Program Management - Advanced Seminar
June 22-23, 2009 | Chicago, IL

New Public Seminar - This highly interactive and practical seminar presents best practices and provides you with tools and techniques to plan, execute, and successfully manage programs. Read More

Program Management

As leading organizations have broadened their knowledge and skills in project management reaching higher maturity levels, a need for effective management of programs has evolved in recent years. The Proje

ct Management Institute (PMI®) issued a new global standard for program management in early 2006 and more recently announced Program Management Professional (PgMP®) certification credential. Although the term program management has been in wide use for a long time, very little information is available in the public domain on related tools, techniques, and best practices. There is not even a commonly accepted definition of a program with different organizations defining it differently. According to the PMI®, a program is a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. In addition, it may include on-going related work outside the scope of discrete projects included in the program. This highly interactive seminar adapts the PMI® definition and presents cutting edge principles, tools, techniques, and best practices in managing programs.

Duration

2 days

Who Should Attend?

• Program and project managers involved in planning and execution of programs and projects.
• Managers responsible for evaluation, selection, and termination of projects.
• PMO managers and senior managers responsible for initiating or streamlining program management processes and methodologies.
• Decision makers involved in authorizing projects or phases of projects.
• Managers interested in receiving funding for their projects from their upper management or business units.

Learning Objectives

• Define and differentiate projects, programs, and project portfolios
• Discuss relationships between projects, programs, and portfolios
• Identify program life cycle and its phases
• Delineate the do’s and don’ts of effective delegation in a program environment
• Identify common challenges of technical people in program leadership positions
• Use Program Directive to link the program scope to organizational strategy
• Define the three most important management themes of any program
• Develop program governance focused on program goals
• Build a business case for a program
• Divide a program into projects to maximize benefit and control
• Develop and optimize program schedule
• Identify and manage project interdependencies
• Plan, track, and control program costs using earned value management method
• Manage scope changes without exceeding program constraints
• Optimize resource utilization especially in a matrix environment
• Implement a PMO to support successful execution of a program
• Identify and manage program benefits using right metrics and procedures

Outline

Introduction

• What is a program?
• How is a program different from a project?
• How is a program different from a portfolio?
• Relationships among portfolios, programs, and projects
• Program manager competencies

Program Life Cycle & Management Themes

• Life cycle phases
• Phase-gate review process
• Benefits management
• Stakeholder management
• Program governance

Program Planning

• The Program Directive
• Program management plan
• Program WBS
• Program scheduling
• Program risk management
• Program metrics

Program Execution & Monitoring

• Benefits management
• Stakeholder management
• Change management
• Communication management
• Resource management

Program Management Office

• Organization models
• Maturity models
• Roles & responsibilities
• Metrics
• PMO implementation

Program Leadership

• Program leadership skills
• The art of delegation
• Challenges of technical people in leadership positions
• Managing without authority

Program Financial Management

• Program business case
• Program life cycle costing
• Cash flow analysis
• Earned value management