PRINCE2 7 Foundation · Study lesson 07
Explain your tailoring decisions
Adapt the controls while preserving their purpose.
9 minute study lesson · Principles · Original learning material
What you will understand
- Explain tailoring in relation to project context and principles.
- Distinguish a management responsibility from its document format.
- Recognise tailoring that weakens necessary authority or evidence.
The idea
A method should help a team make sound decisions, not reward the production of identical paperwork. Tailor to suit the project asks the team to choose management arrangements appropriate to its circumstances. The test is whether the arrangement still serves its purpose: can the right person make an informed decision, and can others understand what has been agreed and what happens next?
Tailoring considers the project’s scale, complexity, importance, uncertainty, capability and operating environment. Organisational standards, commercial relationships and delivery methods also matter. A one-week internal change may use brief records and direct conversations. A project involving several suppliers and safety-critical products may need formal interfaces and stronger evidence. Budget alone is too narrow a guide to the necessary level of control.
All seven principles remain relevant when tailoring PRINCE2. A team cannot remove continued justification or accept unclear accountability and call the omission tailoring. Instead, decide how each purpose will be achieved proportionately. A short investment note can support justification if it contains the necessary reasoning; a lengthy document cannot compensate for the absence of credible benefits or an authorised decision.
Distinguish information from its container. A plan, risk record or management approach may be represented in an appropriate digital tool, a combined document or another accessible form. Combining records does not combine every accountability, and renaming a role does not change the authority it must carry. People still need to find the current information and recognise which version was agreed.
Tailoring should make relationships with specialist delivery clear. A team’s board may use its task system for routine updates while preserving formal decisions about investment and exceptions. An iterative delivery team can refine product detail through feedback within agreed boundaries. This does not give it unlimited permission to change a baseline, bypass quality checks or spend outside delegated authority.
Record significant tailoring decisions, why they fit and who agrees them. Confirm that contributors understand the resulting responsibilities and interfaces. Review the arrangement when context changes: adding an overseas supplier or handling sensitive data may introduce needs that were absent at the start. Good tailoring reduces wasted effort while retaining the evidence and controls that protect the project’s objectives.
Tailor the method deliberately
| Keep clear | Adapt to context |
|---|---|
| Principles and accountability | The amount of detail and the form of records. |
| Agreed decision authority | The meeting frequency and reporting channel. |
| Evidence of product quality | The suitable quality-checking method. |
| A recorded management approach | Names and tools that people already understand. |
An original fictional example
A food cooperative creates a collection locker
A small cooperative plans a collection locker for members. It has one technical supplier and a limited budget. The team proposes one shared workspace for the plan, risks, decisions and quality evidence instead of several separate files. The locker will still hold personal collection details.
The decision
Use the combined workspace, with named owners, clear approval states and access controls. Keep explicit business justification, acceptance criteria and escalation boundaries. Include proportionate arrangements for protecting and eventually deleting personal data.
Why it makes sense
Combining containers can simplify administration. It does not remove accountability or the need to address a meaningful privacy risk simply because the project is small.
A common confusion
The mistaken idea: Tailoring means selecting only the principles that seem convenient.
The distinction: Adapt how the method is applied while preserving the principles and necessary management purposes.
Change the form; explain the fit; preserve the purpose.
Points to remember
- Tailoring is an active, justified decision about application.
- Small projects can have significant risks or complex relationships.
- A shared tool can hold several kinds of management information without erasing their different purposes.
Your takeaway
Choose proportionate controls and explain why they work in this context. Simpler arrangements are useful when responsibility, evidence, access and authority stay clear.
This independently written explanation is supplementary study material. It is not official examination content. Read about our content and its limitations.