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I am currently managing a work package on a large research grant. I am a qualified Prince2 practitioner (although I did the training some time ago and the system is not widely used in my field, so I may be doing it wrong) and had been following the management-by-exception principle, but a few months ago we had an issue with a partner not mentioning an issue until it was in danger of causing us to miss a milestone. I am a complete newcomer to Agile but I have heard of the daily 'scrum' meeting and it sounds like it would be effective at addressing the problems we are having - and I remember our trainer mentioning dire consequences of failing to follow the management-by-exception principle, but crucially not what they were...

What would be the potential pitfalls of adopting a similar process within a Prince2 PM framework? And if they are serious, what would be an alternative to avoid a repeat of the situation above?

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    I am PRINCE2 qualified and a ScrumMaster. I will anser this fully when I get to a computer (currently on mobile). It is a very nuanced question and we have a bit to unpack.
    – Venture2099
    Commented Jul 15, 2018 at 22:22
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    Hi @tardigrade; take a look at this answer pm.stackexchange.com/questions/23638/… which covers the idea of the Daily Standup and Manage By Exception (Mods - possible duplicate but let the OP take a look first)
    – Venture2099
    Commented Jul 16, 2018 at 12:20
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    @Venture2099 thanks for the link. I would argue against it being a duplicate: the link question asks about adapting Prince2 for smaller projects by removing certain things (which is explicitly fine according to the principle "tailor to suit the project environment"), while I'm asking about directly going against the principle of management-by-exception. I remember asking "what about a little regular meeting" but our trainer specifically argued against it - and he had some good points, I just can't remember them.
    – tardigrade
    Commented Jul 16, 2018 at 15:43

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What would be the potential pitfalls of adopting a similar process within a Prince2 PM framework?

No pitfalls at all! Having stands up meeting in front of your Project Board is a tailoring of your PRINCE2 Checkpoint report and Highlight report. The key element to remember is that the stands up are not there to report, but to plan the work ahead (to simplify!), therefore the reporting shall be done by the PM (if we think about the Checkpoint report) and the Project Board (Highlight report) by going to the Project board and pulling the information by themselves by looking at what is displayed.

I am a complete newcomer to Agile but I have heard of the daily 'scrum' meeting and it sounds like it would be effective at addressing the problems we are having

On this point I would like to clarify one element. What you are looking for is an Agile principle, but it is not the Scrum, that is a concept more complex that can not be limited to a stand up meeting, but is the use of face to face communication, to create a collaborative environment where people is encouraged to speak out to get the job done.

Finally, I would suggest you look at the PRINCE2 AGILE certification, Axelos has formally gone through the effort of demonstrating how to tailor PRINCE2 to include Agile principles, but still maintaining the "rigour" of a structured Project Management framework as PRINCE2 is.

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The frequency of the communication is covered by Prince2. Have a look at the Communication Strategy https://mplaza.pm/prince2-communication-management-strategy-template/

Copy pasted from the link:

Purpose A PRINCE2 Communication Management Strategy Template contains a description of the means and frequency of communication to parties both internal and external to the project. It facilitates engagement with stakeholders through the establishment of a controlled and bi-directional flow of information.

But for your original question. Yes, scrum can be used (it can fit in inside the managing product delivery stage of Prince2).

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A daily meeting to discuss status is employed by people in all kinds of contexts and project management environments because it is generally very useful to avoid things like you mention above (and lots of other things).

What I know about Prince2 is that it is absurdly adaptable and can accommodate more or less anything. So it can probably also house a daily meeting.

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