Themes Flashcards
How many themes are there and what are they?
Seven.
- Business Case
- Organisation
- Quality
- Plans
- Risk
- Change
- Progress
Which theme is the ‘Why’?
Business Case
Which theme is ‘Who?’
Organisation
What question is in the Quality theme?
‘What level of quality?’
What theme asks:
How? How much? When? Scope?
Plans
What is the question for the theme Risk?
What if?
Which theme asks ‘What’s the impact?’
Change
What does the theme Progress ask?
Where are we now?
Where are we going?
Theme: Business Case.
What is it?
Establishes mechanisms to judge whether a project is (and remains) desirable, viable and achievable in order to support decision making.
Verified by project board.
Business Case Theme: roles
Senior User: specifies benefits, realises them by using delivered products
Executive: benefits are value for money and meet corporate objectives
Business Theme specifies three things
Project Output: Project specialist products
Outcome: result of change from project outputs
Benefit: measurable improvement from outcome
Organisation theme: what is it?
Three project interests?
Establishes projects structures of accountability and responsibilities.
- Business: value for money, Executive
- Senior users: use outputs and realise benefits after project. Operate/maintain/supports project outputs
- Supplier: product project output
Organisation theme.
Successful project management team should:
- have business, user and supplier stakeholder representation
- define responsibilities for directing, managing and delivering a project, defined accountability
- review project roles throughout the project
- effective communication strategy
Quality theme: what is it?
Define and implement means to create and verify products as fit for purpose.
Quality criteria is set before costs and timescales.
Definition of quality
Totality of features of a product/process/system that bear on its ability to meet expectations and satisfy stated needs, requirements or specification
Quality Management Systems
Complete set of quality standards, procedures and responsibilities for an organisation. External to project.
Quality planning
Defining products required with quality criteria, quality methods and quality responsibility
Quality control
Techniques / Activities to fulfil quality requirements, identify ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance
Quality assurance vs project assurance
Quality assurance is independent of the project management team.
Project assurance is about project board accountability
What is the theme Plans?
Facilitate communication and control by defining means of delivering products
- what is required and when events will happen
- how it’s achieved and by whom
- whether targets are achievable on the Prince2 six areas of performance: benefits, cost, quality, risk, scope and time
Prince2 has what approach to planning?
Product based approach
Plan theme
Project Plan
How and when a project will meet time, cost, scope and quality requirements.
Control points are Management stages. Project board uses project plan as a baseline
Plan theme
Stage Plans
Required for each management stage. Broken into detail for daily control by project manager
Plan theme
Exception Plan
Actions required to recover from tolerance deviation. If approved, will replace project or stage plan as appropriate
Risk theme
What is it?
Identify, assess and control uncertainty to improve ability of the project to succeeed
Risk theme
What is risk?
An uncertain event that could have a negative or positive effect on the achievement of objectives. A combination of probability and impact, threats and opportunities.
Risk theme
Risk management
Systematic application of procedures to identify and assess risks, plan and implement risk responses.
Risk theme
Must consider
Organisation risk appetite, tolerances and procedures
Each project has own risk management strategy and means of control (risk register)
Change theme
What is it?
Capture and control potential and approved changes to baseline status quo.
Issues and change control is continual throughout a project
Change theme
Configuration Management
Control of products.
Configuration item is a product or component subject to configuration management.
Change theme
Issue and procedure
Unplanned event that requires management action
- Request for change - proposed change
- Off specification (missing product / specification)
- Problem - any other
Change theme
Configuration Management Strategy
To define how the projects products will be controlled
Change theme
Issue and Change Procedure
Capture, Examine, Propose, Decide, Implement
Progress theme
What is it?
Establish mechanisms to monitor and compare actual achievements against those planned.
Provide forecast for project objectives and control unacceptable deviations.
Progress theme
Tolerances
Amount of discretion each level has without need to escalate
Progress theme
Exception
Projects managed by exception
Situation where it can be forecast there will be deviation beyond agreed tolerances
Progress theme
Progress control
- Delegate authority
- Divide project into management stages, authorise one stage at a time
- Time driven (highlight reports) and event driven progress reporting
- Raising exceptions
Change theme
Configuration Management Procedure has six steps. That are they?
Plan, Identify, Control, Status account, Verification, Audit
Risk theme
Risk Management Procedure
- Identified
- Assessed
- Planned responses
- Implemented
- Communicated
Change theme
Configuration item record - what is it?
To control an individual products status and version
