Managing Successful Programmes

I had the opportunity yesterday to draw on some of the material from the MSP Book. We have a project coming up at work that involves the selection of new accommodation, a technical fitout and moving a business department into the new area.

Time is tight, there are challenging cost targets, and several sets of activities in seperate areas which impinge on each other – all of which seem to be reasons for choosing a programme management approach.

I already had set myself an objective to persuade the relevant senior manager that a proper project governance structure was needed (as the technology component is significant I would be on the project board), and in the process of that conversation I met his local project manager who is focusing on the move. Conversation with that individual brought consensus on the need for a programme structure (that PM is also going to be the Programme Manager).

We’ve started drafting a Programme Definition, and I found the relevant section in the book extremely useful as a way of kick-starting the document.