Organization Theme

Question 1

What are the three project interests?

Answer 1

The interests of business, user and supplier

Question 2

Who represents the three project interests on the Project Board?

Answer 2

1. The Executive represents the business interest
2. The Senior User represents the stakeholders from the user community
3. The Senior Supplier represents supplier interests

Question 3

What are the four basic levels of management?

Answer 3

1. Corporate or Programme Management, responsible for commissioning the project, identifying the Executive and defining the project level tolerances within which the Project Board will work.
2. Directing - related to the activities of the Project Board
3. Managing - the day-to-day activities of the Project Manager
4. Delivering - where the work is undertaken

Question 4

What are the responsibilities of the Project Board?

Answer 4

• It has the overall authority for the project, including its initiation, direction, review and closure
• It’s the highest authority, responding only to a corporate strategy body like a Board of Directors

Question 5

Who is on the Project Board, and what are their roles?

Answer 5

1. Executive: Key role, ultimately responsible for the entire project. The Executive chairs Project Board meetings and resolves conflicts.
2. Senior User: Represents interests of those who will be affected and is therefore responsible for the specification of user needs and commitment of user resources. The identification and realisation of benefits is also their responsibility. The responsibility will likely continue beyond the timeline of the project.
3. Senior Supplier: Represents interests of those designing, developing, facilitating, procuring and implementing products. Often filled by a person external to the organization.

In a small project, some roles may be combined, e.g. Executive and Senior User.

Question 6

What is the role of the Project Manager?

Answer 6

• Plan and oversee the day-to-day work
• Always a single person (who, in large projects, may appoint team managers to support)
• Overall planning for the project, motivating and leading project staff, liaising with Programme Management, and reporting progress to the Project Board.

Question 7

What is the role of a Team Manager?

Answer 7

• Manage the creation and delivery of the specialist work packages and products under their control, as defined by the Project Manager
• Attend, and usually run, checkpoint meetings to raise checkpoint reports for the Project Manager

Question 8

What is the role of Project Support?

Answer 8

• All projects require administration, which is known as Project Support
• Setting up and maintaining project documentation/filing
• Updating plans
• Defining and maintaining project management standards
• Configuration management and change control
• Taking meeting minutes and compiling reports

Question 9

What is the role of Project Assurance?

Answer 9

• Assess all aspects of the project’s performance and products
• Each Project Board Member has their own responsibilities, which can be delegated, but not to a Project Manager, Team Manager or Project Support

Question 10

What is the Change Authority role?

Answer 10

The person or group of people responsible for agreeing to changes to the requirements or scope of the project. By default, this lies with the Project Board, but may be delegated (e.g. in a limited manner to the Project Manager)

Question 11

In terms of the Organization Theme, what are the minimum requirements for a Prince2 project? (3)

Answer 11

1. Define the organization structure and roles, making sure each role is represented
2. Document the rules for delegating the responsibility of the Change Authority
3. Define the approach for communicating and engaging with stakeholders.

Question 12

What are the two Management Products required to support the Organization theme?

Answer 12

1. Project initiation document, which sets out the team structure
2. Communications Management Approach