I am a Prince2 qualified project manager. I am happy to tackle large and small projects.
A project is a temporary piece of work that has a defined beginning and end that is undertaken to meet specific goals and objectives, usually to bring about beneficial change or added value.
Many projects fail to deliver on time and to budget because they were doomed to fail at the outset. Prince2 is a structured methodology that assists project managers and the sponsoring manager to design and manage projects in a manner that helps to ensure the business goals required are delivered within the the resource, time and budget constraints originally allocated.
I do not believe, however, in imposing methodological overkill. Many projects are just too small for a full-blown methodology such as Prince2. If the project were small and only involved a few participants I would design a slimmed down methodology that would still enable the project sponsor to be assured that the goal of the project and the method of managing it had been clearly identified, documented and authorised from the outset and that regular progress reviews of the project plan were in place. Procedures for risk and issue management would also be put in place. My approach is that the methodology employed should observe the principles of effective project management without ever placing imposing undue additional work or cost on the organisation.
Having agreed how the project is to be managed, I would then manage the project, reporting to the nominated project sponsor, who would have ultimate authority over the project, but who would not necessarily be required to have an active participation in it, beyond the planned project review meetings and ad-hoc decision taking, if required by unforeseen circumstances.
Please feel free to contact me for an initial discussion, even if you haven’t previously considered the piece of work you have in mind to be a formal project.
Ken Lingley 