Organization
Organization
The Organization theme tests how accountabilities, roles, and stakeholder communication are set up so decisions land with the right people. PRINCE2 balances three interests: business, user, and supplier. The project board has an Executive, Senior User or Users, and Senior Supplier or Suppliers. The Executive is single and accountable for project success and the business case; the Senior User specifies needs and benefits; the Senior Supplier provides supplier resources and commits to product quality. The Project Manager runs the project day to day within tolerances; the Team Manager manages a team; Project Assurance supports the board by checking that the project remains viable, controlled, and compliant; Project Support provides administrative and configuration services. The board may delegate change authority. The communication management approach defines stakeholders, information needs, timing, format, and responsibilities.
Worked example
A project board has an Executive and Senior User but no Senior Supplier. The supplier's design lead attends only informally. A design decision is delayed because no one can commit supplier resources. The Project Manager escalates the issue. The board adds a Senior Supplier with authority to commit design effort and records the change in the communication management approach. Reasoning: the missing role removed the supplier interest from decision-making, so accountability had to be restored rather than solved by the Project Manager informally.
Traps
Do not make the Project Manager the business-case owner. Do not treat Project Assurance as the same as external quality assurance. Do not let one person hold conflicting interests without addressing them; the Executive must balance user and supplier views. Do not confuse the board's accountability with day-to-day management. Do not treat communication as a one-off launch email; it is planned and maintained.