PRINCE2 2009 – Author Blog (Sep 08)

• 19 Sep 2008 12:27
• by Andy Murray

Much progress has been made since my last blog on 23^rd May:

• My wife gave birth to our second child (Jason Alexander Murray, 11^th July 2008) – hence the delay in updating this blog!
• We incorporated the feedback from the reviews and pilots of the first draft and issued the second draft for review.
• We initiated the second round of pilots.
• The project to review and update the associated qualification schemes was kicked-off.
• We’ve just received and reviewed the feedback on the second drafts…

The feedback from both the quality reviews and the pilots generated nearly 3000 comments. They indicated that we were broadly on track and that the narrative style is a significant improvement over the current manual. In particular the addition of ‘principles’ and the ‘project environment’ were well received, as was the guidance on tailoring.

However, the feedback highlighted two main concerns:

• Overlap between the PRINCE2 Method (Method) and the PRINCE2 in Practice: Managing (Managing) publication and a debate as to what is core to the method and what is discretionary guidance.  The approach to make the PRINCE2 in Practice: Directing (Directing) publication self-contained (i.e. readers do not need to also buy the Method) added to this issue I that the Method and the Managing publications effectively became an inseparable pair.
• Although the content of Directing was universally well received the overwhelming feedback was that it was too large for the target audience.

Our approach to these issues was to (1) merge the Method and the Managing publications with some of the discretionary guidance being removed for possible inclusion as on-line content and (2) to reduce the size of Directing but also adding a 10-minute guide and quick-reference summaries at the beginning of each chapter.

The revised publications will be called “Managing a Successful Project Using PRINCE2” and “Directing a Successful Project Using PRINCE2”.

Further information can be found through the following links:

• The Product Description for Managing a Successful Project Using PRINCE2
• The Product Description for Directing a Successful Project Using PRINCE2
• An Audio clip of Alan Harphum (APM Group Chairman) interviewing me at the Best Practice Showcase in London (June 2008).
• A copy of a presentation I gave at the inaugural Best Practice User Group meeting in Denmark in September providing an overview of the changes to PRINCE2 2009.

By the time of my next blog we should have the 3^rd and final draft ready for review, so I’ll provide an update of what that entails!

Until then you can catch me at Project Challenge presenting an update to PRINCE2 2009 and also providing an overview of the new Directing a Successful Project Using PRINCE2.  Come and say hello.