Project Management & PRINCE2

Project management is probably the fastest growing profession in today’s world and therefore the PRINCE2 training course is being adopted by thousands of professionals around the globe. This is apparent in two ways;

Recognition is gained by enlightened senior managers that a project management approach can be applied with profit to a wide range of business development and change endeavours. Such projects can include, internal management projects created to drive through an organisational change, in order to acquire and install some new capital asset or to manage company relocation.
There is also rapid and continuous increase in individual membership of professional organisations. Whilst those new to project management could do no better than contact one of the professional associated such as PMI or gain a PRINCE2 certification.

As mentioned project management is growing rapidly but it is due to the purpose of project management that this is the case. Projects are new endeavours and are often carried out in unfamiliar or even hostile environments. They also require the use of new designs and work processes; they may have demanding requirements in strict timeframes with harsh cost boundaries. Therefore it is not surprising that many projects fail to achieve all of their objectives sometimes by wide margins. In other words, projects are prone to fail.  Therefore the purpose of project management and principle role of a project manager is to achieve all the set project objectives despite the risks involved.

Measurement of a projects success or failure can be viewed from two different perspectives. First there are the primary objectives of the project manager, usually working for a group or organisation that is committed to achieving closely defined performance, cost and time objectives. These primary project management objectives align with the objectives agreed between the customer and the project contractor.

Most projects are set up with firm objectives in mind. The only exception is a project for pure research which may lead either to no conclusive result or to some unexpected by important discovery. The three primary objectives are known as;

Specification – A specification should define what outcome is expected from the project. It must also set out in clear format the benefits that the project customer can expect in return for the investment. The specification should also include the scope of supply in a clear statement of what the contractor is committed to do.

Delivery Date – the delivery date is the time when the project is completed and handed over in a state that satisfied the customer. Much of the project management task is concerned with identifying the many activities needed to complete the project, placing them in a logical sequence, estimating the time required and allocating good resources. A practical plan should be made in detail and is the main benchmark for controlling the progress of the project.

Cost – Although many project contractors are in business to make a profit that doesn’t mean that all projects do make profit. Many internal management projects have no direct profit objective. Therefore it is best to regard cost objectives in terms of authorised budgets.

The above three primary objectives are dependent upon one another.

By employing a sound project management strategy, projects are handled and managed in a much safer environment. This is why individuals and businesses alike employ the use of PRINCE2.