PRINCE2® is a method for managing projects. It helps you work out who should be involved and what they will be responsible for. It gives you a set of processes to work through and explains what information you should be gathering along the way. But PRINCE2® doesn't do the work for you, it cannot guarantee that your projects will be successful. Good projects, which deliver quality results, on-time and within budget are dependent on the quality of people involved from Project Board down to individual team members.

Components – these are the controls and disciplines that are needed to deliver a project effectively, namely:

The components are active throughout a project, and help ensure that the project stays on the right track.

Processes - define the lifecycle a project goes through and the control points within it that ensure that it doesn't run out of control, namely;

Running in parrallel with these processes are two more Directing a Programme where the Executive maintains control and Planning , where continual review and updating occurs