Does PRINCE2 Increase My Salary?
By Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
What is PRINCE2®? PRINCE2® (PRojects IN a Controlled Environment) is a project management methodology to run Projects in an effective and efficient manner. It is one of the widely accepted project management frameworks by global organizations and practitioners. PRINCE2 provides project essentials and serves as a barebone or backbone to run successful projects. This framework can be optimized to fit into any project environment (meaning any enterprises or government, industry, domain etc). PRINCE2 revolves around the core concepts of principles, themes and processes. Let’s get introduced to the PRINCE2 elements: Principles: Guiding principles or good practices or manifesto of PRINCE2 helps project practitioners across the globe to seed and nurture the right mindset, behaviour and culture while managing projects. There are seven principles. 1. Continued business justification (business value, worthwhile, viability)2. Learn from experience (retrospection, maturity, feedback, improvement)3. Defined roles and responsibilities (who is doing what, what is expected from whom, project stakeholders) 4. Manage by stages (boundaries, phases) 5. Manage by exception (delegation of authorities with tolerance)6. Focus on Products (quality-centric approach to product delivery) 7. Tailor to suit the project (less-bureaucratic)Themes: Project management revolves around high level tasks such as Plan, Execute, Monitor and Control and these activities, in turn, are centered around project aspects such as Scope, Cost, Time, Quality, Risks and Benefits. There are seven themes. Themes are important areas of focus and answer all the questions like: How to run the project? What documents/templates/logs/registers/plans/communications are required from the start to the closure? What techniques/methods are required to manage the project? 1. Business Case theme (Business Case, Benefits Management Approach)2. Organization theme (Project Organization Structure with roles and responsibilities, Communications Management Approach)3. Quality theme (Quality Management Approach, Quality Register) 4. Plans theme (Project Plan, Gantt Charts)5. Risks theme (Risk Management Approach, Risk Register)6. Change theme (Change Control Approach, Issue Register, Configurations Management)7. Progress theme (Project Controls)Processes: Processes are steps involved to accomplish the project objectives. PRINCE2 processes express the flow of work from pre-initiation to the closure, which also includes key tasks or actions to be fulfilled by the project stakeholders (such as Project Board, Project Manager and Team Manager(s)). PRINCE2 processes and their tasks are structured in such a way as to apply the Principles and Themes seamlessly. There are seven processes. 1. Starting Up A Project (feasibility checks)2. Directing A Project (Authorization and approvals)3. Initiating A Project (Solid foundation before execution of the project work)4. Managing Stage Boundaries (adjustments to the plans and activities, retrospections)5. Controlling A Stage (work package, managing of risks/issues, progress reporting)6. Managing Product Delivery (development of specialist products)7. Closing a Project (formally end the project)Benefits of PRINCE2: PRINCE2 provides good governance for project management. It can be applied in any industry, domain or organization (be it IT or non-IT). It can be tailored to be used alongside any other project management methodology. Common terminology or vocabulary helps in effective communication between all the project stakeholders. A defined structure for accountability, delegation, authority and communication is established with the help of project organization structure and all the key stakeholders are represented in this structure for better planning and decision-making. It focuses on delivering quality products to stakeholders to fulfill their needs and realize the benefits. Different types of plans suggested by PRINCE2 help to address the needs across different levels of management within the project organization. Manage by exception helps in avoiding micro-management with the help of delegation (with tolerances) and still having necessary control on the project work. PRINCE2 ensures benefit realization at its core, rather than simply completing the project within deadlines for cost and schedule. Traditional Project documentations are seen as bureaucratic in today’s agile world. PRINCE2 provides a comprehensive list of just enough documentation to suit any type of project. PRINCE2 recommends and provides control points to retrospect, learn lessons and continually improve the project work. It provides confidence to the project board or decision makers by establishing transparent audit mechanisms. How can PRINCE2 benefit you? If you are a student aspiring to get into a job, you will be well equipped with the project management skills you need, if you have a PRINCE2 certification before you enter the corporate world. If you are new to project management, PRINCE2 provides a brief overview of how to manage projects in a crisp and clear way. This can serve as your stepping stone into the field. If you are already a project manager encountering clients or customers using PRINCE2, it will help to align your work in PRINCE2 style. If you are already using PRINCE2 and encountering agile ways of working, you can learn more about tailoring PRINCE2 to suit agile environments using PRINCE2 Agile. How can PRINCE2 benefit your organization? If you are a start-up company running projects in your own heroic style, you can validate your ways of running projects with PRINCE2. If you see real value from this framework, you can start your PRINCE2 journey by simply using the Principles. This can save cost, improve project efficiency, infuse discipline and increase the success rate. If you are an enterprise using different methods/models to manage projects, still you can try using PRINCE2 to suit your project environment. One of the important benefits of using PRINCE2 is effective use of management time. Concepts of delegating with tolerance nurtures a culture of empowerment and experimentation and increases agility & control. If you are an organization working with clients using PRINCE2 models, it will benefit your project managers, team members and stakeholders to align the project work according to the customer’s needs. Having PRINCE2 certified practitioners in your company will provide an advantage to bag new contracts/clients. There are many reasons for a project failure. Vital reasons are lack of management support, user involvement, incomplete requirements and many more. PRINCE2 provides a project organization structure with correct composition or representation from different stakeholder groups such as sponsor, user and supplier. If implemented correctly, entities will be abundantly benefitted in terms of increasing the success rates of projects by aligning and delivering the products as per the project vision or goals. PRINCE2 is also robust and compatible with any other methods/methodologies/frameworks/good practices/tools/techniques that many organizations use. It serves as a backbone to support any initiatives. With agile models being rapidly implemented in today’s digital organizations, PRINCE2 can be easily tailored to run projects in an agile way. If scaled properly, PRINCE2 can support the management of projects in any domain or industry of any complexity. Components of PRINCE2 Certification:There are two levels in PRINCE2 certification. PRINCE2 Foundation is a pre-requisite to take up the Practitioner exam. If you are already a PMP/PRINCE2 Agile Foundation or Practitioner certified, you can directly take up the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam. There are also other foundational qualifications such as the PMQ or CAPM, among others, that make you eligible to write the Practitioner exam, provided you familiarize yourself with the PRINCE2 manual before the exam attempt. To read more about the PRINCE2 certification, please click here to read our blog on “Facts about PRINCE2 Examination”. Taking the exams: PRINCE2 exams can be taken in 3 different modes: Paper Based Test Computer Based Test Online Proctored Test You need to get in touch with an Accredited Training Organizations (ATO) to book your exam. ATOs are authorized by Axelos (which is the governing body). Please visit this website to find out your nearest ATOExamination Languages: The PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner examinations are currently available in English, German, Danish, Dutch, Polish, French and Norwegian. Certification Cost: The certification cost differs based on the mode of examination and geography. The cost of both Foundation and Practitioner exams together may cost you between $500 to $900. The training cost is NOT included in the certification cost. Please check with your nearest ATO for more details. You can also buy the exam directly from Peoplecert (Examination Institute authorized by Axelos). To know Peoplecert’s certification rates, please visitHow much can I earn? The modern job market seeks T-shaped professionals who are versatile in deep technical skills and broader management skills. Employers are looking for employees who have the right attitude to learn, adopt and adapt to current trends. Project management skills are highly recommended in this modern digital era. Projects are used as a tool to induce any changes in an organization/enterprise/government. Be it process improvement, new product development, commissioning or decommissioning an existing service or product, making significant changes to an existing product or service, changing from one service provider to another, transition activities, organizational transformation, responding to a competitor’s moves or technological advancements (like robotization, cloudification, artificial intelligence), environmental changes, action plan to address uncertain situations like COVID-19 etc., there is always a need for project related roles. If you check for project manager jobs in LinkedIn, Naukri or any other job sites, depending upon your industry and location, there might be a few thousands of unfulfilled openings. We cannot eliminate the fact that many job requirements are fulfilled internally within an organization or through employee referrals or partners. As per PMI (Project Management Institute), demand for project managers will increase manifold in next 10 years. Please read “Project management Job Growth and Talent Gap Report” from PMI’s website. This report states that “by 2027, employers will need nearly 88 million individuals in project management-oriented roles. China and India will represent more than 75 percent of the total project management-oriented employment. ” This report shows that project managers are important contributors to productivity. A snapshot of salaries related to project management roles in India published by PMI is furnished herewith. For more information about other countries, you may visitConclusion: Skills always matter in any job roles. PRINCE2 certification improves your position in the job market and career progression within project and program management by gaining a recognized qualification. PRINCE2 helps organizations to support business outcomes, show value for money, continually improve, manage risks in line with business needs, optimize customer experience and enable business change. Some key benefits of using PRINCE2 for enterprises and practitioners are: improved delivery confidence, ability to talk the same language and support cross functional working, deliver what business needs in a customer-focused way that is scalable, and the ability to adapt and have flexible control.
Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
Manikandan M is a Senior Consultant with over 18+ years of industry experience. He is specialized in Service Management, Project Management, Process Consultancy, Learning & Development, IT Infrastructure Management, Business Relationship Management, Partner Management.
Manikandan worked as a Project Manager with IBM India Private Limited where he was responsible for the delivery of complex infrastructure projects for an Australian Bank.
Additionally, he worked as a Service Delivery Manager with TPV Technology India Private Limited to manage Service Operations and Projects across SAARC nations.
Over the past 5 years he focused on training and consulting with various service providers.
He delivered more than 500+ sessions on Service Management and Project Management modules.
Posts by Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
Does PRINCE2 Increase My Salary?
By Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
What is PRINCE2®? PRINCE2® (PRojects IN a Controlled Environment) is a project management methodology to run Projects in an effective and efficient manner. It is one of the widely accepted project management frameworks by global organizations and practitioners. PRINCE2 provides project essentials and serves as a barebone or backbone to run successful projects. This framework can be optimized to fit into any project environment (meaning any enterprises or government, industry, domain etc). PRINCE2 revolves around the core concepts of principles, themes and processes. Let’s get introduced to the PRINCE2 elements: Principles: Guiding principles or good practices or manifesto of PRINCE2 helps project practitioners across the globe to seed and nurture the right mindset, behaviour and culture while managing projects. There are seven principles. 1. Continued business justification (business value, worthwhile, viability)2. Learn from experience (retrospection, maturity, feedback, improvement)3. Defined roles and responsibilities (who is doing what, what is expected from whom, project stakeholders) 4. Manage by stages (boundaries, phases) 5. Manage by exception (delegation of authorities with tolerance)6. Focus on Products (quality-centric approach to product delivery) 7. Tailor to suit the project (less-bureaucratic)Themes: Project management revolves around high level tasks such as Plan, Execute, Monitor and Control and these activities, in turn, are centered around project aspects such as Scope, Cost, Time, Quality, Risks and Benefits. There are seven themes. Themes are important areas of focus and answer all the questions like: How to run the project? What documents/templates/logs/registers/plans/communications are required from the start to the closure? What techniques/methods are required to manage the project? 1. Business Case theme (Business Case, Benefits Management Approach)2. Organization theme (Project Organization Structure with roles and responsibilities, Communications Management Approach)3. Quality theme (Quality Management Approach, Quality Register) 4. Plans theme (Project Plan, Gantt Charts)5. Risks theme (Risk Management Approach, Risk Register)6. Change theme (Change Control Approach, Issue Register, Configurations Management)7. Progress theme (Project Controls)Processes: Processes are steps involved to accomplish the project objectives. PRINCE2 processes express the flow of work from pre-initiation to the closure, which also includes key tasks or actions to be fulfilled by the project stakeholders (such as Project Board, Project Manager and Team Manager(s)). PRINCE2 processes and their tasks are structured in such a way as to apply the Principles and Themes seamlessly. There are seven processes. 1. Starting Up A Project (feasibility checks)2. Directing A Project (Authorization and approvals)3. Initiating A Project (Solid foundation before execution of the project work)4. Managing Stage Boundaries (adjustments to the plans and activities, retrospections)5. Controlling A Stage (work package, managing of risks/issues, progress reporting)6. Managing Product Delivery (development of specialist products)7. Closing a Project (formally end the project)Benefits of PRINCE2: PRINCE2 provides good governance for project management. It can be applied in any industry, domain or organization (be it IT or non-IT). It can be tailored to be used alongside any other project management methodology. Common terminology or vocabulary helps in effective communication between all the project stakeholders. A defined structure for accountability, delegation, authority and communication is established with the help of project organization structure and all the key stakeholders are represented in this structure for better planning and decision-making. It focuses on delivering quality products to stakeholders to fulfill their needs and realize the benefits. Different types of plans suggested by PRINCE2 help to address the needs across different levels of management within the project organization. Manage by exception helps in avoiding micro-management with the help of delegation (with tolerances) and still having necessary control on the project work. PRINCE2 ensures benefit realization at its core, rather than simply completing the project within deadlines for cost and schedule. Traditional Project documentations are seen as bureaucratic in today’s agile world. PRINCE2 provides a comprehensive list of just enough documentation to suit any type of project. PRINCE2 recommends and provides control points to retrospect, learn lessons and continually improve the project work. It provides confidence to the project board or decision makers by establishing transparent audit mechanisms. How can PRINCE2 benefit you? If you are a student aspiring to get into a job, you will be well equipped with the project management skills you need, if you have a PRINCE2 certification before you enter the corporate world. If you are new to project management, PRINCE2 provides a brief overview of how to manage projects in a crisp and clear way. This can serve as your stepping stone into the field. If you are already a project manager encountering clients or customers using PRINCE2, it will help to align your work in PRINCE2 style. If you are already using PRINCE2 and encountering agile ways of working, you can learn more about tailoring PRINCE2 to suit agile environments using PRINCE2 Agile. How can PRINCE2 benefit your organization? If you are a start-up company running projects in your own heroic style, you can validate your ways of running projects with PRINCE2. If you see real value from this framework, you can start your PRINCE2 journey by simply using the Principles. This can save cost, improve project efficiency, infuse discipline and increase the success rate. If you are an enterprise using different methods/models to manage projects, still you can try using PRINCE2 to suit your project environment. One of the important benefits of using PRINCE2 is effective use of management time. Concepts of delegating with tolerance nurtures a culture of empowerment and experimentation and increases agility & control. If you are an organization working with clients using PRINCE2 models, it will benefit your project managers, team members and stakeholders to align the project work according to the customer’s needs. Having PRINCE2 certified practitioners in your company will provide an advantage to bag new contracts/clients. There are many reasons for a project failure. Vital reasons are lack of management support, user involvement, incomplete requirements and many more. PRINCE2 provides a project organization structure with correct composition or representation from different stakeholder groups such as sponsor, user and supplier. If implemented correctly, entities will be abundantly benefitted in terms of increasing the success rates of projects by aligning and delivering the products as per the project vision or goals. PRINCE2 is also robust and compatible with any other methods/methodologies/frameworks/good practices/tools/techniques that many organizations use. It serves as a backbone to support any initiatives. With agile models being rapidly implemented in today’s digital organizations, PRINCE2 can be easily tailored to run projects in an agile way. If scaled properly, PRINCE2 can support the management of projects in any domain or industry of any complexity. Components of PRINCE2 Certification:There are two levels in PRINCE2 certification. PRINCE2 Foundation is a pre-requisite to take up the Practitioner exam. If you are already a PMP/PRINCE2 Agile Foundation or Practitioner certified, you can directly take up the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam. There are also other foundational qualifications such as the PMQ or CAPM, among others, that make you eligible to write the Practitioner exam, provided you familiarize yourself with the PRINCE2 manual before the exam attempt. To read more about the PRINCE2 certification, please click here to read our blog on “Facts about PRINCE2 Examination”. Taking the exams: PRINCE2 exams can be taken in 3 different modes: Paper Based Test Computer Based Test Online Proctored Test You need to get in touch with an Accredited Training Organizations (ATO) to book your exam. ATOs are authorized by Axelos (which is the governing body). Please visit this website to find out your nearest ATOExamination Languages: The PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner examinations are currently available in English, German, Danish, Dutch, Polish, French and Norwegian. Certification Cost: The certification cost differs based on the mode of examination and geography. The cost of both Foundation