4.2 Organizing Practice & Project Management Team

4.2 Organizing Practice & Project Management Team

Every project requires an explicit organizational structure to ensure that decision-making authority, management accountabilities, and operational responsibilities are clearly defined and communicated. The Organizing Practice in PRINCE2 7 establishes a temporary, cross-functional management team capable of directing, managing, and delivering the project effectively.

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Purpose of the Organizing Practice

PRINCE2 7 Definition: The purpose of the Organizing practice is to define and establish the project's structure of accountability and responsibilities (the 'who' of the project).

Because projects bring together people across traditional departmental, functional, or organizational boundaries, clear roles and communication pathways are vital to prevent ambiguous governance, delayed decisions, or conflicting priorities.

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The Four Levels of Management in PRINCE2

PRINCE2 separates project management governance into four distinct levels, establishing clear boundaries of authority between policy setting, project direction, day-to-day management, and technical delivery.

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Level 1: Corporate, Programme Management, or Customer   │  (Sits OUTSIDE project team)
└────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                             │  Appoints Exec, sets tolerances
┌────────────────────────────▼─────────────────────────────┐
│ Level 2: DIRECTING (Project Board)                       │  (Exec, Senior User, Senior Supplier)
└────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                             │  Authorizes stages, reviews exceptions
┌────────────────────────────▼─────────────────────────────┐
│ Level 3: MANAGING (Project Manager)                      │  (Day-to-day stage management)
└────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┘
                             │  Issues Work Packages
┌────────────────────────────▼─────────────────────────────┐
│ Level 4: DELIVERING (Team Manager / Specialist Team)     │  (Executes specialist products)
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Structure of the Project Management Team

The Project Management Team consists of all individuals performing roles across Levels 2, 3, and 4 (Directing, Managing, and Delivering). Level 1 sits outside the Project Management Team.

The Three Project Board Stakeholder Interests

The Project Board represents three primary stakeholder interests essential for project success:

1. Business Interest (Executive): Ensures the project represents value for money and maintains alignment with business strategy.
2. User Interest (Senior User): Represents those who will use the project's outputs, specify operational requirements, and realize expected benefits.
3. Supplier Interest (Senior Supplier): Represents those who design, develop, procure, and deliver the project's specialist products, ensuring technical feasibility and capability.

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Detailed Breakdown of Project Management Team Roles

1. Executive

• Accountability: Single individual ultimately accountable for the project's success and Business Case ownership.
• Authority: Key decision-maker on the Project Board. The Project Board is not a democratic committee; if consensus cannot be reached, the Executive makes the final binding decision.
• Appointed by: Corporate, Programme Management, or Customer during Starting up a project (SU).

2. Senior User

• Accountability: Accountable for specifying user needs, defining acceptance criteria, and ensuring benefits realization post-project.
• Responsibilities: Commits user resources, monitors user satisfaction, and evaluates actual benefits against the Benefits Management Approach.

3. Senior Supplier

• Accountability: Accountable for the quality of specialist products delivered and the technical viability of the solution.
• Responsibilities: Commits supplier resources (internal technical teams or external vendors) and ensures technical standards are maintained.

4. Project Manager

• Accountability: Accountable for day-to-day management of the project within stage tolerances agreed by the Project Board.
• Responsibilities: Drafts management products, monitors progress, manages risks/issues, issues Work Packages, and submits Highlight Reports (and Exception Reports).

5. Team Manager

• Accountability: Accountable for producing products allocated in Work Packages within agreed constraints.
• Responsibilities: Creates Team Plans, leads specialist teams, monitors product creation, and submits Checkpoint Reports to the Project Manager.

6. Project Assurance

• Purpose: Provides independent oversight to verify that the project is being managed correctly on behalf of the Project Board.
• Three Strands: Business Assurance (Executive), User Assurance (Senior User), and Supplier Assurance (Senior Supplier).
• Independence Rule: Project Board members can perform Project Assurance themselves or delegate specific assurance tasks to independent specialists. However, Project Assurance CANNOT be delegated to the Project Manager, Team Manager, or Project Support.

7. Project Support

• Purpose: Provides administrative support, configuration management, record keeping, and advice on project management tools.
• Responsibility: Can be provided by a central Project Management Office (PMO) or delegated directly to the Project Manager on smaller projects.

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Rules for Combining Roles

To ensure agility while preserving governance integrity, PRINCE2 allows certain roles to be combined, subject to strict rules:

• Permissible Combinations:
  • Executive and Senior User roles can be combined into a single individual.
  • Executive and Senior Supplier roles can be combined if the organization is delivering internal capability.
  • Project Manager and Team Manager roles can be combined (Project Manager manages specialist team directly).
  • Project Manager and Project Support roles can be combined.
• STRICTLY PROHIBITED Combinations:
  • The Project Manager CANNOT perform Project Assurance.
  • The Executive, Senior User, or Senior Supplier CANNOT delegate their Project Assurance duties to the Project Manager, Team Manager, or Project Support.
  • The Project Manager role cannot be split across multiple individuals (must be a single Project Manager).