Introduction to PRINCE2 Themes Tutorial
Introduction to PRINCE2 Themes
Introduction
This is chapter 5 of the PRINCE2 tutorial, which is a part of PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner course.
It introduces you to the different themes of PRINCE2. In every project, some aspects of project management must be addressed continually as the project progresses through its life-cycle. These aspects are called PRINCE2 Themes.
A project manager makes the Project plan, as shown in the image below
PRINCE2 themes are aspects of project management that must be addressed continually
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Each theme has a purpose and is achieved by following the principles.
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Any Project Manager who gives thorough attention to these themes will fulfill the role professionally.
Objectives
After completing this PRINCE2 Themes lesson, you will be able to:
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Understand the Seven PRINCE2 Themes
- Explain the considerations while applying themes in projects
The Seven PRINCE2 Themes
The PRINCE2 themes are as follows:
|
Theme |
Answers |
Description |
|
Business Case |
Why? |
Justification for undertaking the project |
|
Organisation |
Who? |
Roles and responsibilities |
|
Quality |
What? |
Quality attributes of the product to be delivered |
|
Plans |
How? How much? When? |
The plans theme describes how to create/modify the products of the project, how much time and money is required for the project and when to perform the activities |
|
Risk |
What if? |
The plans for managing uncertainties |
|
Change |
What's the impact? |
The steps for assessing impact of change and managing the change |
|
Progress |
Where are we now? Where are we going? Should we carry on? |
Addresses the ongoing viability of the plans |
Tailoring the Themes
Tailoring allows PRINCE2 themes to be adapted to create appropriate procedures and controls, provided that:
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The PRINCE2 principles are upheld
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The minimum requirements in each theme are satisfied
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The purpose of each theme is not compromised
All seven themes must be applied in a project, but they should be tailored according to the risk, scale, nature, complexity or simplicity of the project concerned, always ensuring that any minimum requirements specified in a theme are satisfied.
PRINCE2 provides a table of responsibilities relating to each theme, the responsibilities may be reassigned without any scope for conflict of interest.
Considerations for Applying PRINCE2 Themes
The following points should be considered while applying themes in a PRINCE2 project:
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Themes can be tailored up or down.
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For a complex project, one can go for detailed documentation and tighter process control.
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For a simple, low-risk project, concise bullet point presentations and informal processes may be enough to capture all the information and conduct the project.
Tips:
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The processes, procedures, and controls through which themes are implemented can become overly complex and prescriptive. This often creates an unnecessary burden on projects and seldom provides greater control.
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It is usually better to keep processes and procedures as simple as possible and ensure that the project management team really knows how to use them. The more knowledgeable the team, the lighter the processes, procedures, and control can be.
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It is better to coach people about using a process or procedure than adding more detail in the hope that they will understand it better.
Summary
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The Themes in PRINCE2 describe facets of project management that must be addressed continually.
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The seven themes in PRINCE2 are business case, organization, quality, plans, risk, change, and progress.
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All the seven themes must be applied to a project.
Conclusion
We have learnt about the Introduction to PRINCE2 Themes in this chapter. In the next chapter we shall discuss about PRINCE2 - The Business Case Theme
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