The key to transforming your PMO workflow is understanding both the similarities and differences between Program and Project Management. This knowledge helps you allocate resources effectively, manage risks, and deliver lasting value. In this article, we’ll explore the similarities and differences between programs and projects, why they matter, and how mastering both can elevate the way you work.
What is Program Management?
Program management is about guiding a group of connected projects to achieve bigger organisational goals. It looks beyond individual project delivery, aligning executive vision with day-to-day execution. By coordinating resources, managing dependencies, and reducing risks, program management maximises impact and ensures every project adds value to enterprise objectives.
The real value of program management lies in having dedicated data and controls at the program level. A key example is a program-level budget, which allows the program manager to reallocate funds between projects as needed. This level of flexibility and oversight is what distinguishes true program management from simple project grouping.
Phillip Eilenberg, Success Lead, Sensei
What is Project Management?
Project management is about delivering specific outcomes within set limits of scope, time, cost, and quality. Projects are temporary and goal-focused, with clear deliverables and oversight. Project managers guide them from start to finish, coordinating work, managing risks, and meeting stakeholder expectations. Unlike programs, projects focus on precision and control to achieve results within a single area of change.
Program Management vs Project Management
Key similarities between Program & Project Management
Program and project management share the same core principles for delivering success. Both need planning, coordination, and resource management to handle complexity, stakeholders, and uncertainty. Whether leading one project or a larger program, managers must engage stakeholders, track progress, manage risks, and adapt as things change. Clear communication, structured processes, and strong leadership guide teams to deliver quality results. In the end, both focus on creating value through effective execution and collaboration.
Key differences between Program & Project Management
Program and project management are closely related but differ in scope, focus, and outcomes. Treating program management as just a form of project management can be risky, as it overlooks strategic alignment and the need to manage interdependencies. Programs make sure related projects work together to achieve long-term business outcomes, not just individual outputs. Without program management, organisations may deliver successful projects in isolation but miss the bigger benefits and struggle with shared resources, timelines, and priorities
Table 1. Distinctions between Projects, Programs, and Portfolios
Project
Program
Portfolio
Target outcomes
Clear deliverables
Defined business benefits
Organisational goals
Success measurement
Cost, time, scope
Achievement of benefits
Ongoing performance
Flexibility
Avoid changes
Capitalize on change
Change according to organisational strategy
Management role
Focus on tasks, product delivery
Pace and coordinate projects and benefits delivery
resource allocation, value delivery to ownership
Control
Compare actuals to schedules, budgets, and product specifications
Comparison of delivered benefits to expected benefits
Comparison of total value to organisational performance indicators
Tasks
Define and complete work on deliverables, manage teams, and risks
Coordinate projects and resources, market the program
Prioritize, allocate resources, continually assess value
Source: (Jiang, Klein and Fernandez, 2018)
Benefits of Program Management
Program-level strategic alignment
Program management is key to keeping an organisation aligned with its long-term goals. It sits above project management, ensuring all initiatives work toward the same vision. Program managers gain executive support, coordinate teams, and turn strategy into action, while also managing strategic risks to keep the organisation on track
Optimise resource management
Instead of managing projects separately, program management oversees them as part of a bigger whole. This helps organisations use people, budgets, and tools more efficiently, reducing waste and avoiding conflicts. Aligning projects with business goals ensures resources are well spent, costs are controlled, and projects are delivered on time and within budget.
Anticipating and mitigating risks
Program management takes a strategic view of risk, planning for uncertainty, and looking for new opportunities. By building risk considerations into plans, budgets, and schedules, program managers can spot when initiatives may no longer be viable. With the right authority and connections, they address issues early to protect long-term goals.
Best Practices in Program Management
Putting effective program management strategies into practice ensures strong governance and supports enduring success organisation-wide. Follow the steps below to transform your PMO workflow.
Use a program management software solution
Creating a portfolio and program roadmap
Program management software helps manage complex programs by centralising project information. It keeps teams aligned on goals, budgets, and resources, while giving leaders early visibility into risks and bottlenecks. With a clear view of dependencies, leaders can anticipate delays, reallocate resources, and keep delivery on track.
