Program management education – where are we now?
The understanding of what program management is and what it means to an organisation varies widely. The definitions used are fairly consistent and the skills needed by program managers are recognised. The underpinning knowledge associated with these skills can be accommodated by the scope of current educational programs. However, what they mean to industry can be quite different. For example, we can achieve some agreement on what the roles of program and project managers are, but the titles used by industry such as project officer and project director can define overlapping roles.
The potential problem is in the application of this knowledge to a program environment that may require adaptability and innovation. This is enhanced by working at the edge of chaos and the application of less stringent methodologies. This requires high strategic planning in place of traditional planning. Traditional planning may be only appropriate on component projects or for shorter time horizons. Developing the ability to know when this adaptive type of planning is appropriate requires an educational program to go beyond the theory.
Another developing issue is around role progression. Project managers that progress into a program management role may find changing from a task and outputs focus to one of leadership and an outcomes focus very difficult, as it requires a very different skill set. Many can develop into this role, but some may never adjust even with education.
A change in role from business management to program management can have similar challenges. While the business manager may be versed in leadership, communication and financial skills, their effectiveness in a program management role is hampered by not being savvy on project management and the language associated with it. Therefore, it is appropriate that program management education also reinforce knowledge in project management.
The individual needs to possess the required underpinning knowledge and ability to apply this knowledge to the effective management of programs. This requires the development of knowledge and the use of tools and techniques in leadership, financial management, strategy, stakeholder management etc, as well as the ability to recognise and manage the relationship between projects, programs and the business. All program management education programs would endeavour to address these needs.
Education and program management
Educational institutions can work with organisations to develop flexible and adaptive programs that develop the individuals with ability to adapt to the unique needs of the program, projects, and the organisational context, systems, culture and governance regimes. This requires the appropriate use of case studies, scenarios and other active learning techniques. They can also develop programs which, in addition to reinforcing the requirements for management of projects, also cover:
- Leadership: Address the leadership competencies across the areas of managerial, intellectual and emotional.
- Governance: How projects and programs fit into the organisation; interfaces between the operational and project activities; interfaces between projects and programs and the organisational strategic objectives; reporting requirements; and information flow.
- Sponsorship: The importance of effective sponsorship from the permanent organisation.
- Selection of projects: Some would say this belongs to portfolio management, but in some organisations the roles of program and portfolio management merge.
Some of the challenges in program management education include the continual adaptation to the advances in knowledge, tools and techniques alongside changes in standards and regulations. Education must also evolve with changes in community expectations about projects, including sustainable outcomes, and cope with competency lag, where people were sometimes promoted beyond their experience and capability, leading to what can be called unconscious incompetence.
Other challenges arise from the selection of courses available, which means recognising the need for both vocational and academic products in the marketplace. While they are different products for different needs, they can be complementary, and more needs to be done to breakdown the transitional barriers. Further to this, industry needs to select educational programs that best matches their needs.
