PRINCE2 Cheat Sheet: Terminology, Tips and Tricks

PRINCE2 cheat sheets help you understand the exam preparation method and to refresh your memory during revision. PRINCE2 exam is not that tough, and you can achieve good marks through thorough preparation. Getting through this exam depends on your preparation method and how well you grasp the concepts.

PRINCE2 dummies can help you revise a concept you have already learned about. This cheat sheet consists of a short list of information that you can utilize to aid you in remembering your learnings. For a quick reference, the PRINCE2 cheat sheet is really helpful. You can go for PRINCE2 certification online to boost your study and knowledge.

What is PRINCE2?

PRINCE2 is a project management methodology. It manages complex projects involving multiple stakeholders, such as I.T. projects, construction projects, or new product launches. Each project phase must be completed to move on to the next phase. The phases are:

• Initiation
• Planning
• Implementation
• Monitoring & Controlling
• Closing

What is PRINCE2 Cheat Sheet?

PRINCE2 cheat sheet visually represents PRINCE2 process and its activities. It is used to help guide you through the process and can be used as a reference while you're working on a project. The cheat sheet provides an overview of each phase of the process, including what activities are typically done within each phase and how they relate to other phases.

PRINCE2 Cheat Sheet Elements

This PRINCE2 cheat sheet will give you a quick overview of the critical elements of PRINCE2 methodology so that you can pass your exam on your first try. You will also get a PRINCE2 cheat sheet with examples of each element to know precisely how they work in practice.

PRINCE2 Terminology Cheat Sheet

PRINCE2 terminology can be confusing, especially if you are new to it. The following terminologies (PRINCE2 cheat codes ) in the PRINCE2 for dummies cheat sheet will help you understand what's in PRINCE2 land.

1. Acceptance Criteria

Acceptance criteria are the criteria (business requirements) that need to be met before a project can be accepted. They are typically defined in terms of application functionality and user satisfaction but may include other factors such as cost and time.

2. Baseline 

A baseline is a document that establishes a project's scope, objectives, and schedule. It may also include other information, such as project team members, links to related documents, and relevant data sources.

3. Business Case 

A business case explains a project's purpose and justifies it. It includes information about why the project is needed and how it will help the organization achieve its goals.

4. Communication Management Strategy 

The communication strategy is how your team communicates with each other and stakeholders. It's vital to ensure everyone knows how they can get in touch with anyone on your team or any other person involved in the project.

5. Customer

The customer is the person who has hired you to do this project or the people who have hired someone else to do it for them (if there are multiple customers). They have a vested interest in seeing that everything goes smoothly, so they need to approve your plan to get things done before you start moving forward with any work.

6. Output 

Output from your work could be a report, a presentation, or even an email explaining what needs to happen next on this project! Outputs are the means to attain outcomes and derive benefits from the project. (Outputs induce outcome which help realize benefits). 

7. End Project Report

The End Project Report is a document created at the end of a project, summarizing the project's activities, achievements, and results. It should be short and easy to read, with a focus on the most critical aspects of the project.

8. End Stage Report

The End Stage Report is a document created at the end of each stage in a project, summarizing the progress made in that stage (acting as an exit gate document for this stage and an entry gate document for the subsequent stage) . It should be short and easy to read, focusing on the most critical aspects of that stage.

9. Issue Register

An Issue Register contains all known issues (i.e. risks that have already happened) that must be resolved within a project or program. The register should be updated regularly throughout the project or program so that everyone involved knows what issues are still outstanding and what has been done about them.

10. Product 

Product is the thing output or deliverable that you are building or the project itself. It is what your project is all about!

11. Product-based Planning 

This is a process where you plan out every single component of your product so you can understand precisely how much work goes into each component and how long it will take to complete them.

12. Product Breakdown Structure (PBS) 

The PBS is an organizational chart for your product. You'll use this chart to organize all the parts of your product into smaller pieces—and then break those pieces down even further until each component has its own set of tasks and resources required for completion.

13. Product Checklist

In PRINCE2, a product checklist lists all the things that need to be done to create the product. It is usually found on a flipchart or whiteboard and is used as an aid during the planning phase. The product checklist can contain information such as:

1. Who is responsible for each task?
2. When will each task be completed?

14. Product Description

A product description is written in simple language so everyone can understand it. It should also include details about how much money has been allocated for each activity, who will do what, and when they will do it.

15. Product Flow Diagram

A flow diagram shows how information flows between processes within a project. It maps out the relationship between activities and their dependencies, showing how one activity leads to another (or several others).

16. Project Life Cycle

The project life cycle is the set of activities, deliverables and governance mechanisms a project goes through from start to finish. It's important to remember that each project will have a unique life cycle, so your company's process may differ from that of another company.

17. Project Management Team

The Project Management Team (P.M.T.) is responsible for managing all aspects of a project, including identifying what needs to be done and deciding how it should be done. The P.M.T. includes members from different departments who bring their expertise and experience to the table. The P.M.T. is led by an experienced Project Manager—someone who has gone through PRINCE2 Foundation training and has had years of experience working on projects.

