When you start learning PRINCE2, remembering all its elements is not easy.
So i constantly try and find new ways to memorize items.
For a while i have been thinking about a sentence that would help us remember the 8 components of PRINCE2.
Let’s first line them up :
1. the Business Case
2. the Organisation
3. the Plans
4. the Controls
5. Quality (in a Project environment)
6. Risk (Management)
7. Configuration Management
8. Change Control
i simply remember them as B-O-P-C Q-R-CM-CC
But Carlo, one of my participants, started a nice sentence which i added a variation to and so got the following :
Big Open Projects Can Quickly Return Companies’ Management Crazy Cash.
so, there you have it, a strange sentence maybe, but something that might help some of you easily remember the 8 Components of PRINCE2.
keep in touch,
john higham
Once again PMGURU France will be present at the RMP Exhibition (Les Rencontres du Management de Projet).
This year the show is at the CNIT in Paris La Défense on the Tuesday 15 April and Wednesday 16 April 2008.
If you need a ticket, let us know and we will send you one free.
John Higham will also do a presentation about PRINCE2 on the Tuesday 15 April in the afternoon.
Looking forward to meeting you there 
Keep in touch,
PMGURU.COM
Le Spécialiste PRINCE2 en France.
The French PRINCE2 expert based in France.
Often people want to know which tool or software should be used when applying PRINCE2 to a project.
The answer to this question can be quite tricky as there is no unique definite answer.
There are many tools available, from pen and paper to the most sophisticated networkable collaborative application.
This choice is often made by the company’s quality and systems department who has decided once and for all on the tool of choice (mainly because had a good deal or a good price for a large number of licenses and not because it fits the company’s requirements…).
You really need to see the needs for the particular project you are working on more than which tool is available to you.
In fact, if the tool is a hindrance to you, change it as quickly as you can to adopt a more flexible solution. In some cases, management will expect the use of certain tools and you then have to comply to their expectations.
A simple rule though, keep your reporting simple and to the point. Remain flexible and use as many generic tools as you can.
This way you will be able to drive your project and not administer it.
The role of a project manager is to ensure the project is done (on Time, on Cost and on Quality …) not that it is beautifully documented.
If documentation is a requirement, ask for some project support to assist you.
john higham
Soon there will be a french version of the manual.
Currently, we expect there will be a french manual available early February, but that can still change at this stage.
A couple of very good signs however is that an ISBN number has been allocated for the manual and that there is some intensive pre-production work going on.
I’ll keep you informed as i’m told of progress.
take care and keep in touch,
john higham
Technorati Tags: manual, prince2, project management
A lot of people have asked me to make my PRINCE2 available.
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john higham
I have been asked to jot down a few Do’s and Don’ts about project management. I have enlarged this slightly to include the implementation of a structured project management method and a look at what benefits some users feel they have obtained.
DO remember that projects are about change. A quote from John Barnfield of Reading Borough Council in a recent article about a project case study is, “Change frightens people and they need to understand what you are doing, why you are doing it and how it affects them.”
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on 11 and 12 May 2005, PMguru France will exhibit at the Paris Show for Project Management.
we’ll bring you all the pictures and all the gossip.
follow this link carefully to be given the main info of that major event in France.
john higham
PMguru.com
PRINCE2 is owned by the British government (i.e. it is owned by The Office of Government Commerce, part of the Treasury Department). It is part of its recommended ‘Best Practice’ for all types of project. So why are there government projects that either fail or could have been performed much more efficiently and effectively?
First, one has to realize that PRINCE2 is recommended, not mandated. There is an English saying that ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’. Similarly, although PRINCE2 is available to them, not all government projects make use of it. When we look at establishments which either have or had close ties to government, such as police departments, public utilities (water, electricity, railways), we find PRINCE2 adopted and many very successful projects being the result. But in government there are many departments that don’t currently use the method.
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