What’s the difference between a program manager and a project manager
The roles of a program manager and a project manager sound alike, and they are not without their similarities in terms of responsibilities and day-to-day activities. However, it is important to understand that programs and projects differ from one another in terms of scale, governance, financing, and objectives. It stands to reason, therefore, that the roles of a program manager and a project manager would also have substantial differences, and that program management courses would have different focuses to project management courses. In this article, we will take a closer look at the ways the two roles differ from one another. Understanding Programs and Projects First, it is important to establish the differences between programs and projects. Put simply, programs are concerned with long-term business strategy and operations, and have multiple components. By contrast, a project is more of an individual undertaking, with a clear start point and an objective that signifies completion when achieved. “Projects have clear end dates and short-term goals that give way to tangible outcomes or deliverables,” says Brianna Hansen, writing for Wrike. “Programs are composed of several underlying, interconnected projects. A successful program drives strategic benefits and organizational growth, rather than a single, tangible deliverable.” One way to think of this difference is that programs tend to be broad and made up of several different projects, which are managed collectively and coherently. Meanwhile, PM training courses tend to emphasize the fact that projects are much more individual, focused entities, with a clear objective and a deadline to be met. Exploring the Nature of the Two Roles Aside from programs and projects having clear differences, it is also important to understand that the roles of a program manager and project manager differ in their very nature. These differences mean program management courses and project management courses teach fundamentally different approaches to day-to-day work tasks. It is generally fair to say that a program manager has a broader range of responsibilities, while a project manager’s responsibilities are more focused. This is because program managers often need to oversee multiple projects and project teams, while project managers oversee their project, and their project team. “Project managers are more like engineers, who plan in detail and provide ways to enable the vision,” Wright1 Consulting explain in a blog post for Workfront, Inc. “Program managers are more like architects…they think about the structure of the program, organizing the projects within the program, to achieve success.” It is also sometimes said that program managers engage in day-to-day activities that are more strategic in nature, taking into account the bigger picture, as their results tend to have wider implications for the business. By comparison, project managers engage in activities that are more technical in nature, as they are primarily concerned with completing the tasks they need to, in order to deliver their project on time and meet the specification. Additional Areas of Comparison One of the most interesting areas of comparison between program managers and project managers is centered around tangible benefits Vs. the collective benefits. More specifically, there is a difference in the way success is measured in either a project or a program for professionals working in the two roles. Again, this is largely linked to the differences between programs and projects. For example, with a program, success metrics tend to be less rigid, clear-cut or easy to quantify. This is because the outcome of a program is typically a much broader company benefit. Measuring success can be more nuanced because it depends on the benefit that was intended to be delivered, and the extent to which the program actually delivered it. Programs also have less obvious end dates, so the benefits may need to be measured continually. On the other hand, the outcome of a project tends to be a ‘thing’, which is either delivered or not. Success can be measured based on whether the project was delivered on time, completed within the agreed budget, product quality, or end users satisfaction with the outcome. Finally, the issue of funding is also a critical difference for program and project managers. Program managers tend to have more financial responsibility because a program can have wider implications for the company’s financial results. This means their budget may not be static, and finances need to be continually managed. In contrast, PM training courses may not place such an emphasis on financial management for project managers. This is because a project will usually have a clear budget allocated to it, which the project manager will be aware of from the outset. From there, their financial management largely amounts to staying within the budget. Conclusion Ultimately, while there is plenty of cross-over, the roles of program managers and project managers are markedly different from one another. These differences can largely be explained by the differences between programs and projects, in terms of scope, financial management, objectives, and output, among other things. Put simply, the role of a program manager tends to include a broader range of responsibilities, as well as more continual financial management, while there is less emphasis on tangible output. The role of a project manager tends to be more focused, with more definitive budgets to work with, and judgments are based on the finished product. Need a solution to help organize and manage your programs and projects? See how we can help your team improve efficiency and meet deadlines faster!
