A Winning Programme Manager

Program management is a critical success factor in transformation. But despite the best of intentions, hard work and a desire to succeed, many people assigned to manage and lead programs are simply not up to the task. And a good programme manager will be.

Able to identify the shortcomings in a.

Program and predict the consequences long before they unfold. Some people are great at managing projects or an operational part of the business, but managing a program of work is another ball game. Let's face it, being a top tennis player doesn't make you a top squash player.

My name is Rob Lee Welling and as you know, companies need people with the right capabilities to manage and lead transformation. As you know, orchestrating successful transformation isn't that easy. And I mean innovative transformation which creates a new future without the constraints of the past. Which is why I hope that what I share in this episode will help you get better equipped to perform at your best as a manager, leader or consultant. If you want to learn more, go to studythrive.com Programme management involves the coordinated organization, direction and implementation of projects and transformation activities to deliver outcomes and benefits relating to an organization's strategic objectives. But for years program management has been confused with project management, and the terms have been used both flippantly and interchangeably, which hasn't helped recruiters and hiring managers identify the right people to manage programs. The confusion among hiring managers and leaders about the difference between project management and program management often results in companies hiring the wrong people because they simply don't understand the difference between the two roles. Even the internal appointment of a trusted and experienced member of staff often results in them being given the role for the wrong reasons. While some might think the individual deserves the role if they're inexperienced at running programs, the writing is often on the wall before the program even gets off the ground. Back in 2005, the digital media Initiative was created to prepare the BBC for the on demand digital world that was beginning to appear back then. It was a complex business transformation program aimed at transforming the way in which the BBC makes content for its audiences. The program was intended to deliver a data management system including a structured format for data and a catalog database that listed all the archived projects and content. A digital archive to store all new BBC content, production tools and common enterprise services. But the program was eventually cancelled with an asset write down of £100 million and PwC was engaged to review the 100 million pound disaster. They revealed that the shortcomings of the initiative were far from technical. The program governance structure wasn't effective, corporate governance bodies weren't Given a clear view of status, the focus and priorities were on technology build and not sufficiently on enabling change. The business case wasn't periodically reviewed, the lack of an integrated assurance plan reduced the effectiveness of governance in managing risk and key lessons to be learned were broken down into six areas which are program and corporate governance, specifically the programme governance structure, the role of the design authority, the role of corporate governance and programme reporting programme lifecycle management, which included agreeing on a common approach in programme planning and planning, plan management, risk and issue management, program assurance planning, financial management, specifically business case definition and approval and financial management and benefits management and tracking. Now, aside from the BBC's irresponsible loss of £100 million worth of British taxpayers money, this kind of story is widespread, often on a smaller scale, but sometimes even on a larger scale. Even when well known consulting and integration firms are engaged to help companies through the process of program delivery, success is far from guaranteed and I've seen my fair share of big brand consulting firms lead their clients programs into a very dark place which can cost considerable time, money and lost opportunity if things aren't turned around quickly enough. One of the problems is due to the common misconception that program management is essentially project based and that program management is an extension of project management. It's not unusual to see project managers entrusted with major programs eventually steer those programs into trouble, and most legitimate program managers will be able to identify the shortcomings in a program and predict what the consequences will be. Despite the best of intentions, hard work and the desire to succeed, many of the project managers that lead programs into trouble are simply not up to the task. They might be great at managing projects or even an operational part of the business, but managing a program of work is another ball game. Let's face it, being a top tennis player doesn't make you a top squash player. Organizations often assign a member of their workforce who has some bandwidth, project and operational expertise, or a promotional promise to the role of program manager. Others engage a consultant that has strong technical or functional expertise but a weak combination of the skills, attributes and capabilities required to be a good programme manager. While programs and projects are both temporary organizations which aim to achieve benefits for sponsors, they have important differences. Program management doesn't replace the need for good project management and vice versa. The two roles complement one another, but they don't replace one another. The skills, knowledge and instincts that served project managers well in achieving project objectives are often inadequate when it comes to achieving programme outcomes. Many project managers simply aren't prepared to deal with the conflicting priorities a mixed bag of stakeholders, company politics and culture. In his paper titled Using Prince 2 and MSP Together, Andy Murray pointed out that the management focus for projects is on detailed specifications of how and the control of activities to produce products, whereas the management focus for programs is on high level specification of why and what, stakeholder management, benefit realization, dependency management, transition management, change acceptance