A Project On Programe Management

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

1. INTRODUCTION:

In the present world many organizations are managing multiple projects simultaneously with shared or the projects which are having common characteristic resources but in different working environments. Programme management mainly concentrates on managing a group of projects in order to achieve the final outcome which benefits the organization. The main aim of programme management is to control the group of projects in a structured way so as to derive the desired. Programme management is commonly used in order to relate the project management and is often interchangeable.

Programme management is a tool that helps the organization to run different related projects concurrently and obtain the collection of significant benefits (Russell, 1998). According to Rory Burke, programme management is managing a large capital project, it may be sub divided into a number of smaller related projects to achieve a single common goal.

According to Turner, JR (1992) by far the greatest amount of project activity takes place not in the form of traditional large projects with dedicated team of people, but within portfolios, or programmes of small to medium sized projects so a group of related projects are most likely to run off course and fail to achieve the outputs if it is not managed as a programme.

According to Haughey (2001) programme management is a way to manage multiple independent projects which leads to the organizational benefits. Programme management is a way to control project management, which traditionally has focused on technical delivery. "Programme management is a tool that has evolved out of project management, that helps organize many interrelated projects" (Russell, 1998). At this stage it is very important for one to know the difference between project management and programme management. Programme management will mainly concentrate on doing the right projects, where as project management deals with doing the projects right. According to Reiss (1996) a project is designed to deliver an output or deliverable and its success will be in terms of delivering the right output at the right time and to the right cost. Maylor (2003) also describes programme management as hedging cost, quality and time of the project.

2. Objectives:

The objectives define the overall programme aims and reasons for investing in change (Williams & Parr, 2008). These will not change throughout the length of the programme. Programme Management is a technique concerned with controlling a group of related projects carried out to achieve a defined business objective or benefit. According to Robert Buttrick's (2000) definition that some projects 'are large to manage as a single entity,' then we necessarily need to split them up into smaller manageable projects. If the whole is too large for a single project manager to handle, then a number of projects managers are required to take care of the smaller projects. So smaller projects with multiple project managers all designed to achieve a single long-term objective or benefit for the organization. As all the projects should be managed we required a programme manager.

The objective of a programme is to co-ordinate the outcomes of the set of projects such that the programme can achieve not only the outcomes from its projects but also produce measurable benefits that can be realized within the timescales of the programme as well as afterwards. The programme manager is not responsible for the day to day running of individual projects in the programme. The project manager is responsible for the day to day running of the individual projects but the programme manager’s responsibility is to see that all projects are running on time and that each project will achieve its overall contribution to the whole programme. Some of the activities that are undertaken during programme management are such as Setting the baseline, Agreeing roles and responsibilities, Programme planning, Stakeholder communication, Progress reporting, managing benefits, Quality management, Risk management, Issue management, and Programme closure. Before a programme is started the high-level strategic objectives for the programme should be defined. Programme Management is normally a top-down approach. A programme should take forward the final goal of the organization. According to Turner, 1999 the added benefits include, elimination of risk arising from interfaces between the projects, coherent prioritization of resources and reduction in management efforts. Managing Successful Programmes will enhance the skill of the organization in programme management which will:

Achieve business change benefits during and after the programme

Ensure effective management of the business

Ensures proper management of risks because much of the content is understood

Encourages more effective use of resources throughout the programme

Provide the knowledge to the senior management to direct the changes

Ensures efficient use of cost, standards and quality

Provide clear definition of roles and responsibilities

Help’s in Better co-ordination and control of the complex range of activities.

3. STAGES OF PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT:

Managing successful programmes consists a set of principles and processes. According to Lycett et.al, (2004) there are four basic stages identified in programme management they are:

programme identification

programme planning

programme delivery and

programme closure

Programme management process:

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http://www.managing-successful-programmes.com/msp-processes.asp

3.1. Programme identifying:

Programme identification defines the overall objective for programme and positions the programme within the organization’s corporate mission, goals, strategies and other initiatives. Programme identification is a high level process where the strategy and course of the organisation are decided. From this stage that the programmes required to realise these strategies are determined. All benefits should be graded in accordance with their importance. Certain grades are assigned for each programme and this grading will be used by the programme manager to assess the degree of success achieved at the end of the programme. In this phase the A Programme Brief is prepared which defines the aim and envisaged benefits to the organisation.

