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© The Knowledge Academy 2021
1
Instructions to Follow
Alternatively;
Project management is a process that discovers and applies the best method to manage
and control work through each stage.
PRINCE2 is an acronym for Projects IN Controlled Environments. It is a process-based
method for managing a project. The key features of PRINCE2 emphasis on business
justification, describing the structure of an organisation for the project management team
and using a product‐based approach. There is focus on dividing the project into manageable
and controllable stages, with flexibility. PRINCE2 offers great control over project resources
and excels at managing business and project risk more efficiently.
A Project or Business as Usual?
PRINCE2 is only appropriate for use on projects, but how do we know if we have a project
or if we have “business as usual” (BAU)?
“A project is a temporary organisation that is created for the purpose of delivering one or
more business products in accordance to an agreed Business Case”. This is the PRINCE2
definition of a project. It is helpful, but the definition is not always adequate to help you
judge if you have a project or a collection of tasks.
PRINCE2 Agile explains that a project is a temporary situation, where a team is gathered to
address a definite problem, opportunity or changes that is adequately difficult that it
cannot be handled as “business as usual” (BAU).
PRINCE2 Agile lists four characteristics of a project that differentiates it from BAU:
i. A project is temporary
ii. A team is created
iii. It is difficult
iv. There is a degree of uncertainty.
Difficult
Many stakholders Yes No
Many receivers or users Yes No
of the deliverable
Agile is about cooperating to deliver the highest value product increment, with high quality,
as rapidly and as frequently as possible, and continuously improving the delivery process.
Definition of Agile proposes
• The value of product increments being delivered is estimable, and once assessed
(whether as ROI, cost of delay, or some other measure), its value can be prioritised.
In Scrum, this is referred to as working from a prioritised product backlog.
• Agile can be utilised to create high-quality products. Agile does this by creating
products in small increments, with every distinct increment tested before it is
considered done. This process builds quality into the product versus examining
quality in future.
• Agile can help teams work efficiently and quickly through short, time‐boxed
iterations for creating product increments. Iterations are usually 1‐4 weeks in length.
• Teams should reflect on their process and results regularly to adapt and improve.
The Basics of Blending AGILE and PRINCE2
While linking PRINCE2 with agile, it is significant to know what agile is to avoid an
inconsistent view and make combining the two difficult. A basic view of agile could usually
be seen as one or more of the following:
• Using a time-boxed and iterative approach to delivering software.
• Using a collection of techniques like daily stand‐up meetings, sprints and user stories.
• Using the Scrum framework.
3. Agile can help teams work efficiently and quickly through short, time‐boxed iterations
for creating product increments. Iterations are generally in length.
i. 1‐4 days
j. 1‐4 weeks
k. 5‐10 days
l. 5‐10 weeks
Of the several ideas, concepts and techniques that exist within PRINCE2 Agile, one of the
most significant is that it emphases on flexing what is being delivered, as opposed to
focusing on flexing time and cost or flexing time and resources.
However, it is not sufficient just to understand how to flex what is delivered; it is essential
to understand why.
Traditionally, the competing constraints on a project have often been revealed graphically
as a shape like a triangle with constraints of time, cost, quality, etc. pulling against each
other. PRINCE2 does not have such a limited view of the variables on a project, as it
recognises six ‘aspects’ that need to be controlled and managed: time, cost, quality, scope,
risk and benefit.
PRINCE2 does not place importance on any of these aspects over and above the others. It
understands them as equally important and to be managed as per the needs of a specific
project.
However, PRINCE2 Agile does define what to emphasise by giving direction on the use of
tolerance levels (i.e. permissible deviations from what is planned) for the six aspects in
terms of which should be fixed and which ones should vary (or flex).
Applying tolerances to the six aspects of a project
Quality Not all acceptance criteria and quality Fix and flex
criteria are of equal importance, so
they can be prioritised.
There are seven PRINCE2 principles that are the guiding obligations for good practice that a
project should follow if it is using PRINCE2. They are:
i. Continued Business Justification - A PRINCE2 project has a continual business
justification.
ii. Learn from Experience - PRINCE2 project teams learn from earlier experience
(lessons are sought, recorded and acted upon all through the life of the project).
iii. Defined Roles and Responsibilities - A PRINCE2 project has defined and agreed
roles and responsibilities within an organisation structure that engages the
business, user and supplier stakeholder interests.
iv. Manage by Stages - A PRINCE2 project is planned, monitored and controlled on a
stage-by-stage basis.
v. Manage by Exception - A PRINCE2 project has defined tolerances for each
project objective to establish limits of delegated authority (management by
exception).
vi. Focus on Products - A PRINCE2 project focuses on the definition and delivery of
products, in particular their scope and quality requirements.
vii. Tailor to Suit the Project - PRINCE2 is tailored to suit the project’s environment,
size, complexity, importance, capability and risk.
