With experience on various projects over the years, some utilising PRINCE2® or similar frameworks and others without such structured approaches, it is evident that adhering to PRINCE2® offers numerous advantages and often results in more successful outcomes. The governance, stage gates, and clear, updated documentation significantly enhance project success and miti
gate risks, particularly in software-related projects. PRINCE2® can be used effectively alongside agile, waterfall and hybrid project methodologies. This article focuses primarily on using it within the more traditional waterfall project approach.
Key Benefits of using PRINCE2®:
PRINCE2® offers several key benefits for project management:
Universal Application: It can be applied to any type of project, regardless of size or industry.
Common Vocabulary: PRINCE2® provides a standardised approach and common language, which helps in clear communication among stakeholders.
Integration with Industry Models: It integrates easily with industry-specific models, making it versatile. PRINCE2® can be used on agile, waterfall and hybrid projects.
Product Focus: The methodology accentuates delivering products that meet agreed quality standards.
Efficient Management: PRINCE2® uses ‘management by exception,’ which ensures efficient use of senior management time.
Risk Management: It includes robust risk management strategies to identify, assess, and control risks throughout the project lifecycle.
Clear Roles and Responsibilities: The framework defines clear roles and responsibilities, ensuring everyone knows their tasks and accountability.
Improved Project Control: By segmenting projects into manageable stages, PRINCE2® allows for better monitoring and control.
Common Mistakes made when not using PRINCE2® on Projects:
The importance of maintaining business justification throughout projects
Complex HR, Payroll, and Finance replacement projects often take longer than anticipated. During this time, it’s crucial for the project team to ensure that the business justification remains valid. Failing to do so can result in delivering an outdated HRIS system that does not meet the evolving business requirements or comply with changing legislation. Regularly reviewing the business justification at various project stages is essential to ensure the right solution is delivered. There is nothing worse than investing time and money into a solution that is not fit for purpose. Technoivity can help manage and govern this process with our skilled project management experts who have years of experience in delivering successful HRIS implementations.
Maintaining a benefits focus: governance systems to monitor and measure the benefits
Successful projects yield benefits, which are measurable improvements in one or more areas of the investing organisation’s business. Studies show that only around 40 percent of projects mostly or always deliver full project benefits. One of the reasons is that many businesses often become focused solely on creating products (the outputs) and neglect to implement comprehensive governance systems to monitor and measure the benefits of their projects. The Benefits Management Approach that supports the Business Case should include the amount and timing of the forecasted benefits with additional guidance relating to the tolerance against these targets, as well as clearly defined roles and responsibilities including who is accountable for the expected benefits. Forecasted benefits should be checked through the project, and if they fall outside of set tolerances, they should be escalated to the appropriate level for review and action.
Insufficiently detailed Business Case and Project Initiation Documentation (PID), along with a failure to keep them updated
Quite often in projects, there is a lack of crucial documentation or insufficient detail in documents such as the Business Case and Project Initiation Document (PID). The importance of getting these documents right cannot be overstated, as they form the baseline and solid foundation for the project, contributing to its overall success. These documents should be regularly reviewed and maintained to ensure they remain relevant, updated, and consistent with the current project status. The PID is essential for anyone new to the project to understand its objectives, approach, and rationale. Technoivity can help ensure this governance is maintained throughout the project lifecycle.
Lessons that are not used to improve the project, or future projects, are only ‘lessons identified’ and not actually ‘lessons learned’
It is common to hold a ‘Lessons Learned’ session at the close of the project, incorporating all the lessons identified during its lifetime. Two important opportunities are missed here: firstly, the lessons learned from previous projects, or from others, should be reviewed when starting a project, to identify and record those lessons that can be applied. Secondly, the lessons recorded during the project: recurring elicitation and reporting of lessons learned ensures that the project team continues to learn and seek opportunities to implement improvements during the lifetime of the project.
Understand your As-Is processes before To-Be
Often, the “as-is” process mapping is skipped in projects to save time and costs. However, this step is crucial for the success of your HRIS project. Understanding the current HR, payroll, and financial processes (depending on the project scope) is essential to fully grasp the requirements, determine what needs to be tested, and plan the new “to-be” processes. These new processes must be documented and communicated to stakeholders to ensure successful implementation after go-live. Technoivity can assist with your process mapping and business analysis needs through our team of functional and technical experts.
Manage quality techniques
The purpose of the quality practice is to document the user’s requirements of the project products and to establish the means by which they will be met. Some of the systematic activities included in PRINCE2® method are to:
Explicitly confirm the user’s quality expectations and acceptance criteria for the project products in the product description
Identify the project products to the level at which the project can exert control
Define the project products in product descriptions, including the quality specifications by which they will be assessed, the quality techniques to be used in checking their quality, and the quality responsibilities of those involved
Implement and track the quality techniques employed throughout the project
Often, although the quality practice is incorporated in a project, the activities prescribed by PRINCE2® are not rigorously followed, particularly the tracking of the quality techniques, leading to extension of deadlines or acceptance of inferior products, which diminishes the benefits of the project.
How Technoivity can help you?
Technoivity can assist with your HRIS project in the following way:
Project Management Expertise: Our team of skilled project managers has extensive experience in delivering successful HRIS implementations. They endeavour to ensure that projects stay on track, within budget, and meet deadlines.
Business Justification Review: We help maintain the business justification throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring that the solution aligns with evolving business needs and external factors such as changes in HR and Payroll legislation.
Risk Management: Our experts identify potential risks early and develop strategies to mitigate them, ensuring a smoother project execution. Technoivity’s custom-built approach to managing the RAID log helps to improve auditability and facilitate stakeholder communication.
Stakeholder Engagement: We facilitate effective communication and collaboration among all stakeholders, ensuring that everyone is aligned and informed throughout the project. Technoivity’s custom-built project management tools aid convenient and traceable communication during cross-functional projects where stakeholders work remotely or in different office locations.
Quality Assurance: Technoivity ensures that the HRIS system delivered is of high quality, meets requirements, and is thoroughly tested before deployment. Our Business Analysis and Test Management function can help assist with requirement elicitation, traceability and auditing as well as the test strategy and management of UAT, SIT and regression cycles.
Change Management: We support your organisation in managing the transition to the new HRIS system, including training and support for end-users to ensure a smooth adoption. Technoivity prides themselves in producing high quality documentation that can be used to support the business after the project closes.
By leveraging our expertise, Technoivity helps you achieve a successful HRIS implementation that meets your business needs and delivers long-term value.
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