PRINCE2 · apply · about 10 minutes

The stage will overrun, and nobody has said so

You take over a project at week 9 of a 12-week stage. The stage has a two-week time tolerance and a 5% cost tolerance. Your own forecast puts delivery at week 17 and 11% over. The previous project manager's last highlight report, sent in week 8, says "amber, recoverable". The board meets in three weeks. The supplier says they can hit week 14 if scope is cut.

What do you do this week, and what do you send? Be specific about which product goes to whom.

Write your answer somewhere else — on paper, in a mail draft, out loud to someone. Then come back and mark it against the rubric. The rubric is disputable: if you think a line is wrong for your situation, you are probably right, and noticing that is worth more than the tick.

Mark it against the rubric

Recognises a forecast tolerance breach — the trigger has already fired, in week 8 Manage by exception
Sends an exception report now rather than waiting for the board meeting Which report goes where
Presents options including the supplier's scope cut, and leaves the decision to the board Four levels, and who controls what
Expects an exception plan to be requested, replacing the current stage plan Which report goes where
Revisits the business case: an 11% overrun may change whether the project is still justified Continued business justification
Does not simply re-plan within the stage and report amber again Controlling a stage and managing product delivery

Sources: Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2, 7th edition (PeopleCert, 2023), PRINCE2 7 glossary. Written from those texts and last checked on 2026-10-16 against reporting on them — not read line by line against the primary documents. Every card names the clause it comes from precisely so you can settle it at the source, and [email protected] is where a correction goes.

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