1. PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT An Overview of Best Practice
Session Overview
PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT An Overview of Best Practice
Peter Mystris PMP
Portfolio Manager: Global Services - Strategic Outsourcing IBM UK Ltd.
Committee member: ProgM – the Programme Management Special Interest Group.

2. Session Overview Definitions The UK Government Interest
Organisational Issues – Matrix Management
Programme Support Offices
Project Selection and Benefits Management
Programme Planning & Control
Sources of Further Information

3. Definitions
Programme management is the co-ordinated management of a portfolio of projects that change organisations to achieve benefits that are of strategic importance (OGC)
The definition comes from the UK government – Office of Government Communications which is associated with the Cabinet Office and the office of the e-envoy.
The italics are ours to indicate that some people run programmes to change their own organisation but others run programmes of project because it is their business to do so.
The definition comes from Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) which is available from The Stationery Office and via PMG.
You can get a UK recognised qualification called a Programme Management Professional. This involves a 5 day training workshop ending in an exam leading to the qualification
Managing Successful Programmes 2002 – the first major revision is due later this year.
Managing Successful Programmes (MSP)
The Stationery Office

4. Programme planning is the planning and monitoring of a portfolio of projects
No matter why you are performing the projects you need to plan them at various levels and monitor progress.

5. Session Overview Definitions The UK Government Organisational Issues
Programme Support Offices
Project Selection and Benefits Management
Programme Planning & Control
Sources of Further Information

6. The Government Prime Minister has instructed all Government agencies
To maximise delivery of benefits through programme management
To open a Programme Management Centre of Excellence
Office of Public Sector Reform (OPSR)
Improving Programme and Project Delivery (IPPD)
To use the Gateway Reviews for Procurement Programmes

7. Session Overview Definitions The UK Government Organisational Issues
Programme Support Offices
Project Selection and Benefits Management
Programme Planning & Control
Sources of Further Information

8. Delegation and Loan Functional Teams Specialist teams like: Software
Hardware
Communications
Documentation
Installation
Testing
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
Most organisations are grouped into specialist or functional teams.
The teams bring together people with particular specialities
These team do their day job – business as usual
Specialist Groups
Centres of Excellence
Regular Work + Project Work

9. Delegation and Loan Functional Teams The Project Workload
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
The Project Workload
But then along comes the project workload
The many projects are driven across the many functional teams by the project managers to achieve the projects aims
Not all projects use input from all teams

10. A Work Package: work by one team on one project
Delegation
A work package is DELEGATED by the Project Manager to the Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
Team Leader
In delegation a project manager asks a team leader to perform a work package.
A work package is the work one function or specialist team performs on one project.
The request should always go to the team leader – never directly to a team member
Delegation happens at all levels: Programme manager to project manager, project manager to phase manager, project or phase manager to functional manager. There are no limits to this.
There is no ‘project team’
A Work Package: work by one team on one project

11. Loan Joan is LOANED to a project team by the Team Leader
The Project Team
Here a person is loaned full time or part time to a project team.
There is a project team but the loaned person has two or more bosses - reports to more than one person.
A project team is formed from full time and part time members.

12. Delegation Loan Defined work package Timescale Inputs Outputs Budget
Team Leader requests & receives updates from team members.
Loan
A Person with a skill
Start and End Dates
% of their time
Project Manager requests and receives updates from team members.
Most organisations use a mixture of these techniques
It is important to understand them
Hydra supports them both very well.
The single project systems avoid these issues.

13. Session Overview Definitions The UK Government Organisational Issues
Programme Support Offices
Project Selection and Benefits Management
Programme Planning & Control
Sources of Further Information

14. The KPMG Programme Management 2002 survey
Focused on the importance of the programme office
The global research covered all industry sectors, with 50% of participants from the UK.
Almost two thirds of participants experienced a failed project within the previous 12 months
98% of organisations with a mature programme office reported a 100% project success rate

15. Programme and Project Support Offices
Wide Spectrum of Functions
Travel agency
Standards and Guidelines Advice
Standards and Guidelines Police
Planners and Technicians
Programme ‘owners’
Centres of Excellence - delivery focus
There is a wide range of PSO’s – some are very powerful and others provide small functions.
The qualification is a 2 or 5 day training course leading to 2 levels of qualifications through the Information Systems Examination Board.
PPSO Special Interest Group
ISEB Qualification – 2 level
2 books by David Marsh

16. Session Overview Definitions The UK Government Organisational Issues
Programme Support Offices
Project Selection and Benefits Management
Programme Planning & Control
Sources of Further Information

