Program Management Professional (PgMP) - PMI

A program is defined as a group of related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.

Programs have ongoing operations or program activities (non-project components) in them, Programs deliver benefits

–A benefit is an outcome of actions, behaviors, products, or services

–The purpose is to provide utility to the sponsoring organization and program beneficiaries

–Projects in the program can have discrete benefits

–Some projects deliver incremental benefits before the program is complete (e.g., organization-wide process improvement program)

–Many benefits come at the end of the program and are achieved all at once (e.g., construction, aerospace and military development, public works construction, shipbuilding)

•Programs consist of related projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually. Programs are common elements of portfolios, conducted to deliver benefits important to an organization’s strategic objectives.

•Portfolio is a collection of projects, programs, subsidiary portfolios, and operations managed as a group to achieve strategic objectives.

•Projects, whether they are managed independently or as part of a program, are temporary endeavors that are undertaken to create unique products, services, or results.

Program Management Performance Domains are complementary groupings of related areas of activity or function that uniquely characterize and differentiate the activities found in one performance domain from the others within the full scope of program management work.

Program managers actively carry out work within multiple Program Management Performance Domains during all program management phases

Program Strategy Alignment is the performance domain that identifies program outputs and outcomes to provide benefits aligned with the organization’s strategic goals and objectives.

The business case may include details about the program outcomes, approved concept, issues, high-level risk and opportunity assessment, key assumptions, business and operational impact, cost benefit analysis, alternative solutions, financial analysis, intrinsic and extrinsic benefits, market demands or barriers, potential profits, social needs, environmental influences, legal implications, time to market, constraints, and the extent to which the program aligns with the organization’s strategic plan.

Following the approval of the business case, the program steering committee authorizes the program by means of the program charter. Derived from the business case, the program charter is a document that assigns and authorizes a program manager and defines the scope and purpose of a proposed program presented to governance to obtain approval, funding, and authorization.

The program roadmap is a chronological representation of a program’s intended direction, graphically depicting dependencies between major milestones and decision points, which reflects the linkage between the business strategy and the program work.

There are often internal or external influences to the program that have a significant impact on a program’s success. Influences from outside the program may be internal to the larger organization, or may come from sources external to the organization.

Program managers should identify these influences and take them into account when managing the program in order to ensure ongoing stakeholder alignment, the program’s continued alignment with the organization’s strategic goals and objectives, and overall program success.

Program Benefits Management is the performance domain that defines, creates, maximizes, and delivers the benefits provided by the program.

The purpose of Program Benefits Management is to focus program stakeholders (program sponsors, program manager, project managers, program team, program steering committee, and others) on the outcomes and benefits to be provided by the various activities conducted during the program’s duration.

Purpose of Benefits Delivery:

Ensure that the program delivers the expected benefits, as defined in the benefits management plan. As the program is implemented, risks affecting benefits may be realized, may need to be updated, or may become obsolete; additionally, new risks and updated ones should be included in the benefits register with the associated benefits

Program Stakeholder Engagement is the performance domain that identifies and analyzes stakeholder needs and manages expectations and communications to foster stakeholder support.

A stakeholder is an individual, group, or organization that may affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision, activity, or outcome of a project, program, or portfolio.

•Stakeholder engagement is a continuous program activity because the list of stakeholders and their attitudes and opinions change as the program progresses and delivers benefits. One of the primary roles of the program manager throughout the duration of the program is to ensure all stakeholders are adequately and appropriately engaged.

Governance is an enabler of good portfolio, program, and project management and also an important element for successful portfolios, programs, and projects. Governance typically focuses on who makes the decisions (decision rights and authority structures), how the decisions are made (processes/procedures), and collaboration enablers (trust, flexibility, and behavioral controls), thereby defining the governance framework within which decisions are made and decision makers are held accountable.

Program Governance is the performance domain that enables and performs program decision making, establishes practices to support the program, and maintains program oversight.

Program Governance comprises the framework, functions, and processes by which a program is monitored, managed, and supported in order to meet organizational strategic and operational goals.

• Program sponsor. An individual or a group that provides resources and support for the program and is accountable for enabling success.

  
  

• Program steering committee. A group of participants representing various program-related interests with the purpose of supporting the program under its authority by providing guidance, endorsements, and approvals through the governance practices. Members are typically executives from organizational groups that support the program’s components and operations.

  
  

• Program management office (PMO). A management structure that standardizes the program-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques.

  
  

• Program manager. The individual within an agency, organization, or corporation who maintains responsibility for the leadership, conduct, and performance of a program. In the context of governance, this role interfaces with the program steering committee and sponsor and manages the program to ensure delivery of the intended benefits.

  
  

• Project manager. The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving project objectives. In the context of governance, this role interfaces with the program manager and program sponsor and manages the delivery of the project’s product, service, or result.

  
  

• Other stakeholders. These stakeholders include the manager of the portfolio of which the program is a component and operational managers receiving the capabilities delivered by the program.

Program Life Cycle Management is the performance domain that manages program activities required to facilitate effective program definition, program delivery, and program closure.

Since programs, by nature, involve a certain level of uncertainty, change, complexity, and interdependency among the various components, it is useful to establish a common and consistent set of processes that can be applied across phases. These discrete phases, which may sometimes overlap, constitute the program life cycle.

Program Life Cycle Management spans the duration of the program, during which it contributes to and integrates with the other program domains as well as the supporting program activities.

It maps the program management life cycle’s three major phases to the program supporting activities discussed in Section 8. Although these supporting activities occur throughout the program life cycle, each activity is mapped where most of the work takes place. Informal preplanning exercises may take place in earlier phases for each consideration.

Program Activities are tasks and work conducted to support a program and which contribute throughout the program life cycle.

The program activities enable a strategic approach to planning, monitoring and controlling, and delivering program outputs and benefits. Program management supporting activities require coordination with functional groups in the organization—but in a broader context than similar activities supporting a single project.

1.Program Change Management,

2.Program Communications Management,

3.Program Financial Management,

4.Program Information Management,

5.Program Procurement Management,

6.Program Quality Management,

7.Program Resource Management,

8.Program Risk Management,

9.Program Schedule Management, and

10.Program Scope Management.

Program delivery phase activities include program activities required for coordinating and managing the actual delivery of programs. These include activities around change control, reporting, and information distribution as well as activities around cost, procurement, quality, and risk.

These provide supporting activities and processes that run throughout the program life cycle and are aimed to provide the program monitoring and controlling functions.

The program closure phase activities begin when the program components have delivered all their outputs and the program has begun to deliver its intended benefits.

In some cases, program governance may decide to bring a program to an early close before all components have been completed. In either case, the goal of the program activities during this phase is to release the program resources and support the transition of any remaining program outputs and assets, including its documents and databases, to ongoing organizational activities.

Record Your Experience

Use the experience section of the online application to record your professional experience in project and program management. The experience does not necessarily have to be paid work, but it does need to be in a professional setting. Activities such as school projects or planning personal events would not qualify.

Record projects and programs individually regardless of the number of projects and programs you include.

• List projects and programs individually

• For your program management experience, you will be asked to include details on at least two projects that are associated with each program (e.g., two projects that share the common strategic goal and budget of the program)