PgMP Flashcards
What are the 5 Program Management Domains
- Program Strategy Alignment
- Program Benefits Management
- Program Stakeholder Engagement
- Program Governance
- Program Life Cycle Management
What are the areas of the Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct?
- Responsibility
- Respect
- Honesty
- Fairness
What is a Program?
Programs are a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually.
Programs include:
- Related Projects
- Subsidiary Programs
- Program Activities
What are the Program Components?
Projects
* Temporary endeavors undertaken to create a unique product, service or result
* Projects generate outputs or outcomes required by the programs
* Subsidiary Programs (sub-programs)
* Sponsored and conducted to pursue a subset of goals important to the primary program
* Other program-related activities
* Work processes or activities that are being conducted to support a program
Programs are generally initiated or recognized in 2 ways . . .
- To pursue new goals, objectives or strategies; they enable the organization to pursue its vision and mission.
- Programs may be formed when an organization recognizes that its ongoing projects, programs, and other work are related by their pursuit of common outcomes, capabilities, objectives, or benefits.
What are the benefits of Program Management?
- Alignment of program components to ensure that program goals are achieved, and benefits are optimally delivered
- Optimized or integrated costs, schedules, or effort
- Integrated or dependent deliverables across the program, delivery of incremental benefits
- Optimization of staffing in the context of the overall program’s needs.
Role of the Program Manager
- Define how the outputs and outcomes of the program’s components are expected to contribute to the program’s delivery
- Align program efforts with organizational strategy and the program’s business case
- Monitor benefits realization and ensure strategic alignment
- Ensure the outputs and outcomes are effectively communicated
- Lead and contribute to program activities
- Communicate and report to stakeholders
- Proactively assess and respond to risks
- Resolve issues
- Tailor program activities to be effective to the organization and environment of the program
What is Portfolio Management?
Portfolio Management: A portfolio refers to a collection of projects or programs and other operational work that are grouped together and managed together
- Facilitates effective management to reach strategic business objectives.
- Selecting the appropriate projects and programs to maximize the value of the portfolio
What is Program Management?
- A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way.
- Provides further benefit and control than managing them individually
- Achieves the program’s strategic objectives and benefits
- Focuses on the projects interdependencies and helps determine the optimal approach to achieve them.
Value generation through portfolios, programs, and projects
Portfolio = Organizational Value Program = Organizational Benefits Project = Output Outcome or Outputs
What is the role of the Program Manager?
Under minimal supervision, are responsible and accountable for the coordinated management of multiple related projects directed toward strategic business and organizational objectives
Program managers build credibility, establish rapport and maintain communication with stakeholders at multiple levels, including those external to the organization.
Define and initiate projects, and assign project managers to manage the cost, schedule, and performance of component projects, while working to ensure the ultimate success and acceptance of the program.
Maintain continuous alignment of program scope with strategic business objectives and makes recommendations to modify the program to enhance effectiveness toward the business result or strategic intent.
Responsible for determining and coordinating the sharing of resources among their constituent projects to the overall benefit of the program.
What has “other activities/work” as a component?
Portfolio and Program Management
What is the relationship of projects and programs within the portfolio?
Projects and programs may be independent and unrelated.
[Projects in a portfolio are unrelated, otherwise if they were related then they would have been under a program. They are also independent because if they are dependent, then they could have been a multiple project or program.
Of Portfolio, Program, and Project, which have a defined start and end date?
Project and Program [Portfolio is not constrained with a specific end date]
3 characteristics that distinguish programs from projects?
uncertainty, change, and complexity.
Risk permeates both the program and project management environments. Impacts vary regarding the specific project or program. What is the common denominator?
The common denominator, however, is uncertainty. Uncertainty is a fundamental attribute that may be a cause or result of complexity in both programs and projects.
Program managers need to consider three different categories of change:
Program, internal change, and external change.
A program is a change process in itself, and the program manager must be familiar with change methodologies in order to deliver value to the organization. Internal change refers to shifts within a program. External change refers to changes in the overall business environment, either within or outside of the program organization.
Risks and issues related to change should be addressed differently within programs and projects.
Change within a project affects the defined deliverables at the tactical level, whereas change within a program affects the delivery of the intended benefits at the strategic and tactical level.
Managing change within a program requires strategic insight, knowledge, and an understanding of the program’s objectives and intended benefits. Change to any component within a program may have a direct impact on the delivery of the other related components, which necessitates a change in those specific components.
In programs, change management is a key activity, enabling stakeholders to carefully analyze the need for a proposed change, the impact of the change, and the approach or process for implementing and communicating that change. How is it established?
The change management mechanism, which is part of the program management plan and developed during program planning, establishes the change management authorities.
Change management strategy in any organization is important. How does a program manager you change?
Program managers approach change at the program level in a fundamentally different way. They depend on a predetermined, consistent level of performance from the components of the program. For components that are projects, program managers rightfully expect the projects to be delivered on time, on budget, within scope, and with an acceptable level of quality. For other programs and program activities, the program manager should ensure that each be performed in a manner that will contribute positively to the program’s outcomes and anticipated benefits, or reduce negative outcomes.
Programs use change management in a forward-looking manner to adapt to the evolving environment. This is an iterative process repeated frequently during the performance of a program to ensure it delivers the benefits planned at the start.
Both programs and projects are associated with complexity. What are the sources?
