Key Challenges in Program Management

In a recent seminar I held for project managers, I was surprised at the questions I was getting from what I thought was a novice audience. I tried underplaying the context, promising to answer in more detail at a later engagement but the participants really seemed hungry to understand the bigger issues behind project management. I sensed a distinct hum of mindsets elevating their threshold of consciousness the moment I mentioned program management.

I remember a few years back, it was delivery managers who played the role of managing project managers and since the emphasis then was on delivery and quality, this arrangement perhaps worked. Today the scenario is moving towards business value management and that’s the new space where program management is addressing its solutions.

I believe that in order to facilitate the entry of next generation of program managers, there is a need for a formal development of programmatic interventions. It’s worth mentioning here the PMBOK is of limited use when it comes to program management. Since the former is centered more on single projects and their execution, program managers do not find in it much value for expressing the comparative business value of multiple projects. This is why in 2006 PMI has published The Standard for Program Management, a separate resource for program managers whose ultimate aim is the alignment of multiple projects to organizational goals.

Let’s try to understand some of the most challenging issues that are faced by program managers today. Here are the key areas of conflict that stood out for program managers I recently interacted with:

Information management: Managing multiple streams of data to consistently generate meaningful information is a big challenge while monitoring diverse project priorities. Common reporting formats such as templates and forms are often altered beyond recognition during implementation, rendering essential data unreadable and open to misinterpretation. The key challenge for a PgMgr here is translating discrete and seemingly unrelated project data from traditional sources (such as scheduling, budgeting and effort status) into meaningful business information for stakeholders.

Stakeholder management: Program managers are always found chasing updates for various stakeholders. Different stakeholders may have conflicting expectations from the same projects. The key challenge here is to align these multiplying demands to commonly shared criteria for success. Moreover, PgMgrs need to have the instincts for identifying implicit expectations and voicing silent demands while interviewing stakeholders.

Establishing Authority: PgMrgs are expected to bring order and clarity to chaotic scenarios. This does not mean they can act as lords of the realm. Instead program managers mostly work behind the scene and cannot afford to be seen as intervening in day-to-day execution of projects. The challenge here is establishing authority without being seen as a menace. It’s about leaving the day to day project dilemmas to project managers while maintaining a light but supportive influence on project decisions.

Performance Reporting: Unlike project managers monitoring the progress of single projects, program managers need to submit reports that review the entire program’s performance while identifying strategic issues affecting the program. Accurate, frequent and visible program performance reporting clearly provides value to the organization. This particular kind of reporting addresses a variety of audiences and requires multiple views to satisfy various stakeholder expectations. The challenge that the PgMgr faces in this complex activity is that the scope of services keeps changing and new stakeholders enter the project scenario; so the program manager has to constantly update metrics that are specific to emerging areas of interest.

-