Initiating a Project

The Initiating a Project process plans the project, which will be used for checking the justification of the project and reaching a go/no-go decision. This is easier and simpler in Agile environments for two main reasons:

• We’re not supposed to prepare an upfront, detailed plan for the product.
• We don’t have to worry about the justification of the project as much as do in predictive systems, since the project will be run in iterations that help us investigate the feasibility of the project.

Common Actions in Agile Environments:

• In case of Scrum:
  • Prepare a simple Product Backlog. We don’t have to have a complete Product Backlog to start the delivery stages.
  • Run the Sprint 0 for preparation. Even though it is mentioned by PRINCE2 Agile, Sprint 0 is not acceptable by many credible resources and considered a poor practice.
• Turn the outline Business Case into a more precise Business Case, which will be used to check the viability of the project.
• Prepare a practical Benefits Management Approach to help us assess the business value of the increments, and use the information for adaptation.
• Use The Agilometer to understand the risks of using Agile in the project, and decide if it’s a good idea to do so, and what level of Agility is suitable for the project.
• Use Cynefin to understand the level of uncertainty in the project.
• Decide on how PRINCE2 Agile would be tailored in the project, what kind of Agile delivery would be used in the delivery layer, and define roles and responsibilities.

See Also

• Plans theme

External Links

• Initiating a Project process in PRINCE2 wiki

Written by Nader K. Rad

This is (and will be) a work in progress: More details will be added in the future, depending on the feedback.

This wiki is developed and managed by an accredited trainer, independent of AXELOS. While aligned with their guidelines, it’s not an official resource.