give you an example from a few years ago, when life and projects were so much simpler;

Building a pyramid 4400 years ago was a simple affair; the scope was something like; a four sided, broad based pointy top shape, 150m tall, hidden front door, some chambers, passages and a booby trap every 30 metres.

The DEFINED scope lead to a simple resource and time based solution, i.e. 2,000,000 blocks x 100,000 slaves = 8 years and the associated cost. So scope, time and cost could be used at the measures, and such were the foundations of future project management laid.

But now we have our empirical projects; inevitably difficult to define accurately at the outset and subject to considerable change throughout their duration. But budget holders still need to be able to control timescale, cost and return on investment and need a framework for project management which will enable them to achieve this. PRINCE2 steps up to the plate here, and contrary to some common thinking, it can drive development in a slick, non bureaucratic way, the trick is in the tailoring, given that it does take considerable experience to do this well.

If only we had more easily adoptable techniques that could deal with the product development work in a more agile way. Let’s see what agile can provide us with.

The “As is” state of Agile project management

Agile approaches have evolved since the mid-1990s as part of a reaction against ‘heavyweight’ methods, perceived to be typified by use of the waterfall model of development. Initially targeted at IT system development, some agile approaches have evolved to address the development of any product.

An Agile method generally promotes incremental development and delivery, including the iterative development of the specifications.

At the extreme end of the scale we have agile approaches that are totally emergent, with very little work done up front, described as No DUF (No Design up Front), a waterfall project method would be “Predictive” with BDUF (Big Design Up-Front), and in the middle, EDUF (Enough Design Up-Front). I know, more acronyms! They do roll of the tongue though.

There seem to be some myths about agile approaches, for example; Agile is a silver bullet solution, with no:

• documentation
• commitment
• plan
• up-front design
• PM, TL or BA
• processes, we just scrum.

Such magic! I’m afraid that all of the above are required, with many fundamentals shared with our more standard approach to project management. The differences of both predictive and convergent approaches will however give us the solution to successful delivery of empirical projects.

Some of the various Agile methods you may be familiar with are:

• Adaptive Software Development (ASD)
• Scrum
• Extreme Programming (XP)
• Crystal
• Feature Driven Development (FDD)
• Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM Atern).

I favour the Dynamic Systems Development Method, it’s convergent, and comprises of Agile best practices brought together in a clear and customisable delivery framework. DSDM defines roles at the governance level as well as team level, and includes both user and technical roles. It is a scalable approach to different types and sizes of project.

The fundamental idea behind DSDM is that instead of fixing the amount of functionality in a product, and then adjusting time and resources to reach that functionality, it is better to fix time and resources, and then adjust the amount of functionality accordingly, always with a business value focus.

The rationale for alignment

PRINCE2 is essentially a decision and process based waterfall approach that has matured over the years to become a common standard for projects in 150 countries and over 21,000 organizations. It is particularly strong on project management and project governance, all within a well structured framework with sensible management information flows. It is designed to be tailored, and this is important if we want to bring in additional ‘agility’ style techniques.

DSDM is an agile, iterative and incremental project management framework for business centred change that focuses on team collaboration, stakeholder engagement with early delivery of product, at the agreed cost.

A DSDM project is always on time, this could be the manta of the enthusiasts.

There are similarities between PRINCE2 and DSDM. Both are product and business case focused, have clear roles, appropriate controls, both break planning into increments and address quality. Both point out that planning the detail beyond the foreseeable future is a waste of time and creates a false sense of achievability (DSDM actually says “further than the next few weeks”).

The ease of integrating these two approaches will come from their similarities, the benefits in combining them will come from their differences, or the additions if you like, from adding DSDM to PRINCE2.

How? Or the new “to be”

A summary of some of the key things we should be doing when combining a traditional approach like PRINCE2 with DSDM:

1. Use PRINCE2’s guidance on the hand-over of work to teams, including work packages, and empower the team leaders and their teams to work together to achieve a (incremental) solution.
2. Apply DSDM’s prioritisation approach, accept that the project may de-scope lower-priority features in order to deliver on time and within budget.  Line this up with PRINCE2’s tolerance control for scope, and quality, with no tolerance for cost and time.
3. Discourage the production of a fully-detailed specification of requirements at the project start, rather define high level Product Breakdown Structures and Product Descriptions, with further detail at stage boundaries.
4. Align stages to DSDM plans for incremental delivery of product throughout the project.  The project is “chunked” into small deliverables, managed by small teams, within short timeboxes. Timeboxes can be work packages, grouped into an incremental delivery per stage.
5. Use Project Assurance, but with a light touch, to allow the teams to be self-organising and empowered
6. Get the governance structure right, it is an imperative that the business are very committed to the agile approach, and totally involved.
7. Use the DSDM Project Manager role, with guidance from the PRINCE2 role definition
8. Use the DSDM team roles for those working on the creation, procurement and deployment of the product
9. Augment PRINCE2’s Managing Product Delivery process with the DSDM lifecycle to ensure a prototyping approach, and the incremental DSDM approach to implementation
10. Use DSDM agile techniques for facilitated workshops, stand ups and measures (EVA, Velocity)