The sources of complexity within programs and projects can be grouped into human behavior, system behavior, and ambiguity
1.10 PORTFOLIO AND PROGRAM DISTINCTIONS While portfolios and programs are both collections of projects, activities, and non-project work, there are aspects that clearly differentiate them and help clarify the differences between the two. To clarify the difference between these important organizational constructs, two aspects stand out:
relatedness and time.
The program management principles listed in this standard are:
Stakeholders. Engage stakeholders at a level commensurate with their impacts or contributions to the program’s success (see Section 2.1).
Benefits Realization. Consistently focus on the program outcomes aligned with organizational strategy (see Section 2.2).
Synergy. A structured approach that blends portfolio, program, and project management practices to enable the program to accomplish more than what was possible by its individual components (see Section 2.3).
Team of Teams. Integrate a team structure to create a network of relationships across components to enhance adaptability and resiliency (see Section 2.4).
Change. Embrace change with an overall focus on program benefits realization (see Section 2.5).
Leadership. Motivate and unite the program team to keep the program’s overall delivery pace and realize expected program benefits (see Section 2.6).
Risk. Effectively manage program risks to ensure that the program is aligned with the organizational strategy (see Section 2.7).
Governance. Establish and adopt a proportionate and appropriate program governance framework to control the program as necessary (see Section 2.8).
Benefits realization changes the focus of program risk to what in terms of control and balance?
Benefits realization changes the focus of program risk management from control to balance. Benefits realization requires balancing risk across the program to achieve the program’s overall benefits, but not necessarily reduce the threat to individual program components.
The program management performance domains are:
Strategic Alignment. Identifies program outputs and outcomes to provide benefits aligned with organizational strategy goals and objectives.
Benefits Management. Defines, creates, optimizes, delivers, and sustains the benefits provided by the program.
Stakeholder Engagement. Identifies and analyzes stakeholder needs and manages expectations and communications to foster stakeholder support.
Governance Framework. Enables and performs program decision-making, establishes practices to support the program, maintains program oversight, and ensures compliance with standards and regulations.
Collaboration. Creates and maintains synergy across stakeholders, both internal and external, to optimize benefits delivery and realization.
Life Cycle Management. Manages the program life cycle and the phases required to facilitate program definition, delivery, and closure.
How do performance domaine interact?
These performance domains run concurrently throughout the duration of the program. It is within these domains that the program manager and the program team perform their activities. Every program requires some activity in each of these performance domains during the entire program life cycle (see Section 3.8); the nature and complexity of the program being implemented determine the degree of activity required within a particular domain at any point in time.
All six domains interact with one another with varying degrees of intensity. These are the areas in which program managers will spend their time while implementing the program. The domains reflect the higher-level organizational functions that are essential aspects of the program manager’s role, regardless of the size of the organization, industry or business focus, or geographic location.
What are the elements of a program charter?
Key elements of a program charter consist of the program scope, assumptions, constraints, high-level risks, high-level benefits and their realization, goals and objectives, success criteria, timing, key stakeholders, outcomes, resource allocation, and other provisions that tie the program to the business case, thereby enabling strategic alignment. The contents of the program charter generally consist of the following:
Justification. Why is the program important and what does it achieve?
Vision. What is the end state and how will it benefit the organization?
Strategic alignment. What are the key strategic drivers and the program’s relationship to the organizational strategic objectives and any other ongoing strategic initiatives?
Scope. What is included within the program and what is considered out of scope at a high level?
Benefits. What are the key intended gains to be realized to achieve the program’s vision and benefits?
Benefit strategy. What is the approach to ensure the realization of the planned benefits? (See Section 3.4 for more information on benefits management.)
Assumptions and constraints. What are the assumptions, constraints, dependencies, and external factors, and how have they shaped or limited the program’s objectives?
Components. How are the projects and other program components configured to deliver the program and the intended benefits?
Risks and issues. What are the initial risks, opportunities, and issues identified?
Timeline. What is the total length of the program, including all key milestone dates?
Resources needed. What are the estimated program costs and resource needs, such as staff, training, travel, etc.?
Stakeholder considerations. Who are the key stakeholders and what are the initial strategies to engage them?
This information contributes to the development of the communications management plan. (See Section 3.5 for more information on stakeholder engagement.) Governance framework. What is the recommended governance structure to manage, control, and support the program? What are the recommended governance structures to guide and oversee the program components, including reporting requirements? What authorities does the program manager possess? How is this information updated in the program governance plan? (See Section 3.6 for more information about governance frameworks.) The program charter formally expresses the organization’s vision, mission, and benefits expected to be produced by the program; it also defines program-specific goals and objectives in alignment with the organization’s strategic plan in support of the business case. The program charter provides the program manager with the authority for leading other subsidiary programs, projects, and related activities to be initiated, in addition to the framework by which these program components will be managed and monitored during the course of the program. The program charter is one of the document deliverables that will be used to measure program success. It may also include the metrics for success, a method for measurement, and a clear definition of success.
What are the contents of the program management plan?
The contents of the program management plan generally consist of the following information:
Strategic alignment. Linkage between strategic goals and program components.
Executive ownership. A group or person responsible for benefits realization.
Key milestones. Significant points or events for making decisions and delivering benefits.
List of components. Subsidiary programs, projects, and program-related activities.
Component information. Component name, planned period (start and end), and targeted outcomes/benefits.
Dependencies. Connections across program components and benefits to create synergy.
Benefits realization period. How benefits are fully realized over time.
Benefits transition and sustainment period. When benefits make the transition from the programmatic to the operational levels.
