Change from a business perspective will come to fruition due to the actions of competitors, new demands from customers, or other changes in the marketplace that cause your business to have to react. These can have a bearing on the program causing priorities to shift, certain deliverables of the program to elevate in importance, or key skills may be directed elsewhere for a period of time. Each of these changes will have a significant affect on the program and it’s projects, generating a need to re-plan, determine a new approach or schedule, and requiring a whole new round of communications to team members, key stakeholders and the sponsor.

Changes from a technical perspective also can cause adjustments to the program, especially in the approach that is taken to produce the deliverables. When dealing with deliverable components that are susceptible to quick advances in technology (such as personal computers) the entire program might have to be planned – and later reassessed – around the latest technological breakthrough. For instance, let’s say you are involved in a three-year program to create a new specialized manufacturing line that involves robotics and high-end workstations. To design the program to create deliverables based upon today’s level of technology could sub-optimize the resulting product. The program must be designed to produce pieces of the infrastructure ahead of time, and wait until the latest possible moment to select the technology so as to make the best choice and optimize the result. As technology changes can be significant, capitalizing on the latest and greatest can make all the difference for your business when it comes to your program’s product producing in the marketplace. However this approach has its risks, as changes to the technology can also mean changes in how and where the technology is used…welcome to Program Management! Speaking of risk….

Risk Management

Just like change, risk management is another aspect of program management that takes different forms. All the characteristics of risk management in our project management days still apply, as we have a number of projects in our programs that will incur risk. However, risk management in a program environment is much larger, having influences from virtually the entire business that sponsors your program, to the marketplace at large, competitors, etc. The most difficult aspect of risk management for a program manager is scope and control – so many risk events can occur that are entirely out of the program managers sphere of influence that there is much to consider. Additionally, visibility to these risk events is limited at best – the program manager’s crystal ball doesn’t usually work!

Anticipation and contingency plans are the key, and need to be much more comprehensive than at the project manager’s level. The willingness to address the unknown, and move forward with significant contingency plans serves the program manager well. These contingency plans need to consider significant changes in the triple constraints, scope and stakeholder changes.

So, still thinking the program management job is one you would like to tackle? Let us help…Mindavation offers a Complex Project Management class that covers the program management issues we have discussed here, plus others. The class provides tools and techniques to handle these issues we have presented here – plus gives you a “killer” case study to work through to test your mettle. Are you ready for the challenge?

Bob McGannon is a Founder and Principal of MINDAVATION, a company providing project management training and consulting, leadership workshops and keynoting programs throughout North America. Bob can be reached at MINDAVATION via the web at WWW.MINDAVATION.COM or by calling 866-888-MIND (6463).

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