The Project Management Team Structure in PRINCE2 7 is a fundamental element of the Organizing practice that defines how roles and responsibilities are allocated within a project. This structure ensures clear accountability and effective decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.
At the top …The Project Management Team Structure in PRINCE2 7 is a fundamental element of the Organizing practice that defines how roles and responsibilities are allocated within a project. This structure ensures clear accountability and effective decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.
At the top of the structure sits the Project Board, which represents the three primary stakeholder interests: Business (represented by the Executive), User (represented by Senior User), and Supplier (represented by Senior Supplier). The Executive is the single point of accountability for the project and chairs the Project Board.
The Project Manager operates at the next level, responsible for day-to-day management of the project on behalf of the Project Board. This role involves planning, delegating, monitoring, and controlling the project work to deliver the required products within agreed constraints.
Team Managers may be appointed to manage specific work packages when the project scale or complexity requires additional management capacity. They report to the Project Manager and are responsible for delivering assigned products to the required quality standards.
Project Assurance provides independent oversight to ensure the project remains viable and adheres to standards. This function can be performed by Project Board members themselves or delegated to others while retaining accountability.
Project Support assists the Project Manager with administrative tasks such as configuration management, scheduling, and maintaining project documentation. This role can be provided by individuals, a Project Management Office, or external resources.
Change Authority may be established to handle change requests within defined tolerances, reducing the burden on the Project Board for minor changes.
The structure is designed to be tailored according to project needs, organizational context, and available resources. Smaller projects may combine roles, while larger projects might require multiple Team Managers and dedicated support functions. This flexibility ensures PRINCE2 can be applied effectively across various project environments and scales.
Project Management Team Structure - PRINCE2 Foundation V7 Complete Guide
Why is Project Management Team Structure Important?
The Project Management Team Structure is fundamental to PRINCE2 because it defines who is responsible for what within a project. A clear structure ensures accountability, effective decision-making, and proper communication channels. Projects fail when roles are unclear, decisions are delayed, or the wrong people make choices they lack authority for. PRINCE2's defined team structure prevents these issues by establishing a framework that scales to any project size while maintaining clear lines of responsibility.
What is the Project Management Team Structure?
The Project Management Team Structure in PRINCE2 consists of four distinct management levels:
1. Corporate, Programme Management or Customer Level This sits above the project and sets the project mandate, provides resources, and receives project outputs. They commission the project but are not part of the project management team itself.
2. Directing Level - The Project Board The Project Board is responsible for the overall direction and success of the project. It consists of three roles: - Executive: The single individual ultimately accountable for the project, represents business interests, owns the Business Case, and chairs the Project Board - Senior User: Represents user interests, specifies needs, ensures the solution meets requirements, and confirms expected benefits - Senior Supplier: Represents supplier interests, provides resources and expertise, ensures technical integrity of the solution
3. Managing Level - The Project Manager The Project Manager has day-to-day responsibility for managing the project within constraints set by the Project Board. They create plans, manage stages, report progress, and escalate issues and risks when needed.
Supporting the Project Manager are optional roles: - Project Assurance: Ensures the project remains viable and follows standards (can be performed by Project Board members or delegated) - Change Authority: May be delegated authority to approve certain changes - Project Support: Provides administrative support, maintains project files, and assists with tools
4. Delivering Level - Team Manager(s) Team Managers accept Work Packages from the Project Manager and manage specialist teams to deliver products. They report progress through Checkpoint Reports.
How Does the Project Management Team Structure Work?
The structure operates through defined relationships and communication channels:
Decision-Making Flow: - The Project Board makes strategic decisions and authorizes stages - The Project Manager makes tactical decisions within tolerances - Team Managers make delivery decisions within their Work Packages - When tolerances are forecast to be exceeded, matters escalate upward
Key Principles of the Structure: - The Executive role must be filled by one person only (single point of accountability) - Senior User and Senior Supplier can be multiple people to represent different interests - Roles can be combined for smaller projects (but Executive and Project Manager should remain separate) - The structure must be tailored to suit project complexity and organizational context
Communication Mechanisms: - Highlight Reports flow from Project Manager to Project Board - Checkpoint Reports flow from Team Managers to Project Manager - Exception Reports escalate when tolerances will be exceeded - End Stage Reports support stage boundary decisions
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Project Management Team Structure
Tip 1: Know Who Owns What Remember the Executive owns the Business Case, the Senior User owns benefits and requirements, and the Senior Supplier owns technical solutions and resources. Questions often test these ownership distinctions.
Tip 2: Understand the Singleton Rule The Executive must always be one person. This is a common exam topic. While Senior User and Senior Supplier can be shared among multiple people, the Executive cannot.
Tip 3: Distinguish Between Roles and People PRINCE2 defines roles, not job titles. One person can perform multiple roles, and one role can be shared by multiple people (except Executive). Exam questions may test whether role combinations are appropriate.
Tip 4: Know What Can Be Delegated Project Assurance is the responsibility of Project Board members but can be delegated. Change Authority can be delegated to handle specific types of changes. Project Support is optional and provides administrative assistance.
Tip 5: Remember the Three Interests The Project Board represents three interests: Business (Executive), User (Senior User), and Supplier (Senior Supplier). All three must be represented for balanced decision-making.
Tip 6: Understand Escalation When tolerances are forecast to be exceeded, the Project Manager escalates to the Project Board through an Exception Report. The Project Board then requests an Exception Plan or can escalate further to corporate or programme management.
Tip 7: Focus on Accountability vs Responsibility The Executive is accountable for project success. The Project Manager is responsible for day-to-day management. This distinction appears frequently in exam questions.
Tip 8: Remember Tailoring For simple projects, roles can be combined, but there are limits. The Executive and Project Manager roles should generally remain separate to maintain the management by exception principle.
Common Exam Question Types: - Identifying which role performs a specific responsibility - Determining appropriate role combinations for given scenarios - Understanding reporting relationships between levels - Recognizing who authorizes specific actions or documents - Knowing which interests each Project Board role represents