Introduction

The terms “program management” and “project management” sound similar, but they are distinct identities. In program management, there is a set of projects that is to be supervised and managed by a leader or manager. Project management refers to the process undertaken by a project manager to ensure the successful completion of a project.

You can learn more about the key differences between program management and project management in this comprehensive article. Additionally, it will also highlight how both play a fundamental part in the seamless operations of any organization or business.

Program Manager vs Project Manager - Role-by-Role Comparison

What is Project Management?

A professional managing projects for a company according to the aligned goals and set milestones defines a project manager. And the steps involved in handling multiple projects driven towards a well-defined goal are what project management is all about.

As different businesses have varying priorities and sizes, it is not possible to follow a particular, established approach to manage a project. One needs a set of tools or techniques to head projects, depending on the requirements at hand. Furthermore, it is essential to recognize that project management emphasizes the timely closure of individual projects with the allocated funds, ensuring they meet the company's goals.

Key Characteristics of the Project Management

• Temporary - One major characteristic of project management is that it is short-lived. A company works on a project for only a brief period when they are assigned the job of managing one. There are specific start and end dates to a project, within which the delivery must be made.
• Defined budget - The term “budget” in project management encompasses not only finances allocated to a project, but also includes other resources that can facilitate the project.
• Task-focused - Project management is centered around everyday tasks and timely deliverables. Additionally, it involves several other aspects such as smart planning, financial planning, risk analysis, team building, and long-term planning.
• Deliverables-driven - Every project you work on is driven by a definite outcome, which can either be products or services. These deliverables are often the most unique and remain the most awaited once a project is completed.

Key Responsibilities of a Project Manager

Other than simply closing the project desirably, a project manager has a lot of different key responsibilities, which include:

1. Curating Project Roadmap - The foremost thing a project manager does is to prepare a dependable plan for the project or projects that the team will work on. This includes defining the project’s goal, the objectives to be achieved along the way, the target audience, the finances, the timeframe, and the necessary documentation that will be included.
2. Finalizing Project Budget - Discussing and preparing a realistic budget for the project will help everyone involved stay on track with the expenses. Having a proper budget also helps overcome unforeseen situations that might require additional funds, and it guides everyone to utilize the funds allotted judiciously.
3. Allocating Resources - The project manager must allocate the required resources for a project once the senior management has accepted the project’s idea. This will help the team get started with the project. Whether it is about allocating manpower, materials, monetary assistance, or equipment, a project manager is responsible for overseeing these tasks.
4. Delegation of Responsibilities - To ensure the timely completion of projects, the project manager assigns tasks to the team members based on their skill set, qualifications, and expertise, and charts a timeline to track progress.
5. Timely Delivery of Projects - As mentioned in the previous point, project managers ensure their team members are guided towards the timely closure of the projects. This not only motivates the team to work proactively towards a goal, but also ascertains coordination throughout the project.
6. Clear Communication with Clients - A project cannot be headed single-handedly. Since several members are involved in a project that requires significant communication, it is essential to have clear interaction regarding business goals and accountabilities with the stakeholders and project team members before proceeding.
7. Providing Formal Training - Project managers encourage team members to stay up-to-date on the skillset and expertise relevant to their profile. To achieve this, they conduct seminars, training sessions, and certification courses that employees can participate in to effectively handle the assigned projects.

Essential PMI Skills

The Project Management Institute, recognized as the leading institute for project management professionals, provides resources, certifications, and other valuable information related to project, program, and portfolio management to professionals and freshers alike. By enrolling in any of these courses, individuals can enhance their skill set and become certified to pursue top-tier careers.

The PMI recommends a set of professional skills for aspiring project managers and experienced project management professionals. This includes - business acumen, Ways of Working, and Power Skills. Although there are many additional core competencies that an individual should possess, such as leadership, time management, conflict resolution, analytical thinking, and resource management, the primary ones would be the four listed above.

Project Management Life Cycle

The project management life cycle is an organized foundation comprising the fundamental practices and protocols that govern a project from inception to completion. With this framework, project managers can easily ideate, create, pivot, and execute a project. 

• Initiate - This is the first stage in the project life cycle where the project’s vision is developed, and the scope of the project is defined.
• Plan - Documenting the steps involved in the project forms the second step of the project management life cycle.
• Execute - Once the idea is ready and the process is documented, putting it into action is what execution is all about. This stage involves completing and tracking projects, overseeing the quality of the output, and ensuring the project works out within the specified budget.
• Monitor - Oversee the project’s progress and update the team regarding any important changes required. Track the performance of your team members to ensure quality deliverables.
• Close - The last stage of the project management lifecycle is the final stage - known as closure. Once the project is completed, seek feedback from the stakeholders and clients. Identify areas of improvement and focus on them the next time.