and Practitioner exams together may cost you between $500 to $900. The training cost is NOT included in the certification cost. Please check with your nearest ATO for more details. You can also buy the exam directly from Peoplecert (Examination Institute authorized by Axelos). To know Peoplecert’s certification rates, please visitHow much can I earn? The modern job market seeks T-shaped professionals who are versatile in deep technical skills and broader management skills. Employers are looking for employees who have the right attitude to learn, adopt and adapt to current trends. Project management skills are highly recommended in this modern digital era. Projects are used as a tool to induce any changes in an organization/enterprise/government. Be it process improvement, new product development, commissioning or decommissioning an existing service or product, making significant changes to an existing product or service, changing from one service provider to another, transition activities, organizational transformation, responding to a competitor’s moves or technological advancements (like robotization, cloudification, artificial intelligence), environmental changes, action plan to address uncertain situations like COVID-19 etc., there is always a need for project related roles. If you check for project manager jobs in LinkedIn, Naukri or any other job sites, depending upon your industry and location, there might be a few thousands of unfulfilled openings. We cannot eliminate the fact that many job requirements are fulfilled internally within an organization or through employee referrals or partners. As per PMI (Project Management Institute), demand for project managers will increase manifold in next 10 years. Please read “Project management Job Growth and Talent Gap Report” from PMI’s website. This report states that “by 2027, employers will need nearly 88 million individuals in project management-oriented roles. China and India will represent more than 75 percent of the total project management-oriented employment. ” This report shows that project managers are important contributors to productivity. A snapshot of salaries related to project management roles in India published by PMI is furnished herewith. For more information about other countries, you may visitConclusion: Skills always matter in any job roles. PRINCE2 certification improves your position in the job market and career progression within project and program management by gaining a recognized qualification. PRINCE2 helps organizations to support business outcomes, show value for money, continually improve, manage risks in line with business needs, optimize customer experience and enable business change. Some key benefits of using PRINCE2 for enterprises and practitioners are: improved delivery confidence, ability to talk the same language and support cross functional working, deliver what business needs in a customer-focused way that is scalable, and the ability to adapt and have flexible control.
5646
- by Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
- 13 May 2021
- 10 mins read
What is PRINCE2®? PRINCE2® (PRojects IN a C... Read More
Essential Guide to Clearing PRINCE2 Examination
By Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
PRINCE2® (PRojects IN a Controlled Environment) (2017 or 6th edition is the latest version) is widely considered to be one of the leading project management methodologies to run successful projects. It is a simple, light weight, scalable, flexible, highly tailorable, principle driven and agile enabled framework to run your projects effectively and efficiently. PRINCE2 revolves around the core concepts of principles, themes and processes which can easily fit into any project environment (meaning any enterprises or government, industry, domain etc.). PRINCE2 Certification Levels:Anyone with or without any project management experience can opt to learn PRINCE2 and get certified. That is the reason why it has two levels of certification. The first one is PRINCE2 Foundation and the next level is PRINCE2 Practitioner. On successful completion of the PRINCE2 Foundation examination, candidates will be awarded with “PRINCE2 Foundation Certificate in Project Management”. Foundation certificate is a pre-requisite to sit for PRINCE2 Practitioner examination. On successful completion of the PRINCE2 Practitioner examination, candidates will be awarded with “PRINCE2 Practitioner Certificate in Project Management”. Certifications achieved from other governing bodies like Association of Project Management (APM), Project Management Institute (PMI), International Project Management Association (IPMA) on or after 1st of July 2014, will also be considered as a valid pre-requisite to sit for PRINCE2 Practitioner exam directly. Which means that such candidates need NOT sit for Foundation examination. The list of accepted certifications is as follows:PRINCE2 Foundation (or higher) - this only applies to certificates obtained after 1 January 2009 Project Management Qualification (PMQ) * Project Professional Qualification (PPQ)* Project Management Professional (PMP)® ** Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®** IPMA Level A® (Certified Projects Director)*** IPMA Level B® (Certified Senior Project Manager)*** IPMA Level C® (Certified Project Manager)*** IPMA Level D® (Certified Project Management Associate).*** or more information on which certifications are now recognized as approved prior learning for the PRINCE2 Practitioner certification, please refer to the guide (PDF, 265KB).Candidates who wish to give their PRINCE2 Practitioner exam directly should furnish their proof of achievement of the above-mentioned equivalents to Peoplecert which is the Examination Institute (EI) authorized by Axelos --the governing body for PRINCE2. This proof is subject to verification by EI.PRINCE2 Foundation Course & Examination: In the PRINCE2 Foundation course, learners will understand the following: Structure and key terminologies of PRINCE2 method Characteristics and context of a project Benefits of adopting PRINCE2 PRINCE2 principles and themes Purpose, objectives and context of PRINCE2 processes Purpose of PRINCE2 roles and management products Tailoring PRINCE2 to organizational and project needs Preparing for the PRINCE2 Foundation exam Learning Outcomes of PRINCE2 Foundation course: Purpose and responsibilities of project roles The seven principles, seven themes and seven processes The importance of tailoring in PRINCE2 Deliverable-based planning and quality review techniques embedded in PRINCE2 Inputs and outputs required for successful projects Purpose of all project management artifacts Relationship between principles, themes, processes, products and roles within a projectExamination Format: Multiple choice 60 questions 1 hour to complete the paper Achieve 33 or more out of possible 60 marks (55%) to pass the exam Closed book examFoundation examination tests the candidates’ ability at Knowledge and Comprehension level, which means that candidates will have to recall the terminologies/definitions and also interpret the given questions correctly. This exam is pretty simple if you are well prepared.PRINCE2 Practitioner Course & ExaminationIn the PRINCE2 practitioner course, learners will understand the following: Understand the relationship between: Roles Management products Principles Themes Techniques Processes Apply principles, themes and processes to a project Create and assess management products Prepare for the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam Examination Format: Multiple choice 68 questions based on a project scenario 2 hours 30 minutes to complete the paper Achieve 38 or more out of possible 68 marks (55%) to pass the exam Open book exam. You can use “Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2” manual. You can order your copy of this manual from the Axelos website.The Practitioner exam tests the candidates’ ability at Comprehension, application and analysis levels. Comprehension: Understand the principles, processes, themes and project’s environment and roles and explain how these are applied to/are involved with a project.Application: For a given project scenario, be able to: use the themes appropriately, create the management products, tailor the processes and themes appropriately.Analysis: For a given project scenario, be able to identify, analyse and distinguish between the appropriate and inappropriate use of methods through an appraisal of completed products and planned or completed project events.Exam Language: The PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner examination is currently available in English, German, Danish, Dutch, Polish, French and Norwegian. Note: If you are giving the exam in English but English is NOT your native language, you will be awarded an additional 15 minutes and 35 minutes to complete Foundation and Practitioner exams respectively. To avail this benefit, select your correct native language while creating your profile in Peoplecert’s portal while registering for the exam.PRINCE2 Agile:Similarly, PRINCE2 also comes with a guidance to use Agile along with its ways of working. PRINCE2 Agile® has two levels of certification (Foundation and Practitioner).PRINCE2 Agile guidance is all about how to tailor PRINCE2 to use Agile methods into it. PRINCE2 is a neutral project management framework which can support both traditional waterfall projects as well as agile or adaptive or iterative projects.To provide guidance on how to integrate high velocity models or practices into the existing projects for both IT and non-IT industries, PRINCE2 Agile considers Scrum, Kanban, Lean approaches. The intention