What is Prince2 Certification | Top 10 Benefits of Prince2

A detailed guide to prince2 certification and its benefits

Before we understand the certification process, you must know the benefits offered. This will give you confidence about the need for training and certification. 

There are lots of benefits of Prince2 certification. To begin with get to know the top 10 that are illustrated below. 

• It is a globally recognized certification
• High salary demand for the professionals
• It can be applied to all the projects as it a broad certification.
• It is a non-proprietary methodology
• The general project work can be applied with Prince2 
• It has project accountability in its methodology.
• It describes the accurate and cost-effective report structure
• It is based on the business objectives fulfillment of the projects
• It is more deeply considers the 'Management by Exception" principle for saving time and money.
• One of the principles talks about the lessons learned and it considers the previous project experience.

The project management is becoming complex to handle. Various methodologies have evolved in the past 2 decades. However, the key thing is to choose the right one for your projects and in the organization. The project manager must be trained in at least a couple of the certifications and need to have basic knowledge of all of them. The framework and the methodologies are generic to project management and can be applied in many areas and in any industry. 

The project management methodologies have enormous benefits such as faster time to market, fewer overheads, less lead time, less cost, defects reduction, reduction in waste, better control, and management of the projects itself. The organization that is why prefer the project manager who is certified in the project management frameworks and can apply his skills and knowledge to the benefits of the organization and derive maximum benefits in the projects he works. The project manager is at constant pressure to perform in all the scenarios he is put into the projects. He is constantly tested for his skills. 

What is Prince2?

Prince2 is the acronym for the PRojects In Controlled Environment2. Originally it was developed for the UK government office and was called PROMPT II that stands for Project Resource Organization Management Planning Techniques. Prince2 is a project management certification provided by Axelos for helping the projects to succeed by controlling and managing the projects in a better way. 

Why need a Prince2?

Prince2 is one of the project management certifications that focuses on the key stages of project management.

There are 6 key aspects of Prince2 they are as follows - Scope, Risk, Timescale, Benefits, Quality, and Cost. These are also called as tolerances or performance goals in Prince2. There are 7 principles on what the Prince2 is based on they are as follows,

1. Continued Business Justification - Here the business verifies the project for its suitability, profits and provided the business goals and objectives are met.
2. Learning from Experience - There are lessons logs or learning that is focused on previous project experience. The lessons logs produce a change in the subsequent projects
3. Roles and Responsibility - Here each project member or the stakeholders are identified and the roles are assigned with responsibilities. For example the project sponsor, project team members, the project board who oversees the projects, the customers, and project managers.
4. Management by stages - Once the roles are assigned, the management of the projects takes place in stages and not in its entirety. Once the first stages are completed for the project development it moves to the next stage and so on. At each stage, the risks, business plans, and overall plans are updated and detailed for the next stage.
5. Manage by Exception - As you have seen there are 6 key aspects and if one of them is exceeded, it requires escalation to the top management.
6. Focus on Products - The products must be got from the customer requirements handling and need to focus on the definition and delivery.
7. Tailor to suit project environments - The projects in the organization comes from the customer in various size, shape, complexities, risk, time, and importance. Prince2 focuses on tailoring every project to suit the needs of the organization.

How to get Prince2 certification? 

There are 2 sets of prince2 certifications those are Prince2 Foundation and Prince2 Practitioner.

Prince2 foundation certification – This is fundamental certification in Prince2. It emphasizes the fundamental knowledge of the prince2 methods, aspects, principles, and themes. 

All are encouraged to take this certification. 

Target Audiences - Aspiring Project Managers, Project Board members, Team Managers, Project assurances, and project support members and operations line managers.

Prince2 foundation training - This is 2 and half days of training followed by an examination. The training can be provided by AXELOS Accredited Training Organizations (ATO's). For example - StarAgile. StarAgile is the accredited training partner of AXELOS in providing the Prince2 Foundation Training. 

Examination Format - Multiple choice questions, closed book, the duration is 1 hour, there are 60 questions to answer and the minimum passing marks are 33 correctly answered questions from the 60 questions which are 55%. It is a close book exam.

Prince2 Practitioner Certification – This is next level training after the prince2 foundation certification. 

This certification is suitable for anyone working on the projects and has project activities as day to day work. This certification aims to provide an advanced level understanding of the application of Prince2 in real-life projects and a range of project environments and scenarios.

Pre-requisite- The prince2 foundation certification is the pre-requisite for taking this certification. 

Training needs - The prince2 practitioner training is 1 and half days training followed by an examination. The training is conducted by AXELOS Accredited Training Organizations (ATO's). The price for the training and examination vary from training institutes to institutes. For example - StarAgile. StarAgile is an accredited training partner for AXELOS to conduct Prince2 practitioner training.

Target Audience - Project Managers, Board Members, sponsors, and aspiring project managers can take this certification.

Examination – Objective type questions, 68 questions need to be answered, the duration is 2 and half hours exam, and to pass must score a minimum of 38 questions must be answered correctly which is equal to 55%. It is an open-book exam.

Certification validity - This certification is valid for 3 years before which you need to retake the exam or maintain CPD points and a digital badge.

In the end – Did you understand what prince2 certification is?

Now that you have a good understanding of what is prince2 certification and how beneficial is it, we recommend that you register for the online training with StarAgile for the prince2 foundation and prince2 practitioner with pre-requisites. What are you waiting for, register today, and get certified with the globally recognized certification?