PRINCE2 in Plain English

Steve Tofts

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0956462928 ISBN 13: 9780956462923

Publisher: Benchmark Training and Development Limited, 2012

PRINCE2 in Plain English is written for anyone who has a role to play in any kind of project. The book covers the essential ideas which lie at the heart of the UK government's project management method and is designed to be an accessible, readable and invaluable introduction to the official manual. If you're preparing for a PRINCE2 training course which includes examinations, reading this book first will help you to understand the important concepts in PRINCE2 more quickly. This will enhance your chances of success in both Foundation and Practitioner exams. If you want to use PRINCE2 effectively you'll find that the practical case studies in this book illustrate the way that the method works in the real world. To get your free A3 Mind Map and Process Flow Diagram, please contact Benchmark on 01225 444501 or info@benchmark-training.co.uk.

Review:

I've read a few Prince2 books and quite a few project management ones over the years, not to mention two versions of the Prince2 manual, so I wasn't expecting anything to get too excited about. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. I tend to agree with the author's suggestions that the book is useful as an introduction to the official Prince2 manual; for preparation for the Prince2 examinations; for those playing a part in Prince2 projects; and for those looking for real world examples of using Prince2. It may also prove useful to those who are new to project management and looking for an off-the-shelf project management framework, as well as those who want a detailed understanding or overview of Prince2 in action. The four elements of Prince2 (seven principles, seven processes, seven themes and tailoring) are well covered. There are ten chapters, with a chapter on each of the basics, the principles and the processes, and a separate chapter on each of the seven themes. This does seem bizarre at first, but tailoring is discussed throughout the book and the relevant principles and processes are also covered in each of the seven themes chapters. The two separate A3 coloured charts, a 140 term six-page glossary, the four real-world everyday example projects, good graphic illustrations and 113 pages of A4 with a decent sized font size make this a very readable and useful resource. The four example projects (rubbish recycling; expanding a pie stall business; installing a home office in the garden; and a £multi-million leisure complex improvement project) really do bring home the point that Prince2 can be tailored and applied to any project. Some suggested improvements might include a concluding chapter; a separate section on tailoring - even if it merely reiterated the examples of tailoring that had been provided throughout the book; and some colour (the whole book is in black and white). The only negative comment I would make about the book is the number of typos, punctuation, missing word and other errors. So much for plain English ! Call me old-fashioned, but I was taught never to start a sentence with but or and. This book is littered with them, and most are unnecessary. Also, there are countless missing full stops and commas. The approach in the book is to highlight, in bold, items which have an entry in the glossary. Unfortunately this convention is not strictly adhered to, and there are items shown in bold that one would expect to have a glossary entry, but do not appear in the glossary. Technically, this is an excellent book, but because of the above, the overall score is a 9 out of 10. This is definitely a must-buy book for anyone wanting an introduction to Prince2 or sufficient working knowledge of Prince2 in order to have a meaningful discussion about a project utilising Prince2. --Kawal Banga MBCS CITP, The Chartered Institute for IT

About the Author:

Steve Tofts has more than 30 years experience of managing programmes and projects in both the public and commercial sectors. Steve is a director and senior PRINCE2 Training Consultant at Benchmark Training and Development, one of the UK's leading PRINCE2 Accredited Training Organisations.