PRINCE2 defines the management of projects and the Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) methodology defines a program as “a portfolio of projects and activities that are coordinated and managed as a unit such that they achieve outcomes and realise benefits” (OGC, 2003, p. The OGC has very similar views embedded in its methodologies.
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Programs may contain elements of work outside of the scope of the discrete projects in the program.” OGC Standards 312) is “a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. The definition of a program given in The Standard for Program Management-Second edition (PMI, 2008b, p.
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434) the definition of a project is “a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique project service or result.” Projects are temporary and close down on the completion of the work they were chartered to deliver. PMI StandardsĪccording to the PMBOK ® Guide-Fourth edition (PMI, 2008a, p. Program management focuses on the coordination of a number of related projects over time to deliver outcomes that benefit the organization, and projects are undertaken for the efficient delivery of a defined output. Portfolio management focuses on selecting the optimum mix of projects and programs that the organization should undertake based on its available funding and resources. Defining the Differences – Project or Program The Defining Standardsīoth PMI and the OGC in the United Kingdom seem to agree that organizations have one or more portfolios of projects and that each portfolio contains a number of programs and projects. The boundary that needs to be drawn much more sharply, and the focus of this paper, is between projects that are initiated to create a known deliverable and then shut down and programs that are initiated to create a change and/or realize benefit(s) for the host organization, adapting to circumstances as conditions change and using projects to create individual deliverables within the overall matrix of the program. While the degree of difficulty in determining the deliverable may alter the project's strategy and approach, a project remains a project! If the performing organization/client cannot tell the project manager what they want, the project is unlikely to succeed, and changing its name to a “program” won't help. Project management is focused on the efficient creation of a defined deliverable (e.g., rebuilding a school).Ī more worrying recent trend has been for organizations to start classifying quite simple projects as “programs” in an apparent attempt to avoid the necessity of defining the specific “product, service, or result” that they need. Program management is about maximizing the benefits realized with constrained resources in a changing environment. Disaster relief programs include projects and elements of operational work and adapt to changes in the times and circumstances. Most disaster relief efforts are described as “projects,” when in fact they are an ongoing program of work to realize a benefit (i.e., a return to normality). Despite the best efforts of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), and a range of other organizations, the confusion between projects and programs continues in many quarters to the current day. The Manhattan Project was by all modern definitions a full-blown program of work. Unfortunately, from the very beginnings of modern project management, the terms have often been used interchangeably-for example, the Manhattan Project to create two completely different atom bombs involved numerous major elements such as the construction of factories and the operation of those plants. The program manager must be an integral part of the organization's strategic business. While it is absolutely possible and often desirable to contract a project to an independent third party (e.g., the developer of a shopping complex can easily contract the building of the center to a construction company), it is virtually impossible to effectively contract out the program management role.
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Programs focus on the coordination of a number of related projects and other activities, over time, to deliver benefits to the organization (PMI, 2008b). A project is chartered to create a specified “deliverable” as efficiently as possible (Project Management Institute, 2008a).
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The difference between projects and programs has been ignored or confused by many people for too long.