A recent survey of Prince2 users showed that Product Based Planning is their favourite part of Prince2 – without it, Prince2 would not be Prince2, they said. It's their favourite, but is it lean?
Product Based Planning is essentially lean for several reasons.
• It focuses on the end deliverable
• The product breakdown structure is a good means to get teamwork and consensus (I suggest to create the PBS using sticky notes in front of a flip chart, with the team all standing and participating)
• The product breakdown structure is a good communications tool
• It reduces the complexity of the planning process (typically there are 20 products but hundreds of tasks)
• It turns planning into a structured process
• It supports management by stages, which allows for late commitment (which is a lean keystone)
• Product descriptions help capture business requirements and quality criteria and therefore help to avoid rework
• Product descriptions can be written on a just-in-time basis (typically in the stage before the product will be produced)
Lean or not lean? Product Based Planning is decidedly lean.
