Weekly Digest with ERA

Programme and Project Management Part 1??????????????????????????????????????????????? Issue # 12

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It’s a lovely Wednesday, I am ecstatic to always share my knowledge with you all. I will be talking about programme management, though I am not a pro at this, still, I would love to share my understanding of this topic.

I recently attended an in-house training in my organization and want to share my insight. So many people do not understand the difference between prgramme management and project management, and I am happy to share a titbit with you about the difference. But first of all, let’s understand the terms.

What is Project Management? Project management is systematically planning, organizing, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and objectives within a defined scope, time, and budget. Project management has unique characteristics that make it stand out.

Characteristic of a Project

A project has these characteristics:

• It is Temporary – A project is usually temporary, it has a time frame and it happens for only a period
• Resource-Limited – It is resource-based and has limits, it cannot stretch to do more than it was meant
• Result Oriented – It has a focus on getting a result. It aims to achieve a particular goal and objectives
• Unique - ?It is unique and one-of-a-kind

Five Processes of Project Management:

1. Initiating: This is the stage of a project which the scope, goals, and stakeholders to be engaged are defined, and other nuances are considered.
2. Planning: This is when the project team develops detailed plans, schedules, and budgets.
3. Executing: This is the period when the project activities and tasks are being carried out.
4. Monitoring and Controlling: Tracking progress, identifying and addressing deviations done during the implementation of the project.
5. Closing: Formalizing project completion, and documenting lessons learned.

Nine Knowledge Areas:

1. Integration Management: Coordinating all aspects of the project.
2. Scope Management: Defining and managing project scope.
3. Time Management: Developing and controlling schedules accordingly.
4. Cost Management: Establishing and controlling budgets.
5. Quality Management: Ensuring project quality at all times and in all stages of the implementation.
6. Resource Management: Allocating and managing resources according to what was budgeted for, no extra spending without the donor’s prior approval.
7. Communications Management: Stakeholder communication. Ensure communication is done efficiently and effectively with all stakeholders involved in the project.
8. Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating risks to prevent the project from being static when implementing the project’s activities.
9. Procurement Management: Acquiring goods and services according to the approved standard and process, considering both the donor and the organization's processes.

?Programme Management

Programme management refers to the process of planning, organizing, and controlling multiple related projects and activities to achieve strategic objectives and benefits. It involves coordinating and overseeing various projects, ensuring they are aligned with the organization's overall goals and strategy.

Programme management typically involves:

1. Defining programme scope, goals, and objectives
2. Developing programme plans and strategies
3. Coordinating and integrating multiple projects
4. Managing programme resources (financial, human, etc.)
5. Monitoring and controlling programme progress
6. Identifying and mitigating risks
7. Ensuring stakeholder engagement and communication
8. Realizing benefits and measuring programme success

All these are utilized during programme management.

Effective programme management enables organizations to:

1. Achieve strategic objectives
2. Improve efficiency and effectiveness
3. Enhance collaboration and coordination
4. Manage complexity and change
5. Optimize resource utilization, and
6. Realize benefits and value

Project Management Vs. Programme Management

Project management looks at a single project, it is time-bound, resource-oriented, temporal, and unique. In comparison, programme management looks to manage a group of related projects in a coordinated way to achieve the programme's strategic objectives and benefits. So when you think of project management, think of a single project; when you think of programme management, think of multiple projects.

Here are some risks and challenges of Project management:

• Incorrect/inadequate understanding of the community needs
• Poor project design
• Unrealistic project expectations
• Inadequate resources to accomplish the project’s tasks
• Delay in project start-up
• Natural disasters could halt the implementation of project activities based on the project’s timeframe
• Inadequate capacity to implement the project’s activities
• Unrealistic budget for the activity implementation
• Low-quality materials or resources for the implementation of the project activities.

What makes a good Project Management?

A good project management involves the following:

• Planning for your project early on in time
• Knowing what is in your project proposal i.e what your organization has committed to do in the proposal and the contract they signed with the donors
• Managing your budget, a project manager should know and understand the donor’s flexibility when it comes to spending
• Know your contract and donor guidelines. Some donors have requirements that every project manager should familiarize themselves with, they should know the requirements so they don’t make mistakes and incur disallowable expense
• Manage your partners well, the partnership should be a learning process for your partners, your partners should have an improved capacity as a result of the partnership with your organization, and it should be a hand-holding process for your partners.
• A project manager should be able to have ownership over the project they are managing, so they feel empowered to make decisions about how to move forward

I will pause here today, and encourage you to look out for part II in the next series. I hope you found insights into understanding the difference between project and programme management.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to me on [email protected]

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Remember! You are because I am!

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