PRINCE2 Blog

When you begin a project, the temptation is to hit the ground running. It may be that you’re brimming with ideas, or perhaps the project is so similar to a previous one that you get going straight off the cuff. However, pressing the brakes and taking time to plan can be much more productive in the long term. Here, we look at why planning is paramount in project management.

While it’s obvious that some tasks have to pre-empt others, projects often have a web of tasks and goals. It can be difficult to focus the project team on key result areas. So how does documenting critical success factors (CSFs) keep everyone on track?

The last phase of a project is project closure. It’s here that the project is formally closed and the Project Board receive a report on its overall success. Here, you’ll find out why this process is so important and how to do it correctly.

The terms ‘Project owner’ and ‘project sponsor’ aren’t consistently applied. Because of that, there isn’t a generally agreed upon difference between the two. Here are the three most popular answers, finishing with PRINCE2’s answer at the end.

Many believe a programme is simply a larger, longer version of a project. Despite the similarities, they are actually quite different. Briefly, a project is a specific, single task that delivers a tangible output, while a programme is a collection of related projects.

Going into a project management meeting with no agenda is a recipe for failure! An agenda sets the tone of a meeting by identifying the meeting’s purpose and outlining its objectives. The objectives may include a status update from team members or focusing on milestones and deadlines that are due.