This theme covers PRINCE2’s approach to planning, focusing on the composition and levels of plans, product-based planning, and the steps required to create them.
5 minutes
5 Questions
PRINCE2's Plans Theme provides a framework for designing, developing, and monitoring project plans. It recognizes that planning is not a one-time event but a continuous process throughout the project lifecycle.
Plans Theme addresses key questions: What needs to be done? How and when will it happen? Who will handle specific tasks? How much will it cost? In PRINCE2, plans exist at three levels: Project Plan (entire project), Stage Plans (detailed plans for current management stage), and Team Plans (optional, for team managers).
The Plans Theme establishes a common approach across all organizational levels, ensuring consistency and clear communication. It follows a product-based planning technique with four steps: writing a product description for the final deliverable, creating a product breakdown structure, writing product descriptions for each component, and developing a product flow diagram showing dependencies.
PRINCE2 plans must include:
1. Prerequisites/constraints
2. Planning assumptions
3. External dependencies
4. Monitoring and control methods
5. Budgets and timescales
The development of plans follows a defined approach:
- Design the plan (consider products, activities, resources)
- Define and analyze products
- Identify activities and dependencies
- Prepare estimates
- Prepare schedule
- Document the plan
Effective planning requires balancing the level of detail with practicality. Too much detail creates unnecessary work; too little provides inadequate control.
Plans serve as a baseline against which progress is measured, enabling project managers to identify deviations and take corrective action. They also facilitate communication by clarifying expectations.
The Plans Theme embodies PRINCE2's principle of "Manage by Stages" by ensuring each stage is properly planned before commencing, allowing for controlled progress throughout the project.PRINCE2's Plans Theme provides a framework for designing, developing, and monitoring project plans. It recognizes that planning is not a one-time event but a continuous process throughout the project lifecycle.
Plans Theme addresses key questions: What needs to be done? How and when will it happen…