Introduction
The Why of Program Management

BACKGROUND

The world has been changing and will continue to change and fast. If we have learnt anything from that last decade's experiences, it is that change will accelerate in its scope and speed and that we best be ready to adapt and to continually build the necessary future skills so as not only to sustain our progress but also to grow and lead. Projects have and will continue to be the vehicle for change. In its simplest form, a project is an endeavor that has a beginning and an end and consumes resources toward achieving a specific and meaningful change purpose.

Programs become the connecting grouping of projects to make the best coordinated use of precious resources across the projects and toward achieve benefits (something of value to the key program stakeholders) that would otherwise be missed if we manage these projects individually. Program stakeholders are the ones with interest in the program's outcomes and in many instances have the power to influence the program's direction toward achieving its benefits. The key word here is benefit, which ultimately becomes the key to achieving value. This is what makes programs exciting. They become the closest strategic vehicle leaders have to plan and execute large and sometimes complex change efforts. Programs are in essence the natural cascade from strategic vision into the reality of achieving what matters.

Another key aspect to the background of the importance of programs is that they represent the big nuggets in each portfolio that an organization would typically have in place to execute its strategy. A portfolio is in essence the holistic bucket of programs, components thereof, projects, and other parts of the business operations. Organizing the portfolio in a way that links directly to achieving the mission and vision of the organization becomes critical. Two building blocks exist in a given portfolio. One is focused on running the business. The other is focused on changing the business.

The main focus of this textbook is on strategic business opportunities in the form of programs and other strategic projects, changing the business. The "Why" of program management is in essence the criticality of ensuring that we step beyond just achieving deliverables, which seems to be the biggest focus of projects, to what most counts, which is getting to the change results that are envisioned in the programs' choices that are designed to achieve these benefits.

The book opens the door to what I could refer to as the Program Way . It is a mindset and a way of working that is centered around finding the most fitting and simplest ways of working to handle the possible complexity with these likely major strategic business opportunities. While building on the classical project and program management tools and principles, this Program Way opens the door to multiple creative ideas for how we deliver project and program management efforts in the future. Scaling strategy execution services, for example by considering Program or Project Management Office, (PMO)-as-a-Service, will continue to be a strategic priority for organizations as they strive to achieve the most impactful mission that affect how we live, work, consume, and change societies.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

Introduction

I worked with Dr. Harold Kerzner on this introductory portion of this book as we wanted to jointly address a few of the key differences between programs and projects. From the beginning of modern project management, there has been considerable confusion concerning the relationship between projects and programs, and how they are managed. The terms have often been used interchangeably. There have been articles written on the differences (Weaver 2010). But now, partially due to the learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations are looking much more closely at the differences and whether with their limited funding, accompanied by a loss of critical resources, they should focus more on program rather than project management efforts.

The PMBOK® Guide provides the following definitions (Project Management Institute 2021)

• Project: A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
• Program: Related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities that are managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.

From a cursory position, projects focus on the creation of unique deliverables usually for a single customer or stakeholder. Programs focus on the synergistic opportunities that can be obtained from managing multiple projects to create business benefits and business value for both the organization and its customers.

There are textbooks that simply define program management as the management of multiple projects. However, there are other factors that create significant differences between projects and programs. Managing a project as if it was a program can lead to significant cost overruns and cancellation. Managing a program as if it was a project can lead to significantly less than optimal results and failure.

There are numerous factors that can be used to differentiate programs from projects. Some commonly used factors to identify the boundaries of projects and programs include:

• Type of objectives
• Type of products and services produced
• Industry type and characteristics
• Number and types of customers/stakeholders that will benefit
• Impact on business success and definition of business success
• Strategic risks
• Methodology used for implementation
• Size of the project or program
• Impact of enterprise environment factors such as the VUCA environment
• Complexity of the requirements
• Technology required and availability
• Strategic versus operational decision-making

Perhaps the greatest difference however is in the organizational behavior factors, the leadership style selected, the interaction with the team and stakeholders, and the decisions that must be made. Several of these factors are discussed in this study.

Selecting the Leader

There is a mistaken belief among many companies that the most important criteria for becoming a project or program manager is simply becoming certified through an examination process. While certification is an important factor, there are other attributes that may be considerably more important.

A vice president in an aerospace company commented that the two most important skills for a PM in his organization were a command of technology and writing skills. The command of technology had to be specifically related to the technology required to produce the project's deliverables. The assignment as a PM could be temporary, without any training, just for this project, and the PM could then return to his/her functional organization for other duties perhaps not project management related. Project management was seen as a part-time rather than a full-time career path position. Some companies hire contractors to perform work in their organizations and the contractors then take the responsibility for project management.

Program management must be owned by the organization and usually a full-time assignment. Program managers generally have more of an understanding of technology rather than a command of technology but must have excellent business skills related to customer interfacing, supply chain management, strategic planning, and interpersonal skills for team building.

Defining Success

There can be several definitions of success. Project managers focus on certainty by beginning projects with well-defined requirements and a clear understanding of exactly what deliverables must be provided for the customer. Success is then defined as providing these deliverables within the constraints of time, cost, and scope.

Program managers must often deal with high levels of uncertainty in the requirements, changing customer needs, possibly a continuous emergence of new business risks, and changes in technology. Therefore, it is difficult to measure program success in just time, cost, and scope. Program managers realize that their definition of success must be future oriented and view success in factors related to the long-term benefits and value that the program brings to the organization.

Re-engineering Efforts and Change Management

Organizational change is inevitable. Sooner or later, all companies undergo changes, some more often than others. The changes usually result from project successes and failures and can be small improvements to the organization's project management processes, forms, guidelines, checklists, and templates, or they can be major re-engineering efforts that impact the organization's business model. The changes can also affect just one project or all the projects within a program.

There must exist a valid justification for the changes. Some companies expend countless dollars on changes and yet fail to achieve the desired results related to their strategic imperatives. Lack of employee buy-in is often a major cause of concern.

Project managers seldom take the lead in implementing re-engineering efforts other than for the rare situation where the impact affects just one project. If the change impacts several projects that are not connected to a specific...