3.2. Programme Planning:

The key factor for the programme to be successful is the planning stage. Creating a programme plan is the first and most important task that one should do, when undertaking any project. Often project planning is ignored in order to get on with the work. However, many people fail to realise the value of a project plan in saving time, money and many other issues. According to Pellegrinelli, 1997 Designing of the programme takes place in this stage where the programme manager define clear objectives, agrees on approach and responsibilities and set up communication channels. It is important at this stage to spot the passable levels of resource for the early projects and determine the requirements for later projects.

3.3. Programme delivery:

During the programme delivery (execution) stage the individual project managers run the identified projects. At this stage the responsibility of programme manager's is to monitor the progress, observe the growth and development, measure risks and report progress to the higher authority or leadership. The programme manager has a view across all projects ensuring that the target business environment is adequately positioned to receive changes, manage the benefits and risks are properly throughout the programme and must also see that the programme stays aligned with the overall strategic objectives of the organisation.

3.4. Programme closure:

This is the final stage of programme management, programmes have limited period of life time similar to the projects, these are closed once the defined set of objectives or benefits are achieved. Before the programme is closed the programme manager must explain or demonstrate the benefits that have been realised generally called as ‘benefit realisation’. These benefits are similar to those that are identified in the programme identification stage. Once closed, the project manager should review the project and record the good and bad points so successes can be repeated and failures can be avoided in order to enable future programmes run more effectively.

4. PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES:

Programme management is embedded with many activities which may be different and depend on the programmes. According to Lycett et.al (2004) a wide range of different programme management activities have been proposed. The key areas of activities of programme management are

planning and resource management

monitoring and control management

configuration management and change control

risk and issue management

benefits management and

stakeholder management

4.1. Planning and resource management:

The main aim of programme planning and resource management is to organise the resources well in order to achieve the benefits defined by the programme. It also mainly concentrates on the organization of tasks in the programme so as to achieve the objectives of the projects and in turn achieve the overall aims of the programme.

4.2. Monitoring and control management:

Programme Monitoring and Control involves tracking progress on individual projects and taking action as and whenever required. Programme manager will track the ongoing projects within the programme and identifies the issues which are critical and takes necessary mitigating actions in order to rectify those issues and achieve the objectives of the programme.

4.3. Configuration management and change control:

Configuration Management and Change Control is an important activity in programme management because sometimes there will be a need of changing or configurating some programme management steps in order to overcome the contingencies. It has to ensure that the programme blue print and the programme plan can survive with the change control process. According to the OGC (official of government commerce) programme blue print consists of the information of the organisation, people working in it, tools and the organisation systems.

4.4. Risk and issue management:

Risk management is a systematic process of identifying, analysing and responding to project risk, but programme risk management mainly concentrates on achieving the programme objectives and the effects caused by the changes made in the programme. In order to overcome this, changes must be managed well to avoid the risks using change management skills and regular tracking of the risks so as to achieve the targeted goals of the programme.

4.5. Benefits management:

According to Pellegrinelli (2007), managing successful programmes identifies benefits management as "a core activity and a continuous ‘thread’ throughout the programme", and fundamental to the realisation of benefits from new capabilities delivered by projects within the programme. The project manager completes the responsibility when he achieves the benefits of the project. so benefit management should be carried out in all the levels of programme management in order to achieve the benefits and objectives.

4.6. Stakeholder management:

According to Pellegrinelli (2007), "understanding stakeholders’ interests in the programme, and the impact the programme will have on them, and then implementing a strategy to address these issues and needs is an essential part of successful programme management". The programme Stakeholders should be managed in a way that achieves the proposed results offered to them by reaching at the programme goals.

