10.3 Tailoring the Practices

PRINCE2 Practitioner Version 7

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1 Introduction & Exam Overview

1.1 Current Exam Facts 1.2 Exam Strategy & Open-Book Technique

2 PRINCE2 7 Method Overview

2.1 The PRINCE2 7 Method 2.2 What Changed in PRINCE2 7 2.3 Performance Targets, Tolerances & Project Context

3 PRINCE2 Principles (1–4)

3.1 Continued Business Justification 3.2 Learn from Experience 3.3 Defined Roles, Responsibilities & Relationships 3.4 Manage by Stages

4 PRINCE2 Principles (5–7) & Applying Principles

4.1 Manage by Exception 4.2 Focus on Products 4.3 Tailor to Suit the Project 4.4 Applying Principles in Context

5 People Management in Projects

5.1 Organisational & Project Ecosystems 5.2 Leadership in Projects 5.3 Team Culture & Diversity 5.4 Communication, Stakeholder Engagement & Change Management

6 Practices Overview & Business Case

6.1 The Seven Practices & Tailoring 6.2 Business Case: Desirability, Viability & Achievability 6.3 Business Case Lifecycle & Management Products 6.4 Business Case Application & Tailoring Scenarios

7 Practices: Organising & Plans

7.1 Organising: Roles & Accountability 7.2 Organising: 5-Step Ecosystem Technique 7.3 Plans: Three Levels & Product-Based Planning 7.4 Plans: Techniques, Tolerances & Tailoring

8 Practices: Quality & Risk

8.1 Quality: Planning, Control & Assurance 8.2 Quality Techniques & Management Products 8.3 Risk: Threats & Opportunities 8.4 Risk 5-Step Technique & Application

9 Practices: Issues

9.1 Issues Practice: Issue vs Change & Categories 9.2 Issues 5-Step Technique & Supporting Techniques 9.3 Change Control, Configuration & Priority/Effort Assessment

10 Practices: Progress, Sustainability & Application

10.1 Progress: Controls, Tolerances & Reports 10.2 Sustainability as the 7th Performance Target 10.3 Tailoring the Practices 10.4 Practices Application Scenarios (BL4)

11 Processes: Model, Starting, Directing & Initiating

11.1 The Seven Processes & Process Model 11.2 Starting Up a Project 11.3 Directing a Project 11.4 Initiating a Project

12 Processes: Controlling a Stage & Product Delivery

12.1 Controlling a Stage 12.2 Managing Product Delivery 12.3 Stage Control & Exception Scenarios (BL4) 12.4 Work Packages & Reporting Cycle

13 Processes: Stage Boundary, Closing & Tailoring

13.1 Managing a Stage Boundary 13.2 Closing a Project 13.3 Tailoring the Processes 13.4 Process Application Scenarios (BL4)

14 Tailoring, Management Products & Exam Technique

14.1 Tailoring to Project Environment, Scale & Agile 14.2 Management Products & the v7 Project Log 14.3 Final Exam Technique, Full Scenarios & Common Traps

10.3 Tailoring the Practices

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Each practice is tailored to the project's scale, complexity, and risk while retaining its purpose.

PRINCE2 v7 dropped the concept of 'minimum requirements', so practices are tailored through the techniques used to apply them.

On small projects, management products may be combined — for example, a Risk Management Approach may be folded into the PID narrative.

Tailoring decisions must be documented in the relevant management approaches and in the PID so that everyone understands what is and is not being done.

Tailoring never removes a control's purpose: a lightweight control must still achieve what the practice exists to achieve.

Last updated: August 2026

Why Tailoring Matters

PRINCE2 is a method designed to be tailored to the project. A two-person, low-risk project inside a single department does not need the same formality as a multi-million-pound, regulated, multi-supplier programme. Tailoring is the act of adapting the method — and specifically the practices — to the project's scale, complexity, and risk , so that the controls are proportionate and the overhead is justified.

A useful framing: PRINCE2 should be just enough , not as much as possible . Over-applying the method to a small project wastes effort and discredits the method; under-applying it to a large project loses control. Tailoring is how the project finds the right point on that spectrum.