Also check: What is a Project Management Plan?

What is Program Management?

In simple terms, the process of managing programs or projects according to the business’s priorities is called program management. It also involves creating projects, focusing on business goals, employee performance, the milestones achieved during the process, and effective resource management (which consists of defining resource availability and allocation) to deliver exceptional results.

In this, the company prioritizes financial management and makes strategic decisions that align with the organization’s overall growth.

Key Characteristics of Program Management

• Long-term - When long-term goals are set in program management, ensuring a valuable outcome is delivered at the right time is crucial.
• Multi-project alignment - When multiple projects are planned and executed, the goal is to achieve an end goal of offering maximum value to the customers.
• Strategic outcomes - Program management encompasses numerous aspects that come together to achieve a specific goal. Here, strategic goals are defined, and a realistic timeframe is provided
• Benefits realization - This term refers to managing a collective set of benefits to ensure they are achieved upon the completion of a project. 

Key Responsibilities of a Program Manager

• Planned Positioning - Planned positioning or strategic planning, whatever you name it, forms the core of a program manager’s daily accountabilities. In this, the program manager designs a reliable roadmap with objectives to achieve in a particular tenure. This primarily includes the organization’s long-term goals as well as a set of immediate targets to achieve.
• Ensuring Resource Availability - Projects handled and executed within an organization are typically massive and require immense planning and smart management. Program managers play a key role in allocating resources effectively throughout the project. They anticipate the future needs of projects well in advance and allocate resources accordingly to the team.
• Real-time Progress Reporting - Supervising the progress of programs within a project is crucial to calculating the success of any project. Whether you evaluate the performance of employees or analyze the progress of a project, both metrics would comprehensively define how well the project is going and identify any concerns that need to be emphasized. Program managers ensure to keep track of day-to-day progress by compiling data over a period of time.
• Decision Making - The decisions of program managers depend on the data extracted from the latest company reports. There are many tools and techniques to monitor the business’s performance, based on which decisions are taken. Effective decision-making for a company involves identifying the best course of action for its growth and following it to achieve the best results.
• Portfolio Evaluation - Program managers are responsible for overseeing all projects and programs within an organization to ensure they work out as planned. Here, the program managers closely monitor the performance of these projects to ensure they meet the predefined business goals.
• Stakeholder Interaction - As program managers, it is crucial to have a solid rapport with the stakeholders to steer the project ahead in the right direction. Every project and program sees diverse stakeholders who hold a significant part in the company’s stake. Therefore, it becomes essential to gather their opinions and preferences on specific issues and projects in which they are closely involved.
• Risk Management - Every company has a robust risk management plan in place that helps reduce the consequences of unforeseen events that occur during the project lifecycle. Any risk mitigation plan begins with identifying risks and then finding prevention strategies. The program manager is responsible for developing this plan to minimize any potential disaster within the project.
• Benefit Management - One of the top priorities for program managers is benefit management, where they ensure every project or program fulfills the desired goal it was designed to achieve. As organizations work on multiple projects simultaneously, it becomes crucial to prioritize them based on their delivery time and requirements. Therefore, a lot of assessment, planning, and valuation is required to deliver a valuable outcome.
• Inter-Project Coordination - Program managers often ensure that they align and manage the daily undertakings of any ongoing project in a way that not only efficiently allocates the necessary resources but also delivers on time. In this, program managers take charge of multiple responsibilities, including tracking task dependencies, establishing open communication channels, and effectively managing resources to ensure the required objectives are met.
• Change Management - In simple terms, change management is a systematic approach to implementing both minor and significant developments or changes in the daily operations of any organization. Today, most companies follow this system of training their employees to integrate new technology, techniques, practices, or tools seamlessly. Program managers, with their long-term vision and strong organizational support, seamlessly incorporate these changes into their functioning.
• Governance and Reporting - As a professional program manager, you will be responsible for monitoring the progress of your projects and programs in their entirety. Additionally, you will be the one discussing matters with the team members and the senior management before documenting and finalizing them.

Essential PgMP Skills

PgMP stands for Program Management Professional, a professional certification program provided by the Project Management Institute. This course is ideal for qualified program managers who hold relevant experience in their respective field and handle complicated assignments as part of their projects.

