Program management support definition

There has always been confusion on the difference between Program Management and Project Management. The biggest difference is the size and scope between the two. Below is a list of the major differences. IPPD facilitates meeting cost and performance objectives from product concept through production, including field support. The PMO is the organization or group of people who are in charge of project management within an organization. They maintain the standards and sound business practices that are necessary for a company or organization to execute a project successfully.

Program managers across the organization focus on ensuring alignment to priorities and shifting as priorities change. Because projects often compete for resources in terms of people and dollars, program management must also balance those resources across projects.

Program management enables the organization to fund, prioritize, optimize resource capacity, and manage interdependencies and conflicts. Program managers are viewed as strategy execution leaders and have deep knowledge about current organizational capabilities. Program management thrives in organizations that embrace uncertainty, leveraging continuous planning as a part of their strategic roadmap and portfolio funding process.

From idea to delivery, programs are vital to successfully integrating strategy with delivery. Program management and project management might sound like similar practices, but they are very different.

Program management is common in larger, more mature enterprises mainly because the need is greater as organizations scale, and driving change requires more cross-organization coordination. Programs have a set of outcomes to achieve one or more strategic business objectives. There is often dependencies and uncertainty around the work to be done.

They cross silos, require alignment of resources, and result in change to the organization. Project management refers to the coordination and oversight of a set of tasks completed to produce a result and that result is directly aligned with the program it falls under.

Common project management tasks include defining a detailed project plan, managing a project budget, allocating and assigning resources, and generating reports indicating status against schedule and budgets.

Projects often have a defined budget, scope, and timeframe to be completed. Projects also have metrics and goals which determine their success and failure — typically on time and on budget. The key difference between program and project management is the scope. While program management focuses on the broader strategy, continuous improvement, and benefit realization, project management focuses on the specific tasks, deadlines, and tactical execution necessary to achieve the overall program goals.

When executed properly, they are synergistic and complimentary. Many PMOs are evolving into enterprise program or project management offices EPMOs to meet the changing needs of the business, most notably, the increased focus on digital transformation.

Gartner found that EPMOs are more apt to develop innovative, high-value products or services based on customer or business needs. This requires a greater emphasis on enterprise planning, delivery and performance to respond to increased digital business demands.

The EPMO is in the ideal position to support digital transformation, serving as a central point to manage cross-company program management. Instead of groups across the company working in silos, they come together to effect a change in capabilities. Technology, products, customer service, marketing and other groups must be coordinated to ensure all are working towards the same enterprise vision through various programs.

Still, EPMOs face challenges to operationalize strategic plans. Studies consistently find that two-thirds to three-quarters of large organizations struggle to implement their strategies.

An adaptive program management approach is necessary to translate strategic vision across the enterprise to deliver outcomes that often impact or change organizational processes. Program management is an effective way to realize benefits quicker and at higher value while creating scale and bridging organizational silos.

Skills are usually acquired through training, experience, or a combination of both. Examples of skills are: communication, planning, and leadership.

Sometimes, certain attributes are needed to help in the effective utilization of skills. Such attributes could also be acquired through training and experience. However, these can be personal attributes that were embedded in us during our early stages of development.

Examples of attributes relating to these skills are: confidence, logical thinking and charisma. It is important to understand the relationship between a job, the role s involved, the responsibilities held, and the skills required to satisfy the job.

Without a clear understanding of these, it is unlikely that an efficient program management team can be put together. A program, regardless of its structure, purpose, or outcome will entail a project or a number of projects or a mix of projects and other programs.

That is to say, projects by default are present in every program and as such, certain project management roles must be present within every program. Such roles include the project manager, customer, senior user, planning coordinator, etc.

In this paper, we will concentrate on the major roles within a program that differ from those of project management; primarily, we address what is referred to as the program board by Managing Successful Programs OGC, The sponsor is the most senior member of the program organization. Often in large programs, there is more than one sponsor or sponsoring group.

The sponsor has some crucial responsibilities, some of which are often ignored to the detriment of the program. Ironically, seniority is often the reason they are ignored. By virtue of his or her position, the sponsor is a very senior member of the organization.

He or she should have a clear vision of the strategy, very strong entrepreneurial skills, high credibility in the organization, and a deep knowledge of the business. The SRO is often the sponsor or a member of the sponsoring group. He or she is appointed by the sponsors to represent them in the program organization and is ultimately responsible for foreseeing that the program meets its overall objectives.

The SRO must be empowered to make decisions on behalf of the sponsors. Just like the sponsor, the SRO is a senior member of the organization. He or she must possess strong leadership skills and be able to make critical decisions. The SRO should be able to retain focus over the strategic objectives of the program. That is, the new capability. Although knowledge of the business is important, there is more stress on his or her program management skills.

The program manager must have practical experience of having been a project manger for large and complex initiatives. The program manager must have strong practical experience in project management, which was gained through managing large and complex projects. He or she must have the following:. One of the fundamental differences between program management and project management lies in the management and realization of the benefits.

That is, the clear and measurable added value brought about by the integration and utilization of the newly delivered capability. Whereas project management deals with outputs products or deliverables , program management deals with outcomes, the final result brought about through the utilization of such outputs.

The role of the BCM is that of planning and managing the realization of the benefits through the integration of the new capability within the business practices. Where there may be more than one business area impacted by the program, a BCM for each of these areas should be appointed, one of which will act as the senior BCM.