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Program Management Professional (PgMP) Catego
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A Program Manager is responsible for managing multiple interrelated Product Management

projects and ensuring that - taken together - they produce speci@c Product Market Fit

business outcomes and bene@ts for an organization. Program Delivery

Project Management

The title "Program Manager" is not very common. Organizations have SaaS

Project Managers, Product Managers, General Managers. But "Program Strategy

Manager" is rare. This is because often executives and middle managers

play the role of Program Manager even if they don't have the title.

WHAT IS A PROGRAM? HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM A PROJECT?

A program has 3 main characteristics:

O. it combines multiple interrelated streams of work called

'components'. Components are sub-programs, projects,

operations, and other activities

Q. it combines the deliverables of each component to

produce bene8ts

R. it is time-bound, i.e. it has a start and end date when the business

outcomes are delivered.

According to the PMI PgMP standard, a program is a collection of

interrelated components. Components can be sub-programs, projects,

or other activities. Often these are components that span many

functions, for example marketing, sales, engineering, design, @nance.

When these components are managed together under a program, they

deliver value and bene@ts beyond the individual projects themselves

(think: 1 + 1 + 1 > 3).

The main difference between a Program and a Project is that projects

create deliverables, whereas programs create bene8ts. A bene@t is an

outcome of actions and behaviours that provides utility to stakeholders.

Bene@ts may or may not be cost effective, the important thing is that

they provide utility to stakeholders.

The deliverables of a project are usually tangible: easily recognized and

validated. The bene@ts of a program could be tangible (e.g. a speci@c

product, process or result) or intangible (e.g. improved morale, better

capabilities).

Read more: The PMP Exam Trick Questions Cheat Sheet.

EXAMPLES OF PROGRAMS

Programs can come in many different forms. Here are some examples:

creating a new line of business within the organization

building a new department for your organization

opening the company to a new market segment

implementing a large enterprise system, such as SAP

replacing an legacy IT system and its operations with a new

system and way of working

creating a demand generation program to drive leads from a new

market segment

organizing a major event, such as the Olympics

establishing a Customer Success program to increase customer

satisfaction and retention

PGMP CERTIFICATION - IS IT WORTH IT?

Whereas the PMI PMP designation is very popular in industry today,

PgMP (Program Management Professional) designation is still very niche

with less than 5,000 certi@ed PgMPs worldwide.

If you are preparing for the PgMP Exam, you need to review all your PMP

learnings, and understand the new concepts that are foundational for a

Program Manager.

Program Management Professional (PgMP) Free Online Tests:

Simplilearn PgMP Exam Prep Practice Test (170 questions)

ITExams Program Management Professional v1.0 (PgMP) (455

questions)

PMOAdvisory PgMP Practice Exam (10 questions)

certlibrary Program Management Professional v1.0 (15 questions)

ProcessExam PMI PgMP Certi8cation Exam Sample Questions (10

questions)

OTHER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS

PMI also distinguishes projects from programs along 3 dimensions:

O. Uncertainty - whereas project deliverables are usually well-

de@ned, programs deal with more risk and uncertainty and

intentionally adapt over time (e.g. cancel or change projects) to

achieve the intended bene@ts. In fact, one of the main advantages

of running a program is that programs provide centralized risk

management for all projects within it.

Q. Change - whereas change management on projects is used to

constrain or control the impact of changes, program change

management is more proactive, seeking to updates to changes

in organizational strategy and environment

R. Complexity - programs are more complex in terms of governance,

stakeholders, interdependencies, risk and bene@ts management ,

etc.

HOW ARE PROGRAMS DIFFERENT FROM PORTFOLIOS?

Programs are also different from portfolios. A portfolio is a strategic

collection of components that meets some business objectives.

Programs have a de@nite timeframe, portfolios are not initiated with a

time frame in mind. A program can be long and the duration may not

even be known upfront, but they are by nature temporary.

Portfolio managers are typically directly involved in strategic decision

making, whereas Program Managers will advise and provide input into

strategy but will be mostly focused on turning strategy into reality by

delivering business outcomes and bene@ts

Read more: What Is A Program Manager?

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PROGRAM MANAGER

A Program Manager's responsibilities include:

managing interfaces and interdependencies between

projects/components of a program

managing transition of components and the overall program

aligning the program with strategy

making provisions for the transition and sustenance of the

bene@ts

creating dependable plans by managing the interdependencies

between projects

providing reliable mechanisms through which the organization

realizes strategic bene@ts through integration of project activities

raising the visibility of progress in achieving desired bene@ts and

involves a wide range of stakeholders

A Program Manager is not focused on managing project managers and

making sure they do their jobs. Program Managers should focus on the

bene8ts that are expected from the program and the risks to

achieving those bene8ts, rather than on individual projects or speci@c

aspects of the Scope, Cost, and Time equation for the program.

Typically the program manager's biggest challenge in a matrix

organization where different leads are reporting to different functional

heads is COMMUNICATION. This will likely lead to issues while managing

the integrations and interfaces across projects, where communication is

most essential. In a matrix organization, the most important Program

Management skill is therefore inYuencing without authority, getting

others to contribute even if they are not your direct reports.

