Scrum and Prince2 integration by Jose FERREIRO, certified PRINCE2 PRACTITIONER

Nowadays there is two concurrent and prestigious project management product certifications outside there. One is Project Management Professional (PMP) and the other one is PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) .

After several years of project management experience I decided to test both. Basically, I attended the preparatory courses for both certifications (ISEIG & Learning Tree UK). Finally, I decided that due to the adaptability degree and large possibilities of tailoring, I chose to invest my energy on the PRINCE2 methodology. PRINCE2 better fits in my opinion with a large project scope. I also wanted to take advantage of the Agile Approach to be incorporated within the project management method I use. This related to concepts such as "Scrum" and the Agile dashboard "Kanban".

I found out that it is not difficult to integrate PRINCE2 and Scrum together while in the process of "Managing Product Delivery (MPD)" in its activity "Accept a Work Package"

Basically, a PRINCE2 project proceeds as per the PRINCE2 manual and during the process "Controlling a Stage" in the Activity "Authorize Work Package".

In other words, the PRINCE2 Project Manager (PRINCE2 PM) must be seen as the Product Owner. Indeed he is representing the customer requirements.
In the "Managing Product Delivery (MPD)", the PRINCE2 PM agrees with the Team Manager the work package to be delivered. Once that the work package to be delivered is agreed, thus the Team Manager (most likely the Development Team Leader) may simply implement Scrum during  the "Managing Product Delivery (MPD)" stage corresponding to the current "Controlling Stage (CS)". The Development Team Leader simple assumes that the "Work Package (PRINCE2)" is the "Product Backlog (SCRUM)". The "Product Backlog (SCRUM)" is split into as many sprints as needed and as long as the entire process is completed by the timescales assigned in the Work Package. As noted, the PRINCE2 PM does not play a role in the "Managing Product Delivery (MPD)" stage (following PRINCE2 principle defined roles and responsibilities). The PRINCE2 PM just gets Checkpoint Reports according to the agreed frequency under the Work Package composition "Reporting agreements".

The only other interaction that the PRINCE2 PM will carry out is to receive Issues (Issues Reports) from the Scrum Master ("Capture and examine issues and risks" PRINCE2 activity). The PRINCE2 PM will also pass changes down to the Development Team lead ("Review Work Package status" activity). How these issues are analyzed and acted upon and how the changes were approved does not concern the Scrum team. The PRINCE2 PM handles these activities using the PRINCE2 approach process "Controlling a Stage (CS)".

Thus, it has been shown throughout this short article that there is no overlap or modification of either methodology. PRINCE2 and Scrum methodologies are intact and neither the PRINCE2 PM or Scrum team need to be burdened with any more responsibility than they would have had before combining the approaches.

In conclusion, both PRINCE2 and SCRUM integrate perfectly together by complementing each other (methodology and agility).

Further related articles about PRINCE2 on this blog
PRINCE2: Stage, Exception and Boundary

About the Author
Jose Ferreiro is an entrepreneur and a performer with a passion for working to make this world a better place!

What exactly is a skill in project management?

In project management, a skill is the ability to coordinate behaviour to achieve an objective.
A skilled project manager knows what it takes to manage both tangible and intangible ressources, and how to coordinate both people and process to sucessfully complete a project.

Management the Development of a Project Team

Successful project teams do not happen on their own. They exist because project leaders possess the skills to guide their teams to be effective, and because those leaders
know how to manage a team to produce results.

With supportive leadership, motivation, and commitment, a project team will move efficiently through the project stages to a successful conclusion.

PRINCE2: Stage, Exception and Boundary

PRINCE2 is a structured and adaptable project management method for planning, managing and controlling any type or size of project.

Stage: At any one time, a Project Manager (PM) manages one section of a project, called stage. At the end of the stage, the project Board reviews the status of the
project to date and decides whether to continue to the next stage

Exception: An exception is a situation where it is forecast that there will be a cost or schedule deviation beyond the project's planned tolerance levels set by the Project
Board. The Project Manager prepares an Exception Report, which describes the exception situation.

Boundary: The term boundary is used in the context of Managing Stage Boundaries, a PRINCE2 process. PRINCE2 provides a mechanism for defining the boundary of a project
and its relationship to other projects. in defining the boundary of a project, as with a stage, the emphasis is always on the products that the project is required to deliver.
As a project nears a stage boundary, or end of a stage, the Project Board, assesses the information produced from the current stage and makes a key decision on whether
to continue with the project or not.