When Program Management Makes Sense

Irfan Shariff is an expert project manager with a passion for delivering exceptional results for his clients. He is passionate about driving the utilization of project management in its entirety in organizations so that they can repeatedly deliver exceptional value to their stakeholders in the most effective and efficient way. He can be reached at [email protected].

  Program Management  

As project management practitioners, we are aware (and articles in the January 2015 issue have confirmed) that organizations have some way to go in their awareness and ability to organize work as programs.

So the onus is on us to help them (when it makes the most sense) to organize work as programs and realize the benefits of program management. In the process, we step up our game as practitioners by not trying to force a square peg of work into the round hole of project management, which seems to be the default unit for execution of work at most organizations.

While it is a tribute to both us as practitioners and PMI as the global industry leader for successfully making managing by projects pervasive within organizations, the downside is that we have become the unwitting victims of the adage that if the only tool in our (as well as the organization’s) kit is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Consequently, the reflexive reaction--both individually and organizationally--is to divvy up work as projects, irrespective of whether it makes sense or not. Although this may not result in immediate and dramatic failure (you can still hammer a screw in, although a screwdriver would be a better tool for the job), it wastes organizational resources while driving our stress levels to new highs as we valiantly (but futilely) attempt to hammer the screw in.

While…

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