Conclusion

Where on time delivery is often more important than having 100% of the functionality and where you may have a team of engineers or developers who exist in a collaborative environment, and could quite easily work in a more flexible, face to face manner to solve complex problems.  DSDM delivers.

Where organizations must demonstrate that they are controlling their projects effectively and giving best value for money, due for example to contractual or cultural issues, PRINCE2 performs.

Since both of these needs often run concurrently, the use of PRINCE2 for its control and DSDM for its agility is a powerful combination, giving you choices on how to run different types of project. So on some occasions you need to run projects with very strong governance.

References

Dorothy Tudor
Keith Richards

This accredited training event has been created by the APMG in conjunction with the DSDM Consortium, and provides the world’s first independent certification in Agile Project Management. It provides delegates with an understanding of how the Agile Project Management process can enable an empowered approach to the development of any product or system. The event provides the opportunity to gain certification as an Agile Project Manager at both Foundation and Practitioner levels.

Guy Eastoe, MD of Snap Tech points out that at last we have a practical approach to agile that synergizes with the organizational need to maintain sensible and effective governance, while at the same time enabling the benefits provided by an agile approach. It’s applicable to most projects, but must be applied and tailored sensibly. It gives us more choices in selecting our approach to projects.

The Agile Project Management qualification aims to address the needs of those working in a project-focused environment who want to be Agile. Based on the proven fundamentals within DSDM Atern, the new certification provides the ability to deliver Agile Projects in organizations requiring standards, rigor and visibility around Project Management, while at the same time enabling the fast pace, change and empowerment provided by Agile.

The course will:

• Explain how to lay the foundations for successful agile projects
• Explain how an agile project is managed
• Clarify the different management styles needed for successful agile projects (compared to “traditional” projects)
• Provide integration with PRINCE2®.

Scheduled Dates

December 2011 – 12^th to 14^th
January 2012 – 17^th to 20^th

Duration

This is a 4 day course.

Prerequisites and evening study

There are no pre-requisites for the course. Some evening work is required.

Examinations

Delegates sit a 1 hour multiple choice Foundation paper on the third day and on passing this are eligible to sit the 2 hour Practitioner Objective Test Examination (OTE) on the fourth day.

For more information contact us now on 011 8017600 or e-mail info@snaptech.co.za.

Download more info

Our business and delivery landscape has changed, it’s no longer ok to take the outcomes from our projects for granted, to allow money hungry projects to continue unchecked whilst other critical strategic initiatives wallow in our choked up portfolio pipeline, we just can’t afford it.

On the premise that there are really only two reasons why we don’t do something; either we can’t or we don’t want to, I’m pretty sure it’s the former, and yes, benefits realization can be complex unless we apply some structure, with a dose of common sense.

Let’s not confuse a capability with a realized benefit, sure we have got better at project management, delivering fully functional systems and infrastructure, but unless we transition this capability into an outcome that is fully utilized as envisioned in the original business case, we have not realized our benefit.

This is my first article on Benefits Realization, and introduces the 3 key steps. I will follow up with benefits modelling, benefits profiling, benefits validation, and the link with performance management.

Time for a definition: A benefit is a measurable improvement resulting from a planned outcome that aligns to an over arching strategic goal.

I’m sure you know which words to highlight, so this definition leads to the four imperatives of; Benefits must be planned for, measured from pre to post transition, aligned to strategy, and belong to someone.

The three steps are Identify, Plan, and Deliver. They are cyclic, pretty continuous, and iterative.

The activities in each of these steps are listed below.

Step 1 – Identify benefits

1. Translate each project output into a benefit or benefits. (later, I will show you how to translate each benefit into a project output).

2. Map each benefit against a corporate or divisional objective.

3. Describe each benefit in a benefit profile.

4. Categorize, e.g. cashable, non cashable.

5. Summarize all your benefits in a benefit register

Step 2 – Plan benefits realization

1. Attribute a responsibility for the realization of the benefit (This should be with the business unit affected).

2. Validate the benefits credibility with 4 tests:

3. Measurement – How will the achievement of the benefit be measured?

4. Attribution – Who is accountable and responsible?

5. Description – What precisely is the benefit?

6. Observable – What are the verifiable differences that will be noticeable?

7. Match benefits to business unit performance targets

8. Develop the benefits realization plan

Step 3 – Deliver benefits realization

1. Implement the plan

2. Measure the benefits

3. Manage risks to realization

4. Run benefits reviews, during the project life cycle and of course post project until the measurement of the return is realized.

