Program Management - What's its role in a Modern Corporation's strategy execution?
To many looking at commerce and its workings, they see no difference between "Program Management," "Project Management," and "Portfolio Management.". The net result is that confusion reigns when they use the terms loosely.
Let's put each in its rightful box to give Program Management a real and comparative perspective.
A. What is Program Management? Or "When is a Project not a Program?"
The content below will frequently refer to the EPMO (i.e., The Enterprise Program Management Office) as a guideline for those pursuing this career path. The significant issues are these:
Although it may depend on numerous similar sub-projects for success, a project has a single-minded objective to tie everything together.
Conversely, a program is a network of projects with diverse activities and goals, all directed to achieving a strategic vision.
In cases, a project may be complicated and rest on so many sub-activities that it looks like a program. Indeed, in enterprise-scale operations, projects may be substantially bigger than some SMB programs.
It's a function of the EPMO protocols to point out when a program is in play, and where more than one project influences the end-result. It throws interdependencies and cross-project relationships under the management spotlight, making the overview broader and the metrics significantly more convoluted.
Gartner explains program management as:
Starting with a strategic objective (versus a tactical one) and all the operational activities that it involves - from production, marketing, and organizational viewpoints. At that juncture, there's no doubt that a multiplicity of projects will emerge as success influencers, and thus a program is born.
Generally meaning that groups with significantly different orientations and skills have to coordinate their efforts to make the strategic vision a reality.
An activity that amounts to far more than an array of similar activities (i.e., the latter describing a single project in most cases). Leaning more toward strengthening the common thread of differentiated projects across departments.
Occurring predominantly in larger, more mature organizations versus SMB entities (where projects predominate).
What's the difference between Portfolio and Project Management?
A company can conduct several programs at the same time. When there's a compelling relationship between them, impacting a longer-term strategy, the company is likely to converge them under an additional management focus. It thereby moves into the realm of Portfolio Management - the center of strategically integrating programs. Portfolio management is to programs as program management is to projects.
B. Program Manager responsibilities
The projects driving a program forward typically have different timelines, resource requirements, employee mentality, and the degree of inter-project dependency. At the same time, lags and hiccups in one project can bring the entire program to a standstill - or at best, slow it down. Digital support varies from department to department, and technology skills even more so. Moreover, programs often rely on participants speaking the same proverbial language - a challenging obstacle in many cases.
Program managers must take all the above in their stride, aside from the ever-present constraint that a program budget stamps on its progress. Allocating funds to program projects at the outset and then shifting this around while keeping program members motivated is all in a day's work. Here are are the key constructs of an effective program manager:
Out of the gate, one who fights for the appropriate program funding.
Prioritizes project allocations.
Optimizes available resources.
Controls project interactions
Resolves conflicts quickly and seamlessly
Easier said than done. Program managers are highly competent individuals with stress-tolerance levels way off the traditional organizational charts. The company expects them to appreciate the difference between a strategy and a tactic, and accumulate a deeper understanding of the company's organizational capabilities.
Uncertainty and volatility energize program management capabilities in companies moving on a fast track, proactively making a difference. Program managers are the bridge between innovative initiatives seeded by ideas and completion to become a reality.
Finally, one way of distinguishing between project, program, and portfolio management translates into what one should not waste time on differentiating. In that respect, all three share the following:
Budget-centric monitoring
Meeting deadlines.
Cross-dependency of sub-activities.
Apportioning resources between activities.
Erasing conflicts as they arise.
Understanding that the overall objective is only as strong as the weakest sub-activity.
Creating cooperation between team members.
Identifying and maximizing human and technological resources.
Keeping everything on track and in balance, no matter how volatile things become.
The crucial differences are the scope, diversity, and complexity (SDC) of the sub-activities. In a rating from one to ten on the SDC scale, project management is average at two, project management at six, and portfolio management at nine or ten. Projects are the fundamental bottom layer of all three arenas and SDC, something that both portfolio and program managers should never lose sight of.
C. So what exactly is an Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO):
Gartner is emphatic on the thought that EPMOs closely align themselves with the demands of the digital era. They are proving adept at innovating products and services that meet customer needs:
Head-on
On-time
With exceptional customer support and after-sales service.
The EPMO clicks in with delivering benefits the way the customer wants to receive them, not the way that suits the organization providing them (if different). It can leverage the right technologies at the right time, accepted and welcomed by a diverse team of participants to achieve a coordinated strategic goal.
