What are the advantages of grouping projects under a program?
This is a good question Zipp,
From experience, I would say the benefits of working in a group setting as it relates to projects would be, have the incentive to break complex tasks into parts and steps; that way the group will be able to plan and manage time. Continuing to refine understanding through discussion and explanation and giving and receive feedback on performance. Develop stronger communication skills.
There are many advantages of grouping projects under a program. First, it will allow for those projects to share the same resources like employees and budgets to ensure that they are used in the most effective way saving time and money. Another major advantage would be for increased project inter-dependency. The project manager would be able to identify optimal start and finish times for the projects to naturally flow from one to another. The dependencies can be logged, tracked, and tasks put in place to allow for teams to operate efficiently. Lastly, by grouping projects under the same program, you can ensure all projects are aligned to help the organization meet its end goal.
I think that one of the advantages of working in groups when it comes to a project is developing creative thinking skills. Group work gives a person room to explore other ideas and possibilities by listening to other and applying feedback in an effective way. I love when in groups, everyone has the chance to bring their ideas to the table and those ideas flourish into something that everyone has input in. This in return works on listening skills and well as communication skills that are needed in ensuring a good outcome on the project.
What are the advantages of grouping projects under a program?
I think that a lot of benefits come from grouping projects together. The first is saving money/ budgeting. This is very important because when you have an idea but can not afford to execute it that gives time for someone else to expand on their ideas and take yours. The second is saving time, everyone has a set job and takes their part to execute then comes back together to put their input in and create something great. And lastly gaining knowledge from others and combing something big which can lead to more projects and opportunities.
What are the advantages of grouping projects under a program?
The advantages of grouping projects under a program would be that the you can break the parts up and are able to work together collectively. Everyone would have a part and can bring it all together in the end. I believe that this is great for seeing everyone’s insight and what they can bring to the the group. Grouping projects if they are executed and planned correctly it can save time as everyone is bringing something in that helps the project grow and get to the desired end. Another great aspect and or advantage is the money that can be saved by having everything grouped together and under the same program.
What are the advantages of grouping projects under a program?
The advantages of grouping project under a program is that you have the ability to initiate, define, accelerate or terminate projects in a program. Another benefit is that the projects can interdependent upon each other. Also, you can manage demands and resources of the business more effectively. There are more advantages of grouping projects under programs, and these are only a few.
Resources:
“5 Benefits Of Managing Groups Of Projects As A Programme.” Parallel Project Training, 7 July 2020, www.parallelprojecttraining.com/blog/explain-5-distinct-benefits-gained-managing-projects-programme/.
What are the advantages of grouping projects under a program?
There are several advantage to this arrangement. One benefit is easier management. When you think about the program you can view it as an algorithm and the projects as the many functions to the algorithm. Basically making the structure and flow manageable. With this advantage come more like saving time. So if you can manage and control the flow of many projects contain with a program, this helps with time management because of the clarity and strategy.
Some major advantages of grouping projects under a program include sharing/leveraging resources, personnel, and project capital, as others have mentioned.
Another major advantage that I have noticed from the programs where I work is that similar projects can allow a company to capture an entire market share. I work in a major medical device company and I am working on several projects in the same program that compliment each other to address all user needs within a particular space. These synergies between projects and sharing/leveraging resources, personnel, and project capital is what makes them a compelling projects for the company to pursue.
Has anyone noticed anything similar in programs where they work?
Thanks,
Matt
To answer this question, let's first define a program. A program is a group of related projects that are managed by a team as opposed to an individual. Therefore, as per chapter 1, section 2.3.2 in the PMBOK Guide, programs make it easier to share/save resources, manage conflicts and project interdependencies, and acknowledge risks. Overall, programs lead to a more comprehensive view that makes realizing benefits as well as aligning goals and objectives with the organizational and strategic direction easier. Conversely, programs are highly susceptible to bureaucracy and may be constrained by its interdependencies.
There are many advantages to grouping projects under a program. First, it will improve the efficiency of the whole team by resource allocation. A program might have several projects and the project manager could assign the best available resource to each project. For example, in a lab, people might be good at different things, some people may be good at cell culture, some people may be good at western blot or pcr. If they do everything together, the people who are good at cell culture may need to learn how to perform western blot and that will waste time. If they group projects under the whole program, people who are good at culture will only be in charge of culture and give the cell sample to the people who are good at western blot for characterization. The team could save time and may obtain better results. Also, single projects might easier for time management and troubleshooting since the structure for the single project should be less complex then the whole program.
Grouping projects under a program is important for the longevity of the program. When relating the projects into one area of interest (device type, target market, etc.) it allows the program to reflect the emergence of the ideas and progress gained, which could ultimately display a timeline of success for the program. If a program was not necessarily complete, it could at least take different projects and create a database for the continuation or improving the ideas and concepts of the previous works. By grouping these projects together, it could allow ideas to overlap and new projects to be created in order to better replicate what the program intends.
As others have said in this thread, a big reason is to save time, money, and resources. But, to go a little deeper into this topic, this means that links can be made where risks may involve two or more projects and that can be managed through the program. This also means that changes can be managed more efficiently through one point instead of for each project concerned. Having these multiple projects can drastically save time on certain points rather than if they were all done individually and this increase in efficiency is vital for bigger companies, or even smaller companies taking on many projects at once. Overall, it makes sense why a company would want to group projects under a program. It benefits them greatly and also gives a chance to see how well the communication between projects is and how well the employees are able to listen and act in this dynamic environment.
According to Elizabeth Harrin, (5 Benefits of Program Management, 2016), one of the benefits of grouping projects under a program is that resources can be shared more effectively. The program manager is in chare of putting people and money in place to achieve the best project outcomes.
Also, conflict might be easier to mitigate because under program management, there are clear lines of hierarchy and governance which means there is a decision-maker in charge of the program and project priorities.
Some of the advantages of grouping related projects under a program are as follows:
- Enhances the sharing of resources.
- Assists with the management of conflict.
- Enhanced ability to identify risks.
- Facilitates the management of interdependent projects.
- The most relevant projects to program goals can be selected (Harrin, 2021)
In other words, the ability to separate complicated program tasks into smaller projects allows a team to focus efforts and resources on resolving issues that could be more difficult to rectify if lumped together with several other complex issues.
In my experience, grouping projects under an overall program gives the team leaders of those projects the autonomy they need to find creative ways to accomplish established goals which I have founds works better than everyone on the team attempting to tackle varied and complex issues all at once.
References
Harrin, E. (2021, April 15). What are the 5 benefits of program management? Knowledge Hut. https://www.knowledgehut.com/blog/project-management/5-benefits-of-program-management
