PRINCE2 Directing a Project

Project Management PRINCE2 Governance Decision Making

Overview

Draft Directing a Project (DP) documents aligned with PRINCE2. Covers Project Board authorization decisions, ad hoc direction, exception handling, stage gate approvals, and project closure authorization.

Getting Started

Upload the relevant End Stage Report, Exception Report, or project status materials to the workspace and activate the PRINCE2 Directing a Project skill. The agent will help you draft Board-level authorization decisions, exception responses, and governance documentation.

Example Conversation

Below is an example of a typical session preparing a Stage Authorization Decision for a Project Board meeting. The agent reviews stage performance and drafts the Board’s decision record.

You: We’re at the end of Stage 2 (pilot phase) of our ERP implementation. The pilot ran 2 weeks over schedule but came in EUR 15K under budget. All 3 pilot products were delivered and accepted. I need to prepare the Stage Authorization Decision for the Board to approve Stage 3 (full rollout). The End Stage Report is in reports/end_stage_2.md.
Agent: I’ve reviewed the End Stage Report. Let me draft the Stage Authorization Decision. A few questions:
What tolerances do you want to propose for Stage 3? The project-level tolerances are +/- 10% cost, +/- 4 weeks schedule.
Are there any risks from the pilot that the Board should consider before approving rollout?
Has the Business Case been updated to reflect the pilot results?
You: Proposed Stage 3 tolerances: +/- EUR 50K cost, +/- 3 weeks schedule, scope tolerance of one deferred module. Main risk from the pilot: data migration took 40% longer than estimated — we need to factor that into the rollout plan. Business Case is updated: ROI improved slightly because pilot licensing costs were lower than expected.
Agent: I’ve drafted the Stage Authorization Decision covering all Board perspectives. Here’s a summary:
Stage 2 Review — schedule overrun of 2 weeks (within project tolerance), cost underrun of EUR 15K, all products accepted, one lesson on data migration estimation
Business Case Review — still justified, ROI improved from 1.8x to 1.9x due to lower licensing costs
Risk Assessment — data migration risk upgraded to High with revised estimates built into Stage 3 plan; overall risk exposure acceptable
Stage 3 Plan Assessment — 14-week rollout, EUR 280K budget, all 3 departments, revised data migration timeline
Tolerances Set — cost: +/- EUR 50K, schedule: +/- 3 weeks, scope: one module deferral permitted
Decision — recommend: Authorize Stage 3
The draft is saved as decisions/stage_3_authorization.md. The Board members section has placeholders for names and the decision date.

Document Excerpt

Below is a representative excerpt from a Stage Authorization Decision prepared with the skill.

Stage Authorization Decision — ERP Implementation Stage 3 (Excerpt)

Project: Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation Decision Point: End of Stage 2 / Authorization of Stage 3

1. Stage Under Review — Stage 2 (Pilot)

Dimension	Planned	Actual	Variance	Within Tolerance?
Duration	8 weeks	10 weeks	+2 weeks	Yes (project tolerance: +/- 4 weeks)
Cost	EUR 95,000	EUR 80,000	-EUR 15,000	Yes
Products	3 delivered	3 delivered and accepted	On target	Yes
Quality	All reviews passed	2 conditional passes resolved	Acceptable	Yes

Key Finding: Data migration activities took 40% longer than estimated. Root cause: legacy data quality issues required additional cleansing. Lesson applied to Stage 3 estimates.

3. Business Case Review

Metric	At PID	Current (updated)	Change
Total project cost	EUR 520,000	EUR 505,000	-EUR 15,000
3-year net benefit	EUR 420,000	EUR 445,000	+EUR 25,000
ROI	1.8x	1.9x	Improved
Payback period	22 months	21 months	Improved

Conclusion: Project remains justified. Benefits case has strengthened.

5. Decision

Item	Detail
Decision	Authorize Stage 3 (Full Rollout)
Conditions	Data migration estimates must include 40% buffer based on pilot learning. Stage 3 plan to be updated before work begins.
Stage 3 Tolerances	Cost: +/- EUR 50,000. Schedule: +/- 3 weeks. Scope: one module may be deferred to post-project.

Board Member	Role	Signature	Date
[Executive name]	Executive	_________	_________
[Senior User name]	Senior User	_________	_________
[Senior Supplier name]	Senior Supplier	_________	_________

This excerpt is illustrative. Final content must reflect the specific project’s data and governance context.