Program Management or PgMP Certification is one of the upcoming certifications which is gaining a lot of popularity. It had a good percentage rise over the last few years and with the world undergoing a dynamic change with new patterns and behaviors getting established, PgMP or Program Management is going to gain more acceptance and credibility.
What is Program Management?
Program Management helps to achieve the strategic goals of the organizations by managing 2 or more projects in a such way that the benefits coming from these projects are enhanced than managing the projects individually. Program Management ensures that the benefits from projects are well coordinated and realized which can help achieve the Organization’s Strategic Goals.
Program Management, is, therefore, both a Strategic as well an Execution area. In other words, Program Management is both a Decision Making and Decision Implementation Process. The Program Manager is involved in the Strategic aspects of aligning the Strategy with respect to the Business Goals, which includes formulating the case study, choosing the right Critical Success Factors (CSFs), the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), achievability of the same, preparing Program Roadmap and the entire Strategy to achieve the strategic goals. Further, the Program will involve in the decision implementation process of initiating the projects, monitoring the projects, and ensuring the projects are delivering the critical success factors agreed upon earlier. He / She would further ensure that the outputs from the projects are translated into concrete benefits which are consumed by the end-users and thus, help in achieving the strategic goals.
As a PgMP or Program Manager, you are focused on 5 Performance Domains as per PMI
- Strategy Alignment
- Benefits Management
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Governance
- Program Life Cycle.
All these domains are interrelated to each other and the program work, i.e., Program activities help to achieve the right outcome for the program.
The Program Manager is, therefore, a Business Savvy individual who has years of experience and can influence stakeholders and teams to realize the benefits. He / She exhibits a lot of tacit skills which come through a good experience. The PgMP course will further elucidate and hone and hardwire the concepts to become an efficient Program Manager and deliver value to the organization.
Program Management if done properly and in a structured manner pays a lot of dividends. And to learn the right way of doing Program Management, PMI has introduced the PgMP course or PgMP certification. ProThoughts PgMP Certification workshop or PgMP course is regarded as one of the best in the world. You can check the details here.
Product Management
The Product Management role does not come in the sphere of Project Management.
Product management also covers the organization and has a macro view of the organization. Product Management covers every step of a product’s lifecycle: from development to positioning and pricing, by focusing on the product and its customers first and foremost. Product Managers focus to build the right product and, product managers advocate for customers within the organization and make sure the voice of the market is heard and heeded.
The Product Manager uses Project Management and Program Management techniques to achieve greater success in their roles, but the Product Management role is vastly different from Program Management. The focus is entirely different and the skill set is as well.
Martin Eriksson has famously described product management as the intersection of business, user experience, and technology.
- Business— Product management helps teams achieve their business objectives by bridging the communication gap between dev, design, the customer, and the business.
- UX— Product management focuses on the user experience, and represents the customer inside the organization. Great UX is how this focus manifests itself.
- Technology— Product management happens, day to day, in the engineering department. A thorough understanding of computer science is paramount.
Product Managers use Project and Program Management to deliver their products. However, their main focus is to ensure the product makes an impact on the organization. Many product managers use Agile practices to manage their product journeys or product roadmaps.
In a nutshell, Product Managers use Program Management to manage their products and this skill can help them to maximize the potential of the Product.
Program Management skills can be gained by investing in learning and ProThoughts which is one of the best learning workshops on PgMP courses can offer to hone your skills and help you to make a better Program Manager. Their PgMP certification workshop can help you to manage your product better among many other programs right from construction to IT to any domain.
