Program management and PPM/Portfolio management: challenges and best practices

Less well known than project or portfolio management, program management nevertheless has a crucial role within a company. It supports the achievement of strategic objectives for the organization.

Before we get to that, however, we need to understand what it is all about. In this article, we've put together a guide to clarify what program management is and why it's strategic for your business.

1. Understand the difference between program management and project management

Often confused with project management, we were keen to redefine program management to avoid any risk of confusion. 

     A) Definition of "programme"

Here is the definition proposed by the Project Management Institute (PMI):

     B) In concrete terms: what is program management?

Program management is ultimately about coordinating a set of interconnected projects. Their joint management brings benefits that are impossible to achieve otherwise, such as financial and human resource optimizations.

     C) Project Management vs. Program Management

A project consists of a succession of tasks in order to see a defined goal come true. Project management therefore consists of dealing with this perimeter.

Unlike a project, the program refers to a set of projects that are linked to each other. Through resource optimization and precise coordination, they must make it possible to achieve strategic objectives for the company.

Each project is usually managed by a project manager. When you're faced with multiple project managers who need to be coordinated, it's a program.

     D) An example of a program: the translation of lyrics at Deezer 

Let's take a concrete example. Music streaming company Deezer recently developed a lyrics translation feature. This involved a division of tasks: 

• Research to verify intuitions about the relevance of this feature
• Validation of the viability of the project from a legal point of view
• Building partnerships with providers providing lyrics and translation
• Redesign of the user experience 
• Coordination of the launch with the product and marketing teams
• Optimization Identification
• Analysis of user feedback 

Finally, the development of this feature to display the translation of lyrics can be seen as a program, composed of different projects. These are articulated in order to achieve strategic alignment for Deezer: 

• Improving the user experience
• Increased time spent on the app
• Proof of innovation and a competitive advantage

2. Understand the difference between program management and project portfolio management

Let's imagine running a business like a collection of Russian dolls. 

The project is part of the program, which in turn is part of the project portfolio. Here is a structure that should enlighten you:

1. Mission and Vision 
2. Strategy
3. Project portfolio
4. Programs
5. Projects 

The project portfolio may contain several programmes or several projects, which may not be interdependent on each other.

However, as with program management, managing a project portfolio involves moving toward a strategic direction for the business. This is not necessarily the case with a project. To learn more, check out our article on the basics of project portfolio management.

3. Why set up program management?

     A) Getting the big picture

Setting up program management is a structuring action for the company. Indeed, program management offers an overview of projects and above all, their interdependencies.

The coordination of financial and human resources allows the objectives of each project to be aligned with the company's overall strategy. Program management sets up the necessary structure to coordinate, prioritize and manage project interdependencies , which are often cross-functional between departments.

     B) Optimize your resources

Implementing project governance goes a long way in simplifying resource allocation. This is also the case for program management.

• Financial:

The holistic view offered by program management helps you anticipate, allocate and adapt your budgets in complete transparency.

• Human:

Assessing the interdependencies between projects allows you to optimize the distribution of your employees. Your talents could thus evolve at the same time on several projects in your program. 

This has several advantages: 

• • Improved satisfaction : this provides a transparent view of the organization and cross-functional opportunities, thus strengthening trust
  • Time saving : knowledge of the environments limits training time. This facilitates group actions and allows you to move forward simultaneously on the different projects.
  • A financial gain : spending on training and recruitment can be optimised and reduced

The Stafiz platform digitizes your resource management and allows you to achieve your various objectives:

• optimize occupancy rates,
• keep employees engaged,
• to have visibility on projects that are actually underway, but also predictive to anticipate your recruitments.
• Respect project budgets thanks to a real-time and forecasted vision of the financial impacts of all your actions

=> If you prefer to be guided, check out our guide to effective resource management.

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     C) Improving control over risks and opportunities

Program management, by providing an overview, improves risk and opportunity management by enable: 

• Improve anticipation
• To postpone deadlines when necessary
• Identify potential opportunities
• Manage conflicts that can impact the entire organization

As a program management tool, Stafiz offers features to help you manage risks and opportunities in the best possible way: 

• Alerts to identify risks in anticipation
• Comprehensive dashboards to help you gain flexibility and agility: you can easily shift your resources in case of risks or re-prioritize your projects
• Synchronization with the work environment
• Tracking purchase orders and invoices for better tracking

4. How to set up optimal program management?

     A) Check the compatibility of your structure with program management

If you intend to implement program management in your company, make sure that your current structure can support such a methodology. Indeed, it requires many resources and is therefore aimed at organizations with a high level of maturity.

Guiding teams, structuring the organization and coordinating everything requires a high level of leadership and management .

Significant resources are needed, from a financial and human point of view, to establish an optimal transversality. Finally, well-established communication processes are essential.

     B) Define a clear strategy

Implementing effective program management requires strong coordination skills and the definition of a precise action plan.

• Identify goals

The first step is to define the objectives and identify the key indicators (KPIs) that will be used to evaluate their performance. 

• Build a roadmap

The second step will require you to develop a roadmap consisting of:

• • The list of projects belonging to the program
  • A calendar
  • Key steps
  • Strategic objectives to which the programme responds

The roadmap is a great visual way to not only organize, but also effectively communicate your action plan within the organization. Getting the word out is just as important as know-how.

• Plan and execute

The next step in implementing a program management will include: 

• • Planning
  • Execution
  • Coordination
  • Control

The coordination of multiple projects and monitoring will take place throughout the course of the programme. To do this, use accurate metrics that will help you evaluate a program's performance, effectiveness, and profitability.

You will find several types of metrics, here are some of them: 

• Financial metrics : total cost of the program, return on investment
• Operational metrics : the rate of completion of tasks, the average time of a cycle

     C) Designate a Program Manager

Like the project manager for project management, the role of the program manager is to coordinate the program. It is important to quickly appoint this manager in charge of the smooth running of the program, whose tasks are numerous:

• Design roadmaps
• Verify that projects are consistent with the company's strategic vision
• Track progress
• Coordinate project managers
• Organize resources
• Manage and reduce risk
• Analyze the success or failure of programs
• Identify areas for improvement

     D) Use suitable software 

In project management, choosing a PPM (Portfolio Project Management) tool is crucial as it facilitates the allocation and optimization of resources.

In program management, a dedicated tool will also be used. Stafiz is one of them, and allows you to support both the program manager and the management team at all phases of the implementation.

Stafiz offers the following features, among others: 

• Resource management, within and across different programs across the company
• Dependencies Management
• Cross-team or entity billing to facilitate revenue recognition and accurately analyze business activities  
• Post-implementation project analysis to more accurately cost projects and measure the effectiveness of program projects

Discover project management in Stafiz

Often implemented in large companies with a high level of maturity, program management structures and maximizes productivity.

However, its difficulty in setting up can be a hindrance, as it requires rigorous organization and precisely defined objectives to show real benefits.

Nevertheless, a step-by-step progression, the appointment of a competent program manager and the use of a powerful and multi-tasking software such as Stafiz will help you to implement optimal program management. This will allow you to optimize your resources to gain efficiency and achieve your strategic objectives faster.