What is a Risk threshold?
Risk threshold is the measure of the degree of acceptable variation around a program objective that reflects the risk appetite of the organization and program stakeholders. Establishing program risk thresholds is an integral step in linking program risk management to strategic alignment, and therefore should be done as part of early planning and revisited throughout the program to ensure that program risk thresholds are aligned with any changes at the organizational level.
What does an initial risk assessment do?
While program risk management (see Section 4.3.11) is conducted throughout the life of the program, the initial program risk assessment, prepared during program definition, offers a unique opportunity to identify risks to organizational strategic alignment. It enables risk to be considered when developing the program management plan and when examining environmental factors.
What is the purpose of benefits management?
The purpose of benefits management is to focus program stakeholders (such as the program sponsors, program manager, project managers, program teams, program steering committee, and others) on the benefits and outcomes to be provided by the various activities conducted during the program’s duration.
The purpose of benefits identification?
The purpose of benefits identification is to analyze the available information about organizational and business strategies, internal and external influences, and program drivers to identify and qualify the benefits that program stakeholders expect to realize. As described in Section 3.3.1, organizational initiatives are identified and documented during an organization’s strategic planning exercise. These initiatives describe the goals and activities for the organization.
What is the benefits register uses for?
The benefits register collects and lists the planned benefits for the program and is used to measure and communicate the delivery of benefits throughout the duration of the program. In the benefits identification phase, the benefits register is developed based on the program business case, the organization’s strategic plan, and other relevant program documents and objectives.
What is a benefits management plan?
The benefits management plan is the baseline document that guides the delivery of benefits during the program’s performance. It also identifies the associated activities, processes, and systems needed for the change driven by the realization of benefits; the required changes to existing processes and systems; and how and when the transition to an operational state will occur.
What should the benefits management plan do?
The benefits management plan should:
Define each benefit and associated assumptions;
Determine how each benefit will be achieved;
Link component outputs, outcomes, objectives, and key results to benefits;
Define the metrics, including key performance indicators and procedures, to measure benefits;
Define roles and responsibilities required to manage the benefits;
Define how the resulting benefits and capabilities will be transitioned into an operational state to achieve benefits;
Define how the resulting capabilities of benefits will be transitioned to the individuals, groups, or organizations responsible for sustaining the benefits;
Provide a process for managing the overall benefits management effort;
and Provide a process for removing a benefit that was initially planned but is no longer needed.
What is the purpose of the benefits delivery phase?
The purpose of the benefits delivery phase is to 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, updated, or become obsolete; additionally, new risks and updated ones should be included in the benefits register with the associated benefits.
What is the purpose of benefits sustainment?
The purpose of the benefits sustainment phase is the ongoing maintenance activities performed beyond the end of the program by receiving organizations to ensure continued generation of the improvements and outcomes delivered by the program. As the program is closed, responsibility for sustaining the benefits provided by the program may pass to another organization or another program. Benefits may be sustained through operations, maintenance, new components, or other efforts. A benefits sustainment plan should be developed prior to program closure to identify the risks, processes, measures, metrics, and tools necessary to ensure the continued realization of the benefits delivered.
What is the purpose of the benefits transition phase?
The purpose of the benefits transition phase is to ensure that program benefits are transitioned to operational areas and can be sustained once they are transferred. Value is delivered when the organization, community, or other program beneficiaries can utilize these benefits.
Define stakeholder?
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. Stakeholders may be internal or external to the program and may have a positive or negative impact on the outcome of the program. Program and project managers need to be aware of the stakeholders’ impacts and levels of influence to understand and address the changing environments of programs and projects.
What’s in the stakeholder engagement plan?
This effort results in the stakeholder engagement plan, which contains a detailed strategy for stakeholder engagement, based on the current situation. The plan includes stakeholder engagement guidelines and provides insight on how the stakeholders are engaged in various components of the program. The plan defines the metrics used to measure the performance of stakeholder engagement activities. The metrics may include measures of participation in meetings and other collaboration channels—and the degree of active or passive support or resistance—and can also strive to measure the effectiveness of the engagement in meeting its intended goal. The guidelines for stakeholder engagement
Logging of stakeholder interactions
The program manager strives to ensure all interactions with the stakeholders are adequately logged, including meeting invitations, attendance, meeting minutes, and action items. Program managers review stakeholder metrics regularly to identify potential risks caused by a lack of participation. These participation trends are analyzed and root cause analysis is performed to identify and address the causes of nonparticipation. The history of stakeholder participation provides important background information that could influence stakeholder perceptions and expectations.
What is a vital aspect of the Stakeholder Engagement performance domain?
A vital aspect of the Stakeholder Engagement performance domain is helping program and project managers smoothly align stakeholder expectations, program risks and benefits, and organizational strategy, while adapting to changes or obstacles.
What is the purpose of the program governance plan?
The purpose of the program governance plan is to describe the systems and methods used to monitor, manage, and support a given program, and the responsibilities of specific roles for ensuring the timely and effective use of those systems and methods. This document is referenced throughout the program’s duration to provide and demonstrate that the program is conforming to established governance expectations and agreements.
What is the role of the program sponsor?
Program sponsor. An individual or group that provides resources and support to the program and is accountable for enabling success.
What is the role of the program steering committee?
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 who support the program’s components and operations. In some cases, the program sponsor is the chair of the program steering committee.
What is the role of the program manager?
