Help: Programs & Projects / Best Project Management Methodology

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fariezalias
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Joined: Thu 02 Oct 2014 6:19 am

Hi everyone,

I'm Fariez from Malaysia, newbie in project management. I'm currently studying about project planning, analysis and management. Thus, I have questions for experts or project managers with a million experiences in managing projects:
  1. What's the differences between programs and projects?
  2. What's your best project management methodology? Agile Method or what?
Thank you :)

Regards,
Fariez
elizabethblogs
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Hi Fariez,

I believe I can help you with these questions, and hopefully this will help with your studies.

In response to your first question, projects and programs can seem similar, as they both deliver a change and have a business case, as well as having a certain goal in mind.

However, programs actually consist of lots of projects, and are managed as a single unit. Programs often have an uncertain ‘outcome’ such as, for example, a collection of data that can be analysed. This outcome is the hoped for result of all the projects in the program, and so program risk can be high.

Projects are much more well-defined and certain. A typical project will be made up of a team of people with a common goal (for example, to build a bridge, create a website), and this outcome will usually be certain - something you can touch or see.

Programs will also have a ‘program manager’ who will manage the various project managers, and a program tends to last a long time, being split into ‘phases’. A very good example of a program happening in Malaysia at the moment is the East Coast Economic Region program. This program consists of many transport, infrastructure, real estate and environmental projects, which hopefully will have a good growth/economic outcome for the region.

To answer your second question, there isn’t really a ‘best’ project management methodology, and it would perhaps depend on the type of project you are applying the method to.

Two of the most common methods used worldwide are PRINCE2 and Agile, but they are both different from one another, and each method has its own benefits and pitfalls.

PRINCE2 is very much focussed on planning and deadlines, and can be applied to any project in any industry. You can find out more here: http://www.whatisprince2.net/

Agile has an approach which fits in more specifically with the software/IT sector, due to its flexibility and greater ability to adapt to sudden changes. It is a method which is fast becoming very popular.

My managing director, who is a highly experienced project manager, has written a very good article about whether PRINCE2 or Scrum (Agile) is the best method. You can read his article here: http://www.knowledgetrain.co.uk/blog/pr ... arison.php

I hope this is helpful, and good luck with your research!
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kwalford
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Hi there,

Projects Vs Programs:

Projects:
  • Defined products/scope
  • Comprise specialist (multi-skilled) teams
  • Clear path
  • Defined end date (timescale)
  • Produce outputs
  • Not concerned with post project change activities (BAU)
  • Have a life cycle (concept, definition, deployment, handover/closure)
  • Draw on resources from the organisation (matrix structure)
Programs:
  • Varying scope and changing product set
  • Have a 'vision'
  • Comprise change management activities and concerned with post project activities to embed products into BAU
  • Produce outcomes
  • Unclear path and timescale can vary
  • Bigger impact on the organisation than projects
  • Comprise multiple projects which utilise resource pools
  • When the multiple projects are combined, deliver greater benefits than deliver in isolation
fariezalias
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Thank you so much then. Helped me a lot :)
lahirul
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Hi Fariez,

Addition to this, I would like to contribute phases of project management cycle.

Project management lifecycle is really important to keep your project on track from beginning to end while preventing the misuse of resources, time and money. Project lifecycle is a process that project managers follow through when completing a project. There are five stages of project lifecycle.
  • Project Initiation
- Lay the foundation for the next few stages of project management. This is where you will define the project at a broad level.
  • Project Planning
- work out a strategy for performing the project steps or in other words determine what exactly needs to be done to achieve the goals you have defined earlier.
  • Project Execution
- You implement what you have planned. The job of the project manager here is to keep an eye out for errors and supervise the team while making sure that everyone sticks to the original plan.
  • Project Monitoring
- This phase requires the project manager to monitor the project performance and communicating the status to stakeholders.
  • Project Closure
- This phase marks the closure of the project when the final outcome is delivered. You can leverage the lesson learnt to optimize the project processes and team efforts during future projects.

Source: https://creately.com/blog/project-management/5-phases-of-project-management-lifecycle/
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