Fulfilling the PRINCE2® Project Assurance Roles

Fulfilling the PRINCE2® Project Assurance Roles – PRINCE2® Project Board members have an inescapable accountability for project assurance but the demands of the role normally dictate that it be delegated.

As a project board member senior people are a busy but project success needs informed decision makers – they are responsible for safe project conduct.

This course informs those who embrace the project assurance role either as part of being a board member or as a delegated responsibility

You Will Learn To

• Assess project status in order to meet board responsibilities (either directly or as a delegate duty).
• Ask the right questions of the right people throughout the PRINCE2® process model.
• Evaluate and take action on findings from assurance activities.

Duration

• Available in a variety of formats to suit organisational maturity and attendee roles.
• Lightning introduction and awareness session 2hrs.
• Standard awareness session ½ day.
• Awareness and introduction to tools 1 day.
• Awareness and application of tools and techniques 2 days.

Course Benefits – Have confidence that…

• The state of project’s in your organisation is clear.
• Any project or business case problems are detected and remedies identified.
• Projects whose prospect of return deteriorates can be weeded out to redirect resources to the best source of return (and vice-versa).
• Project assurance participants understand the activities within their role and (if delegated the assurance responsibility) how to report information to decision makers.
• Project participants share a common view of the project landscape and the responsibilities of each role.

Who Should Attend

Project Board members or their delegated Project Assurance representatives who need clarity of project status as input to the governance and steering activities.

Programme office staff with responsibility for supporting senior managers with visibility into projects and/ or for supporting project managers plan, execute and deliver project results.

Audit staff and all staff members with oversight & reporting responsibilities (eg is a Sarbanes Oxley capacity).

Content

• Introduction, Overview & Logistics
• What is the Assurance Role
• PRINCE2® management structure, PRINCE2® process structure, the PRINCE2® principals and themes, How it all fits together, Board responsibilities Where Project Assurance fits in, Delegating the Project Assurance role, Source of Project Assurance staff.
• Assurance in Start-up & the Initiation Stage
• Checking out the project mandate, Team and task, Project Brief and Risk Log, Decisions at Authorising Initiation (13.4.1).
• Assisting the project management team create appropriate Management Strategies and controls, The Project Plan & Product Checklist, Business Case, Risk Register, Controls, The PID, Decisions at Authorising a Project (DP2).
• Assurance at Stage Boundaries
• Assessing production of task-level plan, revising the business case and risks, Amending project structure, Amending Project Controls, Reporting Stage End, Decisions in Directing a Project (DP).
• Assurance in Controlling a Stage and Managing Product Delivery
• Monitoring the Quality Log, Assessing Progress Achieved, Task reporting vs Product Reporting, Checkpoint s, Assessing Highlight Reports, Assessing Exception Reports, Decisions at Giving Ad-Hoc Advice (DP4), Assessing Exception Plans.
• Assurance in Project Closure
• What next?, Assessing Post-Project Review Plan, Assessing Follow-on-Actions, Learning Lessons for “next Time”.
• Assurance After the Show is Over
• Conducting Post-Project Reviews, Benefits Management & Realisation.

Workshops

The course uses a variety of exercises and workshop sessions depending on the format selected.

In general and depending on course duration tools and techniques are introduced and practised via multiple exercises.
Concepts and application is clarified through application to a case-study.