Tricks of the Trade® for Program Management

This world-class course will help Program Managers translate the International Standard for Program Management into real-world technologies and real-world applications. Over the course of two intensive days, Program Managers will review the entire Program Management process from beginning to end, and improve their skills in six major areas of focus—including Governance, Prioritization, Escalation, Resource Management, Benefits Realization, and Stakeholder Management. Students will also learn from practicing Program Managers, share real-world issues with the group, develop action plans, and learn Program Management best practices.

Tricks of the Trade® for Program Management is designed for experienced project and junior program managers, PMO managers and senior managers looking to acquire a firm grasp of specific steps in the Program Management process—or of the entire process from beginning to end. In addition, because this course teaches students how to apply International Program Management standards in the real world, it can be taken as additional prep for people looking to earn a Program Management Professional (PgMP®) Certification.

This course is offered in both public and onsite versions. If interested in hosting an onsite course, please click here to read more about our onsite courses and complete a request form.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Understand the Program Management Process from beginning to end.
2. More effectively manage programs within their organization.
3. Use common Program Management terminology.
4. Apply real-world techniques and proven Tricks of the Trade® to programs.
5. Deliver and manage benefits better.
6. Relate to the major focus areas of governance, prioritization, escalation, resource management, benefits realization and stakeholder management.

Class Materials

All attendees of this class will receive a comprehensive Course Workbook, as well as a copy of PMI's Standard for Program Management.

Course Outline

• Understanding Program Management
  • What is program management?
  • The program management life cycle
  • The program management processes
• Program Initiating
  • ID program goals and objectives
  • Providing the target - the Program Charter
  • Individual Exercise - Charter
  • Build financial structure
  • Other initiating processes
• Program Planning
  • Clarifying and defining program objectives - the Scope Statement
  • Exercise - When requirements are greater than the boundary
  • Tricks for determining what needs to be done - The Program Work Breakdown Structure
  • Group and individual exercises - Program Work Breakdown Structure
  • Determining who does what - capacity planning
  • Determining areas of potential problems - Risk Management (overview only, see RMC's Tricks of the Trade® for Risk Management course for more information)
  • Exercise - Risk opportunities and threats
  • Exercise - Creating Communications Plans, Management Plans
  • Determining how much it will cost - Budgeting
  • Other Planning processes
• Program Executing
  • Chartering projects
  • Adjusting resources to obtain benefits
  • Manage interaction between program elements
  • Exercise - Fine tuning your communications
  • Manage stakeholder issues
  • Other Executing processes
• Program Monitoring and Controlling
  • Tricks of the Trade® for controlling the schedule
  • Exercise - Rules change
  • Voice of experience
  • Measuring program progress
  • Program reporting tools
  • Risks - monitoring and controlling risks
  • Group Exercise - Handling risk
  • Managing stakeholder expectations
  • Tricks of the Trade® for change management
  • Benefits management
• Program Closing
  • Transfer program deliverables
  • Lessons learned
  • Reallocation of resources
  • Creating historical records
  • Providing final benefits
• Wrap-up
  • Review
  • Action plan