Roger Chou, PgMP: The “Synergy “ Of Program Management

Roger Chou PgMP

What do we mean by “Synergy”? Is it just a fantasy? What are the differences between Program Management and Project Management?

Program management refers to the process of integrated governance of several related projects to achieve a combined result that can not be delivered by conducting these projects separately. The benefits we gain from this coordination is what we term “synergy”.

In the novels and films of “The Lord of the Rings” we see idealized leaders, generals and kings in the characters of Gandalf, Theoden and Aragorn. These wizards, warriors and kings inspire and command other generals, kings, warriors, and even hobbits, to be courageous and achieve great feats. Even before a battle starts, these mythical leaders rouse and give confidence to their men, carefully positioning them in accordance with their skill in their weapons, whether it’s horse, spear, sword or bow. They are given tasks for each stage of the upcoming battle; spearmen form a line of shields and spears protecting the rest of the army from a charge, from behind the spearmen archers rain down arrows on an advancing enemy so as to weaken their resolve, in advance of a charge of cavalry appearing from behind the men on foot, charging down the enemy so that advancing enemy’s formations are wrecked, and they are followed by a charge of men armed with swords, supported by those with spears, who finally rout the enemy’s army. These warriors are different resources for the operation of warfare, but they are only effective when coordinated with an understanding of their individual strengths and weaknesses, and how they can be used to support and protect each other.

From the prospective of project/program management, a leader like Gandalf is acting as a program manager. Bands of cavalry, archers, spearmen or swordsmen, each with different skills, are each like projects, each band with their own leaders who are just like project managers. The coordination and integration of these bands of warriors (projects and project managers) relies on their king or general (program manager) in order to achieve an overall strategy, or objective, which can not be achieved by individual warriors, or bands of men, fighting on their own.

Gandalf’s position makes him responsible for integrating multitudes of kings, generals, leaders, warriors, elves, dwarves and hobbits. The warriors he orders, or the kings he inspires, are resources with different skills. In other words, those whom he manages are different groups of stakeholders with different specialties and interests. For example, the archers and swordsmen have very different roles and requirements, advantages and disadvantages, and can only be effective if used together, and in the correct order. Archers need to fire arrows into the advancing enemy before the swordsmen charge or advance. If they don’t, they fail to weaken the enemy soldiers from a distance, which would allow the swordsmen to more easily defeat this same enemy face-to-face. Worse, firing the arrows into an ongoing charge or battle will kill your own swordsmen or cavalry as well as the enemy: the archers become a liability, a weakness – not a strength.

Under a wise leader, the power and effect of these warriors can be multiplied when they are coordinated properly. This “synergy” ensures that every battle they engage in, and every war they fight, victory is at their hands. Yet if badly coordinated, the strength and courage of their warriors – their resources – is wasted, despite whatever heroic skills they possessed individually.

Accordingly, what program management is mainly concerned with is the management of stakeholders, who are different from the projects they may be involved in. The stakeholders of an entire program are larger, more diverse, and more complicated group of people than those involved in an individual project. They are different groups of people engaging in different business sectors/application areas. Their interests are different, sometimes contradictory, and their individual impacts, whether big or small, for good or bad, may be very significant to the success or failure of the entire program. The daunting scale of such programs are often not fantasy – but may appear to demand wizards and heroes to manage them, let alone manage them so that a proper synergy takes place from the different projects involved.

What kind of projects can be managed through a program? Projects with a common outcome; projects that can create collective capability; that have to share the same resources; projects that have the same work tasks; that serve the same customer; and projects where their risks can be reduced when managed together. In such cases, “One Ring (Program) To Rule Them All” can bring advantages, not hordes of rampaging orcs and trolls.

A program is managed at the highest level of management. A program usually stretches across different business sectors. An organization sets up a program based on its business strategy and management policies. In turn, a program can be used to define and communicate the organization’s vision and objectives. During a program’s lifecycle, projects under its governance produce deliverables, and the program creates outcomes and benefits to maintain, enhance and achieve the organization’s objectives.