PROGRAM LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT

PgMP's methodology is summarized by the excellent graphic below

from the PMI standard (see webinar Everything About PgMP). Since

one of the main responsibilities of a Program Manager (that

distinguishes them from a Project Manager) is the delivery of bene@ts,

a lot of the focus is on Program Bene8ts Management, which is made

up of 5 sub-parts: Bene@ts Identi@cation, Bene@ts Analysis and Planning,

Bene@ts Delivery, Bene@ts Transition, and Bene@ts Sustainment.

PROGRAM DEFINITION PHASE

Program De@nition starts once you have a Business Case that helps

establish the high-level goals of the program. It's also crucial to have

a Sponsor who can provide resources and champion the program within

the organization. Without the @rm backing of the sponsor, even the best

articulated business cases backed by the best resources can fail to take

off.

The sequence of program de@nition:

O. Program Charter

Q. Roadmap

R. Governance structure

e. Program Management Plan

BUSINESS CASE

One key tool in PgMP for business cases is SWOT analysis (Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). For an established company

looking to signi@cantly increase its sales, for example, start with a SWOT

analysis to understand what opportunities can be identi@ed and how

the organization can be positioned to take advantage of them. You can

also review sales data, explore new markets, talk to marketing, etc.

however the @rst thing to do is the SWOT to understand the situation.

If a company is looking to exit some businesses that it's in, we say it's

looking to rationalize the portfolio. It would start by undertaking a review

of the portfolio and the competitive positioning of the company to begin

to shape a business case.

Other types of company strategies include backward integration,

forward integration, and concentric diversi@cation. These can prompt

business cases that require programs to be formed to deliver.

PROGRAM VISION AND MISSION

The program vision describes the future state of the program. It acts as a

constant reminder of the objectives and its intended bene@ts. The

mission statement describes the purpose of the program and states the

reason that the program exists.

PROGRAM CHARTER

Before a program can be chartered, the business case and program

mandate must be approved by company leadership.

The purpose of a Program Charter is to formally authorize the program

and secure senior management buy-in to apply resources to it.

The Program Charter can be used to:

establish key bene@ts and outcomes desired by the organization

list high-level constraints and assumptions for the program

to establish alignment of the program with the strategy of the

organization

On the last point, the Program Manager is responsible for ensuring that

the program maintains alignment with the organization's strategy when

creating the charter, and on an ongoing basis. Even if a new proposed

program makes business sense, it needs to be validated with the

program board to ensure that it's aligned with the latest strategy of the

company. If program board can't make a strategic decision because they

are undecided or split, the program sponsor decides.

If management agrees to your program charter and proposes to fund

the program in increments at the completion of each milestone, this is

called step funding.

ROADMAP

The Program Roadmap may look similar to a project schedule, however

the roadmap actually only outlines major program events for the

purposes of planning and the development of more detailed schedules.

The program roadmap also gives an indication of the pace at which

bene@ts are realized and serves as a basis for transition and integration

of new capabilities.

The program roadmap can be a valuable tool for effective governance of

the program. it can be used to show stakeholders how bene@ts are

delivered within major stages or milestones; however, it may or may not

include the component details, their durations, and contributions to

bene@ts.

To determine the roadmap of program, planning must be done face-to-

face with stakeholders e.g. brainstorming.

When trying to implement a major change that is likely to meet

resistance, start with a pilot group and demonstrate success to the

wider organization, rather than a communication campaign or top-

down push to get all departments to change at once. Roadmaps should

often allow for such a pilot phase.

PROGRAM GOVERNANCE

The Governance Plan is about how the program will be administered

and governed. It includes:

summary of the goals of the program

composition of the governance board and roles and

responsibilities of the members

schedule of regular and phase gate review meetings

The Governance Board is not a consensus committee. If the Governance

Board can provide a recommendation, but the program sponsor

normally has veto power. Members of the Governance Board are

important stakeholders. Regular meetings with the board can con@rm

stakeholder satisfaction with current performance.

INITIATING COMPONENTS WITHIN A PROGRAM

Each component of the program (e.g. project or other activity) also

needs a project charter. The Program Manager is highly involved in

initiating each new component of the program. The PgM's primary

concern is that each component initiated contributes to the bene@ts

that the program is expected to deliver.

The sponsor authorizes a new component of the program and funds it.

The Executives authorize the sponsor and the program board.

Program Architecture establishes the correlation between the

components and how they contribute to the bene@ts. The program

architecture de@nes the structure of the components by identifying the

relationships among the components and the rules that govern their

inclusion.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Program Management Plan is a high-level plan that represents the

baseline agreement between the program and its stakeholders about

what the program will deliver. It de@nes how and when the goals of the

program will be pursued in each program component.It provides

guidance and direction to individual project management plans but

does not necessarily contain all the project management plans as

subsidiaries.

The program management plan has sub-plans such as Bene8ts

Management Plan, Governance Plan, and Stakeholder Engagement

Plan. The program Financial Management Plan documents funding

schedules, initial budgets, contract payments and @nancial metrics.

