Cemig – the largest integrated company in the electrical power sector in Brazil – has been supplying millions of consumers across several municipalities with electricity and natural gas since 1952. And it’s one of the latest corporations in the country to adopt the PRINCE2 Project Management method for its managers to lead projects delivering complex IT and digital transformation.

Twenty-two Cemig staff have been trained in PRINCE2 Foundation by accredited training organization, IT Partners, with a further 100 scheduled to take the certification along with others studying for PRINCE2 Practitioner.

PeopleCert spoke to José Luiz Pereira Silva – Information Technology Specialist at Cemig and ITIL 4 Managing Professional – about the company’s adoption of PRINCE2 and how it has already started to transform project management within the organization:

PeopleCert: CEMIG already uses ITIL for IT service management. How did this give you and the company the confidence to try PRINCE2 Project Management?

Cemig: Cemig’s IT department’s successful experience with ITIL for IT service management established a solid foundation for management, standardized practices and continuous improvement. This positive experience gave us the confidence to explore and adopt PRINCE2, as both frameworks share principles of best practice, focus on governance and value delivery. ITIL’s clear and well-defined structure prepared us for the adoption of PRINCE2, ensuring a simple, consistent and well-organized approach to project management.

PeopleCert: In what types of projects did you want to improve project management performance and results?

Cemig: Our main objective was to improve the monitoring and governance of complex IT and digital transformation projects, such as implementing or updating corporate management systems, platform migration, and the implementation of new products and services. These projects require coordination, control, and adaptation to changes without compromizing compliance requirements – areas where PRINCE2 Project Management excels with its structured and flexible approach.

PeopleCert: How has PRINCE2 Project Management complemented existing PMBOK approaches?

Cemig: PRINCE2 complemented PMBOK at Cemig by providing a clear and detailed procedural method, while PMBOK offers a comprehensive guide to project management knowledge and practices. The integration of the two (the guide and the method) allowed us to align PRINCE2 processes with PMBOK knowledge areas, ensuring complete coverage from project initiation to closure, with a focus on deliverables, quality and change control.

PeopleCert: What new capabilities has PRINCE2 added to project management at CEMIG?

Cemig: PRINCE2 has brought new capabilities, such as:

•                  robust governance structure: Clear definition of roles and responsibilities.

•                  staged planning: Facilitating control and continuous adaptation of the project.

•                  product focus: Clarifying acceptance criteria and ensuring quality deliverables.

PeopleCert: What particular aspects of PRINCE2 have been particularly useful, for example, how to deal with cultural issues, improve governance, etc.?

Specific aspects of PRINCE2 that have been particularly useful include:

•                  flexibility: Adaptability to dfferent types of projects and cultural contexts within IT. Although we do not yet have widespread adoption, some projects with an agile approach are already benefiting from the flexibility of the method.

•                  accountability: Clear structure that has improved the autonomy of those involved in the project along with information recording, sharing and decision making.

•                  project log: The project log has been used as an initial source of project information and events, enriching the inputs until a specific, expected result is achieved, such as in risk management, issue identification, and decision making.

PeopleCert: Overall, what benefits has CEMIG obtained in the early stages of adopting the PRINCE2 principles, practices and processes in projects?

By adopting PRINCE2, Cemig has achieved:

•                  predictability: With a defined method, a flow is clearly established for all projects, regardless of their characteristics and complexity, helping to predict the project's progress.

•                  stakeholder satisfaction: Improved stakeholder satisfaction due to effective, formal and agile communication.

•                  transparency and control: Better control and visibility of project progress. Product orientation makes the project better defined, reducing rework and increasing the ability to deliver project outputs.

While it is still early in the shift to adopting PRINCE2 Project Management at Cemig, results to date indicate an evolving capability to meet the challenge of managing complex and transformational changes within a large organization providing critical services to the Brazilian population.