Lesson 06: Project context
- 00:06 - Projects in Context and Project Environment
- 00:09 - That’s the topic for this lesson
- 00:13 - PRINCE2 claims to work in any organization or commercial relationship
- 00:18 - And it can support any delivery method
- 00:21 - How? I will explain what that means in a moment
- 00:24 - Let’s look first at organizational context or what do I mean by that?
- 00:29 - So, first of all, PRINCE2 does not require a specific organizational structure
- 00:34 - It just likes to have someone, though, who represents the business side of the project, the user side and supplier side
- 00:43 - Now let me explain that
- 00:45 - So, from the business side of view, the business actually provides the project mandate and the governance
- 00:51 - They also provide the funding and we can refer to them, well, let’s say, as the customer
- 00:57 - Then we have the user representation or the user side
- 01:00 - They actually will help specify the desired outcomes
- 01:05 - And they will most likely use them as well, so they give us the requirements
- 01:10 - Then the supplier side, they provide the expertise and the resources to deliver the products
- 01:16 - So, the knowledge and the skills to do that
- 01:18 - And suppliers can be either internal or external
- 01:23 - Now, how does a project fit into an organization?
- 01:28 - Well, see the diagram here
- 01:30 - So, at the top level, the business is really at the very top level, so that’s the high-level business management
- 01:38 - And you can see then that projects can exist under programs or portfolios
- 01:44 - And they can also exist on their own
- 01:48 - Now let me explain what I mean by program and portfolio
- 01:52 - So, what is a program?
- 01:55 - A program is a temporary flexible organization
- 01:59 - It is created to coordinate a set of related projects
- 02:03 - The key word here is a set of related projects, so they all have something in common
- 02:09 - So, a good example of this would be, let’s say, if you had a new ERP system
- 02:14 - And you want to roll this out in nine countries
- 02:17 - So, each project would be a pro … sorry, each country would be a project
- 02:22 - And the whole thing together would be called a program. That’s the best way to see it
- 02:26 - Then we have portfolio. So, what’s a portfolio?
- 02:31 - A portfolio is a totality of an organization’s investment, so it’s a totality of investment
- 02:38 - And a portfolio is used to achieve a strategic objective for the organization
- 02:45 - So, for example, we can have a portfolio of IT projects or a portfolio of property projects and so on
- 02:54 - Now, I promised you to talk about delivery methods as well
- 02:59 - So, what are delivery methods? Well, delivery methods refers to how stuff actually gets done
- 03:06 - So, there are three, the ones which are mentioned and I’m going to go through them
- 03:10 - The first one is Linear-Sequential approach
- 03:13 - The second one is Iterative and Incremental approach, and the third one is the Hybrid approach
- 03:20 - So, let me first start with the Linear-Sequential approach
- 03:24 - This means actually doing one delivery step after each other
- 03:28 - So, a good example of this is a construction site
- 03:31 - Let’s say you start with the requirements, then you start with you do the design
- 03:36 - Then you do the application process, you do the foundation and so on
- 03:40 - So, one delivery step after each other
- 03:44 - Then we look at Iterative and Incremental approach
- 03:47 - This method is often used for creating IT products
- 03:52 - So, here you repeat the same steps actually in each stage such as
- 03:58 - Gathering needs, then designing, then building and testing
- 04:02 - And then you repeat all those steps in the next iteration as well
- 04:06 - And this is also referred to as Agile or Adaptive approach
- 04:13 - And lastly we have Hybrid
- 04:15 - So here we have a mix of both Linear and Iterative and Incremental approach
- 04:20 - So, maybe we can use at the beginning of the project, we use a Linear approach to build the framework for a service
- 04:27 - And then we can use then the Iterative approach to build, let’s say, a customer portal, so they can both work in a project
- 04:35 - And PRINCE2 can use any of these methods and they can both exist in one project
- 04:42 - Now let’s talk about sustainability because that’s been added by this version of PRINCE2
- 04:47 - More and more businesses now have sustainability targets or goals
- 04:54 - And it’s good that projects are aware of these
- 04:57 - So, what’s an example actually of a sustainability target or goal?
- 05:02 - Well, it could be that materials are sourced locally, a certain percentage
- 05:07 - Let’s say 40% of all our materials have to be sourced locally
- 05:11 - Or that 30% of all our energy must be renewable
- 05:16 - Or that we must reduce our waste by 50% over the next two years, so that’s all good examples
- 05:24 - And sustainability, of course, works when it makes business sense for the organization
- 05:29 - And more and more, that seems to be happening
- 05:32 - Now, PRINCE2 also refers to the UN 17 development sustainable goals, you can see it here
- 05:40 - You don’t need to know this, just to be aware that it is following some recognized guidelines that already exist
- 05:48 - Okay. Now we can talk about scale for a moment
- 05:52 - Now, PRINCE2 claims it can be used for small, medium and large projects or complex projects
- 05:59 - And then you’re supposed to then tailor PRINCE2 to suit the project scale in different ways
- 06:06 - So, it gives some ideas on how you can do that
- 06:09 - So, you can adjust how the project is governed, so how decisions are made
- 06:13 - For simpler projects, you can decide on certain roles to be combined
- 06:18 - You can decide to use simpler documentation and maybe not make the project so formal
- 06:25 - Now, the smaller the projects are actually, then the more tailoring is required
- 06:31 - There’s a small little issue here because usually people beginning with project management
- 06:37 - Well, they’re running the small projects
- 06:39 - So, they don’t actually have that knowledge or expertise in order to do that
- 06:43 - Which is a pity, and that’s why they find it then harder to tailor PRINCE2 to suit their project
- 06:50 - And they end up having too much documentation or too much formality in the project and it’s not needed
- 06:57 - Alright. I think I’ve covered quite a bit here
- 07:00 - So, that’s it for Projects in Context and Project Environment
Quiz
- PRINCE2 likes to have three different interests in a project. What are these interests?
- Which of the three project interests is more focused on the value for money?
- Which of the three project interests is in specifying the requirements?
- Can a project be part of a portfolio, or is it always standalone?
- How would you define a programme?
- Which delivery method consists of delivery steps to deliver products in sequence?
- Which approach is often referred to as an agile approach?
- Can some roles be combined when scaling PRINCE2 for small projects?
- Business, User and Supplier
- Business
- The user role will specify and use the desired outputs (requirements).
- Projects can exist on their own or under portfolios and programs.
- A programme is a temporary, flexible organization structure that is created to coordinate a set of related projects.
- Linear-sequential approach
- Iterative-incremental approach: You repeat the same steps in each stage.
- For small projects, it is recommended to simplify how decisions are made, combine roles if necessary, and simplify documents and reports.
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