Progress

PRINCE2 Progress Practice Guide

Understanding and Applying the PRINCE2 Progress Practice

The PRINCE2 Progress Practice is a central element of the PRINCE2 methodology that focuses on tracking, measuring, and controlling project activities to ensure successful delivery of project objectives.

Why is Progress Practice Important?

Progress Practice is crucial because it:

• Provides visibility of actual progress against planned expectations
• Helps identify deviations from the plan early
• Enables informed decision-making
• Facilitates appropriate escalation of issues and risks
• Maintains control of each management stage and the project as a whole
• Builds confidence among stakeholders through regular reporting

What is the Progress Practice in PRINCE2?

The Progress Practice involves establishing mechanisms to:

• Monitor and compare actual achievements against those planned
• Forecast project performance
• Control unacceptable deviations
• Evaluate and respond to issues and risks
• Ensure the project remains viable against its approved business case

Progress is not just about tracking time and costs but encompasses all aspects of project performance including quality, scope, benefits, and risk.

How Progress Practice Works in PRINCE2

1. Progress Levels
PRINCE2 monitors progress at three levels:
• Project level: Overall project progress review by the Project Board
• Stage level: Detailed tracking by the Project Manager
• Team level: Day-to-day monitoring of work packages

2. Progress Controls
Key controls include:
• Management stages (breaking the project into manageable sections)
• Tolerances (allowable deviation from plans before escalation)
• Regular checkpoint reporting
• Highlight reports to the Project Board
• Exception reporting when tolerances are forecast to be exceeded
• End stage assessments
• Issue and risk management

3. Progress Cycle
The PRINCE2 progress cycle follows these steps:
• Set baseline (approved plans)
• Monitor (gather information on actual progress)
• Compare (measure progress against plan)
• Report (communicate status to stakeholders)
• Take corrective action (if needed)
• Capture lessons

4. Key Progress Techniques
• Checkpoint meetings
• Highlight reporting
• Exception reporting
• Stage assessments
• Issue and change control
• Quality register maintenance

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Progress

1. Understand the Terminology
• Be clear on terms like tolerances, exceptions, checkpoints, highlight reports, etc.
• Know the difference between a progress report and a highlight report

2. Connect Progress to Other Practices
• Progress links closely with Plans, Risk, Change, and Organization practices
• Understand how progress monitoring influences business case viability

3. Focus on Roles and Responsibilities
• Know who is responsible for progress monitoring at each level
• Understand when and how the Project Manager escalates to the Project Board
• Be clear on the Project Assurance role in monitoring progress

4. Common Question Themes
• Interpreting progress data and making appropriate recommendations
• Selecting appropriate progress controls for different situations
• Determining when and how to escalate issues
• Applying tolerances correctly
• Managing by exception principles

5. Application Tips
• Apply progress controls proportionately to the project's scale and risk
• Remember that forecasting is as important as tracking current status
• Consider all aspects of progress (time, cost, quality, scope, risk, benefits)
• Focus on providing actionable information, not just data

6. Question Approach
• Read scenarios carefully for clues about project context and current status
• Look for information about tolerances and actual/forecast figures
• Consider the management level involved in the question (team, stage, project)
• Remember that correct escalation paths are often key to correct answers

When taking your PRINCE2 Practitioner exam, remember that questions about Progress Practice will test your ability to apply these concepts in specific scenarios rather than just recall information. Focus on the practical application of progress monitoring and control within the PRINCE2 framework.