18. Project Manager

A Project Manager leads a team of people working together towards a common goal: delivering great products and services to customers. They're responsible for managing all aspects of projects from start to finish, keeping the team, stakeholders aligned on the end goal while helping everyone involved stay productive, motivated, and happy throughout the process. 

19. Project Plan

A project plan is a document that outlines a project's scope, schedule, and cost. It serves as the foundation for all other plans in PRINCE2. A project plan can be developed in the form of a risk register if the project is deemed to be high-risk.

20. Quality Management Strategy

Quality management strategy is an organization's approach to quality management, which should include data collection and analysis and continuous improvement of processes. It should also include customer satisfaction surveys, customer focus groups, employee satisfaction surveys, and employee focus groups.

21. Risk

Risks are uncertainties or situations that could negatively affect a project or program's objectives, scope, timeline, or budget; they must be identified and managed effectively to avoid any potential negative impacts on the organization's success with its goals or objectives.

22. Stage Plan

A stage plan is a document that describes the activities to be performed in each stage of a project. It should also include all activity inputs and outputs, and constraints. The stage plan describes how each stage will flow into the next and what resources are required at each stage. The project manager should use this document as a guide when executing the project.

In this stage, you plan, organize, and manage your project's work. It includes designing the work and setting out how it will be done. The management stage also includes assigning resources to tasks and ensuring they have what they need to do their jobs well.

Technical Stage

This is where you design or specify the solution or create a new product or service from start to finish. The technical stage also includes testing that solution or product and documenting its development throughout each phase so others can follow along easily if needed later on down the line.

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Six Aspects of Project Performance

Project management is a complex process with many moving parts. The project manager is responsible for delivering a product or service within the expected budget, time frame, and quality expectations. The process is not easy and requires a lot of patience and perseverance from all parties involved. To simplify this complex process, many professionals rely on tools and resources like a PRINCE2 cheat sheet, which provides quick access to essential principles and practices. The following are six aspects that are important to consider when managing projects:

1. PRINCE2 and Delivery Approaches

PRINCE2 is a project management methodology. Organizations use it to manage their projects. In PRINCE2, there are several approaches to delivering the project. These delivery approaches are as follows:

A) Waterfall Approach

The waterfall approach is a sequential, linear project management process where you follow the same steps to complete your project. The first step is the requirement gathering stage. After that comes the design stage, implementation, testing, and delivery. This approach requires you to define your requirements before proceeding with the rest of the project.

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B) Agile Approach

The agile approach is a flexible project management method that allows you to respond quickly to changing conditions by adapting and adjusting your processes throughout your project. It involves short iterations known as sprints, during which you deliver working software regularly so stakeholders can get feedback to refine future decisions.

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2. PRINCE2 Principles

PRINCE2 is a project management methodology that provides you with a clear and structured way of organizing your projects. The methodology is based on several core principles:

A) Business Justification

Projects must have a business justification. This means that they should be created by the organization, not just by the team, and they should have a clear purpose and objective.

B) Project Boards Managed by Exception

Manage by exception is an important PRINCE2 principle that establishes delegation of authority for decision-making (to the project board), managing (to the PM) and delivering (to the team) in the project. If something goes wrong in a project, everyone must know about it so they can fix the issue before it gets worse. Project boards make sure everyone knows about problems before they become big problems.

C) Teams Keep a Constant Focus on Quality

Quality is critical to success with PRINCE2 projects, so every team member should be focused on delivering high-quality work every time—and not just now and then!

3. Tailoring a Project

PRINCE2 approach consists of the following stages:

A) Understand the Client's Situation

The first step in any project is to understand the client's situation. This involves a review of the client's business requirements and objectives and assessing their existing processes and procedures.

B) Identify, Define and Manage Risks

Identifying risks early on in the project can save you from dealing with them later. It is also important to define a risk management approach based on the organization’s risk appetite. 

C) Determine the Scope, Time, and Cost of the Project

Once you have identified all potential risks, it is essential to determine how much time and money will be needed to complete this project safely. If there are any doubts about costs or timeframes, it is best to have both parties agree on these values before moving forward with any planning stages.

D) Prepare the Project Plan

Once all risks have been identified and defined by both parties involved in this project (client/vendor), they can prepare their plans based on agreed-upon parameters such as cost estimates, timelines for completing tasks, etc.

4. PRINCE2 Themes

One of the themes of the PRINCE2 approach is the M.O.S.C.O.W. technique. The M.O.S.C.O.W. Method is a prioritization technique that helps project stakeholders agree on the relative importance of each requirement.

It uses the words must, should, could, and would describe the level of importance of each requirement. The letters stand for:

1. Must: Requirements that are essential to the success of a project. This is a must-have, not a should-have or a could-have.
2. Should: Requirements that are important but not essential to the success of a project. These things would be nice to have if resources were available after all must-haves are met, but they aren't necessary for success.
3. Could: Requirements that might be desirable but aren't essential to any phase or process within this project's scope (or any other project). These are nice-to-haves but aren't required for something else to work correctly.
4. Would: Requirements desired by stakeholders who have been consulted about what they want from this project (or other projects).

