PRINCE2 is a popular UK Project Management methodology, that continues to gain traction in other locations around the world. Now managed by Axelos, it is part of a comprehensive and integrated best practice suite along side other methodologies such as Management of Risk (M_o_R) and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP). As such, is provides as alternative to the Project Management Institute's (PMI) A Guide to a Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), and it's Project Management Professional Qualification (PMP). Since the author holds both the PMP and PRINCE2 Practitioner Certification , it can sometimes be insightful to compare and contrast the two approaches to see what stands out in both.
The author always thought of the PRINCE2 "Themes" to be equivalent to the PBMOK "Knowledge Areas"; a specific sub-disciple of Project Management that was important throughout the lifecycle; for example they both have "Risk" and "Quality" in common. Then there is the PRINCE2 "Processes", equivalent to the PMBOK "Process Groups" - essentially the flow of phases throughout the Project Life cycle. They are both broadly like any good book or film, in that they have a beginning, a middle and an end - with of course a bit more complication along the way. But PRINCE2 has a third component: "Principles". I don't think PMBOK really has an equivalent, so I think PRINCE2 has an edge here; but what actually is a "Principle"? Without turning to the dictionary, I would instinctively think of then crudely like a "guiding beacon". They aren't detailed processes or procedures, they aren't step-by-step plans or rigorous methods. Instead they are are simple but critical focus points which must then permeate everything else we do in Project Management, something that we strive both toward. Why are they useful? Simple: because once you've got your PMP or PRINCE2 exam in the bag, that old textbook is transition into phase 2 of it's lifecyle: dust collector. You'll apply these methodologies competently of course, but you'll soon forget what precisely is actually in section 7.3.6.1 of the PRINCE2 handbook. But Principles are different; short and simple, if you forget all of the other detail and just focus on remembering them I don't think you'll then go far wrong Ok Project Health Check you've got my attention, maybe these Principles could be useful in my Project. Tell me about them! Well this is just an initial insight, with our intention to focus on them in future articles - exploring our perspective and add some real life experiences along the way. PRINCE2 Principles
What are your thoughts on these Principles, do you agree with them and can you think how they have played a role during your own Projects? Also, do you think anything is missing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Stay Healthy! Project Health Check - projecthealthcheck.org
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Agile is a methodology which is getting more and more traction in the IT industry, to the point where the word is agile is thrown around out of context and with incorrect capitalisation. There are many variants, but a feature now common to many is the idea of a daily Scrum meeting to manage the work. In our experience, how this meeting is planned and executed will set the tone for the entire project, and how effectively they embrace the true Agile approach. Will it be truely Agile, or just "Agile", or even Watergile?
We've seen it done well, but also sometimes sickeningly badly - and made our own errors along the way. Here are our top tips for effective Scrum meetings:
Do you disagree with any of these, or would you suggest any others? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Stay Healthy! - Project Health Check projecthealthcheck.org We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Project Managers (PMs) live and die by the Plan. The entire purpose of the Start-up Phase of a Project is to produce a comprehensive Plan for the Project; consisting of an integrated Performance Measurement Baseline (Time, Cost, Scope) and an associated Project Management Plan to monitor and control it. Once the planning is complete, the Project shifts into the main Execution phase which will form the vast bulk of the timeline. The Project should then be reporting its status regularly to senior management via a Status Report, as part of its overarching Governance arrangement. So far so good; but when an organisation is orchestrating its status reporting process, what does it need to consider?
We’ve recently been involved in a review and update to the Project status reporting and governance structure for a major organisation with circa 150 Projects live projects at any one time. When you have that many Projects, the Project status reporting process needs to be effective and efficient to ensure the Organisation can “see the wood for the trees” – where does it need to focus its limited time and resources? Below we’ll outline up some basic high level considerations which we consider to be important; look on for more details on some of these points in future articles.
So there you go, some basic high level considerations for Status Reporting and Governance that we’ve used. What other considerations can you think of for designing Project Status Reporting processes? There are many other factors of course, and we may get on to them in the future! Stay Healthy! Project Health Check - projecthealthcheck.org Lean Six Sigma, a management buzzword that seems to persist and many don't understand. But what is it and how is it related to Project Management? Lean Six Sigma is an approach for Process Improvement Projects, combining many different conceptual tools depending on the situation. Essentially Lean Six Sigma is a fusion of two ideas: "Lean" and "Six Sigma":
Lean Lean is a approach that seeks to eliminate Waste during a production process; it originated in Japan on the production lines of Toyota. It tries to make a process as efficient as possible, to reduce excessive costs and time - meaning the customer get the product they want faster and cheaper, the company improves their margin. It identifies seven categories of Waste which should be investigated and eliminated (though others have since been suggested):
Six Sigma Six Sigma looks to improve the quality of the output of a process by reducing the variation of the output; it was introduced at Motorola in 1986 and resulted in $16 billion of savings. The term sigma comes from the statistical concept of standard deviation of the normal distribution; if points are normally scattered about a mean then one sigma is defined such that it would capture 68% of data points, 2 sigma would capture 95%, 3 sigma 99.7% etc. Six Sigma has a strong statistical focus, and defined in purely statistical terms a Six Sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of all opportunities to produce some feature of a part are statistically expected to be free of defects. Six Sigma uses a lifecycle called DMAIC, that has five distinct phases each consisting of an array of tools that can be employed - depending on the nature of the project:
A Lean Six Sigma project can be a really effective way of delivering Process Improvement Projects - a distinct methodology from PRINCE2 or PMBOK. Alternatively, if you are managing mainstream project using either of these methodologies, you could then run a LSS Project using DMAIC on the across the Project processes themselves e.g. your demand management process, testing processes etc. What are your experiences of Lean Six Sigma and DMAIC, good and bad? Let us know in the Comments! Stay Healthy! Project Health Check - projecthealthcheck.org |
Mission:To understand why do Projects Fail and what we need to do differently to stop it happening again. Archives
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