Using PRINCE2 for the PRINCE2: 2009 Project – Lead Author, Andy Murray, Explains the Quality Approach
- 23 May 2008 10:35
In PRINCE2, quality is a question of identifying what it is about the project’s products or services that make them fit for their purpose. It starts with understanding the Customer’s Quality Expectations, then agreeing Acceptance Criteria for the project and in turn agreeing the Quality Criteria for each product.
For the PRINCE2: 2009 Project the Customer’s Quality Expectations were identified through six months of public consultation with users, examiners, trainers, consultants, tool vendors and academics. Based on the public consultation, OGC defined the Acceptance Criteria to which the efforts of the authoring team will be judged.
As an authoring team we are constantly asking ourselves, "Is it what the users want and will our work meet the Acceptance Criteria?" These questions span the design, development and deployment activities. In particular they helped with producing the Product Descriptions for the project’s major products. Product Descriptions include statements on the product’s Quality Criteria. These define the basis against which each product will be judged as being fit for purpose. However, Quality Criteria alone is not enough as we also need to understand how they will be proven. In PRINCE2 this is known as the quality checking method.
By way of example, an extract from the Product Description for the revised “Managing Successful Projects Using PRINCE2” publication is shown below.| Quality Criteria | Quality Checking Method | Skills Required |
| The guidance must be generic – applicable to any size of organisation, any industry, anywhere in the world | Design Review | PRINCE2 Expert |
| Pilots – small to large | Users | |
| Pilots – public to private | Users | |
| Pilots – multiple cultures | Users | |
| Inspection | Users | |
| (1) Intuitive and (2) logical | (1) User Demonstration | Users |
| (2) Design Review | PRINCE2 Expert | |
| Written in plain English and idiom free | Inspection | Translation ExpertNon-British Practitioner |
| Survey/consultation | Users | |
| The publication is the sole source for the exam syllabus | Proof of Concept | Examiner |
There are 14 quality criteria for this product in total. They were derived from the project’s Acceptance Criteria and the product’s purpose. The choice of quality checking method is based on identifying the most effective way of being able to reasonably prove that the product meets the specific Quality Criteria. For the PRINCE2: 2009 Project we are using the following quality checking methods:
- Design Reviews - a peer level review (perhaps by workshop) of the design documents
- Pilots - the application of the method by an end user on a particular project
- User Demonstrations - used to verify (perhaps by workshop) user understanding of the method
- Surveys/Consultations - gauges opinion and perception
- Proof of Concepts - used to assess the viability of a requirement
- Inspections - a review of the publication to judge its conformity to requirements by users and experts.
To date we have held surveys/consultations, design reviews and inspection (of the first draft). We are currently in the process of writing the second draft to address the recommendations from the quality activities undertaken and several pilots of the revised method are underway. The pilots are particularly important as we are changing some aspects of the method and we need to ensure that what looks right on paper also works in practice!
As can be seen our approach to quality is not reliant solely on ‘inspection’ taking place at the end of the authoring process (a criticism of previous refreshes) but on a set of quality checking methods through its design, development and deployment. Our path to quality takes an iterative approach with quality activities taking place throughout the project’s life: each one providing an opportunity for improving the delivered product to ensure that we not only meet its Quality Criteria but the Customer’s Quality Expectations too.
