What do PRINCE2 project managers do?
In my previous post, I discussed how projects differ from business as usual. Another topic that is discussed on on my PRINCE 2 training course is the typical things that a project manager needs to do. Imagine you are going to visit a friend who lives in another part of the country. You must plan how you will get there - the time you will go and come back, how long you will stay, what you will do when you get there, the means of transport you will use and so on. In other words you need to make a plan. Imagine if you didn't make a plan - you might set off, get there, only to find out your friend was away.
A project is no different and every project must start with a plan. Without a plan we have no idea of what we are trying to achieve, how we will achieve it or when, and who will do the work. The result of trying to manage a project without a plan will be chaos, with no control over time, costs or work.
Every project needs people to work on it to design, build and test the things that need to be delivered. If you are a project manager, you will therefore delegate the work to be done to particular people (resources). You will need to monitor their work to ensure it is of the right standard, or quality, monitor the timing of the work to ensure it is being performed at the right time and on schedule. To monitor the work therefore requires that the people doing the work report to you their progress.
This monitoring of the work is an essential ingredient of the keeping control over the project. If you understand that things are running late then you can take corrective actions, such as adding more staff to a job to ensure it gets completed on time. Of course, if you add more staff, this is likely to increase the cost of the project, so you will need to take a sensible decision about whether this is worthwhile doing.
Any project therefore requires that the project manager does 4 steps in an ongoing, iterative manner. The four steps are:
A project is no different and every project must start with a plan. Without a plan we have no idea of what we are trying to achieve, how we will achieve it or when, and who will do the work. The result of trying to manage a project without a plan will be chaos, with no control over time, costs or work.
Every project needs people to work on it to design, build and test the things that need to be delivered. If you are a project manager, you will therefore delegate the work to be done to particular people (resources). You will need to monitor their work to ensure it is of the right standard, or quality, monitor the timing of the work to ensure it is being performed at the right time and on schedule. To monitor the work therefore requires that the people doing the work report to you their progress.
This monitoring of the work is an essential ingredient of the keeping control over the project. If you understand that things are running late then you can take corrective actions, such as adding more staff to a job to ensure it gets completed on time. Of course, if you add more staff, this is likely to increase the cost of the project, so you will need to take a sensible decision about whether this is worthwhile doing.
Any project therefore requires that the project manager does 4 steps in an ongoing, iterative manner. The four steps are:
- Plan the work
- Delegate the work to the appropriate people
- Monitor the work via regular reports
- Re-plan the work and take corrective actions
