Development Programs............. Differences and Similarities between a Program and a Project

1. A PROGRAM IS JUST A REALLY BIG PROJECT, RIGHT?
WRONG. PROGRAMS ARE ACTUALLY PRETTY DIFFERENT
TO PROJECTS. THEY ARE BOTH GREAT TO WORK ON, AND
USE SIMILAR SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES. RATHER THAN
GIVE YOU A DRY DEFINITION OF A PROJECT AND THEN
ANOTHER ONE OF A PROGRAM, LET’S LOOK AT THE
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM – AND YOU CAN TRY TO
WORK OUT A DEFINITION FOR YOURSELF.

2. WRONG
PROGRAMS ARE ACTUALLY PRETTY DIFFERENT TO
PROJECTS. THEY ARE BOTH GREAT TO WORK ON, AND USE
SIMILAR SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES. RATHER THAN GIVE
YOU A DRY DEFINITION OF A PROJECT AND THEN
ANOTHER ONE OF A PROGRAM, LET’S LOOK AT THE
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM – AND YOU CAN TRY TO
WORK OUT A DEFINITION FOR YOURSELF.

3. WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES OF A PROJECT AND A
PROGRAM

4. ALL THAT MIGHT MAKE PROGRAMS SEEM REALLY
DIFFERENT TO PROJECTS. HOWEVER, WHILE PROJECTS
AND PROGRAMS DO HAVE DIFFERENCES, THERE ARE
SOME CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE SIMILAR TO BOTH.
HERE ARE FOUR TRAITS THAT PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS
HAVE IN COMMON.

5. THEY ARE TEMPORARY: PROJECTS AND
PROGRAMS ARE NOT LONG TERM
ENDEAVORS. THEY EXIST FOR A WHILE
UNTIL THE WORK IS DONE, AND THEN
THE PROJECT OR PROGRAM STRUCTURE
AND THE TEAM ARE DISBANDED. THIS IS
PART OF WHAT MAKES PROJECT AND
PROGRAM WORK SO INTERESTING –
YOU CAN ALWAYS SEE THE END AND
YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK
ON LOTS OF DIFFERENT INITIATIVES
OVER YOUR CAREER!

6. THEY HAVE BUSINESS CASES: THIS IS
SIMILAR TO ALL THE WORK THAT A COMPANY
DOES, EVEN THE BUSINESS AS USUAL STUFF.
PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS SHOULD ONLY
START WHEN THEY HAVE A VALID BUSINESS
CASE. IN OTHER WORDS, AS PROJECT AND
PROGRAM MANAGERS, WE ONLY WORK ON
ACTIVITIES THAT WILL ADD SOME REAL
VALUE AND THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN
SHOWN TO MAKE GOOD BUSINESS SENSE.
THERE IS NO POINT IN WASTING TIME
WORKING ON SOMETHING THAT ISN’T GOING
TO BENEFIT THE COMPANY.

7. THEY ARE ALIGNED TO STRATEGIC
OBJECTIVES: IT SHOULD BE EASY TO SEE HOW
THE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS YOU WORK
ON LINE UP TO THE COMPANY’S STRATEGIC
OBJECTIVES. IF THIS ISN’T SPECIFIED IN THE
BUSINESS CASE, ASK YOUR PROJECT
SPONSOR. IT SHOULD BE EASY TO SEE THAT
THE WORK YOUR TEAM IS DOING ON THE
PROJECT OR PROGRAM DIRECTLY
CONTRIBUTES TO THE COMPANY’S GOALS.
OTHERWISE, WHAT’S THE POINT?

8. THEY DELIVER CHANGE: THIS IS THE BIG ONE
– PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS BOTH DELIVER
CHANGE. YOU DO A PROJECT OR A PROGRAM
AND AT THE END SOMETHING IS DIFFERENT.
THIS COULD BE SOMETHING BIG, OR
SOMETHING SMALL. PROGRAMS TEND TO
HAVE LARGER GOALS FOR CHANGING THE
STATUS QUO AND OFTEN INCLUDE AN
ELEMENT OF CULTURAL CHANGE BUT THE
CONCEPT IS THE SAME.

