Defining a program
In order to effectively manage a program, we need to understand what a program actually is and what sets it apart from a project. The key differentiators between a program and a project are the scope and impact of the goals involved. Let’s look at what each of these means in the context of program management:
- Scope: The scope of a program or project is the set of requirements that will be satisfied by the completion of the goals. It’s easy to dismiss this as being the same as the full set of requirements that exist for an initiative, but that isn’t always the case. Going back to the project management triangle in Chapter 2, in Figure 2.3, both time and resources can impact the scope.
It is a negotiation process between the TPM and the stakeholders as to what the right balance is going to be. Other factors, such as technical feasibility, may also hinder the ability to meet a requirement. This is especially true in cases where...