EPMO obstacles
It's a daunting statistic that up to 75% of enterprise-scale businesses are faltering in their program management efforts. The culprit in these situations boils down to inflexibility and inability to adapt to emerging changes. It also comes back to a cancerous impediment, namely:
The C-suite and board are not fully onside with programs, were misinformed, or not consulted in the embryo stages. Therefore, support when it's most needed staggers and brings things to a grinding halt. A program manager must tie up all these loose ends - not use them as excuses if, in the end, they undo the program.
D. Program Managers are strategy-centric in everything they do
If you're considering a career in project management, here are the skills and talents you need to harness:
The ability to have one eye on the long-term outlook (i.e., the strategy) and stay grounded in what's happening day-to-day.
Without cutting-edge technology at your fingertips, a program roadmap will escape your control. It will become impossible to read, resulting in abandonment and crisis planning (which never works). Digital education and readiness are essential program management constructs..
HR will inevitably be the make-or-break of the program. They'll "break it" if continually knocking heads, self-destructing, and doing their utmost to prove you wrong. They'll "make it" if you rally support, listen to feedback, act on team members' ideas, and quickly remove festering emotions.
When necessary, taking a tough stance is a prerequisite, as is knowing when to show empathy. The strategic impact of all that you do requires prioritizing projects, allocating more funds to priorities, and kicking the butts of obstinate laggards if push comes to shove. In short, never lose sight of the bigger picture.
It brings us to a vital skill - the ability to communicate. The more you involve your team members across the spectrum in the process, the more everything stated above will work in your favor. Encourage collaboration to get departments to communicate without you in the equation. Keep everyone apprised on targets and the strategic theme. Make each feel like an indispensable cog in a machine that will make a massive difference to company revenues and competitive standing.
The big ribbon that ties a program together - the glue that tightens operations and shortens routes to a successful conclusion - is none other than trust. If team participants trust each other and you to guide the program, smoothness will supplant the bumpy ride so many organizations experience. Trust connects closely to results and the act of measuring performance at regular intervals.
Metrics and measurability are indispensable. Again, technology is invaluable in providing meaningful metrics up, down, and across the program. A big cross-road is deciding on what you want to measure, and how often. Then, what are you going to do with the metrics once you have them in hand? We can't say enough about this aspect - it can change the course of the program, and indeed the company's strategy. After all, you can only act on what you can see and hear. Here are the metrics we believe are pivotal in any well-functioning program:
- Financial Metrics
DefIning the CAPEX, ROI, IRR, NPV, and Breakeven-Analysis is a given.
There may be others (e.g., EBITDA/ TOTAL ASSETS), and similar ratios applied to projects in their own right.
Consider all aspects of flexible budgeting and periodic revisions to keep pace with expected changes.
The anticipation of resource requirements and setting team expectations tie in closely with financial metrics.
- Operational Metrics
Operationally, programs may spotlight things like customer retention, or the opposite, customer churn. Some surveys throw light on these driving forces, which can cost businesses a fortune if they go unheeded. The customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) are modern corporate concerns widely acknowledged as ROI determinants. Studies indicate that one losing one loyal customer requires recruiting at least five new prospects to make up for the lost revenue. That's huge in anyone's language.
CEOs and business leaders appreciate that buyers look for a differentiated selling proposition:
With the internet and social media swirling around the environment, the latter are buying smarter and deriving better value in surprising places.
Competition is intense and unforgiving. Customer journey mapping - knowing which customer touchpoints are disrupting the customer's journey toward a buying action, can be invaluable.
Metrics signify where customer support, for example, is weakening the brand.
It only takes one disappointing event to deflect a prospect's attention or get a long-standing customer to switch brands.
- Strategy metrics
Knowing at the outset what an organization does well and what it struggles with can help immeasurably. Shortfalls, gaps in thinking, and biases combine to discolor interpretations of what's a success and a failure. It's also fundamental to working out the other required metrics stated above. It inevitably involves assessing risk-propensity - what the business can absorb in terms of volatility and extreme breaking points. There's no point in embarking on a program that can swing through a wide range of metrics if the C-suite cannot tolerate them. Programs seldom travel in a straight line. Knowing the detours and winding paths before it begins makes much sense.
Conclusion - if you are looking at project management, you should look for professional support.
OP Consulting Group is an expert team making waves in the program management arena. They will help you train to transition from project manager to program manager with enough ammunition to give your employer a running start. OP Consulting Group deals routinely with program management metrics, and the methodologies around adapting to change. The program management technology is a field racing along at a furious pace. Selecting the right framework requires guidance, and OP Consulting Group is up for the job. Contact them for more information and how to open up product management career opportunities.
Editor: Gordon Polovin
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