Thanks to all who contributed to our discussion in Phoenix. I hope to continue our discussions here. Some of the take-aways were:
1. Data needed for decision-making has to be timely, but should also not require too much effort or cost to obtain. For example, weigh the cost vs benefit of getting up-to-the minute data, versus getting data from last reporting period which may be "good enough."
2. Program manager should not have to know every detail about the projects as if they are the project manager. If as the Program manager you micro-manage the projects, you will not be able to hold the project managers accountable for their responsibilities.
3. Follow on from the last point, the data that Program Managers require should be at summarized at a higher level than the data that Project Managers see. Remember the GoogleMaps example that showed the Project Managers need to see how the neighborhood streets are connected, but the Program Managers need to see how the cities are connected. Too much of the "streets" view would clutter up the city view for the Program Manager so that it may not be clear how the cities are connected by key highways (think project dependencies).
4. The points above apply to IT programs as well as huge mega projects.
What do you think? Please feel free to start a new thread or create a new question!
Until next time,
Kristy Tan Neckowicz Saving Changes...
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Stephen MayeSenior Vice PresidentVa, United States
Kristy, you did a great job at the Global Congress. Thank you for "bringing the goods...!"
This is an incredibly rich (and important) topic when you consider the myriad decisions and types of decisions made over the life of a large project or program.
Personally, I am interested in the latest thinking and experiences from this community regarding what data/information you are bringing to senior level Steering Committees and executive-level sponsors. I have a set of principles and a range of practices that I typically recommend, but very interested to hear what others are doing... Saving Changes...
A nicely written script. I would like to comment of second point, program manager need not micro-manage his projects and let the project managers do their job. Program Manager is there only for program level planning and for remaining available to project managers as their sponsor. Saving Changes...
