What is the future of project managers? Many people often ask that the professional path can be a project set, a project portfolio manager, or a PMO, etc. Why do program managers and portfolio managers earn more? Today I will reveal the secrets to you one by one!
Project managers, program managers, and portfolio managers are like "conductors" responsible for different scopes.
The project manager is like conducting a band, ensuring that each musician completes his part on time and plays a perfect piece of music.
A program manager is like an organizer in charge of a music festival. He not only ensures that each band plays well, but also coordinates the time between them to make the entire festival flow smoothly.
A portfolio manager, on the other hand, is like a concert hall manager who determines which music festivals or concerts should be organized to ensure that they all attract audiences and generate revenue for the concert hall. Each role has its own specialization, but the goal is to present the best music to the audience.
| dimension |
project manager |
program manager |
Portfolio Manager |
| definition |
Responsible for the management and delivery of a single project |
Responsible for managing and coordinating a group of interrelated projects to achieve a specific common goal |
Responsible for managing an organization's overall projects and programs, ensuring they are aligned with the organization's strategic goals |
| responsibility range |
single item |
multiple related projects |
Overall portfolio of projects, programs and other investments |
| focus |
Completing projects, meeting time, cost and quality requirements |
Optimize program sets for overall benefit, manage resources and dependencies |
Ensure maximum contribution of projects, programs and other investments to organizational strategy |
| decision level |
Strategic and tactical decisions at the project level |
Strategic and directional decisions on related projects |
At the organizational strategic level, decisions about which projects or programs should be started, continued, or terminated |
| Risk Management |
Single project risk management |
Risks among related projects and their impact on the overall program |
Consider the risks of the overall portfolio, as well as the risk impact of a single project or program set on the organization's strategy |
| resource management |
Allocate resources for a single project |
Allocate and optimize resources among related projects |
Allocate and optimize resources across the organization to ensure achievement of strategic objectives |
| Stakeholder Management |
Stakeholder relationship management related to a single project |
Stakeholder relationship management related to all projects in the program |
Stakeholder relationship management related to strategy and project portfolio across the organization |
| value provision |
Realize the value of the project |
Realize the value of the overall program |
Ensure that the value delivered by the overall project portfolio is aligned with the strategic goals of the organization |
| Persistent |
project life cycle |
Program Life Cycle |
Long-term, in sync with the evolution of the organization's strategy |
| Metrics |
Project completion, time, cost and quality |
Overall benefit and output of the program |
Benefits of Portfolio Contribution to Organizational Strategy |
| Strategy docking |
Ensure project goals are aligned with organizational or departmental strategy |
Ensure program goals are aligned with organizational or departmental strategy |
Ensure project portfolios across the organization are aligned with long-term strategic goals |
| Maturity requirements |
Requires in-depth knowledge of project management tools, techniques and best practices |
A broader understanding of project management and best practices in program management is required |
Requires in-depth knowledge of best practices in project, program, and organizational strategic management |
| change management |
Manage project-wide change requests |
Manage changes affecting programs and coordinate changes across projects |
Manage changes to projects or programs at the organizational level, considering their impact on overall strategy |
| communication frequency |
Communicate frequently with the project team and stakeholders |
Need to coordinate communication between multiple projects, frequent communication with project managers |
Communicate strategically with senior management, project managers and program managers |
| tools and techniques |
Use project management software, Gantt charts, WBS and other tools |
Use program management tools to consolidate the schedule and resources of multiple projects |
Use project portfolio management software, as well as strategic management and decision support tools |
| conflict resolution |
Resolving conflicts within the project team |
Resolve conflicts across projects, such as resource conflicts or timeline conflicts |
Resolve conflicts between strategic goals, resources, and priorities |
| budget management |
Manage budgets for individual projects |
Manage the budget of the entire program, allocated to different projects |
Manage organization-level budgets and allocate budgets to different projects or programs |
| training and mentoring |
May provide technical or process related training to team members |
Provide guidance and training to project managers or teams on program management |
Provide strategic direction and possibly strategic training for project managers, program managers, and other key stakeholders |
The original text comes from: pmo frontier