S2 People Flashcards
What is the fifth integrated element of the PRINCE2 method?
People
What does the organizational ecosystem refer to?
The internal elements of an organization together with external relationships such as customers, partners, suppliers, regulators, and competitors
What is the definition of the project ecosystem?
The temporary organizational structure formed to deliver products, which should lead to outcomes and benefits aligned to business objectives
What are the three primary stakeholder interests in project and organizational ecosystems?
- Business
- User
- Supplier
True or False: The Project Board is considered a primary stakeholder in the project ecosystem.
True
How can differing organizational cultures impact project management?
They may lead to the development of distinct project cultures that emphasize collaboration or other values, differing from the organizational culture.
What is the importance of key influencers in the organizational ecosystem?
They help shape a shared understanding of the project and ensure alignment with organizational objectives.
What does change management aim to address in a project?
The transition from the old way of working to the new way of working
Fill in the blank: Change management involves going from the ‘_______’ or current state to the ‘to-be’ or future state.
as-is
What is the significance of the term ‘transition’ in change management?
It refers to changing routines, responsibilities, relationships, and cultures around the products delivered by the project.
What is a key consideration in the change management approach outlined in PRINCE2?
- Skills and capabilities required during and after transition
- Areas of the organizational ecosystem likely impacted
- Key relationships to consider
- Evolving culture
- How best to transition
Why is stakeholder engagement important in change management?
To make the change stick and ensure that people are involved in shaping the change rather than feeling it is imposed upon them.
What does bidirectional communication involve?
It involves listening as well as broadcasting messages from the project to ensure feedback and address misconceptions.
- listen to thoght about the proposed project
- listen to feedback once the project has started todeliver
What is the role of collaboration in project management?
It is when people from across the project ecosystem work together to achieve the project’s objectives.
What does co-creation imply in the context of project management?
Involving others in the process rather than the Project Manager working in isolation.
True or False: Co-creation increases the chances of product adoption and reduces the potential for handover disputes.
True
What is a common challenge for Project Managers working with temporary project teams?
Managing team members who may have their own reporting lines and day jobs, often requiring different motivational strategies.
What is the definition of ‘culture’ in the context of project ecosystems?
The accepted way of working and behaving within an organization, which may differ across departments.
What is co-creation in the context of PRINCE2?
The collaborative process involving a team of people with differing perspectives to create project and stage plans, enhancing adoption and reducing disputes.
A specific form of collaboration involving users and key influencers in the design of products and agreed ways of working to ensure they are adopted by the project and organizational ecosystems.
Co-creation includes contributions from business, user, and supplier perspectives.
Who co-creates the full business case in the PRINCE2 process?
The Project Manager and the Project Executive.
This occurs during the ‘Initiating a project’ process.
What is the role of the Team Manager in the PRINCE2 process?
The Team Manager co-creates and reviews the work package description with the Project Manager.
This happens in the ‘Controlling a stage’ process.
What is meant by ‘cultural intelligence’ in project management?
The capability to relate and work across cultures within the organizational ecosystem.
It is essential for Project Managers to navigate different organizational boundaries.
What challenges do Project Managers face when building effective teams?
Connecting team members, ensuring diverse skills, addressing skill gaps, and building trust among members.
Especially challenging in virtual or hybrid environments.
What is essential for team members to feel in order to be effective?
Accepted, respected, and able to express diverse viewpoints without fear of negative consequences.
This fosters a collaborative environment and helps identify risks.
What are the three people-focused activities in PRINCE2?
- Leading successful change
- Leading successful teams
- Communication
These activities underscore the central role of people in the PRINCE2 method.
Which PRINCE2 principle emphasizes defining roles, responsibilities, and relationships?
Define roles, responsibilities and relationships.
This principle is crucial for effective project management.
How does the ‘people’ element relate to the PRINCE2 practices?
It is reflected in the ‘Organizing’ practice, which outlines roles and responsibilities in the temporary project management team structure.
Each practice chapter includes a table showing how roles relate to specific PRINCE2 ingredients.
True or False: The Project Manager has direct authority over everyone involved in a project.
False.
There are individuals involved without formal roles, requiring the Project Manager to navigate without direct authority.
Fill in the blank: Change management is the means by which an organization ______ from the current state to the target state.
[transitions].
This is a key concept in managing organizational change.
Identify the missing word: Generic messaging is seen as ______.
[rarely effective].
Effective communication channels are critical for stakeholder engagement.
