Free template
A free PID template in Word in the PRINCE2 style, plus a one page project brief for the earlier start up stage.
By Christopher Fagan, Managing Partner, PEF Consulting Partners
A note before you start
A PID should be the document the project is managed against, not a binder written to get through a gate. Write the business case, approach and controls in plain English, keep it proportionate to the size of the project, and update it at each stage boundary so it stays true.
Christopher Fagan, Managing Partner, PEF Consulting Partners
Use the project brief at the start to decide whether the work is worth initiating. Once it is approved, expand it into the PID: the business case, scope, approach, organisation, plan, controls and how quality, risk, change and communication will be handled. Keep each section short and point to the detailed documents, such as the RAID log and the plan, rather than repeating them.
[Organisation name] | Version 0.1 | [Date] | Owner: [Name, role]
One page, used to decide whether to initiate the project.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Background | |
| Objectives | |
| Outline business case | |
| Scope and exclusions | |
| Constraints and assumptions | |
| Approach | |
| Who is needed |
[Why the project exists and the outcomes it must achieve.]
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Benefits | |
| Costs | |
| Timescale | |
| Investment appraisal | |
| Major risks |
| Deliverable | Quality criteria | Owner |
|---|---|---|
[How the work will be delivered: in house or by a supplier, phases, method and tools.]
| Role | Name | Responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Executive (sponsor) | ||
| Senior user | ||
| Senior supplier | ||
| Project manager | ||
| Project assurance | ||
| Project support |
| Stage | Start | End | Key deliverables | Gate decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Control | Arrangement |
|---|---|
| Tolerances | |
| Reporting | |
| Stage gates | |
| Change control | |
| Risk and issue management |
| Name | Role | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
Template by PEF Consulting Partners, pefconsultingpartners.co.uk. Free to use and adapt.
Related reading: the project charter template, the business case template, the project plan template, the RAID log template.
The PRINCE2 name for the document that defines a project before delivery starts: its business case, scope, approach, organisation, plan and controls. The project is then managed against it.
The brief is a short document used at start up to decide whether a project is worth initiating. The PID is the fuller version written during initiation once that decision has been made.
A charter is a short authorisation signed by the sponsor. A PID covers the same ground in more depth and adds the plan and controls. Many organisations use a charter for small projects and a PID for larger ones.
No. The structure works for any method, including agile delivery, as long as it stays proportionate and is kept up to date.
A PID that nobody has opened since the gate review is a warning sign. If yours no longer matches what the project is doing, that is the moment to reset it.