Ask most project managers what their most important responsibility is and they will say: delivering on time, within scope, and within budget. These matter enormously — but they are outcomes, not tasks. The most important task a PRINCE2 project manager can perform is something different:
Your most important responsibility is to make it easy to direct the project.
What "Making It Easy to Direct" Means
The Project Board is responsible for directing the project — making decisions about threats, opportunities, scope changes, and resource allocation. To make those decisions well, they need information that is:
- Correct — accurate and verified, not aspirational or filtered
- Precise — specific and quantified, not vague or hedged
- Balanced — presenting both good news and bad news in proportion
- Frequent — provided at agreed intervals so the board is never surprised
What This Looks Like in Practice
Making it easy to direct the project means the Project Manager proactively provides the right information at the right time — rather than waiting to be asked:
- Document scope changes with impact analysis — don't just flag a change request; show what accepting or rejecting it means for time, cost, and the business case
- Assess and communicate significant risks — with probability, impact, and a proposed response; not just a list of things that could go wrong
- Use Exception Reports when tolerances are forecast to be exceeded — give the board the information they need to make a decision before it becomes a crisis
- Provide analysed summaries rather than forwarding raw emails — the board's job is to make decisions, not to synthesise raw information
Why This Is the Most Important Task
A project board that is well-informed and well-supported makes better decisions. Better decisions mean fewer exceptions, fewer scope creeps, and fewer budget overruns. Ultimately, making it easy to direct the project is what makes everything else easier. A project manager who delivers on time but leaves the board constantly confused or surprised has not done their most important job.