Program Management Tools and Techniques

Common tools and techniques can be thought of as common practice. They are those influences on the processes that a team brings to the program. Among the tools and techniques common for many program management processes are those presented below.

 

1. Expert Judgment

 

Expert judgment may be obtained from a variety of sources both internal and external to the program. These sources often include functional and technical area specialists assigned to the program and in other organizational units within the enterprise, external consultants, professional and technical associations, and specialized governmental and industry bodies.

 

2. Meetings

 

All Program Management Process Groups require some form of deliberation and discussion before decisions are made or output of a process is achieved. Meetings can be face to face or in a virtual setting. Since many of the program management processes require participation from various personnel, groups or functions, conducting meetings serves as an effective technique that provides benefits from the synergistic approach taken.

 

3. Reviews

 

Reviews are typically internal activities such as management or peer reviews conducted before communicating with program stakeholders. Reviews can take other forms as well.

 

Project reviews provide insight into status and plans for each project and the impact on the overall program. As stated in Chapter 1, benefit reviews are also very important to ensure that the outlined benefit process is followed, and that each benefit is being monitored and tracked effectively.

 

Phase gate reviews are carried out at key decision points in the program life cycle to provide an independent assessment of the status of the program and to provide an assurance that identified critical success factors, best practices, and program risks are being addressed.

 

4. Policies and Procedures

 

Policies and procedures serve to implement standards, processes, and work methods, resulting in the completion of the work required by the program. Policies and procedures cover classification of information, restrictions on distribution, and requirements for retention. Organizational policies dictate required contents of a program management artifact such as a plan, the specific methodology used to create the artifact, and the approval process for the artifact.

 

Risk responses may include taking steps to mitigate or avoid a risk, developing plans to be carried out if a risk becomes real, transferring a risk by means such as subcontracting or third-party insurance or accepting the risk. Conversely, risk responses may include an effort to increase the likelihood of capitalizing on known opportunities.

 

It is important that the program management involvement in risk should support the risk activities of the program component. Program-specific risk activities include the following:

• Identifying inter-project risks;
  
• Reviewing the risk response plans of the component projects for proposed actions that could affect other component projects and modifying them as needed;
  
• Determining root causes at a multi-project level;
  
• Proposing solutions to risks escalated by component project managers;
  
• Implementing response mechanisms that benefit more than one component project;
  
• Managing a contingency reserve (in terms of cost and/or time) consolidated across the entire program.
  

 

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