Definition of Change management
Change management is the means by which an organization transitions from the current state to the target state
To make a change ‘stick’, we need to change
routines,
responsibilities,
relationships, and
cultures,
around the products delivered by the project. Otherwise, even if the products work, we won’t be using them to their full potential, if at all, in some cases.
- get people on side
- listen to thier concers
- get them to help shape the change
change management approach
The skills and capabilities required during and after the transition from current to target state
Which areas of the ‘organizational ecosystem’ are likely to be impacted by the project
. The key relationships to be considered
* The evolving culture, and
* How best to transition.
PID
Project Initiation documentation
Key influencers in operational areas
- Senior executives
- those involved in day-to-day tasks and decision making
- those considered a ‘bottleneck’ with regards to their technical expertise.
The purpose of a project is
to deliver change, which will affect people in their business as usual (BAU) activities, routines, and responsibilities. How well the change is implemented, and therefore how well the project performs, depends on the capabilities of the project team, the strength of the relationships between them, and the people impacted by the change.
Organizational ecosystem
the internal elements of an organization (including staff, board, owners, and other stakeholders) together with the organization’s external relationships such as customers, partners, suppliers, regulators, and competitors.
Project ecosystem
those elements of the business involved in or directly impacted by the project and the associated users and suppliers.
Change management
Change management is the means by which an organization transitions from the current state to the target state.
In determining the level of detail to capture in the change management approach, it is worth considering:
● what decisions the change management approach is supporting the project team to make
● the skills and capabilities required during and after the transition from current to target state
● which areas of the organizational ecosystem are likely to be impacted by the project
● the key relationships to be considered
● the evolving culture
● how best to transition; for example, through learning or upskilling, transitioning knowledge from the project team, or recruiting new people into the business.
The change management approach is part of the project initiation documentation. The purpose is:
To establish the target organizational state required for the project to meet its objectives together with the means by which the business will shift from the current state and through any interim states.
High-level content of change management is
Scope: what changes will be delivered by the project; any exclusions
Change states: description of current, interim, target states
State characteristics: for each state, highlighting those that are changing: for example, routines, practices, process, culture, responsibilities, structure, capabilities
Enabling activities: before transition, during transition, after transition; for example, consultation, trials, training, and helpline
Resources: for the enabling activities
Responsibilities: for the enabling activities
Supporting tools and techniques: for the enabling activities; for example, modelling
Standards: any standards that apply to change management activities
References: for any associated documents or products.
stakeholder
Any individual, group, or organization that can affect or be affected by (or perceives itself to be affected by) the project.
stakeholders are the key influencers, who may be the following:
● senior executives
● those found in the user, supplier, or wider operational communities within the organization undertaking day-to-day tasks and decision-making
● those who can be identified by considering the bottlenecks where information, knowledge, and money flow across interfaces (for example, document controllers, technical experts, and commercial managers); and by speaking to people in the areas impacted by the project to learn who holds the knowledge in their area and is best informed on how things will practically work
● those who can shape the perception of the majority within the project ecosystem
● these are the people, through their network, who can have the greatest influence on the adoption of the project products and the realization of project benefits
● taking time to understand their perspectives on the project and any constraints they have will help improve project delivery
● the people the project management team needs to work closest with to ensure the success of the project.
culture
Culture is the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and ways of working that characterize a group of people.
Leadership
motivating people to achieve a project’s objectives. On projects, this is best done through collaboration across the project ecosystem, persuading, influencing, and co-creating with a focus on managing key relationships and seeking regular feedback to ensure team members remain aligned to the project’s objectives and agree to joint ways of working.
Management
motivating people to achieve a project’s objectives. On projects, this is best done through collaboration across the project ecosystem, persuading, influencing, and co-creating with a focus on managing key relationships and seeking regular feedback to ensure team members remain aligned to the project’s objectives and agree to joint ways of working.
To successfully lead a project team, it is important to be aware of the following:
● although a project manager has formal authority within the tolerances set by the project board, the actual power structure that emerges in a project does not always reflect what has been formally agreed.
● due to the temporary nature of projects and the multiple reporting lines of people working on the project, project managers often rely on their ability to influence and motivate people through aligned interests and relational skills in addition to establishing the shared purpose of the project.
● PRINCE2 defines roles that might not align with a person’s job title.
● team members often have competing priorities for their time and attention, which may at times conflict with the needs of the project.
● it is not unusual for members of the project team to be more senior than the project manager, potentially causing hierarchical tension.
