How to Manage Complex Programs

How to Manage Complex Programs

by Tom Kendrick
Released May 2016
Publisher(s): AMACOM
ISBN: 9780814436936

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Book description

Program manager—it’s one of the most challenging jobs you can have. Overseeing and coordinating multiple project teams and thousands of activities may seem a Herculean task, but it’s easier with the right tools in hand.

Successful program management begins with a good command of project management processes, but these are never sufficient. Once a program exceeds a certain scale, project processes become unwieldy. To see a program successfully through to completion, you must break the work down into simpler, smaller pieces and organize it into interdependent tasks.

Complete with diagrams, graphs, and real-life examples, How to Manage Complex Programs explains the ins and outs of program management and provides concrete and effective techniques for structuring deliverables, workflow, and staffing. You’ll learn to:

    • Decompose complex deliverables into manageable chunks
    • Develop coherent plans for component projects
    • Handle cross-project dependencies
    • Organize program staff and project leaders into a high-performing team
    • And more

    Yes, program management is challenging. But with these proven strategies, it can also be highly rewarding—for you and for your organization.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half title
  3. Title
  4. Contents
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Introduction
  7. 1 Program Management
    1. Projects, Programs, and Portfolios
    2. Program Definition
    3. How Do Programs Originate?
    4. Why Are Programs Difficult?
    5. Project/Program Size Boundaries
    6. Program Life Cycles
    7. Dimensions of Program Complexity
  8. 2 Program Initiation
    1. Strategic Alignment and Tactical Objectives
    2. Program Governance and Sponsorship
    3. Portfolio Management
    4. Program Benefit Analysis and Return on Investment
    5. Program Risks
    6. Program Challenges
    7. Process Maturity for Program Management
    8. Planning for the Plan
    9. Program Startup
  9. 3 Program Deliverable Management
    1. Managing Program Scope
    2. Program Stakeholders
    3. Gathering Program Requirements
    4. Stakeholder Priority Conflicts and Resolution
    5. Characterizing Programs
    6. Establishing the Program Roadmap
    7. Defining Program Deliverables
    8. System Decomposition and Analysis
    9. Program Scope Risks and Optimization
    10. Documenting Program Scope
    11. Program Scope and Change Management
  10. 4 Program Planning and Organizing
    1. Program Planning Processes
    2. Program Planning Tools
    3. Program Decomposition and Project Planning
    4. Project Plan Integration and Interface Management
    5. Program Workflow Risks
    6. Hierarchical Plan Baselines and Plan Documentation
  11. 5 Program Leadership
    1. Program Governance and Stakeholder Expectations
    2. The Program Management Office
    3. Hierarchies of Teams and Leaders
    4. Program Leadership
    5. Program Communications
    6. Program Staff Motivation
    7. Program Staffing and Other Resource Risks
  12. 6 Program Execution and Control
    1. Sponsor and Stakeholder Expectations Management
    2. Program Metrics
    3. Program Status Tracking
    4. Program Reporting and Information Management
    5. Controlling Program Scope
    6. Program Review
    7. Managing Organizational Change
    8. Recovering Troubled Programs
  13. 7 Program Closure
    1. Program Closure Process
    2. Program Process Improvement
  14. 8 Conclusion
    1. Program Deliverable Management
    2. Program Planning and Organizing
    3. Program Leadership
    4. The Path Forward
  15. Selected Program Management Bibliography
  16. Index
  17. About the Author
  18. Free Sample from Identifying and Managing Project Risk
  19. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: How to Manage Complex Programs
  • Author(s): Tom Kendrick
  • Release date: May 2016
  • Publisher(s): AMACOM
  • ISBN: 9780814436936