PRINCE2 7 Foundation · Study lesson 33
Agree and deliver team work
Make the interface between project management and specialist delivery dependable.
10 minute study lesson · Processes · Original learning material
What you will understand
- Describe the acceptance, execution and delivery of a work package.
- Identify the team manager’s reporting and escalation responsibilities.
- Distinguish completed specialist work from project closure or board authorisation.
The idea
Specialists need enough clarity to deliver useful products without being forced into an unsuitable technical method. Managing product delivery governs their working agreement with the project manager. It is concerned with accepting, executing and delivering work packages. This process connects project control to the people creating the specialist products and their evidence of quality.
Before accepting a work package, the team manager needs to understand what is being requested and whether the team can deliver it within the agreement. Clarify product descriptions, quality criteria, review responsibilities, resources, dependencies, tolerances and reporting arrangements. Resolve ambiguous expectations before promising completion. Acceptance is a real agreement about feasible work, not simply acknowledgement that an email or task-board card has arrived.
Plan the team’s work in appropriate detail. A separate team plan may be useful, but the arrangement should fit the context and delivery method. A supplier can use its own specialist techniques, an iterative team can organise short delivery cycles, and a small team may need only a concise plan. None of these choices removes the need for agreed products, responsibilities and a dependable interface with project management.
Execute the work using the agreed resources and quality arrangements. Products need the specified checks and approvals, with meaningful records of what was examined and the result. The team manager monitors progress against the work package, manages team-level risks and issues within authority, and keeps the project manager informed through checkpoint reporting. A team’s task completion percentage is not a substitute for evidence that the product meets its criteria.
Raise a forecast work package tolerance breach to the project manager promptly. The team manager should explain the likely effect and possible responses, but cannot enlarge the work package limits unilaterally. The project manager assesses the impact on the stage and decides what action is possible within stage authority. Only a forecast breach at that higher level necessarily requires the manager to seek a board decision.
When the work package is complete, ensure the products have the required approvals and quality information, then notify the project manager according to the agreed handover arrangements. Delivery closes that work agreement; it does not authorise the next management stage, accept the entire project product on behalf of every user or close the project. Good interfaces make these different decision levels visible while avoiding unnecessary duplicate paperwork.
Delivery is an agreement
| Team activity | Working relationship |
|---|---|
| Accept a work package | Check that the requirements and controls are understood and achievable. |
| Execute a work package | Create products, perform quality checks and report progress. |
| Deliver a work package | Return the completed products and agreed evidence. |
| Project manager and team manager | Maintain a clear interface between stage control and specialist work. |
An original fictional example
Fictional case: garden interpretation panels
A design team receives a work package for six outdoor interpretation panels. The description specifies legibility, weather resistance and a review by the garden’s education lead. The first sample looks attractive but has not undergone the agreed outdoor durability test.
The decision
The team manager arranges the required test and review, records the results and delivers the panels only when the work package completion conditions are satisfied. Any forecast delay beyond the agreed work package limit goes to the project manager.
Why it makes sense
Specialist work is complete against agreed quality and handover conditions, not because the team likes the result or has used its allocated hours.
A common confusion
The mistaken idea: A team can declare the project complete when its own work package has been delivered.
The distinction: Team delivery completes an agreed package; overall acceptance, handover and closure remain separate project decisions.
Deliver the package; do not claim the whole project’s authority.
Points to remember
- Managing product delivery focuses on accepting, executing and delivering work packages.
- Checkpoint reporting connects the team manager to the project manager.
- A forecast work package breach is raised to the project manager for assessment.
Your takeaway
A dependable delivery interface starts with a feasible agreement and ends with approved products and clear handover. Specialist freedom works alongside explicit quality, reporting and escalation responsibilities.
This independently written explanation is supplementary study material. It is not official examination content. Read about our content and its limitations.