Tailoring PRINCE2 to the project environment
Tailoring is a principle, not an option
'Tailor to the environment' is one of the seven principles, so every PRINCE2 project must be tailored - but only the practices and processes are adapted; the principles always apply in full. Tailoring happens at two levels: the organisation may define a standard approach, and the project then tailors that further to its size, scale, complexity, risk, delivery approach and governance constraints.
What gets tailored
Products (combine, simplify or omit management products where justified), processes (activities may be combined or done concurrently; some may be delegated), roles (one person may hold more than one role on a small project), terminology, and the delivery approach (linear, iterative/agile or hybrid). Tailoring decisions are recorded - typically in the project initiation documentation - and revisited as the project evolves; tailoring is continuous, not a one-off at start-up.
Traps: questions that treat tailoring as 'removing what you dislike' or as permission to skip principles; questions implying tailoring is decided only by the project manager without project board involvement (the board approves the approach via the PID); confusion between organisational-level tailoring and project-level tailoring.
Rule of thumb: combine roles where practical, but never let one person hold both project manager and project assurance - assurance must be independent of the work it checks. Likewise keep the project board's accountability distinct from the project manager's.
Worked example: a three-month, low-risk, single-team project may run one delivery stage, combine the project manager and team manager roles, and use a two-page business case - while still maintaining a business case, tolerances, defined roles and product-focus.