Altus offers a portfolio and program roadmap that gives leaders a visual overview of all initiatives. By consolidating projects and dependencies into one view, it shows how programs align with strategy, making it easier to track progress, manage risks, and make informed decisions across the portfolio.
Ensure Programs Align with Business Goals
Programs should never operate in isolation; they need to directly support the organisation’s strategic objectives. Clear alignment not only justifies investment but also keeps teams focused on delivering outcomes that matter. When proposing a new program, clearly show how it advances specific business strategies.
Organise leadership
Establish a clear governance structure: Define roles, decision-making authority, and strategic alignment to create clarity and accountability. When everyone knows who’s responsible, whether the program manager, executive sponsor, or PMO, decisions are faster, and confusion is reduced.
Foster collaborative leadership: Collaboration turns separate projects into a unified program. Leaders who take ownership of successes and setbacks encourage the same in their teams, building trust and shared responsibility.
Emphasise accountability and learning: Strong leaders adapt to change, welcome feedback, and learn from mistakes. Holding short reviews after key milestones helps teams innovate, address risks, and continuously improve.
Determining Project Dependencies
Dependencies are relationships where one task relies on the output, timing, or availability of another. Identifying them early helps you create realistic schedules, allocate resources effectively, and manage risks.
Map and sequence tasks: Break the project into individual tasks, list them, and identify what must be completed first. This reveals both obvious and hidden linkages.
Involve the right people: Engage team members, SMEs, and stakeholders to uncover cross-team or external dependencies that may be missed by one planner.
Categorise and assign ownership: Group dependencies, assign someone to monitor each, and ensure they raise issues quickly.
Review regularly: Dependencies change, update your tracker after major phases or at set intervals.
Link to risk management: Treat each dependency as a potential risk and create contingency plans for delays or failures.
Allocating Resources to Maximise Resource Efficiency
Effective resource allocation in program management means matching the right people, skills, and tools to tasks at the right time. Understand team capabilities, plan for future needs, balance workloads, and use real-time tracking to stay flexible. Clear communication and ownership keep teams accountable and efficient.
Altus Resource Management helps organisations forecast demand, balance workloads, and resolve resource conflicts across projects and programs. By combining schedule data with real-time capacity insights, it ensures the right people are assigned to the right initiatives, reducing bottlenecks, improving utilisation, and supporting informed decision-making.
Establish a Program Management Office
A Program Management Office (PMO) serves as a central hub for standardising processes, aligning projects with organisational goals, and improving communication and resource use. It helps prevent duplication, optimise resources, and support better decision-making. By setting governance and best practices, the PMO ensures consistency, transparency, and reduced risk. Staying aligned with strategy, engaging stakeholders, tracking performance, and capturing lessons learned keep programs on track and maximise their long-term value.
Measure Program performance
Measuring program performance means tracking progress against clear metrics linked to strategic goals. This includes KPIs like benefits achieved, schedule and budget adherence, resource use, and risk status, often monitored through dashboards or tools. Regular reporting helps spot issues early, keeps stakeholders informed, and supports continuous improvement. Transparent communication and benchmarking strengthen decisions and increase the chances of meeting program goals.
Difference between managing projects and programs in Altus
In Altus, project management and program management are connected but distinct. At the project level, Altus supports scheduling, risk registers, and task tracking through Microsoft Project, Microsoft Planner, and Microsoft Teams integration. At the program level, Altus elevates this by consolidating related projects into portfolios, providing program dashboards in Power BI, governance workflows in Microsoft Power Automate, and seamless collaboration through Microsoft 365. This ensures programs are not just a collection of projects but strategically aligned initiatives that deliver measurable business benefits.
Start your PMO transformation today
To transform your PMO workflow, start by making sure your team understands the difference between program management vs project management, as this provides the foundation for success. From there, strengthen your approach by using program management software like Altus to centralise information, align teams, and gain early visibility into risks.
Take time to create a detailed program roadmap to clearly see how projects interact and contribute to overall objectives and set up governance with defined roles to ensure accountability. Encourage collaborative leadership so teams feel ownership of both successes and challenges and be mindful when allocating resources to maximise efficiency across projects. Regularly track progress and review KPIs to address issues early, drive continuous improvement, and ensure programs deliver long-term value.
By embedding portfolio management best practices, your PMO can evolve into a truly strategic function that delivers sustainable impact.
