The world of project management
is becoming all too familiar. Yes, there are still challenges and learning to
be had but when project management is discussed it is known on how to develop
and mature. As a project manager, the biggest driver is being able to deliver
under the pressures of time, cost and scope constraints and can be considered
to be a balance of project management skills, leadership skills and process
management skills.
One of the items that gains
continual attention now … is how to transition from project to program. If you
are in a PMO, you may have heard the following question, which of the project
managers is ready to take on the program of work? This is now the easiest
question to answer because first we ask ourselves, what is exactly Program
Management and what do we mean by it.
In projects, we talk about
planning, team development and process management. Whereas in programs we talk
about business delivery, team dependencies and strategic management. They are
two different sets of skills and to assume that a project manager can develop
these without guidance / structure is a lot to ask. The first step in
transitioning from project to program manager is to develop the mind-set for
program management. For example, moving from the world of project / timeline
delivery to program strategic execution.
My 10-steps or factors that are
essential is developing professionals from a project manager’s role into a
program management role are: -
1.
Think Business instead of Delivery
2.
Think Dependencies instead of Schedule
3.
Think Escalation instead of Reporting
4.
Think Strategy instead of Scope
5.
Think conflict instead of Crisis
6.
Think Governance instead of Teams
7.
Think Transition instead of Transfer
8.
Think Challenge instead of Salary
9.
Think Relaxation instead of Stress
10.
Think Program Triple Constraints (Benefit, Customer, cost)
Why are these
different from project management? To answer this question, they are all
business related and not one of them are focused on the task mindset that is
often evident in project management. This is the subject matter of the paper I will
be presenting at PMI® Global Congress 2014—North
America on the 27th October in Phoenix, AZ
