CHAPTER 10

Future of Program Management

In this chapter, we will discuss the future of the program management industry. To understand how the industry can grow and where it can improve, we will examine the current state of the program management industry, focusing on existing gaps. As the program management industry operates globally, we will discuss the global environment and future trends. Using the current state of the program management industry and future trends of the global environment, we will attempt to define the future state of the program management industry.

This chapter includes the following sections:

• Program management industry current state; and
• Program management industry future state.

Program Management Industry Current State

Currently, a very limited analysis is performed for the program management industry. Analysis for the program management industry is frequently included in the analysis of the project management industry. For example, the Project Management Institute publishes Pulse of the Profession®. The Pulse report is very much focused on the project management industry and has very limited analysis and data on the program management industry. We will use project management industry analysis and apply it to program management industry analysis to identify the program management industry's current gaps, as shown in Table 10-1. We will assume that project management industry trends are indicative of program management industry trends.

Program Management Industry Future

The program management industry operates globally. So, before examining what the future state of the industry will look like, we will discuss changes that the global business environment will likely have:

• Globalization will be taken to the next level, with more teams being dispersed and operating in the virtual environment;
• Advancement of technologies will continue at the accelerated rate, enabling instant connectivity and providing a platform for geographically dispersed teams;
• Deregulation will likely take place, removing barriers and allowing for easier and more efficient collaboration; and
• The agile approach will receive a wider spread in the program management industry.

The dynamic, rapidly changing, and complex business environment continues to emphasize the need for excellence in project, program, and portfolio management. A return to basics, embedding the project management mind set in organizational culture, could create a sustainable competitive advantage. An organization's ability to build and sustain its growth capacity depends on some critical factors, including having active executive sponsors on projects, establishing a well-aligned and effective program management office, and using consistent and standardized project management practices throughout the organization. Organizations continue to recognize the value of people who are versatile, have deep strategic insight, and who champion knowledge development and knowledge transfer as essential to performance improvement and competitive strength. Organizations need to embrace, value, and utilize project management—and both recognize and attribute their success to it.¹³

The program management industry's future state will be influenced by changes in the global business environment and shaped by closing current gaps in the industry. The program management industry's future state will likely include:

• Program management industry growth and maturity:
  • The program management industry will grow in the United States and worldwide;
  • The number of organizations with high program management maturity will continue to grow, with more organizations operating as program-oriented;
  • The number of organizations that understand program management value will grow; and
  • Some organizations with high benefits realization maturity will grow.
• Program strategy alignment:
  • The number of programs that will be aligned with organizational strategy will grow;
  • An increased number of organizations will have a program management office and will recognize their strategic role in aligning programs with organizational strategy;
  • The number of organizations where executive sponsors are effectively engaged with the program will grow significantly, supporting program alignment with organizational strategy; and
  • Many organizations will align program manager talent management to the organizational strategy, consistently defining the program manager role as a business program manager.
• Program management industry standardization:
  • The program management industry will take significant steps toward standardization, including closure of current industry gaps;
  • In many organizations, program manager proficiencies will be standardized to the level of a business program manager;
  • Program management industry tools will be standardized and program-centric;
  • Program management industry analysis will be sufficient to understand industry trends, metrics will be standardized, and the program management industry will have its reports; and
  • The number of program managers with the Program Management Professional (PgMP)® certification will grow significantly in the United States and worldwide, contributing to program management industry standardization.

Increased complexity of the future competitive landscape will require a high velocity from the program management industry. To thrive in a fast-paced world and be able to respond to market changes quickly, organizations must create a culture of agility.

Successful organizations share a common feature; the ability to pivot and implement quickly to achieve competitive advantage. We define organizational agility as the ability to change or adapt rapidly in response to market conditions or other external factors, including new competitors, emerging technologies, customer demands, and sudden economic and sociopolitical shifts. The use of the agile/incremental/iterative tools and techniques of project management is vitally important in such scenarios, as they impact projects and programs, and the use of these tools and techniques is on the rise, according to PMI's 2015 Pulse report.¹⁴

Organizational agility requires effective communication and proper change and risk management. It can also include much more than the widely-used project management tools and techniques of agile and other approaches. In fact, agile approaches to project management and formal project management can—and do—co-exist successfully.

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Agile allows teams to deliver projects piece by piece and make rapid adjustments as needed. Agile is not done in place of managing a project. Rather, it is frequently introduced as a way to speed up the phases of a project.

PMI's Pulse of the Profession findings indicate that the most important characteristics of an agile organization include flexibility and adaptability, open communication, openness to change, empowered team members, experiential learning, rapid decision making, and a strong customer focus.

On their journey to becoming more agile, successful organizations overcome many barriers—including slow decision making, cultural mind sets that don't support agility, lack of executive engagement/leadership, little communication between departments, and unclear organizational vision or strategy. These organizations overcome those obstacles by embodying the most important characteristics of organizational agility, such as:

• Flexibility and adaptability;
• Open communication;
• Receptive to change;
• Empowered team members;
• Experiential learning opportunities;
• Rapid decision making; and
• Strong customer focus.

What creates organizational agility? We have found some concrete leading practices at the core of success. They start with a firm grounding in the basics of project management, including an appreciation for the value of experienced and well-trained professionals and the standardized program management practices they use. Agile organizations actively engage executive sponsors, align projects to strategy, and establish a well-aligned and effective program management office. They also have better communicators, more collaboration, and more engagement. They are change enablers and manage risk effectively. It is the combination of all these elements that has led to their ability to adjust and adapt to rapidly changing market conditions.¹⁵

Highly agile organizations have significantly better project outcomes compared to low-agile organizations, as shown in Figure 10-1.

The use of agile/incremental/iterative practices in project management continues to rise, with 38% of organizations reporting frequent use, up eight percentage points since 2013.¹⁶ It is expected that in the future state, the use of agile practices will continue to spread.

Program managers can influence the future state of the program management industry. One of the venues to help shape program management's current state is through the program management community of Practice (PgMCoP), as will be described in the next chapter.

¹ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

² PMI. (2015). Pulse of the profession®: Capturing the value of project management. Newtown Square, PA: Author.

³ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

⁴ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

⁵ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

⁶ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

⁷ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

⁸ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

⁹ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

¹⁰ PMI. (2015). Pulse of the profession®: Capturing the value of project management. Newtown Square, PA: Author.

¹¹ PMI. (2016). Pulse of the profession®: The high cost of low performance—How will you improve business results? Newtown Square, PA: Author.

¹² PMI. (2015). PMI-Certification-Overview-Kronos.pptx. Newtown Square, PA: Author.

¹³ PMI. (2015). Pulse of the profession®: Capturing the value of project management. Newtown Square, PA: Author.

¹⁴ PMI. (2015). Pulse of the profession®: Capturing the value of project management. Newtown Square, PA: Author.

¹⁵ PMI. (2015). Pulse of the profession®: Capturing the value of project management through organizational agility. Newtown Square, PA: Author.

¹⁶ PMI. (2015). Pulse of the profession®: Capturing the value of project management. Newtown Square, PA: Author.