These 3 steps make up the first part of a benefits framework that can be incorporated into your portfolio office’s governance strategy, so look out for my next article that expands on each of the activities in this three step approach to deriving value for money from your projects and programmes.

With change a pressing reality for all organizations, successful programme management has never been more vital to success.

It’s taken 18 months and four intense reviews. Changes have been brought in only if they added value – this was the mandate achieved by the authoring team. This version is a refresh not a rewrite, which has given an opportunity to give facelifts to the content of three important chapters whilst seeking clarifying and improving some of the concepts introduced in 2007.

Confidence in the update has been further entrenched because the updates have been done by experienced practitioners and consultants who have taken lessons learnt from practical application of MSP. Programme Management has been one of the fastest growing disciplines and the body of knowledge associated with the guidance has developed accordingly. The updated guide will help organizations deliver better programmes!

What are the changes in MSP 2011?

Numerous value add additions have been made, with the Risk, Quality and Benefits chapters completely re-written to the best practice standards we have come to expect from the OGC, in addition:

• Quality Management has improved guidance on Programme Assurance
• All Governance Theme chapters now outlines how that Theme relates to each of the Transformation Flow processes
• The Tranche concept has been clarified
• Key roles have been further explained.
• Appendix A has been updated and duplication removed.

Do you want to know more about MSP 2011 events and accreditation?

To find out more request a call back!
E-mail us at info@snaptech.co.za.
Or contact us on +27 (0) 11 801 7600.

This new Portfolio Management best practice guide will help senior executives and portfolio management practitioners to understand how implementing a Portfolio Management approach can address business challenges and deliver products and services in line with strategic objectives.

If you’re from an organization with projects and programmes that require more control, improved approvals, clearer alignment with strategic objectives and critically important – investing in the right change initiatives and implementing them correctly.

When taking a “bigger picture’ view of projects and programmes within an organization, Individuals and organizations are much more cautious with their investments these days. The following questions are common:

1. Can we afford this?
2. Can we take the risk?
3. Should we be doing this?
4. Are all possible questions being asked of change initiatives (projects and programmes)?
5. How do you do better with less when it comes to managing several projects and programmes?
6. Are we sure this investment is right for us and how will it contribute to our strategic objectives?

Target Audience – who can benefit from MoP™?

Actually almost everyone within an organization benefits from MoP because using MoP means that a more important aspect of strategic alignment is achieved, being ACTUAL strategic contribution. Organizational audience for MoP is:

• members of management board of directors of change,
• senior responsible owner’s (SROs),
• portfolio, programme, project and business change and benefits managers,
• business case writers and project appraisal people
• and those in other functions/departments with a role in delivering strategic objectives

What is MoP™?

Portfolio represents a “collection” therefore Management of Portfolios (MoP®) looks at the collective investment not an individual perspective. This means doing the right things and doing them in the right way. As such, the days of projects being funded without having a clear understanding of the full costs, benefits and risk are well and truly over, and rightly so!

Portfolio Management is a coordinated collection of strategic processes and decisions that together enable the most effective balance of organizational change and ‘business as usual’. While portfolio management will be more effective where robust programme and project management (PPM) exists, this is not a prerequisite for its successful implementation. The right time to question the validity of investments is always NOW.

Of critical importance, Organizational Energy sits at the very heart of the Portfolio Management model. This is because ultimately it is the energy and effort of the people within the organization that will create success. Behaviours are also addressed with MoP – Improved accountability and corporate governance.

The MoP investment in the change initiative is designed to achieve strategic objectives in the context of business as usual and the more efficient utilization of scarce resources including skilled project managers.

Five Portfolio  Management Principles

The portfolio management principles represent the foundations upon which effective portfolio management is built. They provide the organizational environment in which the portfolio definition and delivery practices can operate effectively.

1. Senior Management Commitment
2. Governance Alignment
3. Strategy Alignment
4. Portfolio Office
5. Energized Change Culture

MoP, fit for purpose

In order to ensure that MoP was fit for purpose it went through a number of quality assurance processes including six review stages, involving over 40 individuals, drawn from experts in portfolio management, authors of other Best Practice guides, end users from public and private organizations, educational institutes and accredited training organizations.