10. STRUCTURE: A PROJECT IS WELL-
DEFINED. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING
AND THE PROJECT CHARTER SETS OUT
EXACTLY WHAT THE SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES
ARE FOR THE PROJECT. A PROGRAM TENDS
TO HAVE GREATER LEVELS OF UNCERTAINTY.
THE TEAM IS ALSO BIGGER. THE PROGRAM
TEAM ARE SUPERVISING AND COORDINATING
THE WORK ON A NUMBER OF PROJECTS SO
WHILE THE CORE TEAM MAY NOT HAVE THAT
MANY PEOPLE IN, THE WIDER TEAM
INCLUDES THE PROJECT MANAGERS AND ALL
THE PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS.

11. EFFORT: THIS IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT
DIFFERENCE BETWEENPROJECTS AND PROGRAMS.
A PROJECT REPRESENTS A SINGLE EFFORT. IT IS A
GROUP OF PEOPLE FORMING A TEAM WORKING
TOWARDS A COMMON GOAL. A PROGRAM IS
DIFFERENT; IT IS A COLLECTION OF PROJECTS.
TOGETHER ALL THE PROJECTS FORM A COHESIVE
PACKAGE OF WORK. THE DIFFERENT PROJECTS ARE
COMPLIMENTARY AND HELP THE PROGRAM
ACHIEVE ITS OVERALL OBJECTIVES. THERE ARE
LIKELY TO BE OVERLAPS AND DEPENDENCIES
BETWEEN THE PROJECTS, SO A PROGRAM
MANAGER WILL ASSESS THESE AND WORK WITH
THE PROJECT MANAGERS CONCERNED TO CHECK
THAT OVERALL THE WHOLE PROGRAM
PROGRESSES SMOOTHLY.

12. DURATION: SOME PROJECTS DO GO ON FOR
SEVERAL YEARS BUT MOST OF THE PROJECTS
YOU’LL WORK ON WILL BE SHORTER THAN THAT. ON
THE OTHER HAND, PROGRAMS ARE DEFINITELY
LONGER. AS THEY SET OUT TO DELIVER MORE
STUFF, THEY TAKE LONGER. PROGRAMS TEND TO BE
SPLIT INTO TRANCHES OR PHASES. SOME
PROJECTS ARE ALSO SPLIT LIKE THIS, BUT NOT ALL
PROJECTS LAST LONG ENOUGH TO BE DELIVERED IN
MULTIPLE PHASES.

13. BENEFITS: A PROJECT TEAM WORKS
TOWARDS ACHIEVING CERTAIN OUTPUTS, THAT IS,
WHAT YOU GET AT THE END. FOR EXAMPLE, THIS
COULD BE A SET OF DELIVERABLES THAT FORM A
SOFTWARE PACKAGE, OR A NEW RETAIL BRANCH,
OR WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU ARE WORKING ON.
THE BENEFITS OF A PROJECT TEND TO BE TANGIBLE:
YOU GET A ‘THING’ AT THE END OF IT. A PROGRAM
TEAM WORKS TOWARDS DELIVERING OUTCOMES.
OUTCOMES CAN BE TANGIBLE BUT ARE OFTEN NOT.
THE BENEFITS OF A PROGRAM ARE THE SUM OF THE
BENEFITS OF ALL THE DIFFERENT PROJECTS AND
THIS COULD AMOUNT TO A POLICY OR CULTURAL
CHANGE, OR A SHIFT IN THE WAY AN ORGANIZATION
WORKS.

14. DO YOU NOW THINK THAT YOU CAN DEFINE
PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS AS TWO DIFFERENT
THINGS? ONE DEFINITION OF A PROGRAM IS A
TEMPORARY ORGANIZATION CREATED TO
COORDINATE, DIRECT THE WORK AND SUPERVISE
THE DELIVERY OF A NUMBER OF RELATED
PROJECTS THAT ALL CONTRIBUTE TO A PARTICULAR
OUTCOME. A PROJECT, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS A
TEMPORARY ORGANIZATION DESIGNED TO DELIVER
A PARTICULAR OUTPUT.

15. ONE DEFINITION OF A PROGRAM IS A TEMPORARY
ORGANIZATION CREATED TO COORDINATE, DIRECT
THE WORK AND SUPERVISE THE DELIVERY OF A
NUMBER OF RELATED PROJECTS THAT ALL
CONTRIBUTE TO A PARTICULAR OUTCOME. A
PROJECT, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS A TEMPORARY
ORGANIZATION DESIGNED TO DELIVER A
PARTICULAR OUTPUT.