Program Management Skills

Tathagat Varma Sr Director, Strategic Programs and Biz Ops

Yahoo! India R&D

Project vs. Program Management Area Project Management Program Management Focus Non-strategic Strategic Objectives Singular Multiple Extent of Change Narrow Broad Benefits Realization Once Incremental Deliverable Complexity Low High Deliverable Quantity Few Many Overall Time Scale Rigid Loose Scope Change Exceptional Desirable Functional Diversity Minimal Multidisciplinary

From “Program Management Complexity”

Competencies

Levin-Ward Program Management Competency Model

Personal Competencies

Communicating Leading Building Relationships Negotiating

Thinking Critically Facilitating Mentoring Embracing

Change

Communicating

•  Actively listens, understands, and responds to stakeholders

•  Uses the key channels of communication •  Ensures the quality of the information that is

communicated •  Tailors the information to the audience •  Effectively uses each of the different communications

dimensions

Leading

•  Implements the program’s vision •  Establishes the program’s direction •  Recognizes the interdependencies within the

program •  Takes calculated risks; is venturesome •  Assumes ownership of the program

Building Relationships

•  Builds trust among stakeholders, clients, and team members •  Leverages the organization’ political dynamics to promote

program goals •  Advocates for diversity and treats others with courtesy and

respect •  Establishes and demonstrated high standards for personal

and team member performance •  Promotes and demonstrated ethics, integrity, and adherence

to corporate values in all interactions

Negotiating

•  Obtains needed program resources •  Ensures program alignment with the

organization’s strategies •  Works proactively with the Program

Governance Board •  Promotes overall stakeholder support

Thinking Critically •  Conducts ongoing analyses to identify trends,

variances, and issues •  Applies fact-based decision making to current and

prospective issues •  Works proactively with the Program Governance

Structure that provides for decision making at the appropriate levels

•  Constructively challenges common beliefs and assumptions – always looking for a better way

Facilitating

•  Plans for success from the start of the program

•  Ensures that all team members work together to achieve program goals

•  Effectively resolves issues to solve problems •  Effectively handles personal and team

adversity

Mentoring

•  Supports mentoring for program team members

•  Establishes a formal mentoring program •  Supports individual and team development

activities •  Recognizes and rewards individual and team

accomplishments

Embracing Change

•  Establishes an environment receptive to change

•  Influence factors that may result in change •  Plans for change and its potential impact •  Manages changes when they do occur

Critical Competencies

•  Initiative • Managing at Interfaces •  Leading without Authority

Scale of Initiative

Level 1: Wait

Level 2: Ask

Level 3: Recommend

Level 4: Act independently but report Immediately

Level 5: Act independently and report routinely

Managing at Interfaces •  “agency theory” •  Collective outcomes more important than individual

outputs •  Optimize “whole” and not just the “parts” •  Even more critical with self-organizing agile teams •  Move away

–  from “back-seat driving” to trusted coalition –  from pushing dependencies to facilitating

interdependencies

Leading Without Authority

•  Leading with influence

•  Key is to establish credibility

•  Move away from “command and control” to collaboration

Conclusions

•  Program management is all about leading without authority to create collaboration among component teams by managing at interfaces to maximize program benefits realization

•  Skills are far more important than any process

Further Reading •  Manage It! – Johanna Rothman •  Program Management Complexity: A Competency Model – Ginger Levin and J. LeRoy

Ward •  The Agile PMO – Adrian Quinney •  An Agile PMO – Mike Griffiths •  PM at Microsoft – Steven Sinofsky •  Agile Program Management Best Practices – Pete Behrens •  Agile Program Management: Another Approach to Large Project – Johanna Rothman •  Project Management vs. Program Management – Tathagat Varma •  What are the Program Management Competencies – Tathagat Varma

Connect

Twitter: @tathagatvarma Blog: http://managewell.net

Email: tathagat.varma@gmail.com Presentation: http://slideshare.net/managewell