Trusted Resource

MoP complements the suite of related PPM guidance to help organizations and individuals use BEST PRACTICE to manage projects, programmes and services consistently and effectively. If you’ve attended any of accredited courses at Snap-Tech, then you’ll know the high quality of training, course material and tools. MoP is no exception.

Further benefits:

• With MoP there can be improved strategic contribution which means MORE of the RIGHT projects undertaken!
• Projects that are redundant, duplicate and low value adding can be removed and make space for more effective implementation of projects and programmes. This can effectively improve the portfolio by an estimated 20% to 30% “upfront” as soon as a MoP approach is adopted.
• The programmes and projects undertaken are prioritized in terms of their contribution to the organization’s strategic objectives and overall level  of risk
• Programmes and projects are managed consistently to ensure efficient and effective delivery
• Benefits realization is maximized to provide the greatest return (in terms of strategic contribution and efficiency savings) from the investment made.

Training Event

The event is an intensive 3 ½ day course, which includes the Management of Portfolio Foundation examination on day 3 and the Practitioner exam on day 4. This training enables participants to understand and apply the principles, practices, techniques, roles, responsibilities, documents and organisational context within which portfolio management operates.

Do you want to know more about MoP events and accreditation?

To find out more request a call back!
E-mail us at info@snaptech.co.za.
Or contact us on +27 (0) 11 8017600

• Ask an Expert – an open invitation to ask a question about any of the Best Practice methods and get an expert answer. There are over 500 questions and expert answers already posted there for you to read!
• Alchemy for Managers - we are now able to offer all members full and FREE access to an extraordinary, and still growing, management resource. Alchemy for Managers covers over 100 management topics – all of which are designed to help managers find instant information that you can apply immediately, right when you need it, and get results
• Full mind maps of PRINCE2, MSP and M_o_R
• Sample Papers of the Objective Testing Practitioner exams in PRINCE2, MSP and M_o_R
• Newsgroup – post messages to fellow members
• Diary dates, book reviews, useful links and much more

Join the pm4success online community – and make the most of your 12-month subscription! For more information contact APMG-International at servicedesk@apmg-international.com

P3O is a set of principles, processes and techniques that facilitate effective portfolio, programme and project management through the enablement, challenge and support structures required to set up, re-energize and run appropriate support offices and Centre’s of Excellence.

The P3O guidance applies to any project environment regardless of the methods and body of knowledge used, and is also aligned to PRINCE2® and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP®).

Guy Eastoe, lead consultant of Snap Tech points out that this concise and definitive guidance takes the guess work out of how to set up and manage a project office, providing organizations with an opportunity to get it right first time and contribute to organizational project maturity.

Richard Pharro, CEO of the APM Group, said: “Demand from candidates who have taken the P3O Foundation examination that was launched in 2008 has facilitated the development of the higher level qualification. Since the launch of the method we have seen great interest in P3O and we are pleased to support people who want to demonstrate their understanding of P3O with a recognized, professional qualification. This should further underpin the value their organization will get from adopting P3O.”

P3O courses are delivered by Snap Tech, the APM Group’s Accredited Trainer in South Africa, and candidates wanting to take the Practitioner examination must have already passed the Foundation level examination. The P3O course, which includes both levels of qualification, typically takes place over five days, including the examinations. Delegates may choose to do the Foundation-level qualification initially, as it focuses on concepts, structures and duties of a P3O and is designed for those working with or in a P3O.

The higher Practitioner qualification is designed for those responsible for setting up, managing or improving a P3O. A pre-requisite for this exam is a pass at Foundation level.

So here are five of the key areas of project management that busy senior managers need to know about. For this article, senior management is that level of management above the project manager responsible for running the business, and invoking those changes that enable the sustainability of their organization’s survival. These areas originate from the PRINCE2® method, but apply to all projects regardless of the methodology applied.

Firstly senior management must ensure that their organization applies some degree of portfolio management. As a minimum a central view of all projects and programmes must be in place, and projects must be selected based on criteria like benefits, risk profile, strategic alignment and resource usage. In addition projects must be prioritized according to these same criteria, understanding that if senior management don’t prioritize then junior staff will, by working on what they like doing, whom they wish to please, or which project manager is shouting the loudest.

Senior management must ensure that their projects are justified. I.e. each project must produce a strategically aligned output within an acceptable risk profile that adds a measurable value greater than the cost. This must be done at the start of a project, and reviewed as an ongoing activity, possibly leading to the sensible premature close of some projects.

