Tailoring PRINCE2 to suit Agile delivery is central to PRINCE2 Agile, recognising that PRINCE2 is a flexible framework designed to be adapted rather than applied rigidly. PRINCE2 provides governance, direction, and control at the project level, while Agile methods (such as Scrum, Kanban, and Lean S…Tailoring PRINCE2 to suit Agile delivery is central to PRINCE2 Agile, recognising that PRINCE2 is a flexible framework designed to be adapted rather than applied rigidly. PRINCE2 provides governance, direction, and control at the project level, while Agile methods (such as Scrum, Kanban, and Lean Startup) provide the delivery approach at the working level. Tailoring blends these two worlds so that projects benefit from structured management alongside flexible, iterative delivery.
Key areas of tailoring include the seven PRINCE2 themes, processes, and management products. For example, the Business Case theme is tailored to embrace frequent value delivery and incremental benefits realisation. The Plans theme incorporates release and sprint planning, using Agile estimating techniques. The Progress theme uses information radiators, burn charts, and work-in-progress limits rather than solely relying on stage reports.
A vital concept is 'fixing and flexing'—fixing time and cost while flexing scope and quality (features delivered), guided by prioritisation techniques like MoSCoW. This allows teams to protect delivery deadlines while adjusting what is delivered based on priority and value.
Management stages may align with releases, and work packages may correspond to sprints or timeboxes. The delivery team is empowered to self-organise, so the Project Manager focuses on managing by exception and enabling collaboration rather than micromanaging tasks.
Tailoring also respects the five targets (be on time, protect quality, embrace change, keep teams stable, accept the customer doesn't need everything). Behaviours such as transparency, collaboration, self-organisation, exploration, and rich communication underpin effective tailoring.
Crucially, tailoring must consider the project context—the level of Agile maturity, organisational environment, and risk tolerance. It must never remove PRINCE2's essential principles, such as continued business justification, defined roles, and learning from experience. Effective tailoring ensures PRINCE2 and Agile work together harmoniously, delivering value predictably while maintaining necessary control and governance.
Tailoring PRINCE2 to Suit Agile Delivery
Introduction Tailoring PRINCE2 to suit agile delivery is one of the most fundamental concepts in the PRINCE2 Agile Foundation syllabus. It explains how the structured governance of PRINCE2 can be combined with the flexibility and responsiveness of agile ways of working. Understanding this topic is essential both for real-world project management and for passing the exam, as questions frequently test whether you understand what should be tailored, why, and how.
Why Tailoring Is Important PRINCE2 is a generic, scalable project management method that is deliberately designed to be tailored to suit any environment. It is not a rigid, one-size-fits-all methodology. Agile, on the other hand, is a collection of behaviours, concepts, frameworks (such as Scrum and Kanban) and techniques focused on delivering value iteratively and incrementally.
Tailoring is important because: • It allows organisations to keep the governance, control and direction that PRINCE2 provides while gaining the flexibility, collaboration and responsiveness of agile. • It prevents the two approaches from clashing – without tailoring, PRINCE2's formal structures could stifle agile working, and pure agile could lack the necessary governance for larger or higher-risk projects. • It ensures the project remains fit for purpose, matching the level of control to the project's environment, complexity and risk.
A key phrase to remember: PRINCE2 provides the direction; agile provides the delivery. The management layer stays with PRINCE2, and the delivery layer typically uses agile methods.
What It Is Tailoring PRINCE2 to suit agile delivery means adapting the method's seven principles, seven themes, seven processes and management products so they work effectively in an agile context. Importantly: • The seven principles are universal and must always be applied – they are never tailored away, though how they are applied can be adjusted. • The seven themes are tailored to reflect agile concepts (for example, using timeboxes, requirements prioritisation, and agile estimating techniques). • The seven processes are adapted to fit iterative and incremental delivery. • The management products may be adapted in format and formality – for example, a Product Backlog can serve much of the purpose of detailed requirements documentation.
Tailoring must always be justified and documented, and it should never compromise the integrity of the method or its principles.
How It Works Tailoring works across several dimensions:
1. Tailoring the themes: Agile behaviours and techniques are woven into each theme. For example, the Change theme is highly compatible with agile because agile expects and welcomes change through mechanisms like reprioritising the backlog and fixing time and cost while flexing scope.
2. Tailoring the processes: Agile ceremonies (such as sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews and retrospectives) map onto PRINCE2 processes like Managing Product Delivery and Controlling a Stage.
3. Fixing and flexing: A cornerstone of agile delivery within PRINCE2 is the idea of fixing time and cost (and often quality) while flexing the scope of what is delivered. This is captured in concepts such as the five targets and the use of tolerances.
4. Management by exception: Empowering self-organising teams to work within agreed tolerances, escalating only when those tolerances are threatened.
5. Adjusting management products: Documents can become lighter, more visual (information radiators, burn charts) or be replaced by agile artefacts, provided the underlying purpose is still met.
How to Answer Exam Questions Foundation exam questions on this topic are typically multiple-choice and test recall and comprehension. To answer well: • Remember that PRINCE2 is designed to be tailored – if an answer suggests PRINCE2 cannot be tailored, it is almost always wrong. • Recall that the seven principles must always be applied and are not removed by tailoring. • Understand the distinction between tailoring (adapting to suit an environment) and embedding (adopting across an organisation). • Know that agile focuses on the delivery level while PRINCE2 provides the management and directing level. • Look for keywords like fix time and cost, flex scope, and welcome change.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Tailoring PRINCE2 to Suit Agile Delivery • Read the question carefully: Distinguish between what can be tailored (themes, processes, products) and what cannot be removed (principles). • Watch for absolutes: Options containing 'never', 'always' or 'must' should be checked against the rule that principles are always applied but almost everything else can be adapted. • Eliminate wrong answers: Any option implying that agile replaces PRINCE2 governance entirely, or that PRINCE2 is too rigid to tailor, is likely incorrect. • Link concepts: Connect tailoring to related ideas such as fix and flex, tolerances, and management by exception. • Don't overthink: Foundation questions test straightforward understanding – choose the answer that reflects the balance of governance and flexibility. • Manage your time: With 50 questions in 60 minutes, aim to spend roughly a minute per question and mark uncertain ones for review.
Summary Tailoring PRINCE2 to suit agile delivery combines robust project governance with agile flexibility. The principles remain constant, while themes, processes and management products are adapted. For the exam, focus on understanding why tailoring matters, what can and cannot change, and the core agile behaviour of fixing time and cost while flexing scope.
