The Secret World of Programme Management
The distinction between Project Management and Programme Management is very important for Management Consultants as they and their clients require skills from both disciplines when planning and executing strategies.
Programme Management, in Government context, according to Sir Andrew Turnbull, Cabinet Secretary, is “Thinking through the end-to-end process to translate policy into delivery plans and delivery plans into desired outcomes.” In a commercial context, Programme Management is used to deliver corporate strategies for increasing market positions and shareholder value or delivering large scale change programmes across organisations.
In the public sector there are typically three types of programmes underway at any given time:
- Change Programme: a group of projects and other items of work managed coherently together;
- Work Programme: a group of initiatives which may or may not be related but which have to be co-ordinated because they call upon the same pool of resources;
- Policy Programme: a change programme that is focussed on making societal changes;
What is driving demand for increased programme management activities in the corporate sector?
- Regulatory compliance
- New Products and services
- General business process improvements
- Growth and efficiency initiatives
- Technology refreshes