5. PROGRAMME life cycle

5.1. Life Cycle Terminology:

The programme life cycle is useful for various reasons, it not only helps us to structure both the programme itself, and the plan but also helps us to ensure that we have covered all the cost associated with all the activities that are involved in the programme. There is no one, right way to describe the stages of your Programme, as long as they make sense for the specific situation, and the terms are used consistently by all involved in the Programme.

Programme life cycle phases can be categorized in variety of ways within the organization. Terminology used will vary but they are generally described as including: inspiration; germination; initiation; preparation; delivery; implementation; institutionalisation. Programme evaluation has not been included as a phase, because it is not separate phase, but an activity that should be undertaken for a number of times at different points throughout the life cycle.

5.2. Programme lifecycle scenarios:

There are two ways for the establishment of a new Programme they are:

1. An idea may be generated which requires a new Programme to be set up, in which case a bigger job is needed to establish the overall Programme infrastructure, as well as the specific delivery mechanisms

2. The new idea may have been generated from within an existing Programme.  In this case, the Programme set up is only needed for new delivery aspects required and the existing Programme infrastructure is utilised.

Certain key steps are applicable in both scenarios which are to develop the idea, vision, or rationale for change.  This should make clear the way the world will be different or change as a result of the Programme.  At this stage, it will also need to develop the Programme objectives and success criteria, agree scope and freeze it – make clear what's included and excluded from the Programme of work, communicate, consult, and negotiate on how the vision is to be achieved.

6. Problems with Programme Life Cycle:

In many cases Programme lifecycle could only exists in theory can't be possible to identify in practice. The standard Programme life cycle is always not the same for all programmes and can't be defined properly always, as some points can't be seen earlier. They are also subjected to long-time and addition of new projects. Most of the practical programmes are not clearly based on the lifecycle as adjustments can't be made in accordance with the changing business environment and the needs which restrict flexibility.

7. Programme plan:

This is used to design the overall programme and then to track and control progress. The Programme Plan is a key control document for the programme. It enables the Programme Manager to ensure that a planned and controlled environment is established and maintained throughout the life of the programme. The Programme Plan provides the basis for tracking the impact of each project on the programme's overall goals, benefits, risks and costs. This helps the programme board to measure actual progress against expectations of the programme. It also enables the Programme Manager to monitor the dynamics of the inter-relationships between each project and to act when a delay in any one project might jeopardise the work of others.

8. Limitations:

Pellegrinelli (1997) demonstrated that many talented individuals find the transition between project management and programme management a huge challenge.

A programme is a collection of projects with a common goal. Sometimes the amount of common ground and shared values across a large programme can be very small indeed. This makes coordination more difficult and more politically charged, but it doesn't make it completely impossible.

A programme is a collection of similar projects. One approach to programme management is to impose a common management style (and management reporting requirements) on a series of projects that are assumed to be similar. Or perhaps it is thought that they ought to be similar. Programme management is just a scaled-up version of project management. There are some programmes that are simply mega-projects, but these are exceptional. Among such mega-projects, there are far more failures than successes. This is therefore a poor model for programme management generally.

9. Conclusion:

Programme management is just another layer of bureaucracy on top of project management. Of course, this is exactly how programme management is sometimes practised. But it doesn't have to be this way. More specifically, it has been found that better results are achieved at a project level when people tailor procedures to the type of project that they are working on.

Programme Management is also the process of managing multiple interdependent projects that lead towards an improvement in an organization's performance. Programme management is becoming an increasingly important aspect of managing changes within business. Management is a structured way of handling change proactively and provides a framework for handling complexity and risk.

The main objective of this research was to create a better understanding of programmes plans and programme management. The literature defines programme management as the co-ordination of a set of projects with a common, strategic objective. Also, it can help practitioners understand the difficulties in co-ordinating groups of existing projects, and the benefits of centralised and formalised programme management.