RTFM Unit 4

Controlling a Stage can be quite challenging

Day four of the pre-course work - the exciting world of:

• From the Processes section, Managing Stage Boundaries, Controlling a Stage and Managing Product Delivery (just get UPS to do it, surely?)
• From the Components section, Controls
  

Well, to summarise:

Managing Stage Boundaries is where you draw up the real plan for actually doing something, and try to get some actual named bodies assigned to it. In real life, this may be something you’d prefer to avoid, if you’re a high-level, strategic directions and architectures kinda guy.

Controlling a Stage is where you get to hand out neatly parcelled Work Packages to the bods doing the actual work (whether it’s their birthday or not), and then check up on the results.

Managing Product Delivery is that tiny little box you find at the heart of all these methodologies that involves ACTUAL WORK (i.e., producing executable code, laying bricks, assembling a nuclear warhead, whatever). You should avoid this like the plague.

Now, what about Controls? As Ms Jackson once remarked:

Are we ready? I am cause its all about control
And Ive got lots of it

Im in control, never gonna stop
Control, to get what I want
Control, I got to have a lot
Control, now Im all grown up

Lots of it, alright. Control is really what PRINCE2 is all about. You need to know about controls, the contingency, tolerance and the change budget … all slightly different and make sure you get the definitions right.