Reviewing Progress and Lessons is a fundamental aspect of the Progress practice in PRINCE2 7, ensuring that projects remain on track and continuous improvement is embedded throughout the project lifecycle. This activity involves systematically examining project performance against planned baselines…Reviewing Progress and Lessons is a fundamental aspect of the Progress practice in PRINCE2 7, ensuring that projects remain on track and continuous improvement is embedded throughout the project lifecycle. This activity involves systematically examining project performance against planned baselines and capturing valuable insights for current and future initiatives.
Progress reviews occur at multiple levels within PRINCE2. The Project Board conducts reviews at stage boundaries, examining whether the project remains viable and aligned with business objectives. The Project Manager performs regular checkpoint reviews to monitor team progress and identify any deviations from plans. These reviews compare actual achievements against time, cost, quality, scope, benefits, and risk tolerances.
The review process involves analyzing exception reports when tolerances are exceeded, assessing the validity of forecasts, and determining whether corrective actions are necessary. Progress information flows through highlight reports, checkpoint reports, and end stage reports, providing stakeholders with transparent visibility into project status.
Lessons management is integral to this process. Throughout the project, lessons are identified, documented, and shared to enhance performance. Lessons can emerge from what went well, what could be improved, and unexpected challenges encountered. The Lessons Log serves as the repository for capturing these insights during project execution.
At project closure, a comprehensive lessons report is compiled, summarizing key learnings for organizational benefit. This report feeds into corporate knowledge repositories, enabling other projects to benefit from accumulated experience. The practice ensures that mistakes are not repeated and successful approaches are replicated.
Effective progress and lessons review requires honest assessment, stakeholder engagement, and commitment to acting on findings. By embedding these activities into project governance, PRINCE2 7 promotes accountability, transparency, and organizational learning. This systematic approach helps projects deliver expected outcomes while building capability across the organization for future endeavors.
Reviewing Progress and Lessons in PRINCE2 Foundation v7
Why is Reviewing Progress and Lessons Important?
Reviewing progress and lessons is a critical component of the Progress practice in PRINCE2. It ensures that projects remain on track, deviations are identified early, and valuable knowledge is captured for current and future projects. This continuous assessment helps organizations improve their project management maturity and avoid repeating mistakes.
What is Reviewing Progress and Lessons?
Reviewing progress involves regularly assessing how the project is performing against its planned baselines, including time, cost, quality, scope, benefits, and risk. This includes comparing actual achievements with forecasts and identifying any variances that require management action.
Lessons review focuses on capturing, documenting, and sharing experiences gained throughout the project lifecycle. These lessons include what worked well, what could be improved, and recommendations for future projects.
How Does It Work?
Progress Reviews: - Regular checkpoint reports from team managers to the project manager - Highlight reports from the project manager to the project board - Stage boundary assessments where progress is formally reviewed - Exception reports when tolerances are forecast to be exceeded - End project reports summarizing overall project performance
Lessons Reviews: - Lessons are identified during project initiation from previous similar projects - Throughout the project, lessons are captured in a lessons log - At stage boundaries and project closure, lessons are formally reviewed and documented - Lessons reports are created and shared with relevant stakeholders and corporate knowledge repositories
Key Elements to Remember:
1. Tolerances - Define acceptable deviation limits for each performance target 2. Exception Management - Escalation process when tolerances are forecast to be exceeded 3. Management by Stages - Provides natural review points for progress assessment 4. Lessons Log - Repository for capturing lessons throughout the project 5. Lessons Report - Formal document summarizing lessons for organizational learning
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Reviewing Progress and Lessons
1. Understand the reporting hierarchy: Know who reports to whom - team managers report to project managers, who report to the project board.
2. Know your reports: Be clear on the purpose of each report type - Checkpoint Reports, Highlight Reports, End Stage Reports, End Project Reports, and Exception Reports.
3. Connect to management stages: Remember that progress reviews are integral to the managing a stage boundary process and provide decision points for the project board.
4. Lessons flow both ways: Lessons come INTO the project from previous experiences and go OUT of the project to benefit future work.
5. Link to continued business justification: Progress reviews help confirm whether the project remains viable and aligned with the business case.
6. Focus on forecasts: Exception management is triggered by FORECAST breaches of tolerance, not actual breaches - this is a common exam topic.
7. Remember the timing: Lessons should be captured throughout the project, not just at the end. Look for answers that emphasize continuous learning.
8. Corporate integration: Lessons reports should be passed to corporate or programme management for organizational benefit - this demonstrates the broader value of PRINCE2 practices.