2025 Expectation: A further evolving merger of Prince2® 7 and agile ways of working
PRINCE2 basic outline info
PRINCE2 is the most commonly used project management approach in the world, and it is increasingly being used in conjunction with agile ways of working. As more organizations adopt agile ways of working, the need for specific guidance on how to use PRINCE2® 7 in an agile context has grown accordingly.
In simple terms, PRINCE2® 7 and agile ways of working each have their own strengths and when combined they complement each other and create a holistic approach to managing projects in an agile way.
The strength of PRINCE2® 7 lies in the areas of project direction and project management.
However, it has embraced a growing amount of agile ways in the field of product delivery.
Conversely, agile has a very strong focus on product delivery but relatively little on project direction and project management.
Therefore, when PRINCE2® 7 and agile ways are combined, all three areas of:
Project direction, Project management and Product delivery are addressed
It is essential to see this combination as a complimentary blend and a mixture. Those directing and managing a project in an agile context are adapting to adopt agile disciplines and
behaviours. Equally, those using agile ways to deliver project deliverables are integrating seamlessly with the PRINCE2® 7 ethos of staying in control by empowering people and ensuring that the project remains viable.
Starting in January 2025 the “to-be” released features of the new Prince2Agile version, will gradually be introduced to the Peoplecert distributing channels. When the new version is ready, details will be released.
Introduction
The new Prince2Agile® course understands the term agile as well-known frameworks referred to as ‘agile methods’ and there are also well-known behaviours, concepts and techniques that are recognized as characterizing the agile way of working. Those discussed, include:
ASD (Adaptive Software Development), Crystal, DAD (Disciplined Agile Delivery), DevOps, DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method)/ AgilePM, FDD (feature-driven development), Kanban, Lean Startup, SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), Scrum and XP (eXtreme Programming).
Participants attending the course will be provided with the fundamental knowledge of using these “ways of agile working” while tailoring the PRINCE2® 7 th edition.
Prince2Agile® Benefits Summary
The increased use of the “agile ways of working” is evidence of the benefits that the blended approach present to practitioners of Project Management (PM). Here are some reasons:
- The PM requirements can initially be defined a “high” level by the business layer of a project and progressively refined at subsequent “lower” levels in the PM team, e.g. at a project level, at a stage level and at a work package or timebox level. This enables more accurate delivery of PM products that are developed with user and technical participation.
- There is greater business ownership which results in smoother change management and PM success.
- There is reduced risk of building the wrong solutions
- The increased collaboration between stakeholders enables the PM team to co-create, motivate, test and MANAGE the delivery of a successful end result
- Business direction is retained by the senior levels by the active adapting to the agile ways of working, by the business layer and the project board
- Improved participation by the solution development team through better estimation and participation in lower lever tolerance management
- The use of daily stand-ups and team boards using visual Kanban boards, results in all stakeholders having access to PM reporting in a user-friendly way
“PRINCE2® is a registered trademark of AXELOS Limited, used under permission of AXELOS Limited. All rights reserved. The AXELOS logo and the AXELOS swirl logo are trademarks of AXELOS Limited.”
