Program Management with Shared Resources

Agenda

• Program Initiation

• Typical Scenario

• Risk Mitigation

• Managing for Success

• Sample Dashboard/Metrics

• Summary

Program Initiation• Program requirements

o Scope identified

o Budget identified

o Resource requirements/skill sets clearly defined

o Resource requirements (hardware/software)

o External requirements (vendors/subcontractors)

o Program Manager assigned

• Calendar for the operational requirementso Upgrades

o Maintenance Windows

o Outages

o All Planned activities

• Program managemento Qualified program manager requirements

• Cost• Schedule• Resource Management

• Decision Making Processo Agreements defined on assignments

o Escalation

Scenario

• Need for a new program is defined

• Business agrees on the priority

• Resources assigned are not dedicated and have daily operational

responsibilities

• Program manager may or may not be dedicated to the task depending upon the

scope

• Program manager may or may not be an experienced program manager

• Managers responsible for production/operations control the resources assigned

to the program

• Production always has the top priority

Programs managed in this environment have a high probability of failure

Risk Mitigation for Shared Resource programs

• Define the production environment calendar

o Identify all the planned work that can be forecast at the moment

o Use history to identify unplanned outages/requests that are hidden each week• Unplanned patches

• Application updates

• Agree on the resource requirements with the resource managers

o Agree on the individuals assigned to the program

o Identify the escalation process when schedule requirements aren’t met

• Identify contingency plans for resources

• Define the planned milestones up front

o Programs typically fail within the first 30 days if not well defined and managed

• Manage the key metrics for the program

Mitigate your risk up front with planning and a risk management plan

Plan for Success

• Managing with shared resources is a challenge

o Production will always take first priority

o Critical KPI’s• Milestones

• Applied time to the program

• Define your milestones at a granular level with weekly completions

o Don’t wait for 30/60 days in the program before your first milestone is due

o Up front it’s critical to have your milestones defined by individual on the program

o You understand quickly if you are headed for the “Red Zone”

• Scope of the program has to be mapped to the milestones

80% of all programs will fail in the first 30 days if not well defined or managed

Sample Dashboard

At one glance you know you’re either on track or not

Summary

• Mitigating your risk up front ensures you meet cost and

schedule

• Work the up front requirements so that you can be

successful

• Working in a share resource environment is reality for most

organizations

• Manage by the numbers

Managing programs requires detailed up front work and day to day management