Program manager. The person authorized by the performing organization to lead the team or teams responsible for achieving program objectives. In the context of governance, this role interacts with the program steering committee and sponsor and manages the program to ensure delivery of the intended benefits.
What is the role of the program management office?
Program management office. A management structure that standardizes the program-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques.
What is the role of the project manager?
Project manager. The person assigned by the performing organization to lead the team that is responsible for achieving the project objectives. In the context of governance, this role interacts with the program manager and program sponsor and manages the delivery of the project’s product, service, or result.
What are the responsibilities of the program management office?
The program management office facilitates the governance practices. It is a management structure that standardizes the program-related governance processes and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools, and techniques. The program management office also provides professional expertise using staff highly trained in applying governance framework practices to provide oversight, support, and decision-making capability to the program, and may extend to monitoring compliance with program management practices.
What is the Governance Framework performance domain?
The Governance Framework performance domain is the primary mechanism for overseeing a program’s implementation, management, and performance. By establishing practices to support the program and outlining defined roles for all of the involved stakeholders, program managers can effectively align with an organization’s strategic and operational goals.
What does the Collaboration performance domain do?
The Collaboration performance domain creates synergy across stakeholders, both internal and external, to optimize benefits delivery and realization. Ultimately, the Collaboration performance domain helps the program team achieve the Synergy, Governance, and Team of Teams program management principles by empowering the program leadership and teams to identify areas within the other performance domains that support optimal delivery of benefits and value.
What is a key part of successful collaboration?
A key part of successful collaboration is clear communication across project and program teams and other component teams.
What need to happen for synergy to be reached?
Realizing success across these components—whether projects, subsidiary programs, or other program-related activities—requires more than a governance framework or stakeholder engagement. For synergy, a key program management principle, to be reached, collaboration should balance diverse component needs, which at times might be in competition or even conflict with one another. These conflicts might occur because of competing component interdependencies, shifting performances, changing priorities, or differing component stakeholders. First and foremost, program teams should always prioritize strategic alignment across the program’s life cycle and prevent any single outcome from becoming the focus.
What is one of the most important factored affecting the success of any collaborative process?
Engagement is one of the most important factors affecting the success of any collaborative process. The program management principles of Team of Teams and Stakeholders are the key drivers for engagement. Collaboration requires an understanding of goals, objectives, and expectations, as well as mutual agreement on the outcomes of the collaborative process among stakeholders and partners. This collaborative process is only possible if everyone who needs to participate is engaged properly.
What is project-level engagement driven by?
Project-level engagement is driven by the project charter, project planning and contracts, stakeholder engagement, and successfully completing the project’s deliverables.
What is the focus of portfolio-level engagement?
Portfolio-level engagement focuses on strategic alignment for portfolio or organizational value achievement.
[What] is essential to, and one of the main reasons for collaboration?
Alignment is essential to, and one of the main reasons for, collaboration. The program management principles of Change, Synergy, and Benefits Realization support the program’s alignment with organizational strategy. Alignment means understanding and agreeing on some aspect or expectation between two collaborating parties.
What is one of the key outcomes of collaboration?
One of the key outcomes of collaboration is addressing the complexities of program execution.
Complexities can become threats that silently erode the effectiveness of collaboration. Complexities can also signal an opportunity that one could exploit or enhance to enable more productive collaboration.
[What] enables traceable in the collaborative process?
Transparency enables traceability in the collaborative process. Project-level transparency can largely be achieved through proper reporting and communication.
[What] is an important factor that is essential to effective collaboration?
An important factor that is essential to effective collaboration is consultation. Consultation is driven by the program management principles of Leadership and Stakeholders. Because collaboration requires information exchange among multiple parties, it is important to access program stakeholders and partners for the right information when needed. Consultation has a direct impact on the timing of the collaborative process because it directly impacts the decision-making process. The right decisions should be made at the right times, which is only possible when the right parties are consulted for the right information at the right times.
[What] is the single most important factor influencing the effectiveness of the collaborative process?
The organizational culture is the single most important factor influencing the effectiveness of the collaborative process. Collaboration works in a change-oriented culture. The program management principles of Leadership, Change, and Risk are key drivers for the cultural aspect of collaboration. Leadership sets the tone and ground rules of the culture in which the program exists. If an organization has information silos, a lack of transparency, resistance to trust-based communication, or a culture of withholding emerging information and only releasing it in response to bureaucratic procedures and authoritarian norms or personal influences, then collaboration will be merely ceremonial and procedural.
The [what] is the single most important factor influencing the effectiveness of the collaborative process?
The organizational culture is the single most important factor influencing the effectiveness of the collaborative process. Collaboration works in a change-oriented culture. The program management principles of Leadership, Change, and Risk are key drivers for the cultural aspect of collaboration. Leadership sets the tone and ground rules of the culture in which the program exists.
The program management principles of Stakeholders and Leadership are key drivers for creating [what] when collaborating?
Program managers should also leverage the collaborative process to create support for the program. The program management principles of Stakeholders and Leadership are key drivers for creating empathy when collaborating.
A program’s primary objective is providing [what]?
A program’s primary objective is providing cumulative value in the form of benefits (see Section 3.4). In the context of a program, the program’s value is defined as all of the quantifiable and qualifiable benefits and the total sum of all tangible and intangible elements derived from the program. This value delivery stems from thorough planning, strategic alignment, and focused directives at the organizational or portfolio levels. A system for value delivery is closely tied to the program’s life cycle, and value delivery is realized through a series of outcomes. This value delivery might not be in the form of benefits alone. Overall capacity and capability of the program team, its intangible worth to the organization, and the expected outcome potential during the program’s life cycle are critical factors in the value delivery equation.
