PRINCE2® 2017 update: an investment in you
6 Jun 2017 11:47 AM
Blog posted by: Mike Babb - Recruitment Director, Capita Resourcing, 05 June 2017.
Mike Babb, who is responsible for recruitment into Capita’s 4,500-strong professional services division, gives his verdict on the PRINCE2 2017 Update:
Since qualifying in PRINCE2 six years ago I’ve witnessed at first hand the importance of tailoring the project management method.
In my Projects Director role, this has given me a project management structure without forcing me to use PRINCE2 “by the letter of the law”. Instead, I’ve tailored it to my environment while having a check and balance on the project’s end goal, managing scope creep and handling stakeholders. Ultimately, it’s about using the method to deliver what the business wants.
Tailoring in PRINCE 2017
That’s why - having just studied for and taken the exam in the updated PRINCE2 2017 certification - the new emphasis on tailoring is really sensible. Though I’ve always tailored the guidance, it was not always explicit about what I could or should be tailoring as part of PRINCE2. Now, the flow of the new guidance and the clear link to tailoring (with specific examples called out such as agile working), is a much better way to present PRINCE2. And the new PRINCE2 exam is much fairer in the way it assesses your knowledge.
When recruiting and developing people in Capita’s professional services businesses, we need to ensure that all the businesses have the right people in place. There are numerous project-based roles and that needs consistency in ways of working across the organization. With so many people it is, as AXELOS has pointed out, like “herding cats” to get consistency in project management skills!
Continued relevance of PRINCE2 and projects
Today, with more and more work becoming project-oriented, PRINCE2 is as relevant as ever. Even the nature of how people are employed by organizations, often based on short-term assignments and project work, makes PRINCE2 an appropriate skill for that type of employment.
Having the method means you ensure you have a plan for what you need to do and take the time to think it through. This discipline enables you to work in a structured manner to satisfy your customer, whoever that is. It enables you to question whether you’re working in the right way, engaging with the right people and within the budget set. And having the knowledge and flexibility to adapt it to your situation, while breaking down a project into its sub-elements, makes it appear more achievable.
Importance of PRINCE2 beyond the workplace
But beyond the workplace and your career, becoming PRINCE2 certified is an investment in you that you can apply to anything, including your personal life.
Whatever you decide to do in your life, it’s likely you will be faced with a project and having the principles of PRINCE2 will always stand you in good stead.
See our PRINCE2 and PRINCE2 2017 sections for more information.
Read more blog posts on the PRINCE2 2017 Update
PRINCE2® 2017 Update: aligning PRINCE2 with other best practice
PRINCE2® 2017 Update – tailoring project management for your organization
PRINCE2® 2017 Update – tailoring gets better results
PRINCE2® 2017 Update: making it easier to adopt PRINCE2
First impressions of PRINCE2® 2017
PRINCE2® 2017 Update – Training the Trainers
PRINCE2 2017 Update - right thing, right place, right time
PRINCE2 2017 – tailored for a changing project management world