CMPS: Program Mgt

CPMS specialises in management processes, tools and techniques that allow organisations to successfully & efficiently manage portfolios of programs and projects.

Programs Realise Strategic Business Visions
Most organisations use project management in a tactical way to achieve their myriad of cross functional objectives.

However, when used in concert with one another projects become a far more powerful way to achieve strategic corporate visions.

Program Management is the next layer above project management and can be used to not only govern and focus multiple projects on the one goal, but also to achieve synergies between similar projects.

Program Management
Organisations that use multiple projects to accomplish strategic visions face the difficulty of measuring their progress against fuzzy goals.

Despite this, organisations need to have the ability to constantly measure the effectiveness of each programs’ chosen set of projects against a stated strategic vision. Methods of measurement used for individual project performance assessment are not enough because ‘strategic visions’ are fuzzy by nature and thus difficult to baseline-plan against in a meaningful way.

This emphasis on soft skills and know-how means that cross-learning and sharing of knowledge across an organisation is vital to the success of program management endeavours.

A long duration ‘slow-burning’ project – such as a social reform or healthcare program. Such endeavours fall somewhere between operations management and project management.

A collection of projects, completed either in series or parallel that are aimed at realizing some strategic vision.

A collection of similar projects with different objectives.

Program management differs from project management because the goals of a program aren’t necessarily defined explicitly as they are with projects.

Moreover the fuzzy goals of programs may change in nature or priority throughout the life of the program.

While linear planning & execution may be the classical management approach, programs iterate their planning and execution in a non-linear way that more closely resembles the creative process.

Just like art, the exact result of a program may not be fully defined until the program is complete. Constant evaluation is needed to keep programs on track, but measuring progress against a meaningful baseline may not be possible so the skills of a program manager are key, hence cross-learning and knowledge sharing is critical between projects.