● some motivational factors may be outside of a project manager’s remit. For example, remuneration and career progression of project team members.
Cultural intelligence
Cultural intelligence is the capability to relate and work across cultures within the organizational ecosystem.
Successfully working across cultures requires:
● teams to adapt and find ways to successfully interface with each other
● setting clear project boundaries within which people can flex
● establishing the right conditions for people to succeed
● awareness of and means to consider the many different perspectives that may exist in the project (such awareness is often referred to as emotional intelligence)
● awareness of the constraints people work within, including different pulls on their time and attention.
An effective team will require
An effective team will require a diverse set of capabilities, competencies, and perspectives that match the requirements of the project.
PRINCE2 supports building effective teams through the:
● project plan: this explains the team’s goals to create a clear sense of purpose and provides an ability to answer questions from stakeholders.
● project management team structure and the role descriptions: these explain the structure of the team and their associated roles, responsibilities, and relationships to support developing key relationships and identifying any coaching or training needs (such as influencing skills and how to handle resistance to the change).
● communication management approach: this explains how team members will actively engage with and support each other and how relationships will be developed between different groups within the wider project ecosystem.
● project initiation documentation: this explains the agreed ways of working, empowering the team to remain focused on delivering the project outcomes.
● product based planning: this approach places great emphasis on getting agreement on what will meet user needs (product description) and also clarifying the dependencies and sequencing of key outputs (products).
Social cohesion is developed by:
● people meeting in a purposeful way on a regular basis and building trust across organizational or project silos
● considering how key relationships will be developed and maintained over the length of the project to build resilience for when inevitable hurdles are encountered
● considering the benefits of co-locating an office-based project team to facilitate the organic relationship building that occurs during non-structured activities (such as conversations over the desk partition, in the communal kitchen, in corridors between meetings, shared lunches, and social events).
When teams are virtual, located at a distance from each other, or hybrid, building social cohesion may need additional activities such as:
● syncing co-location days for key people and teams with a focus on building key relationships
● allowing time for less structured conversations online
● holding ‘away days’ for virtual teams
● using virtual collaboration tools to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of virtual ways of working
● providing opportunities or incentives for people to meet and socialize face-to-face.
project initiation documentation.
- The communication management approach
communication management approach purpose
To define and describe the means and frequency of communication with and receiving feedback from across the project ecosystem, supporting alignment and shaping of the project. It facilitates engagement with stakeholders through the establishment of a controlled and bidirectional flow of information.
A communication management approach is equally about listening as it is about broadcasting.
How project teams communicate will also depend on whether they are co-located, remote, or hybrid:
co-located teams: information tends to be shared organically through both formal and informal networks. The focus is on:
● providing information in multiple formats which can be easily shared through these networks
● monitoring whether information is flowing freely throughout the project ecosystem
● identifying any team members or groups who are disconnected and working to reconnect them.
remote teams: a more deliberate and structured approach is required to ensure information is flowing through the project ecosystem. The focus is on:
● building in time to allow for unstructured listening and sharing of information
● seeking clarity on how information is flowing through the project ecosystem and providing information in appropriate formats to facilitate this
● identifying key relationships and agreeing how they will build both structured and unstructured time together.
hybrid teams: hybrid teams’ means of communication must ensure the project does not develop separate groups who are more involved or less involved because of their location.
communication management approach high-level content
Scope: describes what communication will be managed by the project
Stakeholder analysis: identification and analysis of those impacted by the outcome of a project or by the process of delivering the project and those who have the influence to impact the success or failure of the project
Communications schedule and procedure(s): for each stakeholder group: purpose, frequency, channels/format, messaging, and so on
Responsibilities: for the communication activities
Resources: for the communications activities; for example, public affairs or internal communications
Supporting tools and techniques: for the communication activities; for example, communications platforms or tools for analytics or automation
Standards: any standards that apply to communication activities; for example, public engagement standards and ethical standards
References: for any associated documents or products.
Collaboration:
people from across the project ecosystem working together to achieve the project’s objectives.
Co-creation:
a specific form of collaboration involving users and key influencers in the design of products and agreed ways of working to ensure they are adopted by the project and organizational ecosystems
Leadership:
motivating people to achieve a project’s objectives. On projects, this is best done through collaboration across the project ecosystem, persuading, influencing, and co-creating with a focus on managing key relationships and seeking regular feedback to ensure team members remain aligned to the project’s objectives and agree to joint ways of working.