BENEFITS MANAGEMENT

The program manager identi@es bene@ts, plans for them and ensures

that the program takes steps to realize, monitor and transition the

bene@ts.

Bene8ts Identi8cation: Determine bene@ts, evaluate bene@ts, and set

up metrics to measure bene@ts.

The Program Bene8ts Statement de@nes the bene@ts the program will

create for the organization once the program has been completed.

The Bene8ts Register provides the list of planned bene@ts and target

dates and milestones for bene@ts achievement. Together with the

Financial Management Plan, this can provide the information necessary

for due diligence. It can include KPIs and thresholds for measuring

bene@t achievement.

BENEFITS DELIVERY

During bene@ts delivery, a PgM will be

Controlling and managing change

Developing and engaging the team

Monitoring and tracking bene@ts delivery

Initiating and transitioning components

This activity should all should be with a view to making sure that the

bene@ts are indeed being realized.

The Program Transition Plan de@nes how you'll transfer the bene@ts of

the program to the operations of your organization. The Program

Transition Phase is to address the transfer of bene@ts into

organizational operations. This may involve transfer of resources, assets,

and other bene@ts.

TOOLS

The Work Authorization System helps to ensure that only the planned

and essential work is being performed at any given point in time. During

budget cuts, it allows the PgM to exercise better control over the

expenses of the program.

The Information Management System is a centralized reporting system

to capture information on program work, risks, changes, bene@ts

management, and other aspects of the program, and supports the

PgM's communication to stakeholders. It is to make sure that the

information required by the stakeholders is being made available to

them in time, and in the format and medium that they prefer to receive

it.

PROGRAM OFFICE, PROGRAM MANAGEMENT OFFICE

The Program Management Of8ce is a company-wide center of

excellence for program management in an organization. It provides

guidance and mentorship to the program managers in an organization.

It also maintains guidelines, best practices, templates and historical

information for an organization. Along with the Governance Board, the

Program Management Of@ce can get into decision making or

authorization.

When a new PgM starts planning, the best place to start is to refer to

historical records (PMI places a lot of emphasis on this) and seek

guidance from the Program Management Of@ce.

The Program Of8ce is different, it is an administrative support to

program managers and program management teams.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT

According to this post, there will be ~12-15 questions relating to Program

Change Management and Program Integration Management on the

PgMP exam. To answer these questions correctly, remember the

following steps in sequence:

O. Record the change request in the program change log.

Q. Analyze the change request to determine their urgency and

impact on program baseline and other program components.

R. Submit to the program steering committee ( Program

Governance Board ) for their decision if it is more than Program

Manager’s authority. For example, a project-level CR that will

impact funding and timeline needs to go to the Program

Governance Board.

e. Update the change log once the decision on the program change

request has been made by Program Steering Committee

k. Update the impacted areas in the program

l. Update the program management Plan

m. Renect the updates to component plans, as warranted

o. Communicate the decision and changes to the appropriate

stakeholders according to the program communications

management plan.

p. Implement the approved change request by program team.

Project-level change management focuses on preserving the ability to

ful@ll requirements, whereas program-level change management

focuses on preserving the ability to deliver bene@ts.

In addition, since the PgM is very focused on interdependencies, if there

is a project-level CR, assuming all processes are followed by the PM, a

PgM's biggest concern should always be about the impact of the

change on other components.

SCOPE

The Program Scope Management Plan determines how the scope of

the overall program will be managed. It does not contain the actual

scope of the program. Rather, it explains how the scope of the overall

program will be managed.

PWBS (program work breakdown structure) is a "deliverables-

based" breakup of the program into smaller manageable units. It

contains work packages contained within all the components of the

program. It does not contain all the detailed work packages of every

component, it only goes up to a level of granularity that the program

manager wants to manage at. The PWBS does not contain the

description of the program packages.

The preparation of the PWBS should ideally involve the project

managers and program team, because it creates buy-in from the team.

Once the program scope statement has been @nalized, the distribution

of work among various components has been determined, and the

program WBS has been created, then you move on to schedule, cost,

and resource requirements and the implications on risk and quality.

During Validate Scope, the PgM should provide oversight and guidance

about the scope. The program manager should ensure that the

deliverables produced by the projects can contribute to the creation of

bene@ts for the customers of the program. The key words here are

"oversight and guidance" and "creation of bene@ts". The program

manager will let the projects determine the way the activities are

conducted, but focus more on providing guidance and ensuring that the

bene@ts are realized. During @nal acceptance tests for the projects, the

PgM makes sure that the deliverables enable the program to deliver the

intended bene@ts.

SCHEDULE AND COST

Program Managers need to be experts at Schedule Management and

Cost Management methodologies of PMP. Expect many questions on

the PgMP exam that would be similar to the PMP exam, especially

related to earned value management.

Earned Value Management measures the utilization of budget against

the actual work done and provides a holistic view to the program

manager. EVM reports are helpful for the program manager to keep tabs

on the budget utilization and progress. Earned value for overall program

is the sum of EV of all projects.