Most businesspeople are familiar with the role of project managers. They ensure that projects become executed with quality, on time, and on budget. Not as many are familiar with the role of a program manager. As Irene Didinsky describes in this book, this role organizes a collection of projects to ensure that the organization benefits from them. The Project Management Institute, which publishes this book, supports certifications in both project management (PMP) and program management (PgMP). While PMP certification is very popular, the PgMP certification, as of the time of this writing in 2017, has not gained much steam. Writings like this book seek to change that fact.
Didinsky starts by defining the role of a program manager within an organization. She also delineates their social role with various stakeholders, including governing bodies. Their main task is to ensure alignment between projects and the wider organization. Through various efforts, they seek to ensure that benefits accrued by the organization surpass the costs.
After describing program managers’ wider role, she focuses on more of the nuts and bolts of how they typically work. She talks about the lifecycle of a program, from definition to benefit accrual to closure. I wish she would have exhibited a bit more imagination when describing the lifecycle; given the popularity of agile methods, described elsewhere in the book, I would have liked to have heard how those methods could apply to the program management lifecycle, too.
After detailing the lifecycle, she dives deeply into the structure and metrics of a program manager’s work, including budgeting. Microsoft Project software is relied upon as a template, but not too heavily. I do not use this application, and I followed 98% of the book just fine. She concludes by talking about future directions of the profession and about growing community among fellow practitioners.
My workplace uses the term program manager to apply to a class of workers, and since I work closely with many, I’ve been curious what that term meant. Didinsky helpfully details the highest aspirations of that job title and encourages me to think highly about their work. Her writing is accessible, clear, and practical. It’s more of a textbook than a work that advances an argument. Readers will find themselves better able to guide and lead projects to benefit larger organizational goals. Doing so will cut down on waste and push benefits well-aligned to the larger group.
The Practitioner’s Guide to Program Management
By Irene Didinsky
Copyright (c) 2017
Project Management Institute
ISBN13 9781628253689
Page Count: 235
Genre: Management
www.amazon.com