An Introduction to PRINCE2 Project Plan

The PRINCE2 plan describes how a specific target or set of targets will be accomplished by whom and how. In order to confirm that the targets are achievable, a plan must provide enough information and detail. Project plans must always be kept in step with the Business Case because they are the backbone of the management information system of any project. Each plan requires the approval and commitment of the appropriate management level.

What Is a Project Plan in PRINCE2?

The Project Plan is used at the Direction Level, which is why it is utilized by the Project Board. Initiating a Project involves developing a high-level plan for the entire project during the Initiating a Project step. The report outlines the major project products, their delivery dates, and their costs. The report provides a comprehensive overview of how the project is progressing. It is maintained by the Project Manager as the project progresses.

How to Plan a Project?

The act of planning comes quite naturally to us. In our daily routine, we perform a lot of small tasks and make a lot of small plans. The daily maintenance of our lives isn't even considered as a planning endeavor, it is just another part of our routine. While planning constantly seems to be a problem for all of us, we are generally really good at it.

What is Involved?

The project planning approach in PRINCE2 is unique. The activity, dependencies, and resources to deliver the products are only considered after identifying the products required. In contrast, other project methodologies and frameworks start with the activities. Perhaps you must be familiar with the term “Work Breakdown Structure”. Learn more about this with our PRINCE2 certification online programs.

Seven Stages of PRINCE2 Approach

An easy-to-understand PRINCE2 approach to plans follows the following 7 steps.  

• Design the Plan: Choose the style and format of the plan, the right PRINCE2 project plan template excel. 
• Define and analyze products: The Product-Based Planning method can be used here. 
• Identify activities and dependencies: Products are created through activities. 
• Prepare estimates: Determine time and resources. 
• Prepare the schedule: Develop a schedule and order the activities. 
• Document the plan: Include assumptions, lessons learned, prerequisites, introduction, monitoring, control, budgets, and tolerances as part of a narrative explanation of the plan. 
• Analyze the risks: As you work through the above steps, you will uncover information on new and existing risks that will require further investigation.

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Step 1: Design the Plan

In the case of a program-infused project, the program is likely to have a common plan, which the project can adopt. 

Here are some tips to consider for this step - Design the plan: 

• Consider the audience and their access to the data. 
• Estimation, planning, and monitoring should all be handled with the right tools. 
• There is no requirement to use planning tools, but they can be very time-saving and highlight potential pitfalls, like overuse of resources and dependency issues. 

Step 2: Product-Based Planning

To identify and analyze the planned products you need Product-Based Planning technique. Product-Based Planning consists of four steps: 

• Note the Project Product Description: The description of the main product in the Starting up a Project process. 
• Creating the product breakdown structure: Organizing all the products to be created. 
• Write the Product descriptions: Completed for required products. 
• Creating the Product Flow Diagram: Defines the flow of products and identifies their dependencies. 

Our PRINCE2 foundation online also makes you comfortable using these techniques. Enroll to the program and learn with PRINCE2 project plan example and samples. 

PBP Step 1: Note the Project Product Description  

The Project Product Description is the very first step in Product-Based Planning. A description of the main product that the project will produce. The Quality Theme taught us that a detailed Project Product Description is very crucial for understanding what a project needs to produce and how quality must be. 

Providing the information on the Project Product Description is the responsibility of the Senior User. In the majority of cases, the Project Manager will be responsible for preparing this document. Other experts may also be consulted, such as the Senior User. In the following format, you can describe the Project Product as completely and accurately as possible. 

An iterative process, Product-Based Planning offers many benefits, including: 

• Identify and document the plan's products and dependencies in a clear manner. 
• The scope of the project should be clearly outlined to avoid setting incorrect expectations. 
• Users should be asked for input on product requirements, which will result in their greater support. 
• Communications are improved because they provide a simple overview of what needs to be accomplished, and getting feedback is made easier, too. 
• Determining what is included and what is not; keeps scope creep at bay. 
• The final benefit of this is the ease with which one can nail down what needs to be produced. 

PBP Step 2: Creating the Product Breakdown Structure  

There is a hierarchical breakdown of Project Products into their major products, which are further subdivided into further products. This is known as a Product Breakdown Structure (PBS). A “mind map” diagram could also be used.  

When creating a Product Breakdown Structure, you should consider the following factors: 

• Participation in a workshop with representatives of various interests is beneficial to a project, such as a User, Supplier, and knowledge expert. 
• You can change anything you want to as you learn by using Post-Its or a whiteboard. 
• The product break-down structure diagram should use a structure that is open and customizable. Reach a consensus among the team members regarding the structure. 
• You can use Circles or Ellipse to illustrate any external products that will be used.

PBP Step 3: Write the Product Descriptions  

When necessary, Product Descriptions are usually written for each item in the Product Breakdown Structure. When creating a Product Description, consider the following points. A large portion of these descriptions should focus on Quality. 

