DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN PROGRAM AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Two distinct trends have played a key role in the emerging need to succinctly distinguish between program management and project management. First, there is a recognized need within business management to improve the link between business strategy and operational execution. Second, there is an increasing trend toward larger and more complex product, service, and infrastructure development efforts. These trends are fully comprehended in the program management model and give rise to its increased usage as a critical business function. Program management and project management are related but distinctly different disciplines. It is important for everyone within an organization to understand the distinction between the two to link project output to business strategy and integrate the efforts of multiple project teams to achieve a common set of business goals.

Summary of Program and Project Management Differentiation
Table 1.1 provides a high-level summary of the important differences between program and project management. The primary differentiator is the core area of focus. Program management is strategic in nature and focused on the business success of the program, while project management is tactical in nature and focused on the successful execution and delivery of one subsystem, or element, of the integrated solution. All other factors in the summary (alignment, responsibility, management dimension, risk management, work effort, processes, skills, and capabilities) are subfactors of the primary differentiator. We refer to project management as tactical in nature based on the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and the dominant industrial practices. PMBOK is a very respectable standard—de jure U.S. national standard and de facto global standard. Per PMBOK, project management is about management of a single, individual project, whose primary focus is accomplishment of the triple-constraint goals (time, cost, and quality).8 We use this view as a benchmark to compare program and project management.

Alignment of Objectives—Strategic Versus Tactical
Program management is strategic in nature and focused on business success; however, project management is tactical in nature and focused on execution success. More importantly, the program manager must ensure that, from concept to launch, the program remains in alignment with, and in support of, the strategic objectives set forth by senior management. This includes alignment with the organization’s strategic plan, its product portfolio and road map, and the business-related objectives such as financials, market penetration, and technology advancement. The project manager, in turn, is responsible for ensuring the work and resulting deliverables of the project team are in alignment with and in support of the program objectives. Scope of Responsibility On a broader scale, the program manager must assume the responsibility for the attainment of the combined objectives from each of the functional project teams used to deliver the product, service, or infrastructure capability. This may include marketing, hardware development, software development, mechanical development, manufacturing, validation, testing, and customer support. In a nutshell, the program manager’s job is the successful delivery of the right product, service, or infrastructure capability at the right time. This requires management of the interdependent issues across the multitude of projects. For example, if the hardware development project team encounters a quality issue that will impact the timing of its deliverable to the manufacturing project team, the program manager must determine if it’s better to delay the deliverable (and the work of the manufacturing project team) or reduce the quality target. This is a cross-project issue to be solved at the program level. In contrast, a project manager is responsible for the scope of work within his or her project only. Vertical Versus Horizontal Responsibility Figure 1.2 demonstrates the concept of vertical project management and horizontal program management; both program and project managers are responsible for the effort and deliverables but in different dimensions. The project manager directly manages the effort and work flow within his or her project team. This is called vertical responsibility. Project managers are directly held accountable for the plans, schedules, objectives, deliverables, risks, and quality levels as they pertain to their respective projects. In contrast, the program manager manages horizontally across the functional projects involved on the program and is held accountable for the integrated plans, schedules, deliverables, risks, and overall quality output of the multiple projects. Work Effort The program manager assures that the cross-project work effort remains in alignment with the strategic objectives and is feasible from a business standpoint by focusing across the functional groups to ensure that the deliverables, timing, and other interdependencies between the groups are met in accordance with the overall program plan and schedule (Figure 1.3). By contrast, the project manager assures that work effort generates deliverables on time, within budget, and at required performance levels. Risk Management Both the program and project managers are responsible for identifying and managing risk on a development program but do so differently. Project risk management involves identifying and managing risks that may affect the technical success for a single functional project. Program risk management involves identifying and managing cross-project risks that may affect the overall business success of the development program.9 (See Figure 5.2 in Chapter 5 for an illustration of this concept.) Life Cycle Involvement Life cycle in this context pertains to all of the phases a product, service, or infrastructure capability will transition through from the time of its inception to its eventual phase out. By virtue of the programmanagement model, the program manager is involved in all phases of the life cycle. This includes the definition, planning, implementation, launch, and sustain phases. Project managers are typically involved only in the planning, implementation, and, occasionally, the initial launch or go-live phases of the life cycle. Process Orientation The distinction between program and project management comes in how the processes and procedures are established for and executed on a program. The program manager is responsible for ensuring that company processes and procedures are established for the program and that they are consistently used by all project teams. The project manager is responsible for effective and efficient implementation of the processes and procedures established by the company, as well as those established by the managers of functional organizations. Skills and Capabilities The breadth and depth of skills and capabilities is also a differentiating element between program and project management. Project managers must have in- depth knowledge of the domain they represent and experience in project management. In comparison, program managers must have a working knowledge of the intricacies of each of the functional projects involved with the program, such as marketing or software development. Program management core competencies must also include business, leadership, customer/market, and project management skills to effectively lead a development effort (see Chapter 13).

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