The UK Office of Government Commerce's (OGC's) "Managing successful projects with PRINCE2", and the Project Management Institute's (PMI's) "Guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK)" have both been updated recently, at a time when there is a particular focus on improving project management competencies in SA's public and private sectors.
PRINCE2 (Projects in controlled environments), developed and managed by the OGC, is a process-based approach for project management, providing an easily tailored and scaleable method for the management of all types of projects.
PMBOK is an internationally recognised project management standard (IEEE Std 1490-2003) that provides the fundamentals of project management.
PRINCE2 and PMBOK are the two approaches project managers in Africa are most likely to come across, and yet there is still some confusion surrounding their compatibility, says Guy Eastoe, consultant and lead trainer at Snap-Tech, a project management services firm.
Eastoe says he is often asked questions such as: Are they competitive products? Can they complement each other? What qualification should I do first?
"PRINCE2 and PMBOK are in fact very complementary," says Eastoe. "PRINCE2 is focused on how to run projects in a consistent and standard fashion, while PMBOK provides extensive information about project management, and other related areas like procurement."
PMBOK is a complete body of knowledge, Eastoe adds, that is used as the base by many project methodologies, including PRINCE2. PRINCE2 then builds on many of the areas of PMBOK, addressing how to apply concepts to projects in practical terms, he says.
Jay Siegelaub, a Project Management Professional and a certified PRINCE2 Practitioner, makes the point that the PMBOK guide offers a loose, general approach to integrating the knowledge areas, while PRINCE2 suggests an effective way to organise them.
Colin Bentley, chief examiner at the project management certification body APM Group, notes that, unsurprisingly, there is a great deal of agreement between the two methods, especially now that PMBOK has increased its section on processes.
Some of the similarities between PRINCE2 and PMBOK are in the approaches to the compilation of a project charter, or project brief in PRINCE2 terms, at the beginning of a project; communications, stakeholder and risk management; addressing feasibility studies as separate projects; and even in the use of earned value analysis, where PMBOK describes how to use the technique, and PRINCE2 recommends its usage in the process of assessing progress.
One of the key differences is the structure of the project organisation. PRINCE2 clearly defines a project board of accountable decision-makers, who allocate a certain level of authority to the project manager. PMBOK places more emphasis on the project management office, and its associated authority over projects.
Another significant difference is in planning, where PRINCE2 uses an additional planning step to define detailed product descriptions for each deliverable, as well as a product breakdown structure to facilitate the projects scope.
Colin Bentley's full comparison of the PRINCE2 2005 Edition and PMBOK Version 3.0 and Jay Siegelaub's "How PRINCE2 can compliment PMBOK" will be available from the Snap-Tech exhibition stand at both the Project Management SA/PMI project management conference (30 May to 1 June, Midrand) and ITWeb's Technology in Local Government conference (20 and 21 June, Midrand).
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