Hi Paul,
Please see below the questions for 3.2 I believe I get the subject just worried that I haven’t wrote enough
Differentiate between the terms project and programme; make five points in your answer
Projects have a specification/objective which the project needs to achieve for example a crane needs installing on a specific track, a programme objective can change & can be modified as it matures for example the programme can be to install 5 cranes on a track but the stakeholder/sponsor can decide that only 4 cranes are needed.
A programme can cover multiply projects which come and go within the programme’s lifecycle; a project is a satisfaction of a single tactical objective for example if an organisation needs more lifting capacity the project/solution is for a new crane with a higher tonnage to be added to the track.
A project has one single customer who defines the requirements and accepts specific product; for example a customer will give a scope for a 5T crane to cover area of 20 Metres by 100; a programme has many different customers over its life cycle, for example 2 different projects give two different scopes with two different requirements within the same factory at different times.
A programme shows inter-project relationships for highly communicative and influencing skills; for example one project could have time restrictions due to noise; this information would need to be communicated within the programme for this to have any influence on other projects. A project is focused and only has clearly defined roles and be responsibilities.
A project has a known scope and identifies per specific tasks for example a crane to be installed on a specific track and a programme has a more strategic nature which tackles major changes in organisations, for example the programme is to install 4 cranes but as it progresses the scope could evolve and additional project to install an additional crane could be added.
Explain five ways in which programme management supports the implementation of strategic change.
Programme management has the ability to initiate, define, accelerate or terminate projects in the programme; for example if a crane needs installing on a specific date, more staff can be used to accelerate the project for it to achieve its date.
Improved management of project interdependencies and the impact(s) on business as usual, for example if two cranes were installed in two areas business as usual could be affected in two different incidents, these projects could be done together so the downtime is reduced.
Managing the available resources and conflicting demands from the business for example using access for a project and business as usual needed the access at the same time a decision would needed to find a solution.
Ability to manage risk issues and changes across the programme for example a contractor has been found to have no insurance in one project which exposes the company this is then relayed across the programme to make sure none of the projects use this contractor.
Focus on the definition and management of strategic benefits for example a single project looks at his own strategic benefit for the project but the programme manager has the overall view.
Describe the role of the programme manager; make five points in your answer.
The Programme Manager has to plan the programme including scheduling the projects so the benefits can be delivered early; for example installing a crane, you would use a mobile crane instead of manual chain blocks as it would save time, money and risk.
The Programme Manager needs to be able to prioritise the individual resource within the project; for example if a crane is delayed and more staff are needed to enable it to be completed on time the programme manager would move the labour from another project.
Making sure the Risks are communicated across the projects in the programme and those lessons are learnt, for example if engineers are on site with their tools and leave them overnight and they get stolen, the project will be delayed until replacements are found; lessons to be learnt would be that a secure site box should be provided.
The programme manager needs to support the team for example if one area is struggling he can divert resources to assist with the current problem.
The Programme Manager should communicate with both the project and the business, for example if a crane is scheduled to be delivered on a certain date then the business should be informed of this likewise with the project.
Clair
You are moving the right direction, however remember the programme manager is managing several project. So the example you use
The Programme Manager needs to be able to prioritise the individual resource within the project; for example in the cross rail programme the project to create the track would be prioritised over the project to create the station and project to purchase as the track as this is the bigger benefit.
It is not really the job of the programme manager. The project manager should be prioritising resources with individual projects. The programme manager will be responsible for priorotising resources across all the projects in the programme.
May be programme management is just one of those topics to ignore.
Hi Paul,
I have tried again please see below.
The Programme Manager has to plan the programme including scheduling the projects so the benefits can be delivered early; for example in the cross rail programme you would include the project to create the track, project to create the station, project to purchase trains. This would deliver the benefits earlier as the track would be completed for it to be used before environmental projects and completion of the programme.
The Programme Manager needs to be able to prioritise the individual resource within the project; for example in the cross rail programme the project to create the track would be prioritised over the project to create the station and project to purchase as the track as this is the bigger benefit.
Making sure the Risks are communicated across the projects in the programme and those lessons are learnt, for example in the cross rail programme if the track isn’t laid to in the allocated time it could impacted on the other projects as labour wouldn’t be readily available, lessons learnt would be to have another source of labour. This would be communicated throughout the programme for future projects.
The Programme Manager should communicate with both the project and the business, in the cross rail programme the programme manager would have to speak to stakeholders with the vision and mission of the projects. For example of the overall mission and vision of the projects business would receive a cheaper/faster way to communicate.
Ensure proper Assurance is carried out for example in the cross rail programme when the track is been laid an inspection is carried out to check to see if the assurance is correct as previously stated in the project scope.
Thanks
Clare
Clare, I think a bit more clear water is needed between the role of the Programme Manager and project manager. Programs are about strategic change that deliver benefits. Not the tactics of how they are delivered. It is very confusing because it is quite common to call the project schedule a programme and many programme managers fill the role of senior project managers.
So think about the London 2012 games or the cross rail project
It is more about what project to do, how do they interact with each other, as a big picture level, how can we keep the politicians on board etc.
Have another listen to the podcast http://parallelprojecttraining.libsyn.com/programme_management_apmp_module_3_2_apm_bo_k_1_2_
and have another go……