The Key Change in v7: No 'Minimum Requirements'

A significant change in PRINCE2 v7 is the removal of the concept of minimum requirements that appeared in earlier editions. Previously, the manual listed mandatory elements for each practice that had to be present regardless of tailoring. In v7, that fixed floor is gone. Instead, each practice is tailored through the techniques used to apply it — the specific ways the practice's activities are carried out. The practice's purpose remains, but the technique used to achieve it is chosen to fit the project.

This is a common exam point. A question may ask whether a particular practice can be omitted on a small project. The v7 answer is that the practice is never omitted — its purpose is always served — but the technique used to serve it can be very lightweight. For example, Quality on a small project is not omitted; it is applied through informal peer review rather than a full Review Workshop with a full Review Report.

Tailoring Principles

Four principles guide valid tailoring:

Retain the practice's purpose. Whatever the practice exists to achieve must still be achieved. Risk must still be identified, assessed, and controlled; quality must still be assured; progress must still be monitored. The technique changes; the purpose does not.

Scale the formality. A small project uses lighter techniques; a large project uses heavier ones. The decision is driven by scale, complexity, and risk, not by personal preference.

Combine management products where sensible. On a small project, several management products may be combined into a single document to reduce overhead — for example, the Risk Management Approach may be a section within the PID rather than a standalone document.

Document the tailoring. The tailoring decisions are recorded in the relevant management approaches and in the PID , so that the project team, the Project Board, and any auditors understand what is being done, what is being combined, and what is being omitted.

Examples of Valid Tailoring

The table below shows practices and how they might validly be tailored on a small, low-risk project.

Practice Heavy-formality technique Tailored (light) technique

Risk Standalone Risk Management Approach; full Risk Register with scoring Risk approach as a section in the PID; lightweight Risk Register within the Project Log

Quality Formal Quality Review Workshop with appointed Review Chair and Review Report Informal peer review by a colleague; brief review note

Issues Standalone Issue Register with issue types and priorities Simple issue list held within the Project Log

Progress Separate Checkpoint, Highlight, and End Stage Reports Combined progress note sent weekly to the Project Board

Change Full change budget and Change Authority Project Manager handles changes within stage tolerance

The consistent thread is that the purpose is preserved. Risks are still identified and controlled, just in a lighter register. Quality is still reviewed, just by a peer rather than a panel. Issues are still captured, just in a single log. Progress is still reported, just in one combined note.

Invalid Tailoring: Removing Purpose

Tailoring becomes invalid when it removes the practice's purpose. For example, deciding that a small project "does not need a Risk Register at all" is invalid tailoring, because the Risk practice exists to identify, assess, and control risks, and having no record of risks defeats that purpose. Deciding that "the Project Manager will decide quality informally with no record" is invalid, because the Quality practice exists to assure fitness for purpose, and an unrecorded personal judgement provides no assurance.

The exam presents scenarios that mix valid and invalid tailoring and asks you to distinguish them. The test is always the same: does the tailored technique still achieve the practice's purpose? If yes, it is valid; if no, it is invalid.

Documenting Tailoring

Tailoring decisions are documented in two places. First, the relevant management approach (for example, the Quality Management Approach) records how that practice is being applied on this project. Second, the PID summarises the overall tailoring so that the Project Board can see, in one place, how the method has been adapted. This is important because the Project Board approves the PID, and in doing so approves the tailoring — the board explicitly accepts that, for example, quality will be assured through peer review rather than formal workshops.

Common Exam Scenarios

Valid vs invalid tailoring. The scenario describes a technique ("the Project Manager keeps risks in her head") and asks whether it is valid. It is invalid, because the Risk practice's purpose is not served.

Combining management approaches. The scenario describes a small project that combines the Risk Management Approach into the PID. This is valid, provided the purpose is preserved.

Documenting tailoring. The scenario asks where the tailoring decisions are recorded. The answer is the relevant management approaches and the PID.