A PRINCE2 project has defined tolerances for each project objective to establish limits of authority.
PRINCE2 defines responsibilities for directing, managing and delivering the project and clearly defines who is accountable at each level.
Accountability is established by delegating authority from one management level to the next by setting tolerances against six objective constraints:
✔ Time - Plus or minus an amount of time on the target completion dates.
✔ Cost - Plus or minus an amount of the planned budget.
✔ Quality - Plus or minus degrees off a quality target.
✔ Scope - Permissible variation of the plan's products.
✔ Risk - Limits of the plan's altogether risks or limits on any individual threat.
✔ Benefit - Plus or minus degrees off an improvement goal e.g. 10-20% cost reduction.
Also, by setting up controls so that if those tolerances are forecast to be exceeded, they are immediately escalated to the next management layer.
This use of managing by exception provides a very efficient use of senior management time as it reduces the time burden placed upon them without removing their level of control by ensuring that decisions are made at the correct level.
