ABSTRACT

It is crucial to understand that the leadership style for program management will quite often differ from the style a CEO or project manager may use. A program manager is responsible for a long-term vision leveraging many projects that together achieve a set of benefits not possible from a single project. THerefore the program manager must have plans for starting new projects, transitioning projects to operational teams, managing a longer-term budget, and accepting the responsibility of communicating with all stakeholders from every project as well as those specifically focused on the program. Additionally, the program manager must constantly ensure that the benefits of the program are understood by and communicated to all, and identify when these benefits are achieved. And whereas a project will often last only six to nine months, a program may very well be a multiyear event that has an ongoing impact on stakeholders with intermittent benefits being realized.