Paul Naybour
PROGRAMME BENEFITS
(1) Having programme management gives us control over the included projects which may not consider the benefits or risks that can influence or affect each other. As a programme manager you can decide which projects may need to proceed in a certain order or accelerate in order for the programme to run on time and efficiently, you can also use the programme management technique to halt or terminate projects that have over time become unsuitable or not viable to the strategic aim of the programme, in other words the projects within the programme need to be prioritised.
(2) Having programme management gives you a chance to manage interdependencies across the project to help with the overall impact on business as usual. Interdependencies between individual projects need to be transparent and aligned with the strategic business plan so they can be focused on the evolution into business as usual.
(3) With programme management we can manage the use of resources to best suit the demands of the programme at certain stages. I.e. if one project has come to a halt maybe due to a unpredicted late delivery of a product then the resources on that particular project maybe transferred to another project to advance the productivity or initiate tasks which could bring forward milestone achievements
(4) Having control and communication across all projects is a great benefit and can be carried out by the following:-
Using programme meetings with project managers and key staff from each project.
Newsletters,
Networking
A Communication plan
This means that information and lessons learned regarding risks, issues and changes are shared and understood by all projects. I.e a programme for the refurbishment of several road tunnels on a stretch of motorway are using a product for road resurfacing, while this product is fine to be used in open air environments the use of the product inside a tunnel is not suitable due to a high bitchumen content which is carcinogenic. This shared knowledge gives each project the chance to seek an alternative safer product and share the knowledge within the programme.
(5) Programme management ensures that all the projects are focused on the strategic benefits of the programme rather than just individual project deliveries, i.e. using the example of the road tunnel programme each project must have an understanding of where the other project is in regarding the programme life cycle and where its priority position is in, within the programme. There is no point in having one road tunnel project racing ahead to completion if it is a low priority as this would be a waste of resources which could have been used to benefit one of the higher priority road tunnel projects.