Prince2 vs Agile

Regardless of the project, plenty of frameworks can be used to ensure smoothness and efficiency. Considering an array of options available out there, choosing one framework could be difficult. When it is about making a decision, it could be challenging. 

To help you with this pursuit, we have brought two popular frameworks Prince2 and Agile. While Agile is one software development method that helps in developing software, Prince2 is a method that helps with identifying and assigning roles to varying team members. In this Prince2 vs Agile post, let’s find out more about these two frameworks.

Prince2 vs Agile - Table Of Content

• About Agile & Prince2
• Agile Methodology
• Prince2 Methodology
• Who are Prince2 and Agile For?
• Business Focus
• Approaches
• Planning
• Prince2 and Agile Principles
• Comparison of Prince2 and Agile Methodology
• Responding to Change
• Sprints and Timeboxing

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About Agile and Prince2

Agile Methodology

Agile methods have been garnering a lot of popularity lately, primarily because of pivoting skills and flexibility. Being one of the recognized frameworks globally, it is being used by many Fortune 500 companies. Agile methodology is suitable for every project, even the ones that are incredibly complex.

Agile works by dividing the complex factors so they can be managed easily. Furthermore, Agile methodology concentrates upon project execution instead of its management. It needs you to work closely with the stakeholders, users, and clients to understand their needs and integrate them into the project.

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Unlike Prince2, you can see individual efforts in Agile methodology. Due to its collaborativeness, the agile method makes sure that the available time is used as efficiently as possible. However, one of its drawbacks is that you can quickly lose sight of more significant objectives, considering no clear project definition.

Prince2 Methodology

Prince2 massively concentrates on the importance of processes in the field of management. It is about commencing the project, initiating the same, continuing it with said guidelines, and finally finishing the project to be transferred to a regular business.

In the best possible way, it can be described as linear methodology. Prince2 is a plan-based, predictive approach. It stays focused on a more significant objective. The responsibilities and roles of the management team members are described precisely, and they have the freedom to work towards that objective however they please.

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The processes are precisely structured and defined, and the primary concentration is upon the product’s quality. Prince2 can be edited and altered to suit every project. And, considering that it is extensively planned, it stays within the time and cost restrictions.

The main disadvantage of Prince2 is the rigidity. It is regarded unsuitable for small projects and those projects where the needs alter and change quickly. This issue in pivoting is partly because of the increasing amount of documents that must be created and maintained throughout the entire project.

Moreover, Prince2 doesn’t micromanage a lot. Also, the decision-making process is longer in comparison to Agile. Working products don’t get ready until the project ends.

  [Also, Know the differences between Prince2 Vs PMP ]

Who are Prince2 and Agile For?

When it comes to usage, Prince2 and Agile methods have different target audiences.

Prince2 is a project framework that is focused on customers. It offers a set of themes, principles, and processes that help companies manage and justify projects. The main focus of Prince2 is to manage the project efficiently and make sure that the project is worthy of investment in the constantly changing business environment.

On the other hand, Agile methods can be used by teams and suppliers who have to work. These teams can include people who are or are not a part of the project. They focus on what has to be delivered in the upcoming week(s) or customers’ requirements and how to make a specific software work at its best.

Business Focus

As far as business focus is concerned, Prince2 concentrates on consistently meeting business goals and being justified. Prince2 considers a project from the strategic point of view, brainstorming upon business risk and case. It focuses more on the purpose of the project and whether it is worth doing.

On the other hand, Agile offers less thought to the comprehensive strategy at looks more at the product. It also works on comprehending whether the project will be worthwhile if delivered correctly. The objective here is for the product to fulfill the customer’s requirements and demands.

Also, concentration is on executing the work effectively. The product gets delivered incrementally where features can be added gradually and steadily, integrating feedback until the customer is happy with the final output.

 

Approaches

Since it concentrates more on high-level project management, Prince2 doesn’t describe how the teams should be maintained or organized. In this framework, how teams execute their work is not as essential as the project’s structure and how everything fits into it.

The core idea of agile methodology is about self-organizing teams. This simply illustrates the importance of teams in this framework. Teams select how the world has to be accomplished without the direction of any staff member from outside the team. The belief here is that the team knows what will work best for them as they are pretty much familiar with the nature of their jobs. Anyway, having a project manager give directions when clueless about the team will always hinder and not help.

Planning

Prince2 generally plans what must happen. It also regards what may happen and plans for the same by keeping risks in mind and assessing how to deal with them and decrease or prevent them altogether.

On the other hand, in Agile methodology, planning is less involved. The idea here is to be as adaptable as possible, regardless of what comes ahead, be it changing requirements or any setbacks in the project that may avert the project’s on-time delivery.

However, this doesn’t mean that there is no planning in Agile. It is just that they are not unalterable or not locked down. With Agile, changes are always considered as there is a possibility that customers may come up with something that they wouldn’t have thought of before.

Prince2 and Agile Principles

Prince2, at the core, has seven principles. These are some basic rules that every project must follow. It includes having a clear, precise justification for the business, an approach that should be customized for every project, and more. Along with these seven principles, you will also find seven project phases and seven project roles, all of them complementing one another.

As far as the agile methodology is concerned, there are 12 principles in total. These were first established in the Agile Manifesto, a document curated by the primary founders back in 2001. The agile principles follow various ideas, such as welcoming the changed requirements, customer satisfaction as the highest priority, and more.

Comparison of Prince2 and Agile Methodology

Here is a comprehensive table comparing Prince2 and agile methodology:

The Basis	Prince2	Agile Methodology
Uses	For customers to justify projects	For suppliers to deliver functional software
Focus	On higher management levels	On lower-level delivery teams
Perception	Answers questions like whether the project should be done or is it worth the risks and the costs	Answers questions like what should be delivered next week and how to know once the product is finished
Approach	Predictive approach	Adaptive approach

Responding to Change

Responding to change could be a controversial topic, especially for Prince2. After the 2017 update, Prince2 evolved to be more into accepting agile methodologies during its delivery stage. 
However, the generally accepted thought is that because planning in Agile consists of four-week sprints, changes can be handled effortlessly with Prince2, where the entire project is planned from the beginning.

Sprints and Timeboxing

The Prince2 work is handled with the help of work packages. These are used to forward information about needed work from the project manager to either the team manager or the team members. Furthermore, these work packages describe how the work will be executed, constrained, how to handle the reporting, and what must be done if any issues arise.

In agile, work is completed in a short, four-week stage, known as sprints. This helps break the project into smaller and manageable pieces, which eventually form the entire product together. In the beginning, the team plans the execution and estimates the time required. Lastly, the team and the customers come together to establish the work requirements.

Conclusion

At last, know that using Prince2 or Agile is not just a situation. They help perform varying roles in making the project effortless. Moreover, they can be used together as well. While agile ensure quick responses to change, Prince2 assists by offering structure and governance.