At the organizational and portfolio levels, planning occurs in response to [what] driven by the organization’s purpose, vision, and mission.
At the organizational and portfolio levels, planning occurs in response to strategic goals driven by the organization’s purpose, vision, and mission. Figure 3-10 illustrates how organizational strategy at the portfolio level drives collaboration. These goals set the value expectations for the organization’s programs and translate into sets of specific benefits to be derived from the programs.
What are program components?
In order to ensure the realization of benefits, programs provide the necessary alignment of the organization’s strategic goals and objectives with the individual components. These components may include projects, subsidiary programs, and additional program-related phases that are necessary to achieve the specified goals and objectives.
Are there benefits to be achieved after program closure?
During program delivery, components are authorized, planned, and executed, and benefits are delivered. In some cases, though, there are benefits that will be achieved after the program closure, not just in the delivery phase.
Who approves the closure of a program?
Program closure is then approved by the program steering committee when the desired benefits or program objectives have been realized or the steering committee has determined that the program should be terminated. Reasons for early termination may be a change in organizational strategy with which the program is no longer aligned or an assessment that the planned benefits may no longer be achievable.
What are the three phases of program implementation?
To achieve the organization’s optimum value and benefits, programs are implemented using three major phases, which include:
1. Program definition phase
2. Program delivery phase
3. Program closure phase
What activities are completed in the program initiation phase?
Program definition phase. Program definition consists of program phases conducted to authorize the program and develop the program management plan required to achieve the expected results. As part of program definition, the program business case, program charter, and program roadmap are formulated. Once approved, the program management plan is prepared.
What occurred during the program delivery phase?
Program delivery phase. Program delivery comprises the program phases performed to produce the intended results of each component in accordance with the program management plan. Throughout this phase, individual components are initiated, planned, executed, monitored, controlled, evaluated, and closed, while benefits are delivered, transitioned, and sustained.
What occurred during the program closure phase?
Program closure phase. This phase technically closes the program by archiving the documents, transferring the lessons learned to organizational process assets (OPAs), refunding the remaining budget, disposing of the resources, and transferring the remaining risk to the organization. During this closure, work is transitioned to operations.
What are the program lifecycle phases?
What is The primary purpose of the program definition phase?
The primary purpose of the program definition phase is to progressively elaborate the goals and objectives to be addressed by the program, define the expected program benefits and outcomes, and seek approval for the program. Program definition should fall into two distinct but overlapping subphases: program formulation and program planning.
What phase is the program manager selected and assigned?
The program manager is selected and assigned during program formulation.
The assignment of the program manager and the definition of their roles, responsibilities, and organizational interfaces should be done as early as possible, as this individual effectively guides the program formulation phase and facilitates the development of the required outcomes.
What program phases are typically completed in the definition phase?
The program definition phase includes program phases conducted to authorize the program and develop the program management plan required to achieve the expected results; it typically includes phases that are performed as the result of an organization’s business case to fulfill strategic objectives or achieve a desired state within an organization’s portfolio.
The program definition phase contains what sub-phases?
- Program formulation
- Program planning
During program formulation, the sponsor, sponsoring organization, and program manager work closely together to:
To demonstrate how the program can deliver the desired organizational benefits, the sponsor, sponsoring organization, and program manager work closely together to:
Initiate studies and estimates of scope, resources, and cost;
Develop an initial risk assessment and other high-level assessment (scope, finance, schedule, resource, change, quality, communication, procurement, information); and
Develop a program charter and program management plan with milestones.
What is the purpose of the program charter?
The program charter serves as the primary document to decide if the program will be authorized, and is reviewed by the portfolio management body when within a portfolio structure or suitable governing body for stand-alone programs. Approval of the charter formally authorizes the commencement of the program, provides the program manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to program phases, and connects the program to the organization’s ongoing work and strategic priorities. If the program is not authorized, this information should be recorded, and the documentation should be appropriately archived and captured in a lessons learned repository.
Program planning - when does it occur and what is accomplished?
Program planning commences upon formal approval of the program charter by the program sponsor. In this phase, a governance structure is established, the initial program organization is defined, and a team is assembled to develop the program management plan. The program management plan is a document that integrates the program’s subsidiary plans and establishes the management controls and overall plan for integrating and managing the program’s individual components.
What is the main purpose of program planning?
Its main purpose is to enable the program to be continually aligned with the strategic priorities of the organization in order to deliver the expected benefits. The program management plan is developed based on the organization’s strategic plan, business case, program charter, and any other outcomes as they emerge during the program formulation.
What subsidiary documents are included in the program planning phase?
This plan is the key outcome created during program planning and may be combined into one plan or multiple plans that include the following subsidiary documents:
Benefits management plan (see Section 3.4),
Stakeholder engagement plan (see Section 3.5),
Governance plan (see Section 3.6),
Change management plan (see Section 4.3.4),
Communications management plan (see Section 4.3.5), Financial management plan (see Section 4.3.6),
Information management plan (see Section 4.3.7), Procurement management plan (see Section 4.3.8),
Quality management plan (see Section 4.3.9),
Resource management plan (see Section 4.3.10),
Risk management plan (see Section 4.3.11),
Schedule management plan (see Section 4.3.12), and
Scope management plan (see Section 4.3.13).