is not to explain the agile frameworks in detail but to show practitioners on how to amalgamate PRINCE2 with other agile practices. PRINCE2 considers agile as a family of behaviours, concepts, frameworks and techniques.Agile Foundation Exam: Multiple choice, Objective testing 50 questions 1 hour to complete the paper Achieve 28 or more out of possible 50 marks (55%) to pass the exam Closed book examAgile Practitioner Exam: Multiple choice, Objective testing 50 questions based on project scenario 2 hours 30 minutes to complete the paper Achieve 30 or more out of possible 50 marks (60%) to pass the exam Open book exam. You can use the “PRINCE2 Agile® Guidance” handbook.How to take PRINCE2 examination?A candidate can take the exam after undergoing a formal training from an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) authorized by Peoplecert or can self-learn and appear for the exam. Please visit this website to find out your nearest ATO.PRINCE2 examinations can be taken in 3 different modes. They are Paper Based Test, Computer Based Test and Peoplecert Online Proctored.Paper Based Test (PBT):PBT exams are scheduled and conducted by the ATOs. This is also called classroom exam. The ATO will book the exam on behalf of the candidate, print the question papers and OMR answer sheets and invigilate the exam. Prior to the exam, the candidates will receive an email confirmation from Peoplecert. Candidates should register for the exam. This exam can be conducted at the ATO’s facility or at the training venue. This provides a stress-free exam experience. The ATO’s invigilation team will collect the answer sheets and question papers once the exam is over and will upload the answer scripts to the Peoplecert’s exam portal. Results will be announced in two stages by Peoplecert. First you will get the Preliminary results which will just state “Pass/Fail”. The final results with score card/statement of result (SoR) and certificate will be announced within two business days from the date of preliminary results. Result notifications will be sent to the candidate’s registered email id.Computer Based Test (CBT):CBT exams are scheduled and conducted by the ATOs. This is also called a classroom exam. The ATO will book the exam on behalf of the candidate and invigilate the exam. Prior to the exam, the candidates will receive an email confirmation from Peoplecert. Candidates should register for the exam. This exam can be conducted at ATO’s facility or at the training venue. Candidates need to bring their own computers/laptops if not provided by the ATO for this exam. This exam is similar to PBT but it is conducted in CBT mode. The ATO’s invigilation team will provide the candidate’s exam credentials and guide them to take the exam. Preliminary results with scores are announced immediately at the end of the exam. Final results with SoR and certificate will be announced within two business days from the date of preliminary results.Peoplecert Online Proctored (OLP):OLP exams are CBT proctored by Peoplecert’s invigilation team directly. This can also be called an anywhere, anytime exam. This type of exam is very commonly taken by participants and accepted since the onset of COVID-19. To appear for an OLP exam, candidates can purchase an exam voucher from an ATO or Peoplecert directly. To buy exam from Peoplecert, please visit: https://www.peoplecert.org/browse-certifications/project-programme-and-portfolio-management/PRINCE2-2 Purchased exam vouchers are normally valid for a year. But it is highly recommended to give your exam as soon as you complete your course or preparation. Preliminary results with scores are announced immediately at the end of the exam. Final results with SoR and certificate will be announced within two business days from the date of preliminary results. Further information and guidance on OLP exam:Copy and paste the voucher code or exam code in your Peoplecert login page and click on confirm -> Details of your exam will be displayed -> Check the details and once again confirm -> Now you will be allowed to choose the date/time of your exam from the calendar -> After selection, click on confirm -> Now you will receive a notification and email about the exam confirmation. To take the OLP exam, you need to install “Exam Shield”. After booking your exam, you will get notified to install this software. You can check if you are able to install it in your computer. If you are using an official/company laptop or desktop, there are chances that your firewall will block the installation. Please contact your Information Security team in such cases. Else you can opt to use your personal laptop or desktop. Exam Shield will verify if your microphone, webcam, system configuration, power backup and network connectivity support the exam. Please fix the issues (if any) before the exam. On the day of the exam, you will be able to login 15 minutes before the scheduled start time of the exam -> Keep 1 or 2 government/national photo ID proofs handy -> Run the exam shield -> Wait for system check to complete -> Show your ID proof in front of the camera and snap shot it -> System will connect you to the proctor -> Proctor validates the credentials -> Proctor will request the candidate to swivel and show 360-degree view of the room -> Proctor will allow the candidate to Start the exam. Ensure you are very well prepared for the exam. No one else other than you should be in the exam room. No paper/pen can be used for Foundation exam. You can use PRINCE2 Manual for Practitioner exam. You cannot minimize the exam window till the exam is over. The Exam gets completed only when you hit on the Submit button. For Practitioner exam, a scenario booklet will be available within the exam tool. In case of internet issues, don’t panic, you will be able to restore and continue from where you left the exam. Please contact Peoplecert in such scenarios. Peoplecert Proctor has all the rights to revoke your exam in case of malpractices identified.How to take maintain my PRINCE2 certification?PRINCE2 Foundation certification doesn’t require renewal, which means that holders are certified for life. Whereas Practitioner certification has 3 years validity and has to be renewed at the end of 3 years. Axelos maintains a “Successful Candidates Register” (SCR). Peoplecert updates the SCR from time on time. Within 30 to 60 days after receiving Practitioner certificate, a candidate will be notified through an email to avail one year of free subscription from Axelos. Once free subscription is activated, you will be eligible to clock 20 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) units. This is very similar to PMI’s Professional Development Units (PDUs). CPDs can be logged broadly under four categories such as Professional Experience, Training and Qualification, Community Participation and Self-Study. This can be attained by attending any trainings, delivering trainings, by taking part in volunteering activities, by learning new contents from any portals like Coursera, LinkedIn learning, Udemy etc., taking part in project activities, attending any seminars/webinars or by accessing white papers, case studies or videos on the Axelos website. Once 20 CPDs are logged, one can claim the digital badge. The digital badge is a way to display one’s professional credentials. Digital badge is valid only for one year. To renew the digital badge, £50 + VAT needs to be paid to Axelos. This will reset the CPD counter to Zero. This enables the practitioner to log 20 CPDs and claim the digital badge. This cycle can continue. I suggest that successful candidates should avail the free subscription and clock 20 CPDs. For example, if your practitioner certification expires by 10th March 2023, claim your digital badge on 9th March 2023. This will enable you to retain your certification through Mar 2024. After that you can pay the subscription charges and continue to maintain your credentials. If you don’t want to get into the subscription model, you can resit for another exam after 3 years. For more details about subscription, CPD & digital badge, please visit: https://www.axelos.com/my-axelos/my-prince2 Benefits of Subscription:Subscribers can get access to a wide range of project templates, white papers, tutorials, software, webinar series, pocket books, job profiles and much more. You can share/gain knowledge with other project practitioners. Network and engage with professionals and global experts.Some additional information: Certified PRINCE2 Practitioners (in 2009 version) can re-sit for an exam based on 2017 or 6th edition and get into the subscription model. Certified PRINCE2 Foundation professionals (in 2009 version) can directly appear for PRINCE2 Practitioner exam (6th edition). You can also buy subscriptions through Peoplecert. Cost of PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner training + exam cost in India will range between INR 40,000 to 50,000. Cost of training and exam will vary according to your geography and mode of exam. OLP exams are costlier than PBT and CBT. Conclusion: Skills always matter in any job role. PRINCE2 certifications improve your position in the job market and career progression within project and program management. PRINCE2 helps organizations to support business outcomes, show value for money, continually improve, manage risks in line with business needs, optimize customer experience and enable business change. Some key benefits PRINCE2 brings to enterprises and individual practitioners are: improved delivery confidence, uniform best practices, supporting cross functional working, delivering what business needs, customer focus, scalability, adaptability and flexible control.
