Project Management 101: Programs, the Other P

Project management is not the only buzzword out there. There is also program management. Management of this, management of that, what does this p word mean anyways?!

Program

As defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI), a program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. Key characteristics from the definition of a program: related projects,coordinated management, opportunities beyond a single project.

Think of a project and think about one or a few steps above to the bigger picture. The project is trying to achieve a unique product, service or result. But why? How does the project fit into the bigger picture? A project is a piece of the puzzle to accomplishing the business objective. Programs consist of several related projects that are working towards the same business objective. These related projects are managed by a central resource focusing on thecoordination of these projects on effect on strategy, direction, and business objective.Coordinating management of related projects allows for greater control and benefits not available to a single project i.e. economies of scale (similarities of projects within a portfolio that can be leveraged for increased efficiency), conformance to business objective, etc.

Think of each project as the content i.e. a chapter, while a program is the context i.e. the book. The cost and benefit of each project is measured to determine the impact to the overall program. Looking at the impact to the overall program rather than the individual success of one project means that within a program a project could fail, but the program as a whole could still be successful. Some examples of programs are below.

• Shopping Center: establishing each store could be individual projects, the establishment of the shopping center would be the program. Each store’s setup and opening would need to be coordinated to meet the shopping center opening. Stores would be chosen aiming to bring the highest amount of consumer traffic to the center to ensure a successful shopping center. Some stores may not meet the opening date or may go out of the business but the shopping center may still be successful.

• Talent Acquisition: there may be several ongoing efforts that would each be a project (recruitment strategy development, applicant tracking system implementation, onboarding process redesign, turnover & retention analysis, etc.), but the program would be the overall goal of talent acquisition. Across these various projects, similar expertise could be leveraged. Each of these projects could benefit the program, and the impact to the program may determine resource allocation.
• End User Services Upgrade: organizations frequently go through major initiatives to improve end user experience. The initiative i.e. End User Services Upgrade would be the program with several projects falling within the scope of the program i.e. computing equipment replacement, network upgrade, help & service desk establishment, security enhancements, etc. Coordinating these projects centrally could result in cost savings from negotiated contracts from a single vendor to provide multiple services, direction to each project in understanding its impact on the organization, removal of obstacles to the success of each project and the program, etc.

Projects and programs come in all shapes and sizes. Just remember when your organization has several ongoing related projects, grouping these projects with program management could provide great benefits!

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the blogger and are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas or the Federal Reserve System.