The Best Practice Showcase 2008 was held in June 2008 and for many people this is at the top of their calendar of events (i.e., the only event worth going to). The event is quite small in terms of numbers of attendees but the quality is much much higher than a project management exhibition. There are a lot of sessions and I think for a lot of people it’s almost like a training event. I’m keeping my eye out for the publication of the presentations (and will post on the blog when and if they become available) but I spotted this yesterday – a recording of the Question & Answer Session – carried out at the end of the event with the Lead Authors of the refreshed and new publications – PRINCE2, P3O and P3M3.
If you’re not already aware there are changes in these publications – including the MSP – and in the case of the P3O a completely new publication. If you don’t have time to listen to the Q&A session I’ll just cover the basics:
Some interesting conversations around the accreditations – now the PRINCE2 refresh will be coming – how does that change the accreditation / exams? (There will be changes and we need to watch further news about that) There was also a realistic debate from a current trainer of the MSP courses and how the multiple choice question style favored by PRINCE2 had presented some problems for delegates of the MSP exams i.e., delegates needing to learn words/phrases in the book to pass rather than being able to demonstrate practical understanding / ability. It might work for PRINCE2 but does it really work for MSP?
There was a good question from the audience – are we in danger of over “process-ising” projects – the danger being that only programme and project managers will be able to follow the processes (and not the wider team)? The debate that followed focused on judgement – using judgement rather than blindly following the processes will always be the most important thing – yes, projects and programmes can be complex and therefore need complex tools and techniques but ultimately using sound judgement on what to use to get the job done should prevail. This also led to the acronym PINO being mentioned (PRINCE in name only) but the PRINCE2 refresh does include a lot more signposting – helping users to make sound judgement. There was an interesting comment by a panel member who said “Programme and Project Management tends to attract people who like process”. Would you agree with this statement?
Finally, there was some discussion about the shelf life of the new and refreshed methods – the P3O will probably be refreshed in 18 months after issue (like the PRINCE2 method was) to take into account corrections. There was also mention of further information/guidance being published around Portfolio Management from the OGC in October looking at portfolio management that is not mentioned in P2, MSP – the more strategic side of portfolio management
So that’s the round up – have a listen if you’re interested in any of the above and we’ll keep you posted on the presentation slides becoming available
