Strategic Program Management

The Quintessentials of Program Management

• Vision:

• To deliver a strategy <ABC> resulting in a new business value or amelioration of existing business value <XYZ>,  ultimately driving the net benefits to customers by <OPQ>
• It is very important to define the business value of the program being executed
• Identify whether this will create a new capability or better the existing capability
• How Business is getting benefited from this. 
• Finally, as a net result how the company is adding value to the customers [shareholders/investors] 

• Mission:

• Set the execution parameters to achieve the business goal 
• The parameters can be culture, policy, sustainability & transparency
• The parameters can include a new execution model, relevant technology & new capabilities

• Organization:  

• Identify what it takes to deliver the program in terms of People, Process, and Technology
• Do you the high-level timeline, scope, budget, resource, and gaps identified
• Do you have a buy-in from senior leadership to support this
• Do you have all the required capability to execute
• Do you need training in the specialized area

•  Benefits:  

• Define how the benefits will be tracked
• Define benefit with release cadence using Agile methodology
• Design a single project or multiple projects to deliver the goals
• Implement a framework to track cost by benefits delivered
• Measure the overall program benefit that benefit should be greater than the cost + risk + the timescale

• Stakeholder engagement:  

• Identified KPI that senior leadership needs to track the progress
• Align key personnel from each department to this program
• A budget time for key personnel and senior leadership team to participate
• Set high-level cadence and progress review process
• Defined the framework to handle the stakeholder conflict
• Set up workshops to collect and prioritize high-level requirements

• Risks:  

• Comprehensive Risk management framework
• Identify the critical path to success
• Define the MVP of each project
• Define the threshold of cost impact by scope, resource, quality, timeline, and technology
• Define the dependency internal, external, and interdependency

• Governance:  

• Execution -  governance for the project or projects
• Benefit - governance in terms of new or change in the program goal
• The key factor is measuring the deviation and what it takes to put it back on track
• Providing a decentralized decision-making framework
• Establish a strong PMO to adhere to execution cadence and quality/security standards
• Reward the best performance and earned value to motivate the team

• Communications 

• Define the communication channel for the program
• B2C - Define the marketing promotions, messaging, and value
• Define the internal communication channel in various forms like email, enterprise instance message, SharePoint and other media reach
• Establish the cadence of the communication, internal and external with information restriction
• Provide a common reference point for employees to see the progress and how to get involved
• Innovation Index
• Define the metrics for innovation and budget for technology, time, and resource
• Track innovation by Value generation or Cost-saving
• Publish the implemented ideas and benefits