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- by Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
- 25 Feb 2021
- 11 mins read
PRINCE2® (PRojects IN a Controlled Environmen... Read More
Career Boost with CSM® Certification
By Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
The ecosystem and landscape around every business is changing drastically. Digital technologies enable entities to develop digital products / services and to conduct their business significantly differently. Example: Physical gift cards are now digital gift cards., like Amazon’s gift cards which can be shared with the near and dear ones during festive seasons or occasions. Customers can quickly buy this digital product online and gift it in a matter of a few seconds. This creates value for the customers and benefits the company that sells this product. Organizations are heavily investing in newer technologies and at the same time focussing on refining their existing processes and working culture. This enables them to increase and improve the speed and quality of the deliverables and also enhance customer experiences. This is why global entities have taken on many best practices to contribute to the success of the interactions they have with different stakeholders. In this digital era, faster turnaround time is seen as one of the important traits of organizations developing and selling digital products. To accomplish this objective, IT organizations are exposed to a gamut of agile development models. Today, “Scrum” (an agile development practice) is widely used as a mainstream practice in software development lifecycles, to create digital products like software. Let’s take a look at the overview of Scrum practices and understand how Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) certification can help you and your business. Scrum - an overview:Scrum methodology is based on principles like KISS (Keep It Simple & Straightforward) and progress iteratively with feedback. This practice is: lightweight and implementable model. based on team collaboration. deceptively simple yet difficult to master. based on “just enough” process and documentation mindset. An Analogy: Think about running a ten thousand metre race as a marathon run and slice the same race into some equal segments or sprints. Speed and quality increases when we slice the effort and maintain a constant pace or cadence.Scrum revolves around a concept called as “sprint” or a “timebox”. So, sprint is a timebox of 2 to 4 weeks used to deliver some parts of the complete software in an iterative fashion. A simple sprint structure is expressed in the below diagram. An Analogy: A teacher teaching the principles of abacus to the children divides the learners into four groups. The first set of children are beginners. They are taught to learn the abacus tools from scratch. They don’t have any targets as such. The second group of children know how to use the abacus tools and formulae. They are provided with a set of sums to solve with an upper time limit (for example 10 sets of sums in 10 to 15 minutes). The third set of children are in the advanced level. They are proficient enough to solve seventy to eighty sets of sums using abacus tools in less than five to seven minutes. Fourth set of expert level kids solve hundred plus sets of sums within five minutes with very minimal errors or no errors at all even without having a time pressure. From the above analogy, we can conclude that when we repeatedly practice a simple method many times over and over, we gain perfection, maturity, speed and quality. We can now relate it with Scrum methodology. Scrum operates around simple processes which revolves around the Deming’s cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act). Let’s get introduced to some of the basic elements of Scrum which revolves around roles, artifacts and ceremonies. Basics of Scrum: Scrum Roles: Product Owner: The Product owner understands business, customer, market and stakeholder needs. This role serves as the voice of the customer who is responsible for maximizing the value of the product or software. Scrum Master :The Scrum Master is responsible for ensuring that Scrum is understood and enacted by all the stakeholders who interact with the scrum teams. Anyone who wears the cap of a Scrum Master has to take up a versatile range of roles such as facilitator, coach, mentor, trainer, enabler, change agent, servant leader etc. Development Team:The Development Team consists of T-shaped professionals who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable increment or a minimum viable product at the end of each sprint. Cross-functional teams who can collaborate and self-organize are capable of delivering the products to the stated quality. Scrum Artifacts: Product Backlog: The product backlog is simply all the things that need to be done within the project. In traditional project management, a product backlog can be referred to as a Requirements Documentation. This document is owned by the Product Owner and the requirements are prioritized based on the business value. Needs are captured in the form of user stories with acceptance criteria. Example of a user story: As a customer of the bank I want to update my latest communication address on my own using the bank’s app So that I can receive all the parcels/documents sent by the bank without missing them.Sprint Backlog: The Sprint backlog is a list of tasks identified by the scrum team to be completed during the sprint. During the sprint planning meeting, the team selects some number of product backlog items usually in the form of user stories, and identifies the tasks necessary to complete each user story. In traditional project management, this is also called as an Activity List. Minimum Viable Product: A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the sum of the Product Backlog items delivered during each sprint. Delivering the MVP in each sprint is fundamental to the scrum because when work is divided into simple pieces it can be finished in a short iteration. Example: An insurance company’s software development team is developing a mobile based app to sell their insurance products. In the first 3 sprints, the development team, delivers functionality and features that enable customers to buy insurance products online. Iteratively, the team delivers minimum viable products such as network locator, branch locator, feedback, track/modify policy, e-insurance card and so on. Scrum Ceremonies: Sprint Planning: The purpose of the sprint planning meeting is to estimate and forecast the work that can be accomplished by the team in the given sprint. Sprint backlog is the output of this meeting. Daily Stand-up: The purpose of the daily stand-up or daily scrum is to plan the day, identify risks and ways to mitigate them. Updated sprint backlog and burn charts / scrum board / Kanban board are the outputs of this activity.Sprint Review: The purpose of the sprint review is to showcase or demonstrate the developed feature to the product owner and other stakeholders. This promotes quick feedback. Sprint Retrospective: The purpose of the sprint retrospective is to identify improvements and mature the ways of working in the subsequent sprints.Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification from Scrum Alliance: This is an instructor-led training program designed and crafted to increase the knowledge base on fundamental elements of scrum practices in about sixteen hours. This program will be driven by a Certified Scrum Trainer® (CST®). This certification is apt for professionals who: aspire to become a Scrum Master are project managers who encounter Scrum work with Scrum teams are Business Analysts who interact with Scrum teams are in IT Operations team and collaborate with Scrum teams want to begin their agile journey want to take other advanced certifications offered by Scrum Alliance want to learn the foundations of Scrum Exam: After successfully completing the course, a candidate can take an online examination. 37 right answers out of 50 will enable a participant to earn the CSM certification. The time limit for the exam is 60 minutes. Maintaining the certification : Keeping the certification active is a good way to continue reaping the benefits of being certified. An active certification will help practitioners stay connected with the agile community, share and gain knowledge and help the community thrive. To keep the credential active, a renewal fee of $100 for two years is applicable. One also has to clock 20 learning hours called SEUs (Scrum Education Units®) once in two years towards maintaining the credential. Benefits of CSM certification: helps in improving career prospects helps in marketability of one’s profile helps in demonstrating and improving the credibility of one’s profile Conclusion:In a nutshell, Scrum is a software development framework which supports the value statements of the Agile Manifesto. Roles, artifacts and ceremonies of Scrum encourages “individuals and interaction” promoting a transparent, self-organizing, trustful, collaborative environment, focuses on delivering “working software” or minimum viable product with just enough documentation, promotes “customer collaboration” and infuses a mindset to “welcome changes” based on feedback and business value. Scrum facilitates a disciplined way to develop products in an iterative way using timeboxing as its core mantra. Other agile practices such as Lean, Kanban, DevOps, Test Driven Development, Behaviour Driven Development, Feature Driven Development, eXtreme Programming, can be used alongside or to complement Scrum practices. Scrum can also be scaled up to make it suitable to work with larger sets of teams. Existing project management practices can be tailored to infuse Scrum into their ways of working. Any organization adopting Agile, can kick start the adoption by embracing Scrum as a steppingstone. Although there are many different certifications available on agile practices, CSM is seen as a simple and easy way for professionals to begin their Scrum/Agile journey. As per the data published in www.scrumalliance.org there are more than a million professionals across the globe who are certified in various agile certifications offered by Scrum Alliance. So why wait? Grab your opportunity now!