Project Service, the next generation of Microsoft Project
Microsoft has recently announced a new era of modern work management. The new Project Service – the next generation of Microsoft Project, offers better collaboration, improved extensibility and greater integration than Microsoft Project. Now, what does this mean? Does Microsoft plan to stop Project Online and Project Server? What is the platform for Project Service? Is it a new and redesigned service being introduced? Would Project Service support existing custom solutions/ applications? Such questions are evident for users. Key notable points of this announcement are as below: • Microsoft would continue to deliver performance and security improvements for Project Online • For Project On-Premise users, Microsoft has released Project Professional and Standard 2019 and will release Project Server 2019 in the next few weeks. • Moving forward, much of Microsoft’s focus will be on driving innovations in the new Project service. The new Project Service is based on Microsoft CDS (Common Data Service) for Apps. This is a revamp of entire base architecture. Which means it is a complete re-design of product to meet the changing needs of work management and hence it is being called a new era of modern work management. Using CDS as a platform, the Project Service integrates easily with other tools and systems like SharePoint, PowerApps, Power BI, Microsoft Flow, Office 365, and Dynamics 365. Benefits of Common Data Service platform are as below: • Build and consume solutions for web and mobile with PowerApps • Automate and integrate business processes with Power Automate • Put all your data to work with Common Data Service • Gain insights from your data regardless of where it lives with Power BI • Customize, extend, and build all the apps you need • Seamless Dynamics 365, Office 365, and Azure integration along with connectors to more than 200 data sources The first release of the new project management service will be available in the first half of next year. These services will be available to Project Online Professional and Project Online Premium subscriptions with no additional cost. You may refer the FAQ for more details. The first release of the Microsoft new Project Service will be available in the first half of next year. These services will be available to Project Online Professional and Project Online Premium subscriptions with no additional cost. You may refer the FAQ for more details. The revolutionary changes in Microsoft Project with the release of Microsoft’s new Project service have the vision to enable organizations to perform more productively and efficiently with a simple and intuitive range of tools across Microsoft cloud.
How to update project tasks using project server workflow
Recently we did a couple of Project Server/Online Implementation based projects which involved customization’s like Demand Management Workflow, Document Approval workflow, Issue or Risk Escalation workflow and much more. During these customization’s, we were posed with a challenge on updating the complete percentage of project tasks using the project server workflow of the project to submit an event. We assumed that there should be an easy solution using SharePoint designer workflow and it should not take much time to implement. But later, we realized that project tasks could not be updated in the same way in which project-level field can be. <!– ClickToTweet Embed Code Start –> <script type=”text/javascript” src=”//clicktotweet.com/embed/3De11/1″></script> <!– ClickToTweet Embed Code Start –> Below is the detailed solution to update project tasks using Project Server Workflow. In these steps, hard-coded Task Id and its Percent Complete value is used. In your case, one can use them from any custom source. Check Out project using action Call HTTP web service. We need to build the following dictionaries In this dictionary, we are specifying PercentComplete of task to be updated with given value 50. Call HTTP Web service to draft & update the task Update the properties as below: Publish and Check-in the project using action Call HTTP web service. This method can be followed to update project tasks using project server workflow. In case of query, add your comments below.
Project management goal: Manage resources
Today, companies are under increasing pressure to deliver technologically innovative products and solutions with decreased budgets. Because of this, resources must be fully utilized and concentrated on the highest priorities at any time. Resource management is an essential element of project management. It makes certain that the project is implemented according to the scope and overview determined in the planning phase. The resource management team aids in the development and management of the project team as well. As individuals comprise teams, resource management also involves establishing various roles and assignments throughout the project. Unfortunately, ineffective resource management undoubtedly results in negative consequences like poor productivity, project delays, poor quality, increased costs, missed opportunities, and very low morale. A key part of the challenge is recognizing that high resource use is not an indicator of good resource management. The important thing is ensuring that your resources are working on projects aligned to strategic company objectives, which match their skill sets and in which they have adequate bandwidth. Determining what work or need to undertake next and when funds will be available are enormous challenges too. The Benefits of Enterprise Resource Management Resource management is a complex process, particularly in an enterprise with shared, geographically dispersed resources. Nearly half of the organizations report that they are stuck in silos. With so many approaches to make a project complete, it should make sense that resource management approaches can also vary. Regardless, you will find three capabilities every resource management software should include: Capacity and Demand Management: Resource optimization usage by prioritizing high-value work with accessible resource capacity Resource Usage: Ensure that the right resources are available to help your strategic objectives Progress and Time Tracking: Ensure that progress could be tracked, which can be especially valuable when using time tracking. Compare planned attempt vs. real effort to improve estimates and better understand where your resources are truly spending their time. Microsoft Project – Solution for Resource Planning & Resource Management Organizations often rely on spreadsheets to manage resources and projects due to their ease of use, simplicity, and ability to prepare a document quickly. But, keeping multiple or even shared spreadsheets up to date does not scale well and frequently becomes infeasible. AdValue built on MS Project will be able to help you make the best use the tools out there. Learn how.
