What Is A Program Manager?

Project Managers vs. Program Managers

Program management is a relatively new concept in the world of management. Although the term may sound similar to project management, the two roles are actually very different. While they do share certain similar responsibilities, there are quite a few major differences between the two roles.

A program manager can be defined as someone responsible for going through the objectives and strategies of a program and identifying how it’ll impact the business. They evaluate the list of independent projects that serve a key purpose in reaching the overall goals of a program. Projects are also shorter term than programs, and are “carefully planned and designed to achieve a particular aim.” Programs, on the other hand, consist of many projects that work together to push an overarching strategy. Let’s think of it this way — projects are the building blocks and programs are the massive Lego castle.

Plus, the role of a program manager goes beyond completing an individual project and extends to the completion of the whole program. Program managers do everything from making a list of teams and implementing strategies to measuring the ROI and other initiatives involved in the big picture — the responsibilities of a program manager are varied and eclectic. Program managers supervise and oversee the collaborations taking place across all the project teams, and apply their knowledge, skills, techniques, and tools in order to achieve the objectives and requirements of a program.

But why do you need project managers? The answer is pretty simple. When the scale and level of complexity of a program is high, it requires the presence of a skilled, experience, dedicated, and high-level individual who can look after the many mobile parts of the given program and coordinate individual initiatives. Without the presence of a carefully crafted plan, efficient team members, a project management tool like Hive, and a careful management of risk, constraints, and resources, any project or program can fall apart.

Skills and Responsibilities of a Program Manager

The main responsibility of a program manager is to bring about positive change and push the project in the right direction strategically. This requires a mix of coordinating the projects inside the program and managing interdependencies, including the risks and issues involved. Most of the time, program managers work full-time on a program. They are in charge of the creation and maintenance of focus and decorum within a program, and also for keeping the momentum and enthusiasm level high among every team member.

The overall coherence and integrity of a program depends on a program manager. They look after developing and maintaining the ambience of a program so that each and every member feels supported and encouraged, and this is often done from their program management office.

Let us now look at some of the important responsibilities of a program manager:

Program managers define the governance arrangements of a program, which means that they arrange how the program is managed and held accountable for objectives.
They plan and design the program, actively monitoring its progress, making sure the issues get resolved, and appropriate action is taken on time
Program managers make sure that the overall quality and integrity of the program is upheld. Internally, they focus on maintaining the consistency of the program, and externally, they oversee the planning of the infrastructure, the coherence of the other programs with the interface, and seeing that the specialist, technical, and corporate standards are taken care of
They assign individuals to project teams
Program managers look after the budget of the program on behalf of the senior responsible owner (SRO), thereby monitoring and controlling the expenses, making sure they stay within the budget
They communicate with all the stakeholders, and manage third-party contributions to the program
Program managers ensure that the skills and common resources get equally distributed within every individual project of the program
They work hard to keep the risks at bay so that the program can have a successful fruition and outcome
They manage the interfaces and dependencies between projects with a tool like Hive
Whenever there are gaps or issues realized within a program, they initiate interventions or extra activities to tackle them
Program managers report the program’s progress at regular intervals to either the director of the program or the SRO

When it comes to the skills of a program manager, they are expansive and evolve as the program moves forward. The skills that a program manager needs to have are as follows:

Solid experience with managing a large and complicated project
Stellar leadership, communication, as well as interpersonal skills
Be able to command respect and a build a sense of teamwork and community among all the members of the projects and program
Have all the technical knowledge related to monitoring, planning, and controlling a program
Be efficient with regards to the business case development as well as approval skills that are a part of every program
Negotiate effectively with the third parties
Know how to both solve and predict problems that could crop up at a later stage
Act as the guide and leader when it comes to giving advice to the project teams in relation to their responsibilities towards the program

What are the Tools a Program Manager Should Use?

Managing a program is undoubtedly a hectic task. However, it can be made easier when the right tools are implemented. Some of the different tools that should be used by a program manager are:

1. Dashboard: Having a dashboard on an app like Hive is imperative for every program manager. It gives you a run-through of everything that’s happening with a given program. It can provide a program manager with the present statuses of multiple projects, and with Hive’s flexible project views, you can view progress in many different formats.

The look of every program can also be customized on a dashboard in order to show you just what you want to view. Therefore, not only does a dashboard provide accuracy to a program manager, but also saves their time immensely.

2. Gantt Chart: In order to create a competent schedule and have a visual timeline of every task, a Gantt Chart is vital for a program manager. Gantt charts help you visualize projects, deadlines and tasks in a streamlined way.

Getting an online Gantt Chart or using a project management tool like Hive works even more efficiently, because it saves you the trouble of having to update one that’s static. Whenever changes occur, all you have to do is drag and drop in order to get a task rescheduled.

Notes, links, as well as files can be added to various tasks of a project through a task management tool. Email notifications can be automated, too, so that program managers are aware when the deadline of a task if approaching. If you’re using Hive, your inbox is pulled directly into the app itself, so you can easily view and sort emails based on project.

3. Reporting: Since program managers need to report about the progress of a program or project to both the team members as well as to an SRO, a tool dedicated just to derive reports is very beneficial. Documents can be shared either via emails, or even printed out in case they are required for a presentation. A reporting tool can also help you create graphs and charts that clearly display the reports of every stage of a program.

Reporting tools help program managers keep a track of the planned progress in comparison to the actual progress of various projects. Therefore, it helps you make the necessary modifications so as to stay ahead of schedule and save time, money, and resources.

Overall, program management is an essential part of large organizations managing complex projects with any sort of deadline and overarching strategic objective. We’ve gone into detail about just a few of the components of program management, but if you want to learn more, here are a few resources: