What are the best frameworks for program coordination?

1 Agile Program Management

Agile program management is a framework that applies the principles and values of agile software development to program coordination. It emphasizes collaboration, flexibility, feedback, and continuous improvement. Agile program management helps you to deliver value to your customers and stakeholders in small increments, while adapting to changing requirements and priorities. It also helps you to foster a culture of innovation, learning, and empowerment among your teams. Some of the tools and techniques that agile program management uses are scrum, kanban, user stories, epics, sprints, retrospectives, and burndown charts.

2 Logical Framework Approach

Logical framework approach (LFA) is a framework that helps you to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate your programs in a systematic and logical way. It helps you to define your program objectives, indicators, assumptions, and risks, and to link them in a matrix format. LFA helps you to clarify your program logic, identify your expected results, and measure your progress and impact. It also helps you to communicate your program rationale and strategy to your stakeholders and donors. Some of the tools and techniques that LFA uses are problem tree analysis, objective tree analysis, logframe matrix, and stakeholder analysis.

3 Theory of Change

Theory of change (ToC) is a framework that helps you to articulate and test your assumptions about how your program will achieve its intended outcomes and impact. It helps you to map out your program activities, outputs, outcomes, and impact, and to explain the causal relationships and mechanisms between them. ToC helps you to create a shared vision and understanding of your program among your teams and stakeholders, and to identify the key assumptions and risks that need to be verified and monitored. It also helps you to evaluate your program effectiveness and learn from your successes and failures. Some of the tools and techniques that ToC uses are outcome mapping, logic models, pathways of change, and assumptions testing.

4 Program Management for Development Professionals

Program management for development professionals (PMD Pro) is a framework that provides best practices and standards for program coordination in the development sector. It helps you to apply the project management cycle to your programs, and to integrate the principles of social and environmental responsibility, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive management. PMD Pro helps you to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate your programs in a consistent and effective way, while addressing the specific challenges and opportunities of the development context. Some of the tools and techniques that PMD Pro uses are program charter, program breakdown structure, program schedule, program risk register, and program performance report.

5 Managing Successful Programmes

Managing successful programmes (MSP) is a framework that helps you to deliver transformational change through program coordination. It helps you to align your program vision, strategy, and benefits with your organizational objectives and priorities. MSP helps you to manage the complexity and uncertainty of your program environment, and to balance the competing demands of quality, cost, time, and risk. It also helps you to engage and communicate with your stakeholders, and to ensure that your program delivers the desired outcomes and benefits. Some of the tools and techniques that MSP uses are program mandate, program brief, program definition document, program organization, and program blueprint.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?