PRINCE2 7 Foundation key terms

A temporary organization, with a defined start and end, that is created to deliver one or more business products in line with an agreed business case.

A group of related projects and other work managed together in a coordinated way to achieve outcomes and benefits that could not be realized if each project were managed separately.

The collection of an organization's projects, programmes and other work, managed together so the organization can prioritize investment, balance risk and allocate finite resources across that work.

The internal and external surroundings in which a project operates, including strategy, culture, governance, stakeholders, technology, regulation and market conditions, all of which influence how the project is run.

The principle that a project must have a documented, valid reason to continue, and that this justification is reviewed and re-confirmed at every decision point rather than assumed to remain true.

The principle that teams seek out and apply knowledge from earlier work and from their own project, taking time to reflect and feed lessons into decisions throughout.

The principle that every project must have a clear, agreed structure of roles, with responsibilities and decision rights understood and used, matched to the project's size and complexity.

The principle of delegating authority within pre-agreed tolerances so that only deviations beyond those limits are escalated to the next management level for a decision.

The principle that the project defines and agrees what it must deliver, including its products, quality criteria and scope, before planning the activities needed to create them.

The principle that PRINCE2 is adapted in depth and rigour to suit the project's size, complexity, risk, importance and its organizational and commercial setting.

Any individual, group or organization with an interest in, influence over, or exposure to the project's activities and outcomes, whether that interest is positive, negative or neutral.

The planned work of identifying stakeholders, analysing their interests and influence, and communicating with and involving them so they support the project and its outcomes.

The behaviour of influencing, motivating and enabling people to commit to and deliver project objectives, providing direction and support rather than only administering tasks and paperwork.

A management product that sets out who needs project information, what they need, when and in what form it will be provided, and who is responsible for sending it.

A practice and its key management product: the practice establishes whether the project is desirable, viable and achievable, and the product records the reasons for the project and the justification for continued investment.

A management product that defines how and when the project's benefits will be measured, who is responsible for each, and how outcomes will be reviewed after the project closes.

The accountable management group for the project, made up of the executive, senior users and senior suppliers, which directs the project, takes key decisions and authorizes each stage.

The single owner of the business case on the project board, accountable for the project's justification and overall direction and for ensuring it delivers the intended outcomes.

A project board role representing those who will use the project's products, specifying their needs and expected benefits and monitoring that the delivered solution meets them.

A project board role representing the parties who build the products, accountable for the technical and commercial feasibility of what is delivered and for committing supplier resources.

The role responsible for the day-to-day management of the project within the tolerances set by the project board, planning the work, allocating it and reporting progress.

The agreed amount of deviation permitted from planned targets for time, cost, scope, quality, benefits and risk before the deviation must be reported as an exception.

A situation where it becomes clear that planned targets or the project's business justification will be, or may be, breached beyond agreed tolerances, requiring escalation for a decision.

A section of the project for which the project board authorizes work and funds in advance, and at the end of which progress and continued justification are reviewed.

A plan produced to replace the remainder of a stage or project plan after an exception, showing how the work will recover to agreed tolerances and submitted for board approval.

A statement of the purpose, composition, quality criteria, quality methods and source of a single product, used to plan and control the work needed to create it.

The measurable conditions that the project's final products must satisfy for the users and the business to accept them as fit for purpose.

A running record of lessons identified during the project, together with the actions taken in response, used to inform current decisions and summarized for others later.

The record of identified risks, each with its cause, potential effect, assessment, owner and planned response, kept up to date throughout the project.

The record of issues raised on the project, showing for each its description, severity, owner, current status and the corrective action or change decided.

The short document produced while starting up a project that sets out the project's purpose, outline business case, project product description and delivery approach, and is used to authorize initiation.

The document produced during initiating a project that brings together the project's justification, scope, products, plans, approaches and governance arrangements, forming the basis for board authorization.

An instruction from the project manager to a team describing the products to be produced, the constraints, tolerances, quality checks and reporting required for a defined piece of work.

A report from the project manager to the project board at agreed intervals, summarizing progress during a stage against the stage plan, together with forecasts, risks and issues.

A regular progress report from a team manager to the project manager describing work completed, products and quality checks done, and any issues or deviations from the work package.

The process in which the project manager directs and monitors the work within a stage, authorizing work packages, dealing with issues and reporting progress to the board.

The process in which the project manager prepares the next stage, reviews the current stage's performance and continued justification, and seeks board approval to proceed.

The deliberate adaptation of PRINCE2's practices, processes and management products, including their use, depth and formality, to fit a project's situation while keeping the principles intact.

The approach chosen for creating the project's products, such as a predictive, agile or hybrid way of working, selected according to the nature of the solution and the environment.