On Program Management: Knowing What to Do...and How and When to Do It (Part 1)

Eric Norman is a skilled management consultant and leader with extensive business process design experience supporting a broad array of industries. Over the past 25 years, he has specialized in program management - mentoring, consulting and leading project, program and business process improvement efforts.

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Topics: Organizational Project Management, Program Management

In a previous article, I discussed a number of leadership and organizational competencies that must be in place to enable an organization to adopt and institutionalize adaptability, or what some would call “organizational agility.” In my own work, I attempt to embody these competencies and encourage the organizational leaders I work with and support to do the same. But I’m finding that simply internalizing these concepts is not getting the job done. The bottom line is that understanding the approach isn’t sufficient. Beyond knowing what to do, we also need to know how and when to do it.  

Decisions, Decisions
The challenge I find myself considering most often (and I suspect you struggle with as well) is this: With the vast array of guidance and reference material available at our fingertips, how do I select the most appropriate combination of tools and approach for the task at hand? Or to state this more accurately, how do I bring together the right set of tools, processes and approach that will enable me to successfully lead within the particular circumstances I am given? How do I know which approach will be most effective, which tools to use, which processes, conditions and components to focus on, which to ignore or discard? 

These are common and challenging questions, and there is a ready assortment of guidance available today that …

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