What is PRINCE2 and what are the benefits of getting a PRINCE2 Qualification?

What is PRINCE2?

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a structured project management framework based on experience drawn from thousands of projects – and from the contributions of countless project sponsors, Project Managers, project teams, academics, trainers and consultants.

PRINCE2 is a non-proprietary method and has emerged worldwide as one of the most widely accepted methods for managing projects. This is largely due to the fact that PRINCE2 is truly generic – it can be applied to any project, be it Waterfall or Agile and regardless of project scale, type, organisation, geography or culture.

PRINCE2 achieves this by isolating the management aspects of project work from the specialist contributions, such as design, construction etc. The specialist aspects of any type of project are easily integrated with the PRINCE2 method and, used alongside PRINCE2, provide a secure overall framework for the project work.

Because PRINCE2 is generic and based on proven principles, organisations adopting the method as a standard can substantially improve their organisational capability and maturity across multiple areas of business activity – business change, construction, IT, mergers and acquisitions, research, product development and so on.

Benefits of PRINCE2

PRINCE2 embodies established and proven best practice and governance for project management. It can be applied to any type of project – and can easily be implemented alongside specialist, industry-specific models (engineering models or development lifecycles such as Agile).

The framework is widely recognised and understood, and therefore provides a common vocabulary for all project participants – promoting effective communication. The method also provides for the explicit recognition of project responsibilities – so that participants understand each other’s roles and needs. There is a defined structure for accountability, delegation, authority and communication.

PRINCE2 benefits include:

• Promotes consistency of project work and the ability to reuse project assets; it also facilitates staff mobility and reduces the impact of personnel changes/handovers.
• Is an invaluable diagnostic tool, facilitating the assurance and assessment of project work, troubleshooting and audits.
• Plans are carefully designed to meet the needs of the different levels in the management team, improving communication
  and control.
• Ensures that participants focus on the viability of the project in relation to its Business Case objectives – rather than simply seeing the completion of the project as an end in itself.
• Defines a thorough but economical structure of reports.
• Ensures that stakeholders (including sponsors and resource providers) are properly represented in planning and decision making.

Adopting PRINCE2 promotes learning and continual improvement in organisations. Its product focus clarifies (for all parties) what a project will deliver, why, when, by whom and for whom. It is based on a ‘management by exception’ framework, providing for the efficient and economic use of management time (whether at corporate, programme, Project Board or project management levels).

How can I use the qualification? i.e. to improve skills in my existing job or to look for opportunities in a different job

For delegates with existing Project Management experience:-

Gaining a PRINCE2 qualification will greatly improve your employment prospects as many organisations in both private and public sectors and on an international basis, mandate the use of PRINCE2 and demand that their staff are competent and qualified to apply the method.

For delegates looking to become Project Managers:-

Gaining a PRINCE2 qualification will boost your skills and confidence when managing projects. See the above point also.

For a Company:-

PRINCE2  facilitates improved business performance by ensuring that all project staff know  why a project is required, what needs to be achieved, how and when events need to occur and who needs to be involved

Having staff with PRINCE2 qualifications will boost you project management credibility and will give you a commercial advantage as a tenderer, supplier, or potential supplier to most public sector organisations.

Why should you choose an accredited PRINCE2 course from us?

All PRINCE2 training providers must be accredited by PeopleCert in order to offer official PRINCE2 courses, however, not all training providers are the same – cheap courses are often just that – “cheap” – often because they:-

• Allow too many delegates – we won’t take more than 14 per event whilst some will take 20, or even more – crazy
• Use less experienced trainers – often with no real, practical experience who just quote from the manual adopting an “exam factory” approach – all our trainers have extensive real world experience of project management and of implementing PRINCE2 in a variety of industry sectors
• Have low quality training materials – sometimes just poor quality diagrams extracted from the PRINCE2 manual but adding no value at all
• Offer limited, or no, pre and post-course support
• Provide inadequate training facilities

For more information on our PRINCE2 courses, please see below:

PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner

PRINCE2 Foundation

PRINCE2 Practitioner