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- by Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
- 22 Jan 2021
- 7 mins read
The ecosystem and landscape around every busines... Read More
PRINCE2®Agile vs PMI-ACP®: What’s Best for You?
By Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
Changing industrial trends and the mass adaptability of agile practices have transformed the way organizations work. Over time, a number of project management methodologies have cropped up to suit different industry needs, and today’s business leaders have a wide array of frameworks to rely upon. This has led to the inevitable need for skilled project management professionals who are well-versed in different frameworks. When it comes to the widely popular Agile methodologies, the presence of multiple certifications in agile / agile project management methods can seem overwhelming to aspiring professionals. This article will give you a comprehensive overview of PRINCE2®Agile and PMI-ACP® (Agile Certified Practitioner) certifications to help you make an informed choice. Project leadingWhat is a Project? Due to the accelerated pace of change, today’s enterprises have to cope with the complexities of emergent requirements over the course of a project. Strategic business decisions are often made after taking stock of competitors’ actions, technological advancements, regulatory changes, ongoing business developments and so on. In order to compete and thrive in the future, existing ways of working must be aligned to adapt to these evolving needs. Example: Today every bank across the globe offers innovative banking products and services like mobile banking applications, ATMs etc. These changes have been adopted to cater to the evolving expectations of customers while adapting to the latest technological advancements. Projects are the means of introducing change. A collective effort from different stakeholders needs to be pumped into the project initiatives to deliver the products and to accomplish the objectives within definitive timescales. Example: The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of a country is planning to design, build, roll-out and implement a Health ID card system for its citizens within a year. This project will benefit the government and its citizens in various ways. Different organizations such as government, health ministry, hospitals, technology providers have to work collaboratively to implement the product within the identified timescale, cost and quality. Project Manager planningWhat is Project management? When different stakeholders come together to deliver a unique product within an estimated timescale and cost, there should be someone who needs to be accountable and responsible to manage the different aspects of the project. Project management broadly revolves around key activities such as plan, execute, monitor and control. Management of projects is an art which includes skills like leadership, domain knowledge, interpersonal skills, people management, powerful communication, stakeholder engagement, conflict management, business acumen etc., Example: A central library run by a private firm is looking to launch a digitized version of its books. A Project Manager is identified to manage the scope, cost, time, quality, risks, resources, stakeholders, communications etc., from the beginning to the end of the project. Project managers and their organizations can choose to apply the right methods, tools, techniques, standards, guidance, good or best practices to run their projects. Why agile in project management? As digital transformation is catching up with many organizations, business demands are also increasing, and the requirements for products and services is continually evolving as well. To meet the demands of businesses today, project-driven organizations should look for ways to increase the speed of product delivery while upholding quality. Agile project management is an iterative approach to delivering a project throughout its life cycle. The Agile framework helps project managers to stay on top of emergent requirements and adapt to change more readily, delivering products that are better aligned with customer expectations. With agile methods such as Scrum being widely accepted and used in today’s organizations for software development projects, more agility is seen in the delivery teams. Product development in Scrum teams occurs in shorter iterations/timeboxes (2 weeks to 4 weeks). This is because the goal is to deliver minimum viable products (MVP) or a feature/functionality within shorter sprints. Example: As a part of digital transformation, a school wants to launch a mobile app. In the beginning of the academic year, the first section of the app was ready and launched for use. During the launch, it only had a login and a digital diary feature. In the second month, they added a few more features such as timetable, attendance tracker. In the third month, new enhanced features such as progress card, online payment options were added. By the end of six months, the app had varied features to suit the needs of the school, teachers, students and parents and it added value to all categories of stakeholders iteratively. The Contrast of Waterfall Vs. Agile ways of working:The Contrast of Waterfall Vs. Agile ways of working:The reason for agile’s popularity is because of its ability to address the new demands being placed on the project team. Prince2 ProcessesWhat is PRINCE2®? PRINCE2® (PRojects IN a Controlled Environment) is widely considered the leading project management method. It is a unique, light weight, scalable, flexible, highly tailorable, principle-driven, agile enabled framework to run your projects. PRINCE2 revolves around the concepts of principles (value statements), themes (focus areas to run the project) and processes (steps involved to accomplish project objectives). Let’s get introduced to the PRINCE2 elements: Principles: Continued business justificationBusiness valueLearn from experienceLessons are sought, recorded and acted upon; continuous improvementDefined roles and responsibilitiesAll stakeholders representedManage by stagesProvides management control and realistic planning horizonsManage by exceptionAuthority delegation for directing, managing and delivering within tolerancesFocus on productsQuality-centric approach to planningTailor to suit the projectTailor to suit project environment, size, complexity, importance, risk, etc.Themes:Business CaseWhy?OrganizationWho?QualityWhat?PlansHow?, How much?, When?RiskWhat’s the impact?ProgressWhere are we now?Where are we going?Should we carry on?Processes:Starting Up A ProjectVerify whether the project is worthwhile and viable.Directing A ProjectDecision making, allocation of resources and estimating expenditure.Initiating A ProjectSetting up a firm foundation (controlled environment) for the project.Managing Stage BoundariesPreparation for management review including stage planning.Controlling A StageDay to day management of the work, issues and risk.Managing Product DeliveryProduct creation, delivery and acceptance.Closing A ProjectFinal delivery, acceptance and project evaluation.PRINCE2® Process Flow Diagram:PRINCE2® Process Flow Diagram:Processes are at the core of the PRINCE2 framework. Application of themes, principles and tailoring of the processes makes it easy to