and integration with corporate strategies. Let me run through the primary activities the program manager needs to perform. Program planning and governance involves integrating plans into a joined up, overarching program plan and then managing it. It also requires the establishment of governance policies, standards and structures. This will then contribute to producing a program management roadmap and plan that are kept up to date, governance, organization charts, roles and responsibilities and an escalation process. Program Integration Management involves the coordination and integration of the projects and other key activities within the program. It also involves establishing the support structure for the program which consists of program frameworks, a program management office, resources and tools. These activities need to produce integrated program plans, a program management framework, PMO structure, roles and responsibilities and a plan to start the PMO programme. Scope management involves high level scoping and benefits analysis and agreeing both with all stakeholders. Scope and benefits need to be managed carefully throughout the initiative and this can contribute to the creation of the programme charter. Programme time and cost management is about planning timeframes and budgets which need to be monitored on an ongoing basis and reported upwards. Some of the artifacts from doing this will be capacity plans, control procedures, actuals and forecasts and burn rate charts. Programme Quality management involves embedding a quality management environment to establish quality requirements across the entire program including all projects and other activities and ensuring quality measures are met. This includes quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement, all of which need to be documented. Programme Human resource management is about ensuring the right people will be in the right place at the right time. Balancing available resources, skills and capabilities that are required to meet the needs of the plan is often a challenge as is managing both the well being and performance of the people involved. Resource plans with capacity planning, feedback reports, KPIs, team events and good communication are all important here. Program Procurement management involves evaluating the need for additional skills and capacity and selecting the right suppliers to help meet the needs of the program. This should include evaluating the potential to offshore or outsource work and negotiating supplier contracts. Program reporting involves reporting an appropriate level of program performance and audit results, risks and issues. This essentially provides senior management with the data they need to make informed decisions and take appropriate actions to safeguard the well being of the program. Change requests Risk and issue registers and program performance reports are all part of that program. Risk management is about developing and implementing a robust and effective approach to the management of risk so that the risk exposure is balanced. This needs to accommodate program level risks, risks which are escalated or aggregated from projects and other programs, and strategic risks. It's worth knowing that just as there's a difference between program management and project management, so program risk management is different. Different from project risk management. Benefits management is the identification, definition, planning, tracking and realization of business benefits. Let's face it, delivering benefits is the reason most programs are launched. The irony is that the anticipated benefits are often made very clear in a business case, but then nothing is done to manage those benefits throughout the program, whether they're tangible or intangible. A proper benefits management process needs to be adopted so that business benefits can be a key driver of program decisions. Stakeholder management involves the identification, analysis, planning and implementation of activities designed to engage with stakeholders. While that process is important, even more important is the program manager's ability to engage well with stakeholders and be politically astute. These stakeholders are made up of many different characters, some easy, some difficult to work with, which makes stakeholder management one of the most challenging aspects of of programme management. And this is where a lot of program managers fall down, particularly when stakeholders have a big influence over the success or failure of the program. The next time you need to appoint someone to manage a high value program of work, consider the capabilities required to manage the program as opposed to the skills required to deliver a project. Now, 10 questions that a good program manager should be asking are what methodologies are we using at the transformation program and project levels? How are we ensuring delegation to to third party suppliers and optimizing our spend? How are we tracking progress and informing our various groups of stakeholders? How are we tracking time and costs and ensuring we're sticking to the budget? How does the schedule and resource list look and how are they working together? How are we coordinating projects and programs and ensuring they're aligned? What are the objectives and scope of each of the projects and programs? How are we ensuring we adopt best practices in terms of quality? How are we ensuring that we have the right people in the right place at the right time? And who has assessed the health of the program? And keep in mind that technical or business expertise isn't what will determine the success of a programme manager. The ability to understand technology or a business function doesn't equal the ability to manage a complex program of work. While specific business and technology expertise can come in very handy if the person you appoint lacks programmer experience, chaos and confusion is an almost inevitable consequence you'll have to contend with several months down the line. Remember the mistakes that the BBC and thousands of others have already made when it comes to program management and learn from them. It's free. I appreciate you listening, and here's a quote to finish off the day from Peter Drucker Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things. What will you do to ensure your programme managers are doing things right? If you want to take your transformation capabilities and credentials to the next level, go to studythrive.com.