Here is a comprehensive list of the core PgMP skills:

1. Strategic Thinking - To be able to analyse complicated situations and make decisions to attain organizational goals.
2. Strong Planning Skills - To be aware of the objectives to achieve, the tasks to be done, allocate the needful resources, and set milestones accordingly.
3. Multi-Tasking - Knowing the right way to handle multiple projects simultaneously with proper planning and organization.
4. Leadership - This refers to the ability of a professional with the right set of qualities to lead and guide a team of members to work toward a shared goal.
5. Effective Communication - To be able to efficiently transfer thoughts, ideas, and vision to others to ascertain that there is a clear understanding of the subject to the other person.
6. Conflict Management - Every team encounters conflicts, especially when multiple people are involved in a project. Conflict resolution is a way of identifying and resolving issues between team members.
7. Benefits Realization - When a company develops a plan to chart out what is to be delivered at the end of an ongoing project or program, it is termed benefits realization.
8. Governance Framework - Every company follows a framework driven by centralized policies and guidelines that everyone is responsible for adhering to, to ensure the smooth functioning of the organization.
9. Strong Organizational Ability - Not everyone who works in a company is qualified to function as per the organization’s requirements. And those who possess the right competencies to utilize the resources effectively, manage time, and accomplish tasks as desired.

Program Management Life Cycle

A program lifecycle involves all the steps necessary to fulfill a program. This encompasses the entire process of managing a program from its inception, execution, supervision, and implementation. Typically, the program management lifecycle involves managing multiple related projects that focus on attaining long-term company goals.

• Visionary - This refers to the program’s vision. In this stage, ideas are documented and discussed to reach a mutual agreement regarding the development and execution of the program.
• Roadmapping - To lay out a structured plan with the right ideas and tips, ensuring the program reaches the defined goal. This stage involves other aspects such as determining scope, budgeting, identifying the right resources, and clearly communicating everything to the stakeholders.
• Governance - Governance encompasses the functionalities involved in managing an entire project. This includes performance monitoring, timely amendments, and risk management.
• Benefits & Value Tracking - Every program is accomplished with the core vision of “benefits” in mind. Therefore, customer satisfaction remains the sole driving force behind benefits delivery.
• Optimization - It assists with the timely allocation and effective utilization of resources throughout the program.

Read more: Project Management Best Practices

Real Examples to Clarify the Difference

The role of a program manager is to supervise the work done in a set of related projects that are focused on a common goal. Whereas a project manager is solely responsible for overseeing short-term initiatives that have a fixed duration and a specific number of hours allotted.

Here is a relatable example highlighting the roles of both. 

When a new project is initiated, a project manager is delegated the responsibility of integrating a new technology or feature into the operations. This is where he takes charge of planning the budget, coordinating tasks with the respective team, and ensuring that daily deliverables are met. On the other hand, in this situation, the program manager focuses on marketing the new development (the technology, product, or service introduced) to users, citing its benefits and usability. Primarily, a program manager is responsible for overseeing the project and its development, the entire budget allocated for the project, and maintaining communication with project managers and team members.

Example of a Project

There can be multiple examples of a project. For instance, when a company launches a new product, software, or technology. Another example could be designing a campaign to showcase a newly launched service in the market, intending to increase sales and attract new customers. All of these would come under project handling.

Example of a Program

A program can be defined as a new idea or an initiative being developed by an organization. In simple terms, a program is a comprehensive plan or assignment that encompasses multiple small and large undertakings. Ideating and planning a program requires a lot of effort and strategizing, as they encompass everything needed to deliver a particular outcome. For instance, revamping a website from scratch, launching new products on the site, streamlining functionality across all the platforms for better user experience, and documenting campaigns.

How do They Work Together in Large Transformations?

When discussing large transformations, we can easily identify the differences between a program and a project. A program is designed to achieve the defined goals and contribute to the successful completion of those objectives. Here, a program manager is the one who pilots the decisions, manages responsibilities, dispenses resources, and mitigates risks.

Whereas, when it comes to projects, there is a clear objective, a determined scope of thought, and a well-defined goal. Everyone working on a project focuses on individual goals, which eventually lead to attaining the larger goals of the organization. In this, effective collaboration, strict supervision, and proper governance play key roles in delivering successful projects.

Certifications to Consider

Here is a table of the two popular certifications that beginners and professionals can pursue to broaden their knowledge of program and project management.

Which Profession Should You Choose for a Better Career?

Any profession that you choose depends on your educational background, higher education, and additional qualifications. Additionally, what matters is knowing exactly where your interest lies. If you wish to grow in your profession, you must choose a career that is going to build your personality and make you a desirable choice for the role.

Do not forget to assess the future scope of program and project management careers, as that will help you map your path and make informed decisions. If you’re unsure, take some time to evaluate your strengths and capabilities, and also research the job market thoroughly to assess the growth potential of your career choice. Program management certification or project management training will be effective, depending on what your aspirations are and the resources available.

Tools for Program vs Project Management

Technology is advancing, and with that, our needs are also evolving. Today, companies are experiencing rapid growth and are focusing on efficacy, using the best of tools and techniques. If you are here to learn about some of the widely used and acclaimed tools for project management and product management, we have compiled a list for your reference!

