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!