PRINCE2 Agile Behaviours
While tailoring PRINCE2 to work in an agile context, a PRINCE2 project manager and the
project board will need to monitor definite behaviours from the project management team
and the delivery teams. These behaviours are required to function effortlessly for agile to
operate in the most operative way. They are:
• Transparency
• Collaboration
• Rich communication
• Self‐organisation
• Exploration
1. Starting up a Project
2. Initiating a Project
3. Controlling a Stage
4. Directing a project
5. Managing Product Delivery
6. Managing a Stage Boundary
7. Closing a Project
1. Starting up a Project
The purpose of the Starting up a Project process is to ensure that the fundamentals for
Initiating a Project are in place by answering the question ‘Do we have a feasible and
worthwhile project?’
It is as much about preventing poorly conceived projects from being initiated as it is about
approving the initiation of viable projects. As such, the Starting up a Project process is a
lighter task compared to the more detailed and thorough initiating a Project process. The
aim is to do the minimum necessary in order to decide whether it is worthwhile to even
initiate the project.
4. Controlling a stage
The purpose of the Controlling a Stage process is to assign work to be done, monitor such
work, deal with issues, report progress to the project board, and take corrective actions to
ensure that the stage remains within tolerance.
The objective of the Controlling a Stage process is to ensure that:
i. Attention is focused on the delivery of the stage’s products. Any movement away from
the direction and products agreed at the start of the stage is monitored to avoid
uncontrolled change (‘scope creep’) and loss of focus.
ii. Risks and issues are kept under control.
iii. The business case is kept under review.
iv. The agreed products for the stage are delivered to stated quality standards, within the
cost, effort and time agreed, and ultimately in support of the achievement of the
defined benefits.
7. Closing a Project
The purpose of the Closing a Project process is to provide a fixed point at which
acceptance for the project product is confirmed and to recognise that objectives set
out in the original project initiation documentation have been achieved (or approved
changes to the objectives have been achieved), or that the project has nothing more
to contribute.
One of the defining features of a PRINCE2 project is that it is finite – it has a start and
an end. If the project loses this distinctiveness, it loses some of its advantages over
purely operational management approaches.
A clear end to a project:
• Is always more successful than a slow drift into use as it is a recognition by all
concerned that:
• The original objectives have been met (subject to any approved changes)
• The current project has run its course
• Either the operational regime must now take over the products from this project, or
the products become inputs into some subsequent project or into some larger
programme
• The project management team can be disbanded
• Project costs should no longer be incurred
• Provides an opportunity to ensure that all unachieved goals and objectives are
identified so that they can be addressed in the future
• Transfers ownership of the products to the customer and terminates the
responsibility of the project management team
1. The purpose of the theme is to define and establish the project’s structure of
accountability and responsibilities.
u. Quality
v. Risk
w. Organisation
x. Plan
2. Which of the following processes is aimed at laying down the foundations in order to
achieve a successful project?
a. Managing product delivery
b. Initiating a project
c. Directing a project
d. Closing a project
3. PRINCE2 is a ________approach for project management.
e. Product‐based
f. Process‐based
g. Service based
h. Programme based
4. What is the purpose of the Plans theme?
i. To facilitate communication and control by defining the means of delivering the
products.
j. To control the link between the project manager and the team manager(s), by
placing requirements on accepting, executing and delivering project work
k. To identify, assess and control uncertainty and as a result, improve the ability of
the project to succeed.
l. To identify, assess, and control any potential and approved changes to the
baseline.