Management:
instructing the execution of tasks in line with agreed ways of working. Co-creating ways of working with project team members (and stakeholders) significantly improves people’s willingness to be managed in line with them
To successfully lead a project team, it is important to be aware of the following:
● although a project manager has formal authority within the tolerances set by the project board, the actual power structure that emerges in a project does not always reflect what has been formally agreed.
● due to the temporary nature of projects and the multiple reporting lines of people working on the project, project managers often rely on their ability to influence and motivate people through aligned interests and relational skills in addition to establishing the shared purpose of the project.
● PRINCE2 defines roles that might not align with a person’s job title.
● team members often have competing priorities for their time and attention, which may at times conflict with the needs of the project.
● it is not unusual for members of the project team to be more senior than the project manager, potentially causing hierarchical tension.
● some motivational factors may be outside of a project manager’s remit. For example, remuneration and career progression of project team members.
Leading people beyond a project’s direct authority (often across organizational boundaries) requires a degree of cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence is the capability to relate and work across cultures within the organizational ecosystem. Successfully working across cultures requires:
● teams to adapt and find ways to successfully interface with each other
● setting clear project boundaries within which people can flex
● establishing the right conditions for people to succeed
● awareness of and means to consider the many different perspectives that may exist in the project (such awareness is often referred to as emotional intelligence)
● awareness of the constraints people work within, including different pulls on their time and attention.
An integral part of building an effective team is
that team members feel accepted, respected, and able to express diverse viewpoints without fear of negative consequences.
All members of a project team are responsible for creating this psychological safety for each other through their day-to-day interactions and by caring for each other’s wellbeing.
Team members may also need space to experiment, inspect, adapt, self-organize, and adjust their ways of working.
PRINCE2 supports building effective teams through the:
● project plan: this explains the team’s goals to create a clear sense of purpose and provides an ability to answer questions from stakeholders.
● project management team structure and the role descriptions: these explain the structure of the team and their associated roles, responsibilities, and relationships to support developing key relationships and identifying any coaching or training needs (such as influencing skills and how to handle resistance to the change).
● communication management approach: this explains how team members will actively engage with and support each other and how relationships will be developed between different groups within the wider project ecosystem.
● project initiation documentation: this explains the agreed ways of working, empowering the team to remain focused on delivering the project outcomes.
● product based planning: this approach places great emphasis on getting agreement on what will meet user needs (product description) and also clarifying the dependencies and sequencing of key outputs (products).
Social cohesion is developed by:
● people meeting in a purposeful way on a regular basis and building trust across organizational or project silos
● considering how key relationships will be developed and maintained over the length of the project to build resilience for when inevitable hurdles are encountered
● considering the benefits of co-locating an office-based project team to facilitate the organic relationship building that occurs during non-structured activities (such as conversations over the desk partition, in the communal kitchen, in corridors between meetings, shared lunches, and social events).
When teams are virtual, located at a distance from each other, or hybrid, building social cohesion may need additional activities such as:
● syncing co-location days for key people and teams with a focus on building key relationships
● allowing time for less structured conversations online
● holding ‘away days’ for virtual teams
● using virtual collaboration tools to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of virtual ways of working
● providing opportunities or incentives for people to meet and socialize face-to-face.
Communication management approach
The communication management approach is part of the project initiation documentation.
Purpose
To define and describe the means and frequency of communication with and receiving feedback from across the project ecosystem, supporting alignment and shaping of the project. It facilitates engagement with stakeholders through the establishment of a controlled and bidirectional flow of information.
A communication management approach is equally about listening as it is about broadcasting. It seeks to understand the perceptions and concerns within the project ecosystem so they can be addressed before they become more significant risks. This also allows messaging to be tailored to the concerns and interests of different groups within the project ecosystem and the wider organizational ecosystem.
Generic messaging is rarely effective, as people obtain information from a variety of channels.
Communication management approach High level content
Scope: describes what communication will be managed by the project
Stakeholder analysis: identification and analysis of those impacted by the outcome of a project or by the process of delivering the project and those who have the influence to impact the success or failure of the project
Communications schedule and procedure(s): for each stakeholder group: purpose, frequency, channels/format, messaging, and so on
Responsibilities: for the communication activities
Resources: for the communications activities; for example, public affairs or internal communications
Supporting tools and techniques: for the communication activities; for example, communications platforms or tools for analytics or automation
Standards: any standards that apply to communication activities; for example, public engagement standards and ethical standards
References: for any associated documents or products.
three people-focused activities:
leading successful change,
leading successful teams,
and communication.
