PRINCE2

⏱ 4 min  ·  📅 2026

PRINCE2 (Projects in a Controlled Environment, second version) is a structured method for managing projects with a predictive approach. It is developed and maintained by AXELOS (formerly by the OGC, the British government's Office of Government Commerce) and is the de facto standard for project management in the United Kingdom and in countries with an Anglo-Saxon influence.

Description

PRINCE2 provides principles, processes, and themes that guide the planning, execution, and control of projects. It is characterized by its emphasis on continued business justification, management by exception, and a clear structure of roles and responsibilities.

Origin

PRINCE2 has its origins in the PROMPT model, developed in 1975 by the CCTA (Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency). In 1989, the evolution of that model took the name PRINCE, and in 1996 it was updated to PRINCE2. The CCTA was later merged into the OGC, which in 2013 transferred the development of PRINCE2 to AXELOS.

The 7 Principles

PRINCE2 is based on seven principles that must be applied in every project that uses the method:

1. Continued business justification: the project must have a verifiable justification throughout its entire life and must be stopped if it ceases to be viable.
2. Learn from experience: teams learn from previous projects and document lessons learned throughout the project.
3. Defined roles and responsibilities: the project's organizational structure must reflect the interests of the business, the users, and the suppliers.
4. Manage by stages: the project is planned and controlled in stages, with a decision point at the end of each one.
5. Manage by exception: each level of management delegates authority to lower levels with defined tolerances. Escalation occurs only if those tolerances are forecast to be exceeded.
6. Focus on products: the project focuses on defining and delivering products (deliverables), not on carrying out activities.
7. Tailor to suit the project environment: PRINCE2 is tailored to the context of each project and is not applied rigidly.

Structure

PRINCE2 defines seven themes (areas requiring ongoing attention throughout the project), seven processes (the sequence of activities from project start-up to closure), and the roles of the project management team.

PRINCE2 Agile

In 2015, AXELOS published PRINCE2 Agile, an extension that integrates the principles of PRINCE2 with agile frameworks such as Scrum and Kanban. The combination seeks to pair the control rigor of PRINCE2 with the delivery flexibility of agile methods, making it especially useful in environments with strict regulatory or contractual requirements.

Common mistake

Applying PRINCE2 without tailoring it to the context. PRINCE2's seventh principle is precisely tailoring to suit the project environment: the method does not prescribe that all themes, processes, and roles must be applied with the same weight in every project. A small project does not need the same structure as a corporate transformation program. Mechanical application of PRINCE2 generates bureaucracy without value; intelligent, tailored application is its best version.

See also

PMBOK PMI IPMA Predictive management Evolutionary management The Agile Manifesto

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