In the software development world, there is a distinction between Program and Project Managers.
What I have found is that program managers have expertise in "programming", that they come from the ranks of developers and into management.
My company went dot bomb in early Nov., and with 5 years of web development project management experience (8 yrs PM total), I am seen by some companies here in the Seattle area as too qualified for a project manager position but underqualified for a program manager position.
Any suggestions as to how to ramp up technically in a short amount of time or suggested counter-arguements for the next time I face the "a little light on the technical side" comment are greatly appreciated. The Standish Group's 5 needs of a pm will help. :-) Saving Changes...
I was recently the programme manager for a group of 225 projects in 30+ countries, working from London UK.
The programme manager’s role is to champion the strategic direction of the programme and keep it on course.
The definition and development of standards and processes is the mechanics of the programme office function, lead by the programme manager.
The programme manager’s techniques should really be seen as the opposite of those used by a project manager, because s/he has no direct line authority over resources, has to facilitate and negotiate at the strategic level, and manage uncertainty.
The way in which the programme manager goes about managing the programme should be tailored to the organisational context. This may require completely different management styles, depending upon the organisation.
I think there is a good consensus on the role of the PMO, and very little shared understanding of just what the programme manager does and how :-)
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Anonymous
The various contributions to this discussion confirm the general confusion about program management vs project management. Terminology varies from company to company and also between countries. There seems to be strong consensus that project managers manage one or multiple projects that have significant uniqueness, risks, innovation and which may have little relationship between each other. These may be called a portfolio of projects. Program managers on the other hand manage multiple closely related projects each having a low level of uniqueness, risk, innovation (such as infrastructure rollout). However, programmes are sometimes very large budget and program managers may delegate their projects to project managers for implementation. A program of projects is often defined by its common source of funding, this is a business level distinction and has little relevance to the subject of project management. In this scenario program management is a function of the organisation rather than a distinct profession.
What we need to be mindful of here is that there are various competency levels between project managers so that there are senior project managers able to manage multiple unrelated high risk projects (or alternatively a program of projects) and their are basic level project managers who may manage low level projects, possibly within a progam environment. PMBoK does not attempt to differentiate competencies but clearly is about classic concepts of project management.
To make sense of this topic we need to focus more on the spectrum of competency levels of project management rather than semantics between project management and progam management. We also need to look at the compexity of the projects, some companies have implemented tools that evaluate and classify projects against various complexity criteria. Their needs to be much more attention to ensuring that the competence of the project manager is appropriate for the complexity of the project. Saving Changes...
Frank WintersPhotographer and ConservationistSandwich, Ma, United States
The definition that seems to work for most people is that Program Management is a management framework that is applied to business initiatives. Project Management is both an older and richer practice than Program Management -- evidence of this is PMI and PMBOK, for example -- and it focuses on the completion of discrete, well defined tasks that are generally one step within a Program. This is simple and clear and seems helpful to many of the people I speak to.
Regards to all and Happy Thanksgiving! Frank Winters Saving Changes...
Anonymous
I find this whole structure very incomprehensible. It is no wonder that software companies are having a heck of a time in the current economy. What happened to the older structure of an Engineering Director that oversaw Engineering Managers that managed strong project leads? 3 levels period. I just came from a company that tried to adopt the PM/PM structure and it was horrendous. A strong engineering manager will have experience (or give them training) to be able to handle the project management aspect of their job as well as work at the Program Management level. The Director is focused even more at what seems to be the common definition of Sr. Program Management. When you divide the position up between this many people, you get too many chiefs and not enough doers. (as opposed to dewers - the scotch). To be flexible in this marketplace, you have to provide authority at the appropriate levels. The leadership needs a sufficient technical background as well to facilitate the decision making process. Don't split what used to be a 1 person job into 3 people. Saving Changes...
I agree that Program Managers, such as myself, are strategic and responsible to oversee a group of projects designed to meet a program's goal, and that Project Managers are tactical and responsible for one unique project. So, what I want to ask, is what is the relative difference in level and salary? As I am shouldering A LOT of responsibility, I want to know if I am being competitively compensated as compared to our project managers. I expect not, as my job was created out of need, but with no experience on the part of the organization with this type of role. If someone can point me in the right direction to find this sort of information, I would greatly appreciate it. Saving Changes...
i would look at a program in terms of multiple projects, many differing deliverables, and so on. while a project would form - in this context - a miniscule set of tasks.
with this in mind, i see a program manager's responsibilities extending to overseeing a lot of projects, and at the same time, supervising the work of many project managers. Saving Changes...
I head the Program Management Office for a company in the US. I too graduated from Project Management as most here have, and got myself PMP certified.
The major difference, as I see it, is not only the fact that the Program Management Office manages the Project Managers, who focus on actual Projects on hand. I am also responsible for laying out the Project Development Methodology, Documentation Standards and process guidelines and have to ensure that the Project Managers follow them. I am responsible for resolving issues and risks that Project Managers might face in their projects. Typically a Program Management Office must have the ear of the very top management. In our organization, I am a part of the CEO's organization and hence can get issues resolved quickly so as to keep projects on track.
Thus the Program Management Office is more high level, has higher overall responsibility and clout than a Project Manager. Saving Changes...
I have a slightly different take on Program Management. I see it as a level up from Project Management. Large scale programs usually consist of multiple projects. As such, the program manager is more concerned with logistics, financial management, sponsor relations, management of iterations/multi-generation product plans and distribution of resources. More strategy than tactics although both project and program managers are involved in each. Saving Changes...
A program consists of a series of related projects. The role of the program manager is to focus on the big picture where a project manager focuses on the completion of one of the defined contributing projects. A program can span many years, say transforming the IT department from mainframe to client-server, which can take a large number of projects (unique, time-limited initiatives) to get implemented. A program is a larger strategic initiative, whereas a project is a tactical effort that brings a program forward towards its eventual implementation. I would expect a program manager to have more of a business focus and to deal with changes caused by the competitive environment, whereas the project manager wants to contain the change in order to protect the timely delivery of a building block project. Overlapping, but not the same set of skills and priorities. Saving Changes...
Anonymous
To get back to the thread from Seattle, you can see that Program Mgmt has a much different meaning beyond Puget Sound and the Bay area. In those two locations the role of Program Manager is almost a business analyst...the voice of the user that creates the detailed business rqmts to be included in a software product. This person works very closely with the dev team and is responsible for ensuring that the approved detailed requirements are in the finished product.
The Project Manager maintains the schedule for the (take your pick) development schedule or release cycle. They may also be responsible for balancing priorities in order to fix customer issues while maintaining the development schedule.
The Product Manager creates the vision for the product, the roadmap for where it will go, and builds the business case for what is included in each release. This has a focus on industry trends, competition, customer focus groups, and results in a marketing requirements document. This document is provided to the program manager and they work as a team to ensure that the detailed requirements meet the marketing requirements (and that scope hasn't expanded tooo much).
There may be a Product Mktg Mgr that is outward focused and creates all of the collateral (brochure, web content) to support the product in the marketplace. This person will provide booth support at trade shows. In many cases these duties will also be handled by the Product Manager.
As you can see there is a lot of confusion out there. When discussing roles it is important to recognize if you are talking with a software product shop or a large company IT group. It shouldn't make a difference but it does. Saving Changes...