17. Benefits Management Most Organisations suffer from:
Too many initiatives
Conflicting initiatives
Unaligned initiatives
Whims
Limited people to execute initiatives
A limit on their ability to absorb change
Four text boxes appear automatically to make this slide.
The first box:
We are very much talking hear about change programmes and change projects – where an organisation runs programmes of projects to improve itself. We are not talking about projects where the deliverable is handed to someone else, where the organisation’s business is to deliver projects.
The first emphasis is that whilst most organisations have been working on developing their skills at delivering change many do not have a system for selecting the best projects to undertake. The change itself, bringing about the most valuable improvements therefore is much more important than the speed of delivery of the change.
The second text box:
Most organisations take on far too much. Many take on almost any initiative that promises to deliver a benefit. It is healthy for the organisation to encourage ideas for change from all parts but this can easily to lead to conflict. An example is where one group is refitting a warehouse and another group is planning to replace it. Or where an IT system is being upgraded and yet the user department’s role is about to change.
In addition to this, most organisations have a strategy and the strategic alignment of each idea should be a fundamental of every initiative’s selection. All projects should move the organisation towards its goal.
There are two major limiting factors. Firstly the resources that will be required to manage and take part in the projects is the limit of the ability to deliver change. It is vital to maximise the benefit the organisation derives from its resources.
But also many people will be effected by the change and this can be very localised – some groups suffer from too many changes in their way of working. Bank Teller staff and phone centre operatives are examples of people easily over-loaded by changes imposed upon them
So for all these reasons is makes complete sense to carefully select the most valuable and useful initiatives.
Box three:
Says that if you have to choose it is more important to select the best projects than to do all projects rights. After a short pause this is replaced by saying that choosing the best projects and doing them right is the best of all.
Doing the right thing is just as important as doing things right!
Doing the right things, right, is the best of all

18. The Value Path Taking one project and one
Projects create deliverables
Programmes combine deliverables to create capabilities
Organisations utilise capabilities to derive Benefits
Taking one project and one
benefit is an over simplification!
Benefits
Capabilities
Programmes
Deliverables
Projects

19. Programmes, Projects & Benefits
Many Projects
Each Programme
Many Benefits

20. Why do we need it? Because a significant proportion of projects:
fail to deliver their business benefits, or
fail to demonstrate delivery of benefits through poor use of metrics
Gartner Research:
Do companies measure benefits? no
yes
Do Programmes Deliver Benefits?
deliver no
benefit
Do some
75%
deliver
benefit
Forrester’s 2001 research tells a similar story, stressing that “[Programme] Prioritisation tops the list of CIO’s challenges”
25%

21. Defining A Programme Mandate – a written statement
Owner and / or Sponsor(s)
A list of Benefits each with:
‘No Change’ cost or income levels over time
‘Post Change’ cost or income levels over time
Strategic Alignment type or measures: KPI’s?
Resource Requirements and Costs
Risk Estimates (schedule, cost, benefit)
Evaluation time span

22. Executive Management

23. Executive Management

24. Session Overview Definitions The UK Government Organisational Issues
Programme Support Offices
Project Selection and Benefits Management
Programme Planning & Control
Sources of Further Information

25. Consolidated Model Central Database Local Project Plan
This approach has been available for some time. It is supported by tools such as Cascade and Primavera.
In this approach each component team plan their own work using a tool such as MS-Project. Periodically, these plans are transmitted to a central location - such as the Programme Office - where they are poured into a great big pot and (hopefully) consolidated into a meaningful programme plan.
Reports are then generated from the consolidated plan and distributed. Of course, nowadays such transmission is done electronically with (used to be floppy disks).
Advantage - simple for the remote planners, relatively cheap software, allows use of popular desk-to tools such as MS-Project
Disadvantages - very difficult to achieve consistency. If tasks and resources don’t have exactly the same name -> chaos and confusion. Also, unreliable - requires everyone to update their plans on the same timetable. Therefore requires a team of consolidators to resolve the chaos - slow and time-consuming - and output has to be interpreted giving scope for mis-communication.
Local Project Plan

26. Direct Update Model Programme Manager Project Manager Team Leader
This is latest approach and likely to be the way forward.
Each team maintains its own plans, but connections are built in so that the update of a subordinate plan automatically updates the other plans that it effects. There are two types of connection:
Delegation of work packages from Senior management down to projects and teams - (as many levels as needed);
loan of resources from pools to projects.
This approach is supported by Hydra and (to a lesser extent) Cascade.
Advantages - Immediate and direct update of all affected plans. No accidental overloading of resources. Auditable distribution of work. Each team has control over own plans, but others have complete visibility. Activity descriptions can be in own spoken languages of component teams - Spanish, Italian, English, etc.
Disadvantages - All must use the same tool and its not MS-Project 98 ! Relies on a relatively high level of programme organisation.
Team Leader
Team Member

27. Summary Programme Management is a technique coming into wide use
Public and Private Sectors
For Business Change a new era is emerging focussing the benefits that projects deliver
For all programmes a new approach to planning and control is emerging.

28. Further Sources
ProgM - The Programme Management Special Interest Group
Register for Newsletter and invitations
The Project Selection and Benefits Management Initiative
Free Evening events and other Conferences
The Programme Management website
Office of Government Commerce

29. Good Luck with your programmes and your projects