When can the program delivery phase begin?
Once the program management plan has been approved, the program delivery phase can begin.
The program delivery phase begins after the program management plan is reviewed and formally approved.
What does the program delivery phase include?
The program delivery phase includes program phases performed to produce the intended results of each component in accordance with the program management plan. This phase is considered iterative instead of linear, as the capabilities produced by each component are integrated into the overall program to facilitate delivery of the intended program benefits.
Each program component will progress through what program delivery subphases?
Each program component will progress through the following program delivery subphases: Component authorization and planning, Component oversight and integration, and Component transition and closure.
The program management team provides what in the Delivery phase of the program?
The program management team provides oversight and support to position the components for successful completion. Component work and phases are integrated under the program umbrella to facilitate the management and delivery of program benefits. The work in this phase includes the program and execution of the program components. Component management plans (covering cost management, scope management, schedule management, risk management, resource management, etc.) are developed at the component level (component-level work) and integrated at the program level (integrative work) to maintain alignment with the program direction to deliver the program benefits. Interactions with components to accomplish goals, manage changes, and address risks and issues are managed throughout the program in order to position the program for success.
When does the program delivery phase end?
Program delivery ends when the program governance determines that the specific criteria for this phase have been satisfied or a decision is made to terminate the program.
What is involved with component authorization and planning?
Component authorization involves the initiation of components based on the organization’s specified criteria and individual business cases developed for each component. These criteria are generally included in the program governance plan. The Governance Framework performance domain provides guidance for processes leading to component authorization. A number of phases are required to verify that a component properly supports the program’s outcomes and aligns with the strategy and ongoing work of the organization prior to authorization.
Component planning includes the phases needed to integrate the component into the program to position each component for successful execution. These phases involve formalizing the scope of the work to be accomplished by the component and identifying the deliverables that will satisfy the program’s goals and benefits.
Each component may have associated management plans. These associated management plans can include a project management plan or component plan, transition plan, operations plan, maintenance plan, or other type of plan, depending upon the type of work under consideration.
What is component oversight and integration?
In the context of a program, some components may produce benefits individually, while some components should be integrated with others before the associated benefits may be realized. Each component team executes its associated plans and program integrative work.
What is involved in component transition and closure?
After the program components have produced deliverables and coordinated the successful delivery of their products, services, or results, these components are typically scheduled for closure or transition to operations or ongoing work. Component transition addresses the need for ongoing phases, such as product support, service management, change management, user engagement, or customer support from a program component to an operational support function, in order for the ongoing benefits to be achieved. The criteria for performing these phases, as well as the organizational expectations, are documented in the governance plan.
What is involved in the program closure phase?
The program closure phase includes the program phases necessary to transition program benefits to the sustaining organization and formally close the program. During program transition, the program steering committee is consulted to determine whether: (a) the program has met all of the desired benefits and that all transition work has been performed within the component transition, or (b) there is another program or sustaining activity that will oversee the ongoing benefits for which this program was chartered. In the second instance, there may be work required to transition the resources, responsibilities, risks, knowledge, good practices, and lessons learned to another sustaining entity. Once the transitioning phases are completed, the program manager receives approval from the portfolio management body to formally close the program.
What are the program activities that support program management and governance?
The program activities that support program management and governance include: Program integration management,
Program change management, Program communications management,
Program financial management,
Program information management,
Program procurement management,
Program quality management, Program resource management,
Program risk management, Program schedule management, and
Program scope management.
The program activities enable a strategic approach to planning, managing, and delivering program outputs and benefits.
What is program integration management?
As defined in Section 1, program management refers to the alignment of various components, such as projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities, to achieve the planned program goals and benefits. The practices applied during this process are used to optimize or integrate the costs, schedules, and efforts of the individual components to manage and deliver maximum benefits at the program level instead of the component level.
What is program integration management?
As defined in Section 1, program management refers to the alignment of various components, such as projects, subsidiary programs, and program activities, to achieve the planned program goals and benefits. The practices applied during this process are used to optimize or integrate the costs, schedules, and efforts of the individual components to manage and deliver maximum benefits at the program level instead of the component level.
What are the activities in integration management?
Program activities and integration management are concerned with collectively utilizing the resources, knowledge, and skills available to deploy multiple components throughout the program life cycle. This process also involves making decisions regarding:
Competing demands and priorities,
Threats and opportunities, Resource allocations,
Changes due to uncertainty and complexity of the program scope,
Interdependencies among components, and
Coordination of work to meet the program objectives.
Program activities and integration management are more cyclical and iterative in nature, as adjustments may be required based on the actual benefits and outcomes produced to realign the program with the strategic priorities.
What are the the program management life cycle’s three major phases to the program-supporting activities?
Table 4-1 maps the program management life cycle’s three major phases to the program-supporting activities. Although these supporting activities occur throughout the program life cycle, each activity is mapped to where most of the work takes place. Informal preplanning exercises may take place in earlier phases for each consideration.
What core activities are included in program integration management?
Program integration management is the core activity that occurs across the entire program life cycle. It includes the activities needed to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate multiple components into the program.
What does the program definition phase establish and confirm and what two parts is the phase divided into?
The program definition phase establishes and confirms the business case for the program and then develops the detailed plan for its delivery. This phase is divided into two parts: program formulation and program planning.
What activities occur during program formulation?
