Programme management

Programme management is the prioritisation and coordination of related projects to ensure the required deliverables meet clients and stakeholder expectations and realise the expected benefits.

Programmes form part of the enterprise portfolio of investments across the whole organisation. Programmes help the organisation execute its business strategy for change and are conceived as part of the corporate strategy of the organisation.

Programmes can be comprised of a mix of complex projects and simple projects, each of which must contribute in some way to achieving strategic objectives. Projects can be short term or long term depending upon what is being delivered.

Benefits realisation

Benefits realisation is a critical aspect of programme management and ongoing programme evaluation is needed to reduce the risk of benefits not being realised. Better to stop a project early than to continue to spend money and resources on something that is not going to provide a return on investment.

Programmes are common within government and large enterprises and enable the transformation of existing services and products. This is achieved through the delivery of new or better services and products from the programme's individual projects.

Programme management office

To assist with the successful delivery of programmes organisations often turn to a programme management office (PMO). A programme office provides economies of scale and common services across all projects with the programme. It also provides resources, and tool expertise to each project. It might even be involved in the writing of the project business case in conjunction with the project manager or sponsor.

A programme office can also help a programme steering committee monitor progress of programmes by providing reports. These reports can help it decide whether a project is still likely to deliver the expected solutions.

Programme management and project management

Programme management differs from project management, but the tools (e.g., Gantt charts), management software and skills needed by programme managers are not unlike those used by project managers.

Benefits of programme management

One of the key benefits of managing a group of projects as a programme is that human resource management takes place at the programme level. This enables resources to be prioritised and allocated across the projects according to needs.

Programme manager

A programme manager sets the budget, writes the charter, assesses risk, and develops a roadmap for the projects, and might even create a work breakdown structure covering the entire programme. As such, prior project management work experience is a must.

Programme managers also help define quality control requirements, help a project team tailor the project life cycle, and must be experts in communication, and critical thinking.

Programme managers also perform a leadership role, guiding, informing, and directing project leaders and stakeholders and actively managing risks.

Programme management training

If you aren't an experienced programme manager, to land a programme manager job, candidates in the UK can benefit from training in frameworks such as Managing Successful Programmes (MSP).

MSP courses are accessible and convenient and lead to the premier programme management qualification in the UK. While not aligned to any specific body of knowledge – the MSP curriculum still provides a comprehensive education in the MSP framework which will enable someone to work effectively in the role.