Agile Connector wins two PPM software awards from FinancesOnline
Advaiya’s Agile Connector recently underwent the scrutiny of trusted B2B directory FinancesOnline.com and emerged with a score of 8.0 out of 10 and an absolute user satisfaction rating of 100%. FinancesOnline, under its project portfolio management software category, awards deserving products that have gained traction with customers for outstanding features and total usability. We couldn’t be more thrilled when reviewers recognized Agile Connector as an add-on to MS Project Professional, allowing you to monitor and track projects using the Scrum and Kanban Methodologies. The solution designed by Advaiya includes task boards, backlogs, tracking sprints, and agile reports for you to have a comprehensive view of your projects. Advaiya’s Agile Connector enables a centralized project management. It seamlessly provides a unified view of agile, non-agile, and hybrid projects across the organization in one interface for you to be in touch with the progression of every enterprise. FinancesOnline also recognized our advanced Agile Connector features that allow for seamless synchronization of MS Project Professional agile planning with MS Project Online. This ensures that your projects are backed up and that everyone who is working on them is on the same page to avoid confusions, backtracks, and unnecessary changes. Agile Connector also enables swift custom fields updates by letting you or your personnel update the fields from a single interface. The solution allows you to track the metrics related to projects across the organization for you to have a pulse on issues and to act on them immediately and accordingly. All these capabilities led the reviewers to include Agile Connector in their comprehensive project management resources guide and distinguished us with the 2018 Rising Star Award and Great User Experience Award. Agile connector was promoted in the directory site’s rankings and is now among the leading add-ins to MS Project Professional, joining the elite group of top name and established add-ins selected by the experts. We share these latest achievements with our users and customers who have found Agile Connector to be highly useful and practical solution to manage projects and boost productivity and efficiency.
Measure Your Project Performance – What & How
Measuring performance of any activity or task is essentially done to identify whether it is adding any value to your goal or not. This can be better understood by the example of arranging an event or building a house. In case of arranging an event, we manage logistics, contractors, and direct workers. Mostly, the objective of an event arrangement is ‘attendee’s satisfaction’ in line with the budgeted price. To achieve the desired goal, we keep a check on each aspect of the event, including verifying all materials used, communicating regularly with contractors to get the best work done at the estimated price and so on. While juggling with all this, we keep a tab on our planned budget, and schedule and compare it with actuals. Comparison of such key performance metrics provide direction and control and help us answer significant questions such as Where are we? How much have we spent? Are we over-budget? etc. Same is true for any project, measuring performance is as important as the project. The success of project directly or indirectly depends on good project performance scores. Measuring project performance while it’s in the execution phase is the best way to keep an eye on performance aspects. It not only gives reasonable room to take corrective actions but also increases your chances of project success. Now the major question is, what should be measured? Choosing measures which help in decision-making and insight alignment to organization objective is the key. For effective performance measurement following points must be considered: The measure should inherit from organization goals. Insight on how well the project has met its objectives. When detailed project planning is done at the beginning of planning phase, a baseline of this plan should be saved so that you may compare planned vs actuals. Performance measurement tracking rhythms should be set either weekly or fortnightly so that insight can be gained on the timely basis and corrective actions can be taken if needed. Know the difference between measuring the performance of team versus project. When team’s performance is measured, the impact of team’s performance on organization goal is measured. Whereas when project’s performance is measured, the impact of the project on organization goal, at a fixed period is measured. ‘What to measure?’ depends on a lot of factors such as who will use the measures and what decision they would make using this. In general, following are the key project performance measures: ROI (Return on Investment) Productivity Cost of quality Cost Performance Schedule Performance Customer Satisfaction Project Cycle time Alignment to strategic business goal Yes, we are talking about these measures and how those can be measured in Power BI in the upcoming webinar on Analyzing Project Performance with Power BI
MS Project Agile Connector Add-In | Advaiya
