The Standard for Program Management (SPM) Second Ed., defines the following nine knowledge areas for Program Management:
- Program Integration Management
- Program Scope Management
- Program Time Management
- Program Communication Management
- Program Risk Management
- Program Procurement Management
- Program Financial Management
- Program Stakeholder Management
- Program Governance
Remember, these knowledge areas are different from the knowledge areas defined in PMBOK 4th Ed., for Project Management.
Critical Path
A critical path is the sequence of project activities, which add up to the longest overall duration. This determines the shortest time possible to complete the project. Any delay of an activity on the critical path directly impacts the planned project completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path). A project can have several, parallel, near critical paths. An additional parallel path through the network with the total durations shorter than the critical path is called a sub-critical or non-critical path.
These results allow managers to prioritize activities for the effective management of project completion, and to shorten the planned critical path of a project by pruning critical path activities, by “fast tracking” (i.e., performing more activities in parallel), and/or by “crashing the critical path” (i.e., shortening the durations of critical path activities by adding resources).
Resource Histogram
Resource histogram is a bar chart showing the amount of time that a resource is scheduled to work over a series of time periods. It shows the resource requirements by time period.
Resource histograms are handy tools for the project management team, as they allow a quick and easy single page view of exactly what resources are available, what resources are being utilized at the present time, and how long those resources are expected to be tied up.
EAC
An estimate at completion (EAC) is a forecast of the most likely total value based on project performance and risk quantification. EAC is the projected or anticipated total final value for a schedule activity, WBS component, or project when the defined work of the project is completed. In a simple language, it is a formula that predicts how much the project is likely to cost. It is based on the cost performance index (CPI) and how much was the originally predicted cost to complete the project.
Lessons Learned Documentation
Lessons learned documentation is prepared to contribute to the lessons learned knowledge database of the organization. It includes the causes of issues, the reasoning behind the corrective action chosen, and other types of lessons learned about stakeholder management. Lessons learned are documented so that they become part of the historical database for the project/program and the performing organization. The lessons learned are compiled, formalized, and stored through out the project’s/program’s duration.
Contract
Contract is an agreement that mutually binds the seller (to provide the specified product or service or result) and the buyer (to pay for it). A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do an act, which is enforceable in a court of law. It is a binding legal agreement. It is an agreement creating and defining the obligations between two or more parties.
Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a business management strategy, initially implemented by Motorola. As of 2009 it enjoys widespread application in many sectors of industry, although its application is not without controversy.
Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization (“Black Belts”, “Green Belts”, etc.) who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction or profit increase).
Analogous Estimating
Analogous is an estimating technique that uses the values of parameter, such as scope, cost, budget, and duration or measures of scale such as size, weight, and complexity from a previous, similar activity as the basis for estimation of the same parameter for a future activity. It is a top-down estimating technique and is a form of expert judgment. It provides a lower degree of accuracy than other estimating techniques. This technique is primarily used when there is a limited amount of detailed information about the project or program.
Program Resource Calendar
The program resource calendar defines when the program resources will be available for program work, what is the work that is assigned to team members to be completed, and other information about scheduling the resources. It helps the program managers to plan based on the resource calendar that defines when specific team members will not be available to work on the project. A composite resource calendar for a program, which is part of the project management plan, documents working days and nonworking days that determine those dates on which a specific resource, whether a person or materiel, can be active or idle. The calendar typically identifies resource-specific holidays and resource availability periods. It identifies the quantity of each resource available during each availability period.
Program Work Breakdown Structure
The program work breakdown structure is a visual decomposition of the program scope. It subdivides the program deliverables to work packages that are linked to the activities within the program. It defines a program and groups the program’s discrete work elements in a way that helps organize and define the total work scope of the program. A WBS element may be a product, data, service, or any other combination. WBS also provides the necessary framework for detailed cost estimation and control along with providing guidance for schedule development and control.
Program Scope Statement
The program scope statement defines all the work and only the required work for the program. It is an agreement among the program team, the program sponsor, and key stakeholders. It represents a common understanding of the program for the purpose of facilitating communication among the stakeholders and for setting authorities and limits for the program manager and team. The scope statement includes relating the program to business objectives, and defining the boundaries of the program in multiple dimensions including approach, deliverables, milestones, and budget. It is the baseline of all program decisions once the scope has been approved.
Communcation Channels
Communication channels are paths of communication with stakeholders in a project or program. The number of communication channels shows the complexity of a project’s communication and can be derived through the formula shown below:
Total Number of Communication Channels = n (n-1)/2
where, n is the number of stakeholders. Hence, a project having five stakeholders will have ten communication channels.
Communication Skills
Communications skills are part of general management skills and are used to exchange information. Communication has many dimensions:
- Written and oral, listening, and speaking
- Internal (within the project) and external (customer, the media, the public)
- Formal (reports, briefings) and informal (memos, ad hoc conversations)
- Vertical (up and down the organization) and horizontal (with peers)
Communication is the most important skill that a project manager must posses. It is the single most important characteristics of a top-class project manager. Project managers must communicate well in order to integrate and maximize the performance of team members. Oral and written communications are the backbone of every successful project. During different phases of a project, a project manager requires to communicate through different manners (for example, documentation, meeting updates, etc.) and he must ensure that the information communicated is explicit, clear, and complete.
PMIS
The Project Management Information System (PMIS) is an information system consisting of the tools and techniques used to gather, integrate, and disseminate the outputs of project management processes. It is used to support all aspects of the project from initiating through closing, and can include both manual and automated systems. It is the parent of the change control process. It is a system that includes all of the change control processes for scope, time, cost, and procurement. Configuration management is part of the PMIS.
CAP
The Control Account Plan (CAP) is a plan for all the work and effort to be performed in a control account. Each CAP has a definitive statement of work, schedule, and time-phased budget. All those decision packages, which exist but details about the deliverables are not known yet, goes under CAP. Previously, it was called a Cost Account Plan.