7 Reasons Your Project Management Career Needs PRINCE2 Certification

Often considered as the crown prince among project management courses, PRINCE2 is a popular course used in almost every country in the world. Adding to its regal identity, PRINCE2 is known as the methodology of choice by Her Majesty’s government in the United Kingdom. 

Short for “Projects In Controlled Environments,” PRINCE2 adopts a process-based approach to manage projects. It relies on the flexible division of a project into manageable stages, to command better control over the project resources and risks. It keeps business justification as an integral part and priority of project management.

Some questions the PRINCE2 methodology seeks to answer include, the aim of the project, when it needs to start and end, resources required, and costs of the project. Based on this information, the project framework and plan is designed. The processes and stages of the project are seamlessly managed until its conclusion.

Levels of a PRINCE2 Certification

To begin, you can take the PRINCE2 Foundation course to upgrade your project management skills. After its completion, you can enroll for the more advanced PRINCE2 Practitioner certification. 

PRINCE2 Foundation teaches the basics of project management. It familiarizes you with what a project is, how it can be managed, and the responsibilities are of the person managing it. This course also introduces the seven principles that form the bedrock of the PRINCE2 methodology. The Foundation course educates the professional on how to successfully tailor and implement PRINCE2 in practical scenarios. This course doesn’t require any specific prior educational qualifications.

The PRINCE2 Practitioner program prepares you for the project manager’s role in more detail. You will understand the nuances of problem resolution, project control, and monitoring as well as how to tailor and adopt PRINCE2 into projects with more efficiency. To enroll in the Practitioner module, you must complete the Foundation course or pass the PMP, CAPM, or IPMA (levels A, B, C or D) certification exam.

Apart from these two levels, professionals also enroll in PRINCE2 Agile training, which helps them incorporate Agile methods into the completion of a PRINCE2 project.

Other Insights on PRINCE2

Now that you are aware of PRINCE2 and what it sets out to achieve for you, let’s look at some additional information that you may find useful.

• It is owned and managed by Axelos, which is a joint venture between the Government of the United Kingdom and Capita.
• Its official study material is titled “Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 – 2017”.
• PRINCE2 is a prescriptive curriculum that seeks to implement industry best practices in a project management environment.
• The curriculum is defined by processes and recommends adherence to the seven compulsory PRINCE2 principles.
• PRINCE2 clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of all project team members. It, therefore, addresses the what, when, and who of the project environment.
• It lays down seven processes, namely, starting a project, initiating a project, directing a project, controlling a stage, managing product delivery, managing a stage boundary, and closing a project.
• PRINCE2 recommends a three-check method to control the project, known as Stage Gates. The three checks are: look back, look at the big picture, and look forward.
• It uses color coding in its process model: blue shades for items used or executed only once in the duration of the project and green for items used once in every stage. Items shaded in orange are executed multiple times within a stage. Lastly, the dark red items can be implemented multiple times within a single stage.
  
  

How Is PRINCE2 Different from PMP?

The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is another popular project management certification. It offers various project management techniques and frameworks. It enables you to make use of the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) Guide, and updates you with best practices of the profession.

PRINCE2 is considered to be more granular in its approach. It defines the roles and responsibilities of the project team as well as the stages of a project, and provides a more standardized and process-focused approach to project management. Both PMP and PRINCE2 are recommended project management certifications in their own right. 

7 Reasons Your Project Management Career Needs PRINCE2 Certification

As mentioned, there are seven compulsory principles in PRINCE2. Continuing the numerical familiarity, we list seven compelling reasons why a PRINCE2 certification may be the right choice for your career. 

1) Industry-proven Skill Sets

Improved skills are the primary expectation from any professional course you choose. With PRINCE2 your project management skills will increase. PRINCE2 methodology spans every detail of a project. You’ll receive a better understanding of project viability assessment and due diligence, business case preparation, execution and stage plan, scope definition, assessment of delivery timeline, defining the monitoring mechanism, and more. You’ll also be equipped with project management skills, such as task assignment, issue resolution, stage boundary management, and project closure.

Apart from the methodology, you’ll learn the terminology. The PRINCE2 framework and systems are commonly used by project managers across the world. It will help you exercise better project control and ensure project timeliness. PRINCE2 covers the entire spectrum of project management, including planning, project initiation, execution, management, and delivery of the project. 

2) Employment Avenues

While browsing through employment opportunities, you will notice that typical project openings like Analyst, Administrator, Coordinator, and Manager all mention PRINCE2 as a preferred qualification. A PRINCE2 certification opens up these opportunities for you in all leading organizations. In fact, for a project management role in many organizations, PRINCE2 is a prerequisite. A PRINCE2 certification can also benefit professionals like Project Engineers, Software Developers, Software Engineers, Project Executives, Innovation Delivery Managers, PRINCE2 Consultants, and Service Improvement Managers, to name a few. 

