View source for An Overview of PRINCE2 Agile

PRINCE2 Agile is a new concept from [http://axelos.com AXELOS] (the owner of PRINCE2), which is a tailored form of [http://prince2.wiki PRINCE2], suitable for [[Agile]] environments such as Scrum. PRINCE2 Agile does not contain an Agile delivery method, and supports the existing ones instead.

[[Image:P2Agile-Image.png|400px|link=https://mplaza.training/online-courses/prince2-agile-practitioner/]]


== History ==
The first edition of PRINCE2 Agile was published by AXELOS on Jun 2015.

No plans are announced about a second edition, and because of the heavy investment in certification and training programs, it's likely not to have a new edition for years.

== Manual ==

PRINCE2 Agile is described in an official manual with the same name, which is available in hardcopy and PDF at the [http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp?FO=1348493&CLICKID=003244 TSO webshop], and other online book stores such as Amazon.

PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner candidates can only use this book during their open-book exam.

The manual is not prepared by a group of experts, but by a single author. A number of contributor and reviewers have had some involvement in the process as well.

== Process Model ==

{{pmodel|02}}

Stages are still set based on the management needs of the project, rather than turning into iterations. Each Stage contains one or more "release", and each "release" contains one or more "iterations". Iterations are usually called "timeboxes" in PRINCE2 Agile.

Plans are created as usual, with the default responsibilities. Then [[Work Package|Work Packages]] would be the basis for creating the release plans and iteration plans (Team Plans), while their high-level aspects have been defined in the Project Plan and Stage Plans from the beginning. 

Delivery team members are empowered to decide on minor changes, as long as they do not affect the [[:Category:Management Products]] directly. Otherwise, the usual change control process would be run, with escalations based on [[Targets|tolerances]]. Therefore, a limited level of adaptation exists in the delivery layer, and higher-level adaptation would happen in the higher layers, and specially in the [[Managing a Stage Boundary]] Process.

The suggested approach in PRINCE2 Agile is to have fixed time and cost for the project, similar to DSDM Atern. Consequently, the [[Contracts|contract]] would be fixed-price. When the customer asks for a new feature, they have to swap it for one (or more) of the initial features mentioned in the contract, with the same size.

PRINCE2 Agile defines [[Agile]] as a set of behaviors and practices rather than the use of an adaptive lifecycle, and consequently, the manual is focused on providing generic guidelines on common behaviors in Agile environments rather than providing a complete integration between the PRINCE2 process model and Agile lifecycle.

== Tailoring done on PRINCE2 ==

==== Principles ====
* [[Continued Business Justification Principle]]
* [[Learn from Experience Principle]]
* [[Defined Roles and Responsibilities Principle]]
* [[Manage by Stages Principle]]
* [[Manage by Exception Principle]]
* [[Focus on Products Principle]]
* [[Tailor to Suit the Project Environment Principle]]

Note: Principles are not supposed to be tailored in PRINCE2. The above pages only explain how each principle will be interpreted in Agile environments.

==== Themes ====
* [[Business Case Theme]]
* [[Organization Theme]]
* [[Quality Theme]]
* [[Plans Theme]]
* [[Risk Theme]]
* [[Change Theme]]
* [[Progress Theme]]

==== Processes ====
* [[Starting up a Project]]
* [[Initiating a Project]]
* [[Directing a Project]]
* [[Controlling a Stage]]
* [[Managing Product Delivery]]
* [[Managing a Stage Boundary]]
* [[Closing a Project]]

PRINCE2 Agile doesn't add, remove, merge, or split any of the original processes.

==== Management Products ====

PRINCE2 Agile mentions some additional [[:Category:Management Products|Management Products]] such as [[User Stories]], but does not make it official, and for example, does not provide [[Product Description|Product Descriptions]] for them. So, in this part, only the original Management Products and the way they are tailored are discussed.