In program formulation, the high-level scope, risks, costs, and expected benefits of the program are assessed to confirm that the program provides a viable way forward for the organization and is strategically aligned with the organization’s objectives. Program activities supporting program formulation are often exploratory in nature, looking at a number of possible alternatives to help ensure the ones best aligned with strategy and organizational preferences can be identified and approved for inclusion in the program. In some cases, however, the program formulation activities conclude that the program does not have a strong business case and should be canceled.
What program formulation activities occur through the core activity of program integration management?
Figure 4-1 illustrates how program formulation activities contribute to the development of the program business case and program charter through the core activity of program integration management.
What occurred in program planning?
In program planning, the program organization is defined and an initial team is deployed to develop the program management plan. The program management plan is developed based on the organization’s strategic plan, business case, program charter, and the outcomes of the assessments completed during program definition. The plan includes the roadmap of the program components and the management arrangements through which program delivery should be overseen. The plan should be open for changes, taking into consideration that the success of a program is not measured against its baseline but by how an organization is able to realize benefits from the program outcomes. The program management plan is therefore a reference document and should be viewed as a managed baseline.
How do program planning activities support development of the program management plan through the core activity of program integration management?
Figure 4-2 illustrates how program planning activities support development of the program management plan through the core activity of program integration management.
What does the program delivery phase include?
Program delivery phase activities include program activities required for coordinating and managing the actual delivery of programs. These activities include change control, reporting, information distribution, cost, procurement, quality, and risk.
What are the program delivery phase supporting activities?
The program delivery phase provides supporting activities and processes that run throughout the program life cycle and are designed to provide the program management functions. Figure 4-3 illustrates how program delivery activities support program and component management.
What does program management delivery include?
Program delivery management includes the management, oversight, integration, and optimization of the program components that should deliver the capabilities and benefits required for the organization to realize benefits and associated value. These activities are performed throughout the program delivery phase and relate to the initiation, change, transition, and closure of program components.
What activities are included as part of performance management?
These activities include designing a performance management framework that involves determining the optimum measurement, analysis, and dissemination of performance information to track progress against the program objectives and baselines to allow for data-driven governance and management. Continuous monitoring gives the program management team insight into the current health of the program and identifies areas that might require special attention. This monitoring and assessment determines if and when activities, such as corrective or preventive action, are needed to bring the program back into alignment with the strategic priorities.
What’s included in a program performance report?
Program performance reports include a summary of the progress of all program components. They describe whether the program’s goals can be met and benefits should be delivered according to plan. These reports provide current status information about what work has been accomplished; milestones and phase gates; what work remains to be completed; earned value; and risks, issues, and changes under consideration.
In the context of program performance management, what do forecasts provide?
Forecasts enable the program manager and other key stakeholders to assess the likelihood of achieving planned outcomes and to provide predictions of the program’s future state based on the current information and knowledge available.
What occurs during the benefits sustainment and program transition subphase?
4.3.3 BENEFITS SUSTAINMENT AND PROGRAM TRANSITION During this subphase, the stewardship of sustaining the benefits may need to transition to another organization, entity, or subsequent program to eventually operationalize the program’s benefits. Benefits sustainment may be achieved through portfolio, program, or project outcomes. This activity transcends the scope of individual program components since this work is typically performed as the program is closed. During this subphase, the stewardship of sustaining the benefits may need to transition to another organization, entity, or subsequent program.
What does program change management encompass?
4.3.4 PROGRAM CHANGE MANAGEMENT Program change management encompasses the activities whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the program are identified, documented, approved, or rejected. Program change management is a critical aspect of overall program delivery and should include monitoring factors internal and external to the program that might create the need for changes to the program.
What is a program change request purpose?
A program change request is a formal proposal to modify any program document, deliverable, or baseline. Program change requests should be recorded in the program change log. The program change requests should be analyzed to determine their urgency and impact on program baseline elements and other program components. When there are multiple ways to implement the change, the costs, risks, interdependencies among program components, and other aspects of each option should be assessed in multidisciplinary aspects by all involved parties to enable selection of the approach most likely to deliver the program’s intended benefits.
What are change request activities?
Once a decision on the program change request has been made by the program manager, program sponsor, program steering committee, or other designated authority as appropriate, and approval/rejection has been granted, program change control should carry out the request and make sure it is:
Recorded in the program change log;
Communicated to appropriate stakeholders, according to the program communications management plan; and
Reflected in updates to component plans, including the financial management plan and the schedule management plan, as needed.
Change decisions should be in accordance with the defined escalation paths and program governance.
What activities comprise program communications management?
4.3.5 PROGRAM COMMUNICATIONS MANAGEMENT Program communications management comprises the activities necessary for the timely and appropriate generation, collection, distribution, storage, retrieval, and ultimate disposition of program information. Program communications management includes coordination, direction, and support of component communications to provide alignment with the program’s overall communications objectives. Program information is distributed to the receiving parties, including the clients, program sponsor, program steering committee, executives, component managers, and, in some cases, the public and press.
What are the activities of program communication management?
The outcomes of this activity include program communications regarding:
Status information on the program, projects, subsidiary programs, or other work, including progress, cost information, risk analysis, and other information relevant to internal or external audiences;
Notification of program change requests to the program and component teams, and the corresponding responses to the change requests;
Program financial reports for internal or external stakeholders or for the purpose of public disclosure;
External filings with government and regulatory bodies as prescribed by laws and regulations;
Presentations before legislative bodies with the required prebriefs;
Public announcements communicating public outreach information;
Press releases; Social media articles and posts on internal and external company platforms such as LinkedIn or the company intranet and website; and
Media interviews and benefits updates.
