Pro's and Con's of using PRINCE2

[Shaz]

Hi,

I'd just like to get an opinion on the +ive and -ive aspects of using
very prescriptive methodologies like PRINCE2 to manage and run
projects.

Since most of you all are expert industry professionals, what are your
thoughts on this and where can i get more data on critically
evaluating the use of PRINCE2 in government and private sector
projects?

Thank you all!

Best Regards,

Shazily

 

[Rod Gill]

Nothing wrong with PRINCE2 or PMI as long as you are more focussed on the
80% of effort for 20% of results in Project Management!!!

Agile methods have long since moved on and typically show better results for
up to 30% less cost and time, though not all projects are suited to agile.
If you have a flight control system to design I'd suggest going very strict,
slow and prescriptive. On the other hand if you have an IWiKIWISI (I Will
Know It When I See It) customer then agile is the only way to go and PMI and
PRINCE2 would likely flounder in paperwork.

As a point, search the PMBOK and PRINCE2 documentation for the phrases
"happy customer" and "Customer expectations" and see what you come up with.
In my book any methodology/framework that is not focussed and talking these
phrases regularly is missing the 80% of success that's most important.

I have no doubt started a storm of protest here, but these are my views. I
personally have deliberately stayed away from PMI and PRINCE2 to stay on the
leading edge of PM which I believe is mostly in the Agile space (and avoided
paying for the privilege of paying for cram and forget courses!). As the
saying goes there are many ways to skin a cat and there must therefore be
many ways to run successful projects. The best method is the one most suited
to your skills, natural inclinations and communication skills. Go with what
works for you, but experiment occasionally and listen to the various PM
speakers on the conference circuits and research any material that sounds
interesting to you.

--

Rod Gill
Project MVP

NEW!! Project VBA Book, for details visit: http://www.projectvbabook.com

 

[Dave]

Hi,

I'd just like to get an opinion on the +ive and -ive aspects of using
very prescriptive methodologies like PRINCE2 to manage and run
projects.

Since most of you all are expert industry professionals, what are your
thoughts on this and where can i get more data on critically
evaluating the use of PRINCE2 in government and private sector
projects?

Thank you all!

Best Regards,

Shazily

The advantages of using PRINCE are that it as a defined methodology.
That means that people on both the customer and contractor side of the
divide can understand it and make sure that their processes are
correctly geared up to engaging with it. It also means that as both
parties understand the process they know what they expect to happen,
when to expect it and how it will be carried out. There is advantage to
be had in all parties working to a formally defined process -
paticularly in high risk projects or ones in which a lot of change is
expected.

PRINCE is not necessarily as administratively heavy as many people think
that it is. If you are experienced as a project manager, you will find
that you are carrying out most of the requirements of it in one form or
another anyway. What elements would you not want to consider in your
own project management process (busines case, issue logs, work packages,
plans)?

In practice there will be relatively few projects where all parties
involved rigorously implement PRINCE, however as a starting point on
which to structure a project and as a checklist it does have value as
would other methodologies. I guess the important thing is not
necessarily which methodology you use but to ensure that your preferred
methodology (which may be an informal one of your own invention) covers
all the necessary bases.

It is possible to hide behind the methodology so that executing it
becomes the main focus of the project rather than the project
deliverables so that is somethign to be aware of. However the decision
on whether or not to implement it or not depends largely on how
confident you can be in the project manager's ability to carry out the
necessary project management activities without it. I have seen many
projects with a totally passive manager which would have benefited from
having enforced processes - although as pointed out above, those
processes should not obscure the true objectives.

Dave