Project Management Tools

Some of the most popular project management tools include monday.com, Jira, Wrike, Zoho Projects, Asana, Trello, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft Planner. Each of these tools facilitates collaboration and coordination with team members, simplifying project management with add-on features like Gantt charts and Kanban boards.

Program Management Tools

To manage multiple projects simultaneously, without feeling overwhelmed and losing track, one can utilize certain program management tools, such as Asana, Jira, Wrike, Monday.com, ClickUp, Trello, Microsoft SharePoint, Oracle Primavera, Smartsheet, Basecamp, and Teamwork.

When Should You Use Project Management vs Program Management? (Decision Guide)

Though we have already elaborated on both concepts above in this article, here are a few more details worth considering. You can scroll through to learn more about program management versus project management.

Common Mistakes Organizations Make When Differentiating Programs from Projects.

Many people fail to recognize the primary differences between projects and programs. However, there are organizations, too, that often fail to identify this contrast. There are several reasons for this. For instance, poor planning, a mismanaged team, the absence of clear objectives, insufficient resources, and failure to communicate promptly with the stakeholders and clients.

Here are a few key mistakes that organizations end up making:

• Mistaking Big Projects for Programs

As discussed multiple times in this article, there is a huge difference between a project and a program. However, a project typically lasts for a short period, but programs extend beyond months or even years. However, organizations often fail to identify this difference due to late planning, missed opportunities, a lack of roadmapping, and uncertain goals. Examples of such situations include companies considering a major project as an autonomous event, rather than as a part of a distinct initiative. The moment they begin considering projects based on how they contribute to the overall success of the organization, there will be no scope for such confusion or mistakes.

• Ignoring Change Management

Companies must be open to embracing change regardless of its form. Whether it involves integrating a new technology into operations, testing new software, or rolling out a new initiative to enhance operations, failing to acknowledge changes over time will only lead to poor project delivery, overspending, and lower conversion rates. Therefore, it is crucial to have a proper plan that will help execute and implement new changes in any organization.

• Misaligned KPIs

Although not immediately evident, individual performances over time do eventually shape the overall production and success of an organization. So, even if employees do not comprehend it, their performance metrics ultimately dictate the progress any organization makes over a week, during a week, or throughout a year. When KPIs are not clearly defined, organizations experience several issues, both within and outside the organization.

In situations where KPIs are misaligned within a project and program, project members fail to deliver their best efforts, resulting in stagnant organizational growth. Therefore, it is essential to look beyond individual achievements and see the broader picture that the organization as a whole is yet to witness in the coming years. Therefore, it is crucial to consider both the short-term professional goals and long-term goals of the organization simultaneously.

Conclusion: Choosing the Right Approach for Long-Term Success

Project management program or program management - both are different and can be unique life choices if you think through before pursuing either of them. Although both differ significantly in terms of accountabilities, scope of work, and deliverables, both roles are important for organizations to run successfully. If a dedicated project manager and program manager are hired in a company, they oversee projects and manage programs according to the defined goals, and help businesses surge in success. Whether you lead a project management team or are a program manager, the right program management resources and tools will facilitate everything you need to succeed.

The right approach to each of these career options depends on what an individual is willing to invest in terms of effort, resources, budget, and timeframe. Ideally, a project requires a short period of time, whereas program management is an extensive project that calls for more planning and a long-term vision.
 

FAQs

1. Can a project manager become a program manager?
   Yes, a project manager can easily take on the role of a program manager, provided they hold extensive experience in the associated responsibilities, like envisioning and ideating the product, conducting in-depth market research, and having a clear goal regarding the future of the product being designed.
2. Is a program manager higher than a project manager?
   Definitely! The reason for this is that a program manager has more accountability to attend to, beyond simply navigating the project and bringing it to an end. At the same time, project managers are primarily responsible for planning and executing one or more projects.
3. Which is better, program management or project management?
   One cannot define either of the two as better because anybody can make the best out of both of these career options. Although both may have different working methods and scopes of growth, it will ultimately be the individual’s decision to choose one over the other.
4. Which is harder: program management or project management?
   As the term itself clarifies, program management is a broader subject, whereas project management only involves handling individual projects. Program management is highly complicated and challenging as it incorporates several activities, from aligning to planning to delegating responsibilities, ensuring every step of the process aligns with the business’s goals.
5. What industries hire more program managers compared to project managers?
   Ideally, every industry has both program managers and project managers. However, industries such as information technology, software development, healthcare, and telecommunications often require a high number of program managers. In contrast, project managers are primarily involved in fields like finance, engineering, government, manufacturing, oil and gas, and construction.