It is important that a stage starts only when the Project Board says it should. The Project Board authorizes a management stage by reviewing the performance of the current stage and approving the Stage Plan for the next stage. Approval of Stage Plans occurs at the end of every management stage except the last one.
If an exception has occurred during the stage, the Project Board may request that the Project Manager produces an Exception Plan for Project Board approval. Only exceptions to Stage Plans or Project Plans need to be escalated for approval. Deviations from the Project Plan may need corporate or programme management approval. Work Package exceptions are managed by the Project Manager using the Controlling a Stage process. If approved, the Exception Plan will replace the plan that is in exception and will become the new baselined plan.
The Project Board may appoint Project Assurance to undertake some of the reviewing and assessing actions (e.g. inspecting the Stage Plan to confirm it is viable).
PRINCE2 suggests the following:
✔ Review and approve end stage report
✔ Review the Stage Plan or Exception Plan for which the Project Manager is seeking approval
✔ Make a decision to accept, authorise, commit resources, reject plan or initiate premature closure of project.
✔ Communicate the status of the project to corporate or programme management and keep other interested parties informed about project progress (in accordance with the Communication Management Strategy).
