Program Management

A collaborative approach to designing an outcome with high-performance delivery,  maximum value-add, and minimal maintenance.

1.       Pick a Great Team.  Select a team that is well rounded and represents mixed backgrounds, stakeholders, and perspectives.  Clarify how you’d like them to add the most value to the program in a role that leverages their personal strengths. 

2.       Build a Program Outline Document.  Draft an outline of critical information that should be included in the program. This document will continue to be revised by the group to integrate feedback into one centralized reference source that “lives” on.  It includes purpose, key information, and best practices.  This program document includes:

2.1.    Purpose of Program - why it’s important/needed, approach, and goals

2.2.    Key Information – guidelines, roles, tools, repositories, etc.

2.3.    Best Practices – steps, templates, responsible individual, reviewer, etc.

3.       Collaborate.  Meet with key stakeholders to brainstorm ideas together.  Engage feedback from individuals on aspects they specialize in.  Continue to integrate this feedback into the program document.

4.       Create an Action Plan.  Draft a 30/60/90-day action plan that includes the following items:

4.1.    Research innovative ideas around this topic for inspiration on elevating the design of the program.  

4.2.    Review prior versions of best practices or documents that have already been created.  Clean them up and integrate them in. 

4.3.    Create/edit templates that streamline the data-gathering process, provide visibility, and enforce key checks and balances.

4.4.    Refine workflows to simplify handoffs and improve quality of output. 

4.5.    Create reports that provide a high level of clarity in a format that is easy to consume with the ability to drill into detail, distribute to all stakeholders, and continue to improve.

4.6.    Assign ongoing ownership of the program with agreed upon metrics. 

4.7.   Cross-train each step of the process so at least two people can cover it, but there is one clear responsible person as priority. Update the program document to include training.  

5.       Prioritize Progress.  Carve out dedicated timeboxes to advance the program.  Setup recurring meeting points to check in on progress against the plan, align on growth opportunities, and brainstorm on how to address challenges that arise. 

6.       Review.  Re-evaluate at 90 days to confirm the progress on initial goals and evaluate adjustments to improve the overall value of the program delivery.