An employer sees a PRINCE2-certified candidate as someone who can harmonize manpower, finance, and material while managing the project. A PRINCE2-certified professional is better equipped to meet customer specifications in deliveries, manage stakeholders, and assess and mitigate project risks more efficiently. Any company looking to hire a skilled project manager who can demonstrate efficiency under pressure wouldn’t look beyond a PRINCE2 certification.

3) Great Salary Prospects

According to the latest salary reports, the average salary commanded by a PRINCE2-certified professional is around $85,800. Considering that the average salary of a project analyst is about $60,000, it is apparent that a PRINCE2 certification, along with relevant experience, can raise the salary of project management personnel significantly. 

A PRINCE2 certification validates that you have upgraded your skills and knowledge for the relevant job profile. An employer is assured that you will bring more efficiency into the project management function as well as demonstrate more astute leadership qualities. Therefore, PRINCE2 is certain to enhance the salary that you command in your professional life.

4) Practice, Don’t Preach

PRINCE2 methodology is an established set of framework and guidelines. It is not a manual to be referenced in times of trouble. It is a structured program that has seven set principles that apply to any project management scenario. 

• Business justification is important to start and continue a project. The business case of the project is assessed and updated throughout the project.
• Lesson logs are maintained for every project. Each project should use its log as well as all other present and previous logs.
• Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined to four specific levels, where program individuals may share roles or take on more than one. 
• A stage demarcation of the project is standard PRINCE2 practice. With the completion of each stage, the business case, risk assessment and plan for the next stage need to be updated.
• Exceptions to a stage are documented and considered while passing on to the next stage. 
• Delivery and definition of the product(s) remains the primary focus in PRINCE2 methods.
• Tailoring of the PRINCE2 program is prescribed to suit the needs of the project, including terms of complexity and effort required.

In other words, knowledge gained from a PRINCE2 certification can be implemented into real-life projects straightaway.

5) Globally Accepted Certification

Much like their language, this project management methodology created by the British, although for their government’s use, now has a global outreach. PRINCE2 is the preferred certification for project management roles in the UK as well as in continental Europe. It is preferred, in varying degrees, in the United States and South America, along with the other popular project management certification (PMP). Both PMP and PRINCE2 are equally preferred in the rest of the world, i.e. Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East. Thus, PRINCE2 commands global recognition and acceptance. 

Due to global acceptance, it is easier for a PRINCE2 certification holder to apply for employment in different geographies and stand a good chance of being selected. 

6) Applicability Across Industries

Its practice-driven approach makes PRINCE2 a universally adoptable methodology. Its principles possess the agility to fit into different industries as well as projects of different size and scale. From a project manager’s perspective, a PRINCE2 certification can enable the individual to add more versatility to his or her professional experience. 

PRINCE2 is the methodology of choice for a host of government entities, such as the National Health Service (NHS), Home Office, British Red Cross, and Canadian Mounted Police. Oil companies, like Shell and BP, are known to have benefited from PRINCE2 as have construction firms, like UK Highways and IPP Contracting. Banking companies, like Barclays, have depended on PRINCE2 principles while a host of IT firms like IBM, HP, Siemens, Ericsson, and EDS have used PRINCE2. This goes to show the cross-industry acceptance of PRINCE2 certification.

7) Easy to Accomplish

Although an initiation into project management is recommended, no specific preconditions are standing in your way to starting a PRINCE2 certification. If you are a novice aiming to build a career in project management, you can rely on PRINCE2 Foundation to be the ideal stepping stone. Professionals with varying degrees of project management experience also choose this certification to up-skill. Project members, consultants, and managers are among the professionals achieving this certification. 

The certification is not demanding in terms of time, effort, or cost. It is designed to accommodate the schedule of a working professional. After the completion of the training module, you can sit for the exam. The application process is simple and doesn’t involve any detailed registration or audit.

These seven reasons address aspects you’ll gain from the certification, including its market viability and relevance, industry and global acceptance, and the extent of course complexity. 

Conclusion 

GreyCampus provides training courses for the Foundation and Practitioner certifications of PRINCE2. It is an accredited training organization with PEOPLECERT. Both courses are provided per the recommendations of Axelos, the global owner of the curriculum and certification. 

The GreyCampus PRINCE2 Foundation training and certification provides bootcamps, 1-year access to audio/video lectures, mock exams, one exam retake attempt, and a 100% money-back guarantee. On the other hand, the Foundation and Practitioner combined course provides extra bootcamps, mock exams, and learning aids in addition to the Foundation course features. 

GreyCampus has a strong record, including more than one hundred thousand reported career advances and 87% positive career outcomes as a result of its online modules. PRINCE2 is now synonymous with efficient project management and a GreyCampus PRINCE2 training is a step in the right direction for everyone aspiring toward a project-based career.

Want to Become a Project Manager? Consider Getting PRINCE2 Certified Today!