What Does it Take to be a Program Manager? - Established veterans advise up-and-coming project managers on how to make the jump to program manager: For many project managers, the next move in their careers is the step up to program manager. Yet many practitioners lack a true understanding of the role and the skills required to make the transition. First, they need a firm grasp of the program manager’s responsibilities.

“You always have to understand the organizational strategy. If that shifts, you have to adjust the program and the projects that are the building blocks to get there,” says Brian Grafsgaard, PMP, PgMP, director of professional services and senior consultant, Quality Business Solutions, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. 

“You’re really managing the interdependency between the projects,” he says. “You have to be able to communicate the overall vision.”

To build up their stakeholder management prowess, project managers should forge relationships with their organization’s upper management, says Mr. Grafsgaard, a charter member of PMI’s Program Management Professional (PgMP)® Credential Panel Review Committee.

Other traits Mr. Graafsgard attributes to the successful program manager include:

• Advanced skills in financial management and budgeting, as well as procurement and contract negotiations across the program. “Programs typically have significantly larger budgets than projects and include both expense and capital budgets that must be administered.”
• Ability to creatively define the project pacing and obtain incremental benefits before the program is complete. “Don’t wait for the ‘big bang’ to start realizing return on the investment.”
• Knowledge in establishing and executing the governance framework for both the constituent projects and the program itself. “Program managers must allocate and optimize resources across all of the constituent projects, as well as any additional work that is required.”

See the rest at PMI Career Central!