adopt and adapt which reduces the bureaucracy of project management. At the same time, it provides the proper governance to keep the projects justified.What is covered in PRINCE2 Agile™?Project EnvironmentIf PRINCE2® is already agile, what is PRINCE2 ® Agile? PRINCE2® Agile guidance is all about tailoring PRINCE2 to incorporate Agile methods. PRINCE2 is a neutral project management framework which can support both traditional waterfall projects as well as agile or adaptive or iterative projects. To provide guidance on how to integrate high velocity models or practices into the existing projects for both IT and non-IT industries, PRINCE2 Agile considers Scrum, Kanban, Lean approaches. The intention is not to explain all the agile frameworks in detail; but rather is to show practitioners how to amalgamate PRINCE2 with other agile practices. PRINCE2 considers agile as a collection of behaviours, concepts, frameworks and techniques. In a nutshell, PRINCE2® Agile is basically a marriage between PRINCE2 and Scrum practices. PRINCE2’s core concepts of principles, themes and processes are tossed up with agile concepts, techniques, behaviours, practices which fuels more velocity into the existing framework.Certification: PRINCE2® Agile has two levels of certification (Foundation and Practitioner) Foundation Exam: Multiple choice 50 questions 1 hour to complete the paper Achieve 28 or more out of possible 50 marks (55%) to pass the exam Closed book exam Practitioner Exam: Multiple choice 50 questions based on project scenario 2 hours 30 minutes to complete the paper Achieve 30 or more out of possible 50 marks (60%) to pass the exam Open book exam. You can use the “AXELOS® PRINCE2 Agile™ guidance book”. Certification Scheme: Prior project management experience is not required to take up the certification. What is covered in PMI-ACP®? The Project Management Institute’s Agile Certified Practitioner is a credible certification which provides thorough knowledge to project managers using agile methodologies. There are many agile practices other than Scrum that are widely used in the industry such as eXtreme Programming, DevOps, Test Driven Development (TDD), Behaviour Driven Development (BDD), Feature Driven Development (FDD), Crystal, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD), Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), Kanban, Lean Product Development etc., Most of these practices revolve around the core concept of iterations with other variations. Most of these practices are ‘IT-only’ frameworks. Agile mindset and principles play a vital role in executing the projects in a different way as compared to the traditional ways. Right from covering the concepts of agile values, mindset, practices, terminologies, most of the above-mentioned agile models are covered in a greater detail in this program. Concepts and techniques like agile contracting, agile risk management, earned value management (EVM), cumulative flow diagrams (CFD), estimation techniques, relative prioritization, work in progress (WIP) limits, Kano analysis, product backlog grooming, personas, user stories, story maps, wireframes, product road map, minimum marketable feature (MMF), definition of done, continuous integration, burn charts, stakeholder engagement, leadership, building agile teams, coaching, osmotic communication, timeboxing, planning poker, release planning, problem solving, lead time, cycle time, defect rate, control limits, throughput, velocity, variance and trend analysis, value stream mapping, continuous improvement, retrospectives, learning cycles etc., are imparted as a part of this certification course.Certification: 120 Multiple choice questions 3 hours to complete the exam Closed book exam Prerequisite: Secondary degree 21 contact hours of training in agile practices 12 months of general project management experience within 5 years. 8 months of agile project management experience within the last 3 years. Differences in these certifications:ParametersPRINCE2 AgilePMI-ACPTopics coveredIt is a blend of PRINCE2® and Scrum.Spans across many approaches of agile.Governing bodyAxelosProject Management InstituteExam bodyPeoplecertPearson VUEExam modePaper-based test, computer-based test and Online proctored examOnline proctored examPrerequisiteNo prior project management experience is required. PRINCE2 Foundation or PRINCE2 Agile foundation certification is a prerequisite for taking up the practitioner exam.Secondary degree21 contact hours of training in agile practices12 months of general project management experience within 5 years. 8 months of agile project management experience within the last 3 years.Training4 days of training from an Accredited Training Organization (ATO) by Axelos3 days of training from a Registered Training Partner (REP) by PMICost of training & certificationApproximately Rs. 40,000 to 50,000Approximately Rs. 40,000 to 50,000Maintaining the certificationFoundation certification has a life time validity. Practitioners need to earn 20 continuing professional development (CPD) points every year.Earn 30 professional development units (PDU) every three years.Merits and demerits of both these certifications: Merits of PRINCE2® Agile: PRINCE2 Agile provides a good governance model to run the project with guidance on how to incorporate any agile model. It does not favour one agile approach over any other although Scrum is taken as a reference to explain the concept of tailoring. It can be applied to any type of project and can easily be implemented alongside specialist, industry-specific models. Demerits of PRINCE2® Agile: It does not touch upon the various project management tools or techniques which are essential for project management. Merits of PMI-ACP®: It prepares the project managers to become versatile with different types of agile project management practices. Coverage of different types of tools and techniques polishes one’s ability to manage scope, cost, time, quality, risks, resources, stakeholders, communication etc. Demerits of PMI-ACP®: It does not have an exclusive body of knowledge (BOK) like PMBOK® guide. Reference to different literature and books may be essential. This means a structured way to agile project management is missing in its approach. The best-suited certification: How to pick the right one? PRINCE2® Agile can benefit the existing PRINCE2® community, PRINCE2® Practitioners, anyone who is using agile in Project Management. Even organizations and individuals outside the PRINCE2® community, having experience with agile can benefit from this certification. It is also ideal for total novices. If you fall under any of the categories mentioned above, you can pick this certification as your first step in the project management world. This is also the right choice for professionals and enterprises that serve clients based in UK, Europe and Australia. PMI-ACP is a one-stop solution for project managers and agile teams keen on expanding their skill-set to manage various agile projects. If you are ready to dedicate at least 2 hours every day for 1 to 2 months for exam preparation and earn a globally recognized certification, go for it. Conclusion:Every practice has its own strength and weakness. Ultimately, it is up to the organizations and practitioners to choose the right project management methodologies to suit their needs and business/career goals.