13. What are the concepts of refactoring and technical debt usually associated with?
q. Software
r. Manufacturing
s. Economics
t. Mathematics
14. Which statement about the PRINCE2 Agile business case is CORRECT, when
describing best‐case and worst‐case scenarios?
u. It is likely that detailed requirements can be mapped directly to the business
case
v. It is unlikely that detailed requirements can be mapped directly to the business
case
w. It is unlikely that high‐level requirements can be mapped directly to the
business case
x. It is unlikely that intermediate‐level requirements can be mapped directly to
the business case
15. Which term does PRINCE2 Agile use when reducing uncertainty by planning for two
weeks rather than twelve months?
a. Empiricism
b. Planning horizon
c. Rationalism
d. Planning poker
17. Where there is only one delivery team involved, which statement BEST describes the
synchronisation of PRINCE2 and agile roles?
i. The alignment of common agile roles is less obvious
j. The alignment of common agile roles should be easy
k. The alignment of common agile roles should be avoided
l. The alignment of common agile roles is impossible
18. When can a product be used as a primary source of information with respect to
progress?
m. It has been planned into a sprint
n. It has been delivered to budget
o. It has met the acceptance criteria
p. It has used the right number of resources
19. In which process should the project manager FIRST assess the suitability of using
agile?
q. Controlling a stage
r. Starting up a project
s. Initiating a project
t. Managing a stage boundary
21. In the ‘managing a stage boundary’ process, what is the main focus?
a. To review the cost incurred
b. To review the amount delivered
c. To review the time spent
d. To review the risks closed
22. Which process informs programme management of the value that agile brings to
delivering products?
e. Starting up a project
f. Initiating a project
g. Closing a project
h. Directing a project
23. Which statements about the typical tailoring of a work package in an agile
environment are CORRECT?
i. It should be used to record risks identified as part of the Agilometer assessment.
ii. It should be negotiated collaboratively with the team manager and delivery team.
iii. It should be defined to give the delivery team enough space to self-organise.
iv. It should be replaced by a daily stand‐up attended by the project manager.
i. i and ii
j. ii and iii
k. iii and iv
l. i and iv
25. Which statement summarises the setting of the time tolerance for a project in an
agile context?
q. Time tolerance is flexed
r. Time tolerance can be fixed or flexed
s. Time tolerance can be fixed and flexed
t. Time tolerance is fixed
26. Which statement BEST explains the ‘be on time and hit deadlines’ target for flexible
delivery?
u. It allows the project to deliver early realisation of benefits
v. It supports the trading of requirements with others of a similar size
w. It avoids the use of extra people to improve progress within a sprint
x. It maintains the activities that ensure the level of quality
27. Which statement about the ‘keep teams stable’ target is CORRECT?
a. It allows for a more accurate final product
b. It is achieved by ensuring that support teams have appropriate training
c. It allows team members to change according to the needs of the project
d. It encourages the customer to raise new ideas
29. Which statement explains the target ‘protect the level of quality’ for flexible
delivery?
i. It leads to a lower cost throughout the life of a product
j. It helps with planning dependencies between projects
k. It accepts that not everything that is defined must be delivered
l. It improves your reputation with your customer
33. Which term is used to describe “the rate of progress a team is making”?
a. Velocity
b. Work‐in‐progress (WIP)
c. User stories
d. Spiking
35. Which is NOT one of the preparation steps needed for a successful workshop?
i. Planning the logistics including room layout and equipment
j. Identifying any required pre‐reading to be issued
k. Understanding what the workshop is looking to achieve
l. Using brainstorming to generate ideas using sticky notes
36. Which Scrum role is responsible for prioritising items on the product backlog?
m. Product owner
n. Team manager
o. Project manager
p. Development team
40. Which is NOT one of the five preparation steps to run a successful retrospective?
e. Setting the objective
f. Identifying the attendees
g. Planning the sprint
h. Adjusting the agenda
43. How requirements are typically documented during the initiation stage of the
project?
q. As several hundred detailed user stories relating to product descriptions
r. Within the range of ten to a hundred product descriptions or epics
s. In a maximum of ten outline bullet points in the project product description
t. As ten very detailed user stories relating to project vision objectives
46. Which BEST describes the purpose of the Agilometer focus area?
e. To tailor agile so that it can be used with PRINCE2
f. To help tailor PRINCE2 according to the agility of the environment
g. To assess how well a project is using the agile techniques
h. To assess which agile techniques are suitable for a project
Answers: 1A, 2A, 3C, 4D, 5B, 6C, 7D, 8A, 9B, 10C, 11B, 12B, 13A, 14B, 15B, 16C, 17B,
18C, 19B, 20C, 21B, 22D, 23B, 24C, 25D, 26A, 27A, 28D, 29A, 30C, 31B, 32C, 33A,
34D, 35D, 36A, 37D, 38C, 39D, 40C, 41B, 42A, 43C, 44A, 45B, 46B, 47C, 48A, 49B,
50D.