* Baselines
** [[Benefits Review Plan]]
** [[Business Case]]
** [[Communication Management Strategy]]
** [[Configuration Management Strategy]]
** [[Plan]] (including Project Plan, Stage Plan, and Team Plan)
** [[Product Description]]
** [[Project Brief]]
** [[Project Initiation Documentation]], aka PID
** [[Project Product Description]]
** [[Quality Management Strategy]]
** [[Risk Management Strategy]]
** [[Work Package]]
* Records
** [[Configuration Item Record]]
** [[Daily Log]]
** [[Issue Register]]
** [[Lessons Log]]
** [[Quality Register]]
** [[Risk Register]]
* Reports
** [[Checkpoint Report]]
** [[End Project Report]]
** [[End Stage Report]]
** [[Exception Report]]
** [[Highlight Report]]
** [[Issue Report]]
** [[Lessons Report]]
** [[Product Status Account]]

Changes in the baselines products are managed formally, while other changes (e.g. on user stories) are managed informally by the delivery level. More on this on the [[Change Theme]].

==== Roles and Responsibilities ====

All default PRINCE2 roles still exist in PRINCE2 Agile, and their responsibilities have not changed much, except for the recommendation to empower the delivery team.

While PRINCE2 Agile frequently mentions the Scrum roles such as Product Owner and Scrum Master, as if they are a fixed part of the team, still does not considers them as default roles, and uses the more generic roles mentioned below. More on this in the [[Organization Theme]]'s page.

* Original Roles
** [[Project Board]]
** [[Executive]]
** [[Senior Supplier]]
** [[Senior User]]
** [[Project Manager]]
** [[Team Manager]]
** [[Project Assurance]]
** [[Change Authority]]
** [[Project Support]]
* Additional Roles
** [[Customer Subject Matter Expert]]
** [[Customer Representative]]
** [[Supplier Subject Matter Expert]]
** [[Supplier Representative]]
** [[Delivery Team Quality Assurance]]

The original PRINCE2 responsibilities tables have not adjusted to include the new roles, or reflect any tailoring. The new roles are not even mentioned much through the manual and it's not clear how they are supposed to be used, and how they are connected to the rest of the methodology.

== Extra Concepts ==

* The Focus Areas
** [[The Agilometer]]
** [[Requirements]]
*** [[User Stories]]
** [[Rich Communication]]
*** [[Information Radiators]]
*** [[Daily Standups]]
*** [[Review Meetings]]
*** [[Retrospective Meetings]]
** [[Frequent Releases]]
** [[Contracts]]
* [[Behaviors]]
* [[Health Check]]
* [[Cynefin]]
* [[Targets]]
* [[Guidance Points]]
* [[Definition of Done]]

== Certification ==
There's a [[PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner]] certification available, with the usual Practitioner level specification of other AXELOS standards such as [[p2:PRINCE2 Practitioner|PRINCE2 Practitioner]]. However, it's required for the participants to be PRINCE2 Practitioner certified before taking the PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner exam.

Participants can self-study, use eLearning courses, or take classroom courses for exam. A normal classroom course is 3 days and the exam is taken at the end of the last session. Those who self-study or use eLearning courses can take the exam online.

== Other pages ==
* [http://prince2agile.wiki/PRINCE2_Agile_Tips#Tips_from_the_PRINCE2_Agile_Manual PRINCE2 Agile Tips]
* [http://prince2agile.wiki/PRINCE2_Agile_Glossary PRINCE2 Agile Glossary]
* [http://prince2agile.wiki/PRINCE2_Agile_in_Practice PRINCE2 Agile in Practice]
* [http://prince2agile.wiki/PRINCE2_Agile_2017#List_of_all_PRINCE2_Agile_2017_products PRINCE2 Agile 2017 - Changes]

== External Links ==
* [https://www.axelos.com/best-practice-solutions/prince2/prince2-agile PRINCE2 Agile on the AXELOS website]
* [http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore.asp?FO=1348493&CLICKID=003244 PRINCE2 Agile official manual at TSO Shop]
* [https://www.linkedin.com/grp/home?gid=6964375 Unofficial PRINCE2 Agile group on LinkedIn]
* [http://prince2.wiki PRINCE2 wiki]
* [https://mplaza.training/awareness-courses/prince2/ PRINCE2 Agile Awareness, One Step a Day], a free introductory email-based course
* [http://agilepm.wiki AgilePM wiki]
* [https://prince2.wiki/extras/what-is-prince2/ What is PRINCE2]