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- by Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
- 12 Sep 2020
- 11 mins read
Changing industrial trends and the mass adapta... Read More
PRINCE2® Exam and Certification Guide
By Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
PRINCE2® (PRojects IN a Controlled Environment) is widely considered to be one of the leading project management methodologies to run successful projects. It is a simple, light weight, scalable, flexible, highly tailorable, principle driven and agile enabled framework to run your projects effectively and efficiently. PRINCE2 revolves around the core concepts of principles, themes and processes which can easily fit into any project environment across enterprises and industries.PRINCE2 Certification LevelsThe PRINCE2 certifications are offered by Axelos and comprise of the PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner credentials.PRINCE2 FoundationThe PRINCE2® Foundation certification is the first level of the PRINCE2 suite of certifications. This credential intends to confirm your knowledge and understanding of the PRINCE2® method and validate your ability to work effectively with or as a member of a project management team working within an environment supporting PRINCE2®. The PRINCE2 Foundation covers the following learning objectives: Structure and key terminologies of PRINCE2 method Characteristics and context of a project Benefits of adopting PRINCE2 PRINCE2 principles and themes Purpose, objectives and context of PRINCE2 processes Purpose of PRINCE2 roles and management products Tailoring PRINCE2 to organizational and project needs Preparing for the PRINCE2 Foundation examPrerequisites for appearing for the PRINCE2 Foundation examNo prerequisites are mandated for this exam. The credential is a good starting point for professionals new to PRINCE2®. Process to follow to get PRINCE2 Foundation certified: 1. Get trained Get the 16-hour training through a Certified Partner of AXELOS and PeopleCert or self-study 2. Take the PRINCE2 Foundation exam Schedule your certification exam using the eligibility code you receive from PeopleCert. Take the 60-minutes online test and score a minimum of 55% to pass the PRINCE2 Foundation exam. 3. Get PRINCE2 Foundation certified Download the e-certificate. You are now a PRINCE2 Foundation certified professional. Exam Details: Multiple choice 60 questions 1 hour to complete the paper Achieve 33 or more out of possible 60 marks (55%) to pass the exam Closed book exam The Foundation exam tests the candidates’ ability at Knowledge and Comprehension level, which means that candidates will have to recall the terminologies/definitions and also interpret the given questions correctly. This exam is pretty simple if you are well prepared. Tips & Tricks to pass the PRINCE2 Foundation exam Read the study materials to get a complete understanding of the PRINCE2 methodology and concepts. ‘Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2® 2017 Edition’ is one of the most important reference materials for your preparation. Practice extensively. Practice two sample question papers given by the governing body. Validate the answers with the answer rationales. Please visit: to download the sample papers. Practice the sample papers along with other learners (in groups) if possible. Read each question thoroughly (at least twice) before answering the questions. Seek help and advice from your trainer/facilitator/coach to get the concepts correct during the training or before the examination. PRINCE2 PractitionerThe next level after the Foundation is PRINCE2 Practitioner. The designation is offered by AXELOS to practitioners who demonstrate their understanding by passing the rigorous PRINCE2 Practitioner exam. The credential helps professionals apply and tailor the PRINCE2® method, its principles, and themes to diverse projects and guide projects through their lifecycles.The PRINCE2 Practitioner covers the following learning objectives: 1. Applying and tailoring the PRINCE2® method to diverse projects to bring in project flexibility 2. Applying the PRINCE2® principles across projects Providing business justification for the project Building on experience from previous projects Understanding project roles and responsibilities Managing a project by breaking it into chunks 3. Applying principles, themes and processes to a project Providing business justification for the project Building on experience from previous projects Understanding project roles and responsibilities Managing a project by breaking it into chunk Building a business case to justify project continuity Keeping track of all roles involved Defining project quality Planning targets Handling change requests Tracking project progress 4. Creating and assessing management products Managing, executing and delivering work packages Managing stage boundaries Creating reports and record lessons for next stage Delivering products to the customer Prerequisites for appearing for the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam To qualify for the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam, you must have at least one of the following certifications: PRINCE2® Foundation or higher (applicable only to certificates obtained after 1 January 2009) Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® IPMA Level A® (Certified Projects Director) IPMA Level B® (Certified Senior Project Manager) IPMA Level C® (Certified Project Manager) IPMA Level D® (Certified Project Management Associate) Project Management Qualification (PMQ) Project Professional Qualification (PPQ) Process to follow to get PRINCE2 Practitioner certified1. Get trained Take the 16-hour PRINCE2 Practitioner training from a Certified Partner of AXELOS and an accredited training organization (ATO) with PeopleCert®. 2. Take the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam Schedule your certification exam using the eligibility code you receive from PeopleCert. Take the 60-minutes online test and score a minimum of 55% to pass the PRINCE2 3. Get PRINCE2 Practitioner certified Download the e-certificate. You are now a PRINCE2 Practitioner certified professional. Exam Details: Duration - 150 minutes (2.5 hrs) Questions – 68 Objective type questions Pass mark – 38 out of 68 available, or 55% Use of textbook - Yes (only the official PRINCE2® manual permitted ) The Practitioner exam will now test candidates on all parts of the PRINCE2 method (Principles, Themes and Processes). The Practitioner exam tests the candidates’ ability at application and analysis level. Tips & Tricks to pass the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam Make sure to get the Foundational concepts of PRINCE2 right, before taking up the Practitioner exam. Read through the PRINCE2 Manual at least once before the exam. Practice two sample question papers given by the governing body. Validate the answers with the answer rationales. Please visit: to download the sample papersPractice the sample papers along with other learners (in groups) if possible. Though PRINCE2 Manual can be used for the Practitioner exam, use it scarcely. This will save a lot of time during the exam. Time each question to two minutes or less. This will provide some free time to revalidate the answers at the end. During the exam, imagine yourself to be a part of the project scenario. No assumptions to be made while answering any questions. Just stick to the project scenario. Leave aside practical experiences during the exam. Stick to PRINCE2 ways of managing projects. Read each question thoroughly (at least twice) before answering the questions. Seek help and advice from your trainer/facilitator/coach to get the concepts correct during the training or before the examination.Sample Papers example found on Axelos An examinee will be provided with a Scenario booklet and Question booklet for this examination. A hypothetical project scenario will span about two pages. 68 questions revolve around the scenario and tests the ability of the exam taker on the PRINCE2 concepts of Principles, Themes, Processes and Tailoring. Question Composition: First 8 questions are based on Principles. Next 35 questions will be based on Themes. Five questions will be asked from each Theme. Remaining 25 questions will revolve around Processes. Tailoring questions are infused across the above mentioned three categories. Question Format: Broadly, two types of question formats appear in a Practitioner paper. First one is an MCQ based question and answer and the second one is Match the following. MCQ format: Match the following format:Exam Approach As a first step during the exam, it is recommended to spend 3 to 5 minutes to read the first page of the scenario booklet and get the gist. Make a summary of the scenario. This summary can include scope of the project, project exclusions, time, cost, tolerances, stakeholder information, number of stages etc. This will increase the probability of choosing the right answers. Additional information provided in the scenario can be read later when required to save time. In the question booklet, the heading of the topic under which the question is asked will be clearly mentioned. This makes the examinee’s work super easy. ‘Match the following’ questions will have three questions but six answers. One should carefully examine and choose the right answer. In the ‘MCQ based’ questions, every question starts with a small scenario based on the main scenario. Reading and understanding this will improve the accuracy in answering. Some questions will denote that the exam taker must read the additional information before answering the question. In such cases, refer to the additional information section of the scenario booklet before proceeding to answer. Maintaining the PRINCE2 Certifications PRINCE2 Foundation certification has lifetime validity and doesn’t require renewal. Practitioner certification has 3 years validity and has to be renewed at the end of 3 years. Here are some tips on maintaining the credential: Axelos maintains a “Successful Candidates Register” (SCR). Peoplecert updates the SCR from time on time. Within 30 to 60 days after receiving Practitioner certificate, a candidate will be notified through an email to avail one year of free subscription from Axelos. Once free subscription is activated, you will be eligible to clock 20 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) units. This is very similar to PMI’s Professional Development Units (PDUs). CPDs can be logged broadly under four categories such as Professional Experience, Training and Qualification, Community Participation and Self-Study. This can be attained by attending any trainings, delivering trainings, by taking part in volunteering activities, by learning new content from any portals like Coursera, LinkedIn learning, Udemy etc., taking part in project activities, attending any seminars/webinars or by accessing white papers, case studies or videos on the Axelos website. Once 20 CPDs are logged, one can claim the digital badge. The digital badge is a way to display one’s professional credentials. The digital badge is valid only for one year. To renew the digital badge, £50 + VAT needs to be paid to Axelos. This will reset the CPD counter to Zero. This enables the practitioner to log 20 CPDs and claim the digital badge. This cycle can continue. Successful candidates can avail the free subscription and clock 20 CPDs. For example, if your practitioner certification expires by 10th March 2023, claim your digital badge on 9th March 2023. This will enable you to retain your certification through Mar 2024. After that you can pay the subscription charges and continue to maintain your credentials. If you don’t want to get into the subscription model, you can resit for another exam after 3 years. For more details about subscription, CPD & digital badge, please visit
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- by Manikandan Mohanakrishnan
- 24 Apr 2019
PRINCE2® (PRojects IN a Controlled Enviro... Read More