Focus on Products is a core PRINCE2 principle emphasizing that successful project delivery depends on clearly defining, understanding, and delivering the required products or outcomes. This principle shifts the focus from simply managing activities to ensuring that what is produced actually meets t…Focus on Products is a core PRINCE2 principle emphasizing that successful project delivery depends on clearly defining, understanding, and delivering the required products or outcomes. This principle shifts the focus from simply managing activities to ensuring that what is produced actually meets the needs of stakeholders and achieves the desired business benefits. A product-focused approach begins with explicitly defining what the project must deliver—its outputs or products—before determining how these will be created. PRINCE2 requires the creation of product descriptions that clearly specify the purpose, composition, derivation, format, quality criteria, and quality methods for each product. These provide unambiguous expectations that help prevent scope creep and misunderstandings. The Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) is a key tool used to decompose the project's final deliverable into its constituent components, creating a hierarchical representation of everything the project must produce. This is complemented by the Product Flow Diagram, which shows the sequence in which products will be developed, and their interdependencies. By focusing on products rather than activities, PRINCE2 projects can better measure progress based on the completion of tangible deliverables rather than the execution of tasks. This improves quality management as acceptance criteria are defined upfront, enables more accurate planning as estimates are based on product development needs, and facilitates more effective stakeholder communication through shared understanding of what will be delivered. This principle helps ensure that projects remain focused on value creation rather than simply completing a set of activities.
PRINCE2 Principle: Focus on Products
What is Focus on Products?
Focus on Products is one of the seven fundamental principles of PRINCE2, emphasizing that a project must concentrate on defining and delivering quality products rather than simply completing activities. This principle ensures that the project has a clear purpose and delivers value to the organization.
Why is Focus on Products Important?
Focusing on products is crucial because:
• It provides clarity about what the project needs to deliver • It ensures agreement on project scope and expectations • It helps prevent scope creep • It enables accurate planning and estimation • It facilitates quality control and acceptance • It supports effective communication among stakeholders • It ensures the project delivers tangible value
How Focus on Products Works in PRINCE2
This principle is implemented through several key mechanisms:
1. Product-Based Planning: A planning technique that focuses on identifying, defining, and analyzing the products to be delivered.
2. Product Descriptions: Formal documentation that clearly specifies what each product should include, its quality criteria, and how it will be assessed.
3. Product Breakdown Structure (PBS): A hierarchical diagram that breaks down the final product into its constituent components.
4. Product Flow Diagram (PFD): Shows the sequence in which products will be developed and their interdependencies.
5. Quality Review Technique: A structured approach to checking that products meet their quality criteria.
How Focus on Products Connects to Other PRINCE2 Elements
• Themes: Most directly connected to the Quality theme, but also influences the Plans, Progress, and Change themes.
• Processes: Significantly impacts Starting up a Project, Initiating a Project, Controlling a Stage, and Managing Product Delivery processes.
• Roles: Project Manager is responsible for product-based planning, while Team Manager ensures products are delivered to specification.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Focus on Products
1. Recognize scenarios where Focus on Products is being applied: Look for scenarios that emphasize defining product requirements, setting quality criteria, or using product-based planning techniques.
2. Understand the distinction between activities and products: Activities are tasks that team members perform; products are the tangible or intangible deliverables that result from those activities.
3. Remember the key components of product-based planning: PBS, product descriptions, PFD, and product-based planning.
4. Connect to quality management: Questions may link Focus on Products to quality planning, quality control, and quality assurance.
5. Consider roles and responsibilities: Know who is responsible for specifying products, creating product descriptions, and approving product completion.
6. Look for problems that arise from lacking Focus on Products: Examples include unclear scope, difficulty measuring progress, or products that fail to meet stakeholder needs.
7. Apply in context: Questions might ask how this principle would apply in a specific project situation or how it helps resolve a particular issue.
When faced with exam questions on Focus on Products, always think about how the project is defining its deliverables, measuring quality, and ensuring that what is produced aligns with what was agreed upon. Remember that in PRINCE2, a successful project is one that delivers the right products, not just one that completes all planned activities.