Manage by Stages and Manage by Exception
Plan, authorize and review one management stage at a time, using tolerances to delegate authority and escalate exceptions.
How to prepare for PRINCE2 Version 7
Build the project and principle foundations first, integrate people throughout the method, then connect each practice with the seven-process lifecycle and scenario tailoring.
Core concepts
Concept 1
The project is planned, monitored and controlled stage by stage, with a decision before committing to the next stage.
Exam cue: Use stage boundaries for investment decisions and exception for forecast tolerance breaches.
Concept 2
Tolerances establish delegated authority for each performance aspect at project, stage and team levels.
Exam cue: Escalate forecasts, not only breaches that have already happened.
Concept 3
An exception is forecast when tolerance will be exceeded; it is escalated to the next management level for a decision.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Treating technical delivery phases as automatically identical to management stages.
Guardrail: Do not choose a process or role by keyword alone; confirm context, authority, product and decision purpose.
Escalating every small variance despite available tolerance.
Guardrail: Do not choose a process or role by keyword alone; confirm context, authority, product and decision purpose.
Memory anchors
Management stage
A section of the project planned and controlled as a unit for project-board authorization.
Tolerance
Permitted deviation within which the delegated manager may act without escalation.
Exception
A forecast that agreed tolerance will be exceeded.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
What is a management stage?
What does a tolerance define?
A stage is forecast to exceed its time tolerance next month. What should the project manager do?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
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