Step 9 focuses on the Controlling a Stage and Managing Product Delivery processes — the day-to-day engine of a running PRINCE2 project. This is where the method's focus on products really comes to life.
Introduce Product Descriptions
A Product Description defines what a deliverable is, what quality criteria it must meet, and how it will be reviewed. Writing Product Descriptions forces clarity before work begins — rather than discovering misalignment after delivery. Introduce them for every significant product in the project.
Key sections of a Product Description:
- Title — what the product is called
- Purpose — why the product is needed
- Composition — what the product consists of
- Format and presentation — what it looks like
- Quality criteria — how to assess whether it is fit for purpose
- Quality method — how it will be reviewed or tested
Introduce Work Packages
A Work Package is the formal agreement between the Project Manager and a Team Manager to deliver a set of products. It defines what is to be delivered, by when, to what quality, and how progress will be reported. The Work Package is the mechanism through which the Project Manager authorises and tracks delivery work.
Introduce the Quality Register
The Quality Register records all planned and completed quality activities — reviews, inspections, tests. It provides a simple audit trail showing that products have been checked against their Product Descriptions before being accepted.
The PM–Team Manager Dialogue
PRINCE2's Controlling a Stage and Managing Product Delivery processes describe a structured conversation between the Project Manager and Team Manager. This dialogue — agreeing work packages, reporting progress, raising issues, accepting completed products — is the heart of delivery control. Get this dialogue working well, and the project controls itself. Get it wrong, and no amount of documentation will compensate.
See Scrum and PRINCE2 — who gets the Work Package? for how this works in an Agile context.