• As soon as a product is identified, product descriptions should be written and all parties involved should be involved. 
• All Product Descriptions are baselined once the Project Plan is finalized. Any required changes must pass through Change Control. 
• The products and quality information should be defined by those who represent the Users. 
• Because projects within companies are often similar, previous Product Descriptions could be used to create new Product Descriptions rather than from scratch. 
• Instead of describing the specifications extensively, refer to standards whenever possible. 
• When writing a small project, you may only need to include the Project Product Description. 

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PBP Step 4:  Creating the Product Flow Diagram 

It illustrates the actions that must be taken in order to produce the products of the plan and each action's dependence on the next. A subset of the plan is also depicted to illustrate the products that do not fit into the plan. This diagram can then be used to determine the activities to be undertaken, as well as to estimate and schedule the work.

The following points should be considered when creating a Product Flow Diagram: 

• If the Project Manager expects to successfully deliver the product on his/her own, he or she should include other people who will assist in the process. 
• As you will have the people with the required knowledge present, you can consider developing the Product Flow diagram during the same meeting as the Product Breakdown Structure. 
• Symbolize a product or an external product (rectangle for a product, ellipse for an external product) in the diagram.

Step 3: Identify Activities and Dependencies

Activities: In order to make a list of activities to be completed, the Product Breakdown Structure and Product Flow diagrams together with the Product Descriptions provided by Product-Based Planning documents will make it easier.  

Dependencies: Take note of activities that are dependent upon each other. Dependencies are categorized into internal and external, with the name revealing their nature. Inside the project are internal dependencies, while outside refers to external dependencies. 

Step 4: Prepare Estimates

Estimating involves determining how much time and resources will be necessary to complete a task to a satisfactory standard. It's better to ask someone with more experience to do estimating instead of the Project Manager. This can be done through the same workshop as Product-Based Planning, so the Project Manager should facilitate a workshop and invite the necessary persons. 

The process of estimating involves: 

• Identification of resources is necessary since specific skills are often needed. Non-human resources include equipment (such as testing equipment), travel, and money. 
• Estimating the effort and time to complete each activity, since no activity can be guaranteed to take exactly the time estimated.

Step 5: Prepare the Schedule

The PRINCE2 approach to plans, known as the 5th step, addresses planning. There are many different techniques to handle planning and more and more people are turning to computer-based tools for assistance. Before project managers can begin scheduling activities, they must already have a list of all activities, their dependencies, and the length of time required for each activity. Following is a list of things that a Project Manager will accomplish: 

• Defining the activity sequence. 
• Assessing resource availability. 
• Assigning resources. 
• Monitoring resource usage. 
• Establishing control points. 
• Defining milestones. 
• Calculating total resources and costs. 
• Presenting the schedule. 

The majority of these steps have been covered if you have done scheduling before. In PRINCE2, each step has been given a name and in MS Project, you can do most of them at once.  

Step 6: Document the Plan

In the PRINCE2 Approach to Planning, the 6th step is documenting the plan. This step is intended to explain the plan as follows: 

• Plan Description: A textual description of the Plan. 
• Plan prerequisites: Conditions necessary for the success of the plan. 
• External dependencies: List of factors that may influence the plan. 
• Planning assumptions: Describes what the Plan assumes. 
• Lessons incorporated: Incorporates previous experiences into the plan. 
• Monitoring and Control: Describe the process of monitoring and controlling the plan. 
• Budget Information: Costs, timelines, risk, and change budgets. 
• Tolerances: A summary of project tolerances. 
• Risk: An overview of risk. 

Who is Responsible for What?  

Planned projects are your responsibility as the project manager. They aren't, however, isolated projects. Make sure that you consult widely, and hold workshops to solicit input from other people. 

When Does It Occur?  

It is imperative that you plan continuously throughout your project. You will have to make controlled changes to your plans as a result of many things that will happen during the project. From the beginning to the end of a project, no plan can (or should) remain in its original form. 

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Hints, Tips, and Pitfalls in the Project Plan

• Remember that you might be forced to plan in an unnatural manner if you use a planning tool like Microsoft Project i.e., Added each task individually from the beginning to the end. It is helpful to the first plan, then (if necessary) load the information into the 'tool' afterward if you need to use one of those tools. 
• Before you finish your current stage, plan the next stage. When you are done with the current stage, provide the governance body a complete overview of what you have accomplished so far and what you intend to do moving forward. 

Wrapping Up

PRINCE2 Project Plan is more than just graphs showing timescales. Charts such as Gantt charts are very often used to showcase plans, but they don’t provide an adequate definition of what you are producing. They can show timescales and a series of events but they don’t allow you to define what you are trying to accomplish. Additionally, they may indicate the resources needed to accomplish a task. Know more about Knowledgehut PRINCE2 certification online. Keep following our PMP blogs for PRINCE2 project plan sample and resources.