Program Management

• Program management is an organizational function that oversees a group of individual projects linked together through a shared organizational goal or common areas of impact. This programmatic grouping of multiple projects provides coordination, consistent management, and greater visibility to stakeholders than projects managed individually.

Key Functions of Program Management

• Program Management is a strategic oversight function responsible for the consistent delivery of large scale initiatives. Programs consist of a number of separate projects, which are usually managed separately by project managers. Program managers must maintain a strategic plan and schedule for their programs, inform and advise stakeholders, review the status and progress of each project, advise project managers, and maintain the quality of each project plan and its deliverables. Program managers take a holistic view of these projects and employ systems thinking to assess the larger context of organizational impact combined with interdependencies.
• Smaller companies may see this as a luxury, but for larger organizations, program management often provides the necessary value by coordinating individual projects while applying a strategic lens. Project managers are primarily concerned with their deliverables, while program managers always apply the big picture lens and context to each situation.
• Another advantage is the consistent level of governance and application of standards across multiple projects. With a single point of oversight, project statuses can be easily summarized for a global view; This allows the baseline quality requirements to be applied uniformly and uniformly.
• Program management is also sometimes where overall budget management occurs. This ensures that funding is allocated appropriately across the entire array of active and planned projects rather than waiting for each project to fund.
• program management adds significant value whenever an organization undertakes large strategic initiatives that require cross-functional collaboration with external dependencies. Any transformational activity – be it business, agile or digital – given the size and scope is nearly impossible to execute without a program management-based approach.

Does Program Management fit within an Organization

• Many organizations establish a formal program management office (PMO) that serves as the centralized home for strategic project management. This office not only assigns program managers to provide oversight, but also houses templates, best practices, and standard operating procedures. This process brings the same level of quality to every project in the organization rather than leaving individual project managers to pick and choose for themselves, resulting in wide inconsistencies in quality and performance.
• Individual project managers can work with program management in different ways. In some cases, project managers work for program managers and are assigned to different initiatives based on their areas of expertise and experience. In other cases, project managers are embedded within different functional areas or lines of business in the company. In these situations there may be dotted-line reporting to program managers, or they may use less formal oversight and information exchange to coordinate activities.
• Regardless of organizational structure, project managers are expected to provide regular status updates to program management and to heed their advice while respecting overall program priorities. Program managers can then synthesize the various projects under their purview and assess how the broader program is progressing and provide stakeholders with a macro/strategic view compared to the micro/strategic scope of the project managers.

Effective Program Management

In order for program managers to be successful, they need a wide range of skills that they can utilize. This includes first and foremost practical communication skills given the vital nature of the programs they oversee due to their wide-ranging responsibilities and high-level visibility.

There are three distinct types of communication: status reporting, direction setting, and problem solving:

Status reporting

• Status reporting requires substantial written, verbal and organizational communication skills. They must deliver comprehensive yet efficient status updates to a wide audience in multiple formats with the appropriate level of detail for each person.

Direction setting

• Direction setting is essential to inform and shape the scope and schedule of individual projects (and project managers) rolled up under their programmed. Objectives and deadlines must be clear, and program managers must be willing to ask hard, demanding questions to determine how projects are progressing.

Solve the problem

• Problem-solving for program managers comes into play constantly. When obstacles, challenges, and resistance arise (which often do in the life of a program), they must be willing to dive into the details and develop action plans to avoid jeopardizing the program.

A difficult aspect of the role is that program managers must demonstrate their authority over projects related to their programs. Few people are responsible for the key deliverables that report to them. They must establish themselves as day-to-day representatives for senior leaders and the executive sponsor of the initiative.

Features Good Program Management

Consensus building

• Create alignment across multiple teams or even lines of business to ensure everyone is moving in the same direction and aware of their role in the grand scheme of things.

Risk Assessment

• Because program managers must identify, track, and triage risks as they arise, the need must escalate when necessary without constantly sounding the alarm and running the drama. This is a key differentiator for great program managers, rather than identifying issues and moving forward and responding to them after the fact.

Attention to detail

• Program management continuously interprets project progress and links it to budgets, timelines and strategic objectives. They are usually on the hook for making sure everything is well documented, whether they do it themselves or delegate it to others.

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