PRINCE2
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PRINCE2
News
There is always lots going on in the world of PRINCE2 and we like to keep you up to date:
NEW Official PRINCE2 template pack is available - Following quality assurance by APMG the new official PRINCE2 template pack, authored by our own Malcolm West is now available for download.
Need a Health check ? Call the Project Doctor - The Project Doctor
from CUPE ltd is a free health check on the status of your PRINCE2
project documentation. Fill in the form and someone from CUPE
will be in touch with feedback, amazingly a free service!
PRINCE2 is currently going through a refresh - to find out more why not watch the 'PRINCE2 2009 Project - Progress Update ' presentation (26mins) given by Andy Murray the lead author at the BPUG event earlier this year. A copy of the slides are also available and Andy's Blog is linked below.
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Test
your PRINCE2 knowledge
If you are thinking of taking your exam and want to test your level of
PRINCE2 knowledge we recommend you use the PRINCE2 exam Assessments
provided free by Provek:
Foundation
exam assessment - takes
around 30 mins, scores given
Practitioner
exam assessment - takes
around 45 mins, scores and report given
AFAprojects also provide a set of PRINCE2 questions and answers
in PDF form aimed at assessing your readiness for the Foundation exam.
They recommend that with a score of 1-10 you would be
unlikely to pass the Foundations exam, with 11-17 you may need
some more work and above 18 you should consider sitting it and looking
forward to the Practitioner.
Are the exam formats looking unfamiliar? You might like to consider buying the
'Passing the PRINCE2 exam' book
which provides a number of sample papers that you can test your self
with.
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The PRINCE2 exam structure consists of two papers, the
Foundation and the Practitioner. In order to take the Practitioner exam
you must have first passed the Foundation.
The APMG provide very useful pages which explain about
the
format of the exam and how you can go about booking your place on a
public exam day.
About
the Foundation exam
About
the Practitioner exam
Options
for taking the exams
Public
exam day - booking a place
The new structure of PRINCE2 exams, what, why and how a video from Mavern Training (4 mins).
If you think you are ready for an exam you might like to
take the pre exam
assessments first. If you are progressing to exams
at this time then good luck!
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As a process based methodology PRINCE2 lends itself very
well to being communicated via process diagrams. In fact the PRINCE2 manual itself
uses process diagrams extensively to explain the interactions between
the Management products, processes, techniques and components.
The Free
PRINCE2 software
includes the authentic process diagrams as used in the manual as a
basis for point and click navigation. Other organisations
have
reorganised the PRINCE2 structure to give some insight on different
aspects of the methodology or to use as simple reference cards.
The following are popular in this respect and free:
CrazyColour
PRINCE2 process reference card
CrazyColour
PRINCE2 Board reference card
PRINCE2 tube map
PRINCE2 Process Model and Reference Card
from Key Skills
AFAprojects Process diagrams - we like these as they also split out the flow around some of the key PRINCE2 management products
AFAprojects PRINCE2 cross reference - a lot of PRINCE2 information packed into a small space!
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Wikis are informative and generally authoritative
sources of
information on a subject assembled by the community of users.
PRINCE2 is well served by wikis and the following few are the
most helpful:
Wikipedia -
PRINCE2
IT
Toolbox - PRINCE2 wiki
IT
Toolbox - PRINCE2 software wiki
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There are many PRINCE2 forums but the majority of these
are under used and lack currency, we recommend the following:
ILX website
PRINCE2 forum
Project
Smart PRINCE2 forum
CC
Consulting PRINCE2 forum
We are reviewing this list regularly but if you have
come across a useful resource please let us know.
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PRINCE2 blogs
There are a wide range of Project management and IT
development related blogs which occasionally touch on PRINCE2.
The blogs shown below have a main theme of PRINCE2 and will
hopefully therefore be a little more helpful.
Andy Murray Blog - Lead Author PRINCE2 refresh project
Patrick
Mayfield Blog - PRINCE2 Practice Blog
Malcolm West
Blog - P2 methods and more
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PRINCE2 as a methodology to learn and apply early on can
be
quite daunting due to its complexity and weight of documentation.
Quite a few companies have now tried to launch software to
help
users through this difficult period and almost all fail. The
most
common reasons being:
-
Not free - usually free is said but trial is meant
to try and trap users into having to buy the products in question
-
Too complex - users have to learn the software
before they can learn the methodology
-
Not Authentic - to avoid paying royalties
organisations
redraft guidance and redraw diagrams so they differ from what is said
in the PRINCE2 manual and examined!
Only one piece of PRINCE2 software satisfies these tests
by
being completely free, simple to use and containing Authentic materials
under licence and that is PROJECT in a box Community Edition.
You can register and download it from this website and share
it with whoever you want.
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PRINCE2 relies heavily on a Glossary of terms which on
occasion assign meanings to some words or terms that differ from the
'normal' Project Management terminology. Under the terms of
our
licence agreements with OGC (the owners of the PRINCE2 methodology) we
are entitled to reproduce the Authentic PRINCE2 glossary here for your
use.
Authentic
PRINCE2 Glossary
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Whilst the resources provided above take you a long way
in
supporting the development of your PRINCE2 skills they don't provide
the core PRINCE2 detailed information you need to pass the exams or to
apply the methodology in practice.
The best way to achieve this detailed knowledge is
either from a training course or a book.
If you are looking into the book approach we recommend
you
visit the book store one of our partners websites who have an excellent
collection of Authentic PRINCE2 and related publications.
CUPE
bookstore
TSO
bookstore
For the bargain hunter you might like to look at the
Amazon site where it is sometimes possible to pick up a current 2nd
hand PRINCE2 manual for something much below list price.
If you are looking to develop your PRINCE2 skills
through a
more formal training environment such as supported learning or a taught
classroom setting you might like to view the list of training
partners we recommend.
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All many of you are after is a quick head start in
getting
your PRINCE2 projects up and running and here we have the perfect thing
with the Authentic PRINCE2 (2005 version) template pack. This
pack contains the OGC recommended PRINCE2 templates for the current
version of the manual, written by PROJECT in a box, reviewed by APMG
and the PRINCE2 examiners and adopted by OGC. This is the
same
set of templates as provided in the free PRINCE2 software package above
but this way you can be using them even quicker!
Please
note that use of these
templates is not a simple dot to dot route to successful PRINCE2
implementation and we recommend they are used in support of a formal
education programme towards accredited PRINCE2 exams or by
PRINCE2 qualified team members.
Download
OGC recommended PRINCE2 template pack
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