www.pmtoday.co.uk | January / February 2017 25

Since its launch some 21 years ago, PRINCE2 has consistently set the standard for project management. Over the last decade alone, more than a million people globally have qualified as PRINCE2

practitioners and, as the world’s most-practised method, it is used each day by hundreds of thousands specialist project managers and other professionals across a vast range of industry sectors.

Now, with its 2017 update, PRINCE2 places an unprecedented emphasis on how best to tailor its elements to different organisations and environments, and to projects of diverse nature and scale. As ever, the PRINCE2 guidance, Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2, will contain a valuable body of knowledge; the 2017 update provides new keys to linking that knowledge to your personal expertise and to putting it successfully into practice, whatever the circumstances, whatever your job title and whatever your level of seniority.

The success of PRINCE2 has always been firmly rooted in the realities of working life and in the method’s adaptability. It is highly-structured, but time and again it has proven its versatility, scalability and flexibility. PRINCE2 is, in the most positive sense, conceived in generic terms and has never taken a dictatorial approach to product delivery. It can prove as useful to a government department building transport infrastructure as to a pharmaceutical company developing a new treatment. Nor should we forget that the current (2009) PRINCE2 was designed to be compatible with Agile delivery, and that dedicated PRINCE2 Agile guidance, launched in 2015, shows how this ‘melding’ works in practice. The Agile route, however, is just one of your options: the update’s defining emphasis is on organising your entire project in the way that is best for you, and on easing your chosen route to success.

The updated PRINCE2 reflects the evolution of business practice over the past decade and the way new challenges

have been interpreted and handled by people who manage projects. In today’s environment, technology constantly ups the game, and customers and stakeholders continually revise their expectations. Budgets and deadlines are tighter, and there is ever-growing pressure to achieve more with less. Flexibility and agility are more than buzzwords - they have become imperatives. But the core of successful project management - and of PRINCE2’s philosophy - remains the same: you need a clear picture of what you are trying to achieve, a consistent understanding of why it is worth achieving, and a well-gauged sensitivity to the risks involved. On a practical level, each member of the project team must be clear on his or her designated responsibilities - and ready to assume them.

Having been entrusted with the PRINCE2 portfolio some 10 years ago, this is the second update to the method that I have overseen, and the first since AXELOS came into being in 2014 as a joint venture of the UK Cabinet Office and Capita. As custodians of PRINCE2, the team at AXELOS maintain a close relationship with thousands

PRINCE2®

Mike Acaster, PPM Portfolio Manager

for AXELOS Global Best Practice,

reveals the thinking behind the first

update to PRINCE2 since 2009, due for

introduction in summer 2017.

What Next for PRINCE2®?

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26 www.pmtoday.co.uk | January / February 2017

of members of the project management community. We regularly ask them for their views on PRINCE2 and how it performs in today’s workplace. By the end of 2015, it had become clear from both formal surveys and anecdotal feedback that the market was ready for a refreshed PRINCE2. We also became aware that there were some misperceptions of the method and its full range of capabilities. In certain respects, this was more a matter of the tone of the guidance than its content. There was clearly a need to make particular aspects of the method more prominent. Though they had always been there, they had moved up the project management agenda in recent years. First and foremost among these was tailoring. When the time came to propose an update to our partners, over 75% of them were in favour of it.

Well over 100 experts have contributed to the updated guidance and examinations for PRINCE2, including a reference group of trainers, academics and end-users. With their help, we have refined the work packages for the authors of the updated guidance. Its direct relevance to the workplace becomes immediately apparent through the increased emphasis on practical application and through a wealth of real-life examples, with plenty of diagrams, hints and tips. Just one of the assets of PRINCE2 training is that it does not condition you into using concepts that are foreign to your workplace or language that will seem unnatural to your colleagues. Essentially, the skills you need to pass the PRINCE2 exam are the same as those you need as a project manager in the workplace; the practically-minded 2017 update makes this more evident than ever.

The 2009 version of the PRINCE2 guidance devoted an entire chapter to tailoring, but it came towards the end of the guidance. The 2017 update introduces the whole concept at a much earlier stage, explaining exactly why it is so important in today’s working environment. It also aims for complete clarity on striking the right balance between the required and recommended elements of

PRINCE2, which is crucial when it comes to tailoring the method to optimum effect.

We have also placed a special focus on the theme of change, and in particular change control and configuration management. These days, we all appreciate that a project can change between its beginning and its end. But, if ad hoc change is to be avoided, you need to deal confidently and accountably with the uncertainties that inevitably arise along the way. At each point, you need to go back to the business justification and the ultimate requirement to produce value for your organisation.

PRINCE2’s emphasis on practicality is reflected in the rollout of the update. The transition has been carefully planned. The English version of the new guidance, Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2, will be available in mid-2017, with the English versions of the new Foundation and Practitioner exams launching soon afterwards. From the launch of the updated exams, and until the end of 2017, candidates may take either the existing or updated English version of any PRINCE2 examination. From January 2018, all Foundation and Practitioner exams in English will be based on the updated version of PRINCE2, while existing exams in other languages will continue to be valid. The rollout schedule for the guidance and exams in other languages will be announced in late 2017; the versions currently in preparation are Dutch, German, Polish, French, Danish, Norwegian and Italian and versions in other languages are currently under consideration.

An important point: if you are a current PRINCE2 Practitioner, your certificate will remain valid until the end of its five-year period and you will remain eligible to join AXELOS’s PRINCE2 Membership programme. A valuable online resource for anyone who wants to get the very best out of PRINCE2, the programme offers the latest news and information on the method, practical content, exam support videos, webinars and more.

The Membership programme taps into the trend for online learning, already widely practised by the organisations that train PRINCE2 Practitioners. Many trainers and students still feel, of course, that nothing can replace face-to-face when it comes to professional development. Happily, when it comes to the method of training delivery, PRINCE2 once again leaves you free to tailor your choice.

Find out more: For further information about the PRINCE2 update, visit www.AXELOS.com/PRINCE2-2017.

Mike will be introducing the updated version of PRINCE2 via two special seminars at the Project Challenge Spring Show - 22nd and 23rd March 2017. To book your free delegate place, visit www.projchallenge.com.

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