We are very excited to present the Agile Connector, an Add-in for MS Project Professional to facilitate agile methodology in Microsoft Project Online. What is MS Project Professional? MS Project Professional allow you to manage your projects more efficiently with the right timeline, budget, and resources. It helps you to improve project selection and delivery on time. Microsoft Project Professional now come with the Agile feature which allows us to create new agile projects or to apply agile views to the existing traditional “waterfall” project. The agile tools in Project enable us to track projects using Scrum and Kanban methodologies, including viewing task boards, creating backlogs and monitoring sprints, as well as displaying reports on agile statistics. Microsoft Project Online is a flexible online solution for project portfolio management (PPM) and everyday work. It enables organizations to get started quickly with powerful project management capabilities to plan, prioritize, and manage projects and project portfolio investments-from almost anywhere on almost any device. At the same time, if we open the project in Microsoft Project Online, it will display in the waterfall model. For now, the Agile feature is released only for MS Project Desktop version and is not available in Project Online. The custom fields used in Microsoft Project Professional for implementing Agile methodologies such as task boards, backlogs, tracking sprints and agile reports are not available in Project Online. To facilitate agile methodology in Microsoft Project Online and to provide the similar user view, Advaiya has developed an add-in for MS Project Professional which allows stakeholders to get insights into the agile managed projects in the equivalent way as they get with traditional projects. The connector provides features to synchronize Agile project tasks between Project Professional and Project Online. The Agile connector for Microsoft Project Professional add-in is designed to work with Microsoft Project 2016. Feature of Agile Connector Using the add-in, agile custom fields in Project Pro like Sprint, Agile & Board Status will synchronize with configuring enterprise custom fields in Project Online When a project is published from Project Professional – custom fields values will move from Project Pro to respective enterprise custom fields When the project is published from Project Online and is opened in Project Professional –the enterprise custom field values will move to respective custom fields in Project Pro. Key Benefits of Agile Connector: Sync Project Professional agile planning with Project Online Perform updates on agile based enterprise custom fields in Project Online Track all metrics related to agile project management across the portfolio of projects Get a unified view and centralized management of various agile, non-agile and hybrid projects across the organization Request for the Agile connector and Go Agile!
Using Kanban and Scrum in Agile Project Management
Agile Project Management: In traditional waterfall project management where the end product is visible to the client at the end of the project and adapting to change at that stage of the project is difficult to incorporate. while Agile project management is based on an incremental & iterative approach so after each iteration some features are delivered to the client and to changing requirements by the client can be addressed in the current or coming iterations. In Agile Project management during initial iteration, the prototypes can be done so the client finalizes requirements. In this blog, I am going to discuss on below two Popular Agile Project Management methodologies: – 1. Scrum 2. Kanban SCRUM: Scrum is a project management framework for structuring your project. The project begins with a vision provided by the customer with product features in order of priority. These features become part of the product backlog, which is maintained by the customer or customer’s representative referred to as the Product Owner. A time frame commonly known as an iteration or sprint is created & each iteration or sprint generally from one to four weeks. All product features are divide into these sprints. After all the sprints the final product is delivered to the client. During the sprint all team members meet around 15 to 20 minutes meeting known as a Scrum. During the scrum meeting each member tell the status of current work item which he is working, and the issues faced by him. Fig 01: – Scrum Cycle Roles and Responsibilities: There are three major roles in Scrum Planning: the ScrumMaster, the Product Owner, and the Team. · The ScrumMaster is the keeper of the process, the advocate for the team, and the protector of the team. The Scrum master facilitate team communication, mediate discussions within the team and Product owner. · The Product Owner represents the voice of the customer and has the authority to make decisions about the product development. This Product Owner create the product backlog list & priorities it. Product Owner responsible for communicating the vision to the team. The Product Owner works with the team to answer questions and provide product guidance. · The Team consists of seven plus or minus two people who are responsible for the delivery of the product. The team members report their daily progress in the scrum. Team members select the feature from the black log and work on them. Sprint Planning Meeting: The sprint-planning meeting is held on the first day of every sprint. The ScrumMaster, Product Owner, and Team member attend the meeting. The Product Owner presents the set of features to be completed in the sprint and team members determines the tasks and time needed to develop these features. Using these time estimates it is determined whether the team can accomplish these in this spirit else lower priority features go back into the product backlog or to the next sprint. Sprint Review: At the end of the sprint, the team invites stakeholders to a sprint review meeting where the features that were completed in the sprint are demoed and feedback is requested. The stakeholders feedback is noted by Product Owner and incorporates into product backlog. After the Sprint review, the team conducts a retrospective meeting to determine what they did well and what challenges they during the execution of the tasks. In the next sprint what action they can take for better execution of the project. Release Planning: Release Planning is also part of Scrum and is a way to do long-term planning for a time box that after of multiple sprints. This can be done on quarterly basis. Release planning can be feature-driven or time-driven. The release can