Senior management must take overall accountability for project success, and must create a temporary project structure with defined job descriptions for the steering committee/project board members, project manager and other resources of the project team. Of course senior management have responsibilities that extend beyond the project arena, rarely affording them the time to deal with the details of every project they oversee, so they need to ensure that they are not bothered by minor events. They must delegate effectively and encourage a “manage by exception” approach that defines the authority levels and boundaries that the project manager must operate in, and the rules for escalating issues that may exceed those boundaries.

Senior management must make decisions. This means establishing an appropriate project governance and control framework that provides them with the right level of information to monitor progress and make appropriate corrective decisions. This includes the allocation of additional resources as required. Setting up such a framework for every project is time consuming, so executives must ensure that their organization has adopted or developed an appropriate and flexible project methodology (like PRINCE2®) that supports the project manager in her day to day management of the project, as well as providing senior management with decision supporting information and controls.

Senior Management must support the project manager. By appointing a trained project manager who is sufficiently experienced for the scale and complexity of the project involved, and then ensuring that everyone knows that she carries the executive’s delegated authority. Decisions and sign offs should be promptly attended to, feedback and guidance given, senior stakeholders communicated with and cross functional issues sorted out.  Formal project review meetings should be chaired by the executive.

The role of senior management in projects is a crucial one that if carried out effectively will enable most organizations to mature their project management maturity and improve their capability to deliver against their strategy.

But unlike project managers who over the last 10 years have had access to formalized training and rigorous certification schemes, senior management have little guidance in project management best practice. That is until the Office of Government Commerce released their Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2™ manual last year. It is a concise manual designed for the busy executive of any organization that describes the role and functions of senior management in projects.

So, going back to my first sentence, I hope I will soon be able to reply “yes, of course senior management know what their project management responsibilities are, in fact your executive attended my Directing Successful Projects half day event last week!”

About Guy Eastoe

Guy Eastoe is the MD and lead consultant at Snap Tech (Pty) Ltd. He brought PRINCE2™ and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP™) to South Africa, followed up with the P3M3 maturity assessment framework and the Portfolio, Programme and Project Office model (P3O®).

Snap Tech has been consulting and training in these best practice approaches for nearly 10 years.

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

Even in that first course the question of bureaucracy in project management came up, as it still does. So let’s evaluate how to find the balance between bureaucracy and agility in a PRINCE2 driven project.

Bureaucracy will probably be driven by groups or individuals who will be rigidly devoted to the details of administration, procedures and physical documents.

The agile team will be looking to do the right things and in the best way possible way, sticking to those principles that define their boundaries whilst allowing them to adapt to changing situations.

I’m not referring to ‘agile’ as defined in the 2001 Agile Manifesto for system development, but rather to a broader definition for all situations of change, where our agility allows for a common sense and real world approach to project management that facilitates teamwork, self organisation, and leadership. Possibly the type of spontaneous organisation you see on the playground.

Project Managers seldom make their own projects bureaucratic, this is done by an official or project office with insufficient experience and skill, often “group thinking” the PRINCE2 method into an unusable state, replacing best practice with experimental, poorly conceived pet ideas, even re-imposing the rubbish left behind by predecessors.

PRINCE2 becomes the victim, described as “template driven” and a “process minefield”. Yet it is neither template nor process driven. It is in fact decision driven.

If tailored competently the PRINCE2 method will ensure that the right amount of appropriate management information will be generated in a controlled manner to ensure that decisions to continue, change or stop the project can be made at the right time and with confidence.

PRINCE2 has seven principles that should be applied to all projects. One of them is “Learn from experience”. You will have to get the others from the 2009 manual.

Learn from experience. Isn’t it amazing that those who instil or complain about unwanted bureaucracy do nothing about it the next time round?  Surly by now we should be starting to get the hang of continuous quality improvement. Of course this must be quality of deliverables and of our project management, including how well we tailor each and every project.

There is a dedicated chapter in the newly released 2009 manual that gives excellent guidance on tailoring each of your PRINCE2 projects, and in particular reminds you to adjust each project against your organisation’s predefined tailoring rules. After all, each project is different in terms of factors like size, cost, constituent base, risk, and client impact, etc. It is these predefined tailoring rules plus the project’s specific factors that dictate whether a project is going to be “bureaucratic”, or “agile”.

Either way, if well tailored; then each of your projects will have the appropriate governance in place to reduce risk, improve decision making, realize benefits and achieve overall success. And don’t forget the contribution to senior management’s corporate governance responsibilities!

About Guy Eastoe

Guy Eastoe is the MD and Lead Trainer consultant at Snap Tech (Pty) Ltd. He brought PRINCE2™ and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP™) to the region, followed up with the P3M3 maturity assessment framework and the Portfolio, Programme and Project Office model (P3O®).