The PRINCE2 processes are a set of sequential steps that help you carry out your project. They serve as guidelines to define key inputs, outputs, and specific activities to be carried out along with the respective objectives. They are designed to be flexible and adaptable, so you can use them for almost any project, no matter how big or small. They are essential to project success, as they help you to define the scope of the project and manage it effectively. The key processes in PRINCE2 are:

A) Project start-up with PRINCE2

The project start-up process is the first step in a PRINCE2 project. This is when you get all of your stakeholders together, define your objectives and requirements, and then create a plan for how to get there.

B) Project Planning with PRINCE2

The project planning process includes:

• Creating the business case for your project.
• Managing change within your team and organization.
• Defining roles, responsibilities, and authorities for those involved in the project.
• Identifying risks that may impact your timeline or budget.

C) Project Stages in PRINCE2 Project Management 

The project stages of PRINCE2 project management include:

• Initiation: This is where the sponsor and project manager define the project's purpose and scope, and objectives.
• Planning: In this stage, you'll create your scope statement and business case, identify the risks associated with your project and then determine how to mitigate them.
• Executing: The third stage is the Execution phase, which focuses on managing your resources effectively while keeping costs down while they work towards achieving their goals within that budgeted timeframe.
• Monitoring & Controlling (EVM): The fourth stage is Control & Close Out Phase, which involves completing all deliverables properly before handing them off to clients or other stakeholders who may want to use them late.
• Closing (E.V. closing): Wrapping up the project and executing post-processing tasks like saving data and documents for future use.

D) Exception Plans with PRINCE2 Project Management

Exception management is a vital part of any project. The exception plan gives you a framework for dealing with unexpected events that may affect your project. It lets you know what to do when things go wrong or in case, they go beyond the project tolerance limits, so you can resolve them without losing valuable time or resources.

E) End Stage in PRINCE2 Project Management

The end stage of a project is when you have completed all the tasks required by your client and have delivered the final product or service. When this happens, you need to formally close down the project and hand over responsibility for it to another team or department within your organization.

F) PRINCE2 Project Closure

Project closure involves formally closing down a project once it has been completed and handing over responsibility for its future use or disposal.

6. Product Description

The PRINCE2 approach to project management involves three key elements: the baseline, records, and reports.

A) Baseline

The baseline describes the project's scope, objectives, and expected outcomes. It should be created collaboratively with all stakeholders and updated during the project lifecycle.

B) Records

Records are documents that capture information about work performed on a project. These documents can include plans and schedules, risk registers, issue logs, action lists, progress reports, and other documents that record information about work done on a project.

C) Reports

A report is written communication that summarizes information from one or more records. The purpose of a report is to inform someone else about something that has happened on your project or how things are going so far.

Download Printable PDF of PRINCE2 Cheat Sheet

In this section, you will find a printable PRINCE2 Foundation cheat sheet. PRINCE2 practitioner sample questions are an excellent tool to help you remember essential information while preparing for the PRINCE2 exam.

PRINCE2 cheat sheet pdf includes:

• An overview of the five phases of PRINCE2
• A listing of the seven principles and their associated processes and activities
• A list of all twelve processes and their associated activities

PRINCE2 Cheat Sheet Tips and Tricks

PRINCE2 is used in all sorts of industries, from construction to I.T., and it is a vital tool for project managers who want to keep track of everything going on with their projects.

In this article, we will look at PRINCE2 cheat sheet tips and tricks to help you master the PRINCE2 cheat codes use PRINCE2 more effectively.

• Use Project Initiation Document to get everyone on the same page about the project's goals, scope, and approach.
• Make sure you have a clear idea of your deliverables using S.A.D.A.R.—the Joint Defined Activities Approach to Setting Up a Project. It's an acronym for Scope, Assumptions, Deliverables, Activities, and Resources (S.A.D.A.R.).
• Don't forget about Project Management Information System (P.M.I.S.)! This is where you'll keep all your information about the project in one place, so it is easy to access when you need it most.
• If something goes wrong during your project, use R.C.A.—Root Cause Analysis—to pinpoint exactly why something went wrong before deciding how best to move forward.

How Helpful is PRINCE2 Cheat Sheet?

PRINCE2 cheat sheet is an excellent resource for those new to PRINCE2 or those needing a refresher. For anyone who has never taken the course, it's a great place to start. The following points show the benefits of using a PRINCE2 cheat sheet 2023:

• It is a great way to refresh your memory on the key concepts and gives you access to all the information in one place.
• A cheat sheet of PRINCE2 will help you understand the terminology used in PRINCE2, so when someone says something like "stage gate review," you will know exactly what they mean.

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Conclusion

PRINCE2 cheat sheet serves as a quick reference guide for key principles, processes, and themes of the PRINCE2 methodology. Project management is a critical skill for anyone who wants to move up in their career, and it is increasingly important in the modern workplace. We have a host of courses on project management, including PRINCE2, one of the most popular project management methodologies. You can go for KnowledgeHut PRINCE2 certifications online to get started with PRINCE2 and give you the confidence to go out working and start managing projects like a pro.