PRINCE2® for Practitioners (including Foundation)

This session looks at the terminology used in PRINCE2 to provide a common language that can be used throughout a project. It also includes an introduction to Project Management. Your tutor will provide an overview of PRINCE2 and the Principles, Themes, the Process Model as well as a brief introduction to tailoring PRINCE2 to your project environment.

This session explores the life-cycle of the Business Case from the trigger to the project, the Project Mandate through to its role in Closing a Project and writing a Benefits Review Plan. Your tutor will demonstrate how to write and update the Business Case during the project and why the Business Case is the key to a successful project.

This section covers the organisational structure; Project Management Team, which is recommended by PRINCE2 and the Project Mandate that triggers a progect and how it needs to be expanded and then assembled into a Project Brief. Your tutor explains how the Project Mandate can be provided in many forms by Corporate or Programme management and why it needs validating before being turned into a project

This session describes the various activities that can commence once you have justified the start of a PRINCE2 project. Initiating a Project explains the various strategies (Risk, Quality, Configuration Management and Communications) that you need to create, developing a detailed Business Case and how to set up the Project Plan. Your tutor will illustrate how all of these ingredients are assembled into the Project Initiation Documentation (PID)

The session looks at how to manage risks, explains how to create a Risk Management Strategy and how to apply the Risk procedure to any uncertainty within your project whether it is a negative threat or a positive opportunity.

The session explains the importance of quality to PRINCE2. It outlines the role quality in product acceptance the importance of describing quality in measurable terms so that the suppliers can create products. Your tutor will guide you through the steps involved in order to create the Quality Management Strategy and explain how to describe your products in the correct format so that they can be controlled through their development cycle.

This session outlines the importance of planning in helping you to stay in control, regardless of its size. Your tutor will describe the Plans theme and show you how to create a PRINCE2 plan. A key feature of PRINCE2 is Product-Based Planning and your tutor will demonstrate how to create the appropriate diagrams to support this technique.

The session examines why change is inevitable in most projects. You will be shown how to follow the change process and manage your products using the Configuration Management Strategy and associated products and the importance of using a change control process. Your tutor will demonstrate how products need to be signed off when they match their product description known as a baseline; and will explain why, throughout their development, they will need to be identified, tracked and protected.

The session explains why you need to complete a Communications Strategy before you can assemble the Project Initiation Documentation and how it will help you to manage communications with your stakeholders.

This session describes both the Controlling a Stage and the Managing Product Delivery processes and their associated activities. It also explains how to review product quality under PRINCE2. On large projects the work will be divided across multiple stages and your tutor will describe what activities the Project Manager carries out in Managing a Stage Boundary and what the Project Board reviews in an end stage assessment.

All projects are temporary and irrespective of whether they complete normally or prematurely they will have to be properly controlled and disbanded. This session takes you through the activities of Closing a Project demonstrates the relevant documentation that needs to be completed so that the Project Board can approve closure.

The session explains how the Project Board are accountable for the success and continuation of the project throughout its life cycle and explains how the process of Directing a Project enables them to exercise overall control and responsibility for key decisions. It also illustrates how the Project Board manages by exception and explains the documents that they use to carry out either an end stage or an exception assessment.

This session explains how PRINCE2 can be tailored to suit any particular situation, and adapted to the different environments in which a project may be encountered.

The Foundation and Practitioner examinations are timetabled into the course. The examination scheme is administered by the Association for Project Management Group Ltd. The examinations consist of the Foundation examination, which is a one-hour, 75 questions, multi-choice paper and the new format Practitioner examination which is a two and a half hour, nine question, objective testing paper. Sample papers for both examinations are provided to delegates and worked through during the course.