What are the activities around program financial management?
4.3.6 PROGRAM FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT Once the program receives initial funding and begins paying expenses, the financial effort moves into tracking and managing the program’s funds and expenditures. Monitoring the program’s finances and controlling expenditures within budget are critical aspects of enabling the program to meet the goals of the funding agency or of the higher organization. A program where its costs exceed the planned budget may no longer satisfy the business case used to justify it, and may be subject to termination. Even minor overruns can be subject to audit and management oversight and should be justified. Typical financial management activities should be undertaken to identify factors that create changes to the baseline budget.
What occurs in program information management?
4.3.7 PROGRAM INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Program management involves the extensive exchange of information among the program management, component management, portfolio management, program stakeholders, and program steering committee functions of an organization. Managing this information, and making it available to support program communications, program management, or archiving, is a continuous task, especially in organizations pursuing numerous programs or programs that are complicated or complex.
What are the activities in program information management?
Using the information management tools and processes established in the program information management plan, this activity collects, receives, organizes, and stores the documents and other information products created by program activities, program governance, and program components. Attention should be paid to the accuracy and timeliness of the information to avoid errors and incorrect decisions. The program information repository can be an invaluable aid to other program activities, particularly when there is a need to refer to past decisions or prepare analyses based on trends reflected in historical program information.
What are the activities in program information management?
Using the information management tools and processes established in the program information management plan, this activity collects, receives, organizes, and stores the documents and other information products created by program activities, program governance, and program components. Attention should be paid to the accuracy and timeliness of the information to avoid errors and incorrect decisions. The program information repository can be an invaluable aid to other program activities, particularly when there is a need to refer to past decisions or prepare analyses based on trends reflected in historical program information.
What are the program closure activities?
How is the governance framework performance domain used?
The Governance Framework performance domain enables and performs program decision-making, establishes practices to support the program and maintains program oversight.
The Governance Framework performance domain outlines the processes and functions for managing, sustaining, and monitoring a program to meet an organization’s strategic and operational goals while delivering anticipated benefits.
What are lessons learned within the context of program management?
Lessons learned are a compilation of the knowledge gained. This knowledge may be acquired from executing similar and relevant programs from the past or it may reside in public domain databases. Lessons learned are critical assets to be reviewed when updating the program stakeholder register, program benefits register, program risk register, program master schedule, and program communications management plan.
What is program procurement management?
When program procurement is applicable, program managers utilize multiple tools and techniques to conduct program procurements, but the key objective of conducting program-level procurement is to set standards for the components. these standards may dome in the form of qualified seller lists, prenegotiated contracts, blanket purchase agreements, and formalized proposal evaluation criteria.
What is program quality assurance and control?
Program quality assurance and control involves the activities related to the periodic evaluation of overall program quality to provide confidence that the program can comply with relevant quality policies and standards. Quality assurance involves not only program quality planning, but also meeting customer expectations and ensuring benefits can deliver value as defined and expected by the intended beneficiary.
What is program resource management?
Throughout program delivery, the program manager should oversee and adapt program resources to provide benefits delivery. Resource prioritization allow the program manager to prioritize the use of limited resources and to optimize their use across all components within the program. This prioritization often involves human resources planning to identify, document, and assign program roles and responsibilities to individuals or groups.
What are the activities associated with program risk management?
Throughout program delivery, the program manager needs to update the risk register and manage program risks to provide for benefits delivery. The program risk manager is responsible for ensuring implementation of risk management across all component projects, and reports to the program manager.
Risk monitoring is also conducted to determine whether:
- Program assumptions are still valid,
- Effective program risk management also requires coordination with component risk management functions,
-Effective crisis management is in place, and
- Unknown-unknowns, known-unknowns, and other ill-defined risks may materialize.
What is program schedule management?
Program schedule management is the activity of enabling the program to produce the required capabilities and benefits on time. This activity includes tracking and monitoring the start and finish of all high-level components and program activities and milestones against the program master schedule’s planned timelines. Updating the program master schedule and directing changes to individual components schedules are required to maintain an accurate and up-to-date program master schedule.
What is program scope management?
Scope change that have a significant impact on ta component or the program may originate from stakeholders, components within the program, previously unidentified requirements issues, or external sources.
The program manager is responsible for determining which components of the program are affected when a program scope change is requested a, and should update the program work breakdown structure (WBS) accordingly.
What are program closure phase activities?
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.
What are program closeout activities?
A program is closed either because the program charter is fulfilled or internal/external conditions arise that bring the program to an early end.
All components should be completed or terminated, assigned resources released, and all contracts should be formally closed before the program is ended.
What is program financial closure?
To enable program closeout, estimates may be required to determine that costs of sustaining benefits create by the program. It is important to verify that these costs are being captured.
What is program information archiving and transition?
The scope of this activity may include collection and archiving of records as well as documents from components.
What is program procurement closure?
Program procurement closure activities are those that formally close out each agreement of the program after making sure all deliverable have been satisfactory completed, all payments have been made, and there are not outstanding contractual issues.
What is program resource transition?
It’s important to enable program resources to be appropriately released as the program is being closed, which may involve the reallocation or reassignment of team members and funding to other initiatives or programs.
What is program risk management transition?
Program risk management activities should transfer risks, along with any supporting analysis and response information , to the appropriate organizational risk register.