be internal to confirm system integration and validation Kanban – Incremental Improvements In contrast to Scrum, which have time phase iteration and Spirits, Kanban advocates continuous work on tasks. When new tasks come up, the team evaluates the scope and creates acceptance criteria. Then each task goes to a back-log list. Theses task are taken by the team members on the priority. Kanban is Japanese word which means “visual signal” or “card”. Kanban is big board (as shown above picture) with story cards. These story cards are task with details. Kanban board have states/Phases as columns, which every work item passes through – from left to right. Team members pull work items from the back-log list and work on it and move it to next stage. The only management criteria introduced by Kanban is the so called “Work In Progress (WIP)” as show as the number on the top of each column. By managing WIP you can optimize flow of work items. Besides visualizing work on a Kanban board and monitoring WIP, nothing else needs to be changed to get started with Kanban. If a state reaches its pre-defined WIP limit, no new work can enter that state. The bottlenecks in the progress are visible – you can simply look at the Kanban Board to see where your process needs improvements. Once the Current work items are less than WIP a new work items comes in to the stage and team members will work on them. This is a pull system rather then pull system. In Kanban teams can meet ongoing basis and move the work item on the board. In this the team members when once completed this task and task acceptance criteria are meet can move the task to next stage and pull new task for him. The goal of Kanban is to identify potential bottlenecks in your process and fix them, so work can flow through it cost-effectively at an optimal speed or throughput. Conclusion Take a small step toward big value; get started with agile project management to create high-impact development teams with minimal business disruption. 1. Improved ability to manage changing priorities 2. Greater Productivity 3. Increased Visibility 4. Better delivery predictability 5. Increases morale and motivation MS Project 2016 latest version now offers the 2 new
Where do agile best practices fit into MS Project Technologies
I had the fortune of working for a start up about 12 years ago. They started implementing an agile methodology. The engineering manager had started using an Excel spreadsheet to collect user stories. The team was meeting daily and felt good about taking their first steps toward a more agile methodology. We quickly started pre-sprint planning meetings, conducting sprint demos and post-mortems. We advanced to playing agile poker and the $100 test with sponsors. We knew who the pigs were and who were the chickens. Team members were being added and removed as needed. We felt good about our agile approach and extending the approach to our other engineering groups. Everything was great until the CTO came to me and asked me for a schedule. I patiently explained the Agile Manifesto at which time he asked for a schedule and a roadmap. He was also considering another product line and wanted a vision, business case and release plan. I am convinced my experience is repeated over and over. I did not have Project Pro 2016 nor Project Online at the time, but this is what I would have done if I did. Earlier this year, Microsoft released a version of Project Pro that included agile features. The first place you are going to see a change is when you create a new project. The new Scrum Project, Kanban Project and Waterfall Project templates are available when you create a new project. Clicking on the Scrum Project template launches you directly into the Scrum view. You can change this by clicking on Project > Agile and updating the Agile setting, including None to switch back to a Waterfall methodology. You can start entering user stories and tasks. Of course, if you are like me, I would want a view where I could copy and paste my list of user stories from my Excel file. To do this, simply click on the Sprint Planning Sheet. I can now schedule and manage my backlog and sprints including dates. Microsoft Project also includes a couple of Current Sprint views for my daily standup meetings. While these are awesome features, and something the community has been asking of Microsoft for a long time (and I mean a long time), this is not the exciting part. I now have the ability to pull in the virtually impossible phases of the project my CTO was asking for. I can build out a proper WBS for all of the phases of a project and track them in a single tool. This is what I need to do. Assuming you have a project plan template with your WBS and roadmap. First, configure your project plan to use the Scrum Methodology. For the Agile field, select No for all tasks in your WBS except those tasks that will be managed using an agile methodology. Add (or copy and paste from Excel) the list of user stories and tasks to your appropriate summary task. You will also want to add custom fields to track Story Points to better understand you sprint velocity. With a couple of sprints under your belt, you will be able to estimate the remaining number of sprints based on the story points for the tasks in the backlog. When you save your project to Project Online, you need to be a little clever to show the same views in PWA Many of the agile practitioners struggle to complying with their executives request for waterfall-like artifacts. Even more project managers struggle to find their way in the forever changing landscape of agile. Combining agile with classic PMBOK project management can bridge the divide between rapid changes and structure resulting in a more accurate, high quality project plan and thrilled sponsors. To learn more about the agile features in Project Pro, register for the recording of the webinar “Know how to use the new Project Pro Agile Features (end-to-end)”.