Program Design, Planning, Management, Consulting, Pittsburgh, PA

In an increasingly volatile world, the "new normal" means constant adaptation and change, forcing companies to frequently reinvent themselves, their operating model and their go to market strategies. This degree of volatility and change requires thoughtful design, rigorous planning and diligent oversight to manage the risk and to maximize the business outcomes. Today, the rewards of success are more critical than ever and implications of failure more severe. Do not travel this road alone. Travel with a trusted advisor.

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Program Design, Planning and Management

Program design, planning, and management, Pittsburgh, PA The process of designing, planning and managing several related projects in a coordinated fashion to achieve a complex business outcome, with the intention of improving an organization's performance and/or achieving operational synergies of the overall effort. Management consulting services commonly provided by Yorktown in this space include but is not limited to:

Establishing and Maintaining Program Governance

The structure, process, and procedure to control change program execution and change control to scope and performance objectives. Governance must include a set of metrics to indicate the health and progress of the program in the most vital areas. For large scale business change programs, program leadership roles and responsibilities in conjunction with clear program management policies and standards are defined to establish expectations on how the program will run and establish the common understanding of effective day-to-day operations.

Prioritization/Alignment of Goals, Scope, Teams and Deliverables

Program goals and priorities need to be confirmed, sanctioned and communicated by executive leaders. All aspects of the program must then be designed to support the higher level vision, goals and objectives as well as must ensure the alignment of each project critical to the program with the overall program vision. Dependencies and interrelationships must be defined and actively managed throughout the entire program’s lifecycle.

Program Planning and Mobilization Program

The program is initiated by the development of a comprehensive and integrated program plan that includes estimates of effort, costs, benefits, risks and dependencies. Executive signoff is required before resourcing, staffing and full mobilization. This Program Plan is a single living document that is used and maintained throughout the life of the program. There is only one version of this plan at any given time and that plan is used to measure the performance of the program over time.

Define and Manage Program Resources

Once an approved and sanctioned governance model and program plan is in place, financial, technical and qualified human resources must be made allocated to the team in accordance with the plan. Often human resources have one of the longer lead-time and are more difficult to extract from the business in order to place the right skills and experience in the right places.

Management Processes and Tools

Once program governance is solidly in place, tactical processes, schedules and tools must be installed to provide practical oversight and management of the teams. We must ensure there are standardized methods, regular reviews, accountability, and that management of projects, scope, stakeholders and suppliers is in place. Value realization is also a critical management activity, including cost, benefits and timing.

Project Teams and Stakeholders Integration and Coordination

Ensure that component parts fit together properly and remain coordinated with the broader program plan. One of Program Management’s key roles is to optimize performance across the program value chain, both functionally and technically and not to sub-optimize the performance of any one project component.

Program Performance Improvement

Throughout the lifecycle of a major transformational change program, a program manager must continuously assess performance; research and develop new capabilities; and systemically apply learning and knowledge to the program based on the governance model established before program startup. Leveraging established communications channels the program management team can use key stakeholder feedback as a starting point to enhance overall program performance and impact.