Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah! Post number four of five that I’m writing about the job discipline: Software Program Management (PM). For some back story, read my first post “Program Management Monday: What & Who.” Note: these posts are also relevant to other “PMs”: Software Project Managers and Web/Interactive Producers.

I’m sort of hoping that if you read my previous three posts that the answer is staring you right in the face. If not, then I have seriously failed in my quest to shed some light on this not-often-talked-about job discipline.

Here are some reasons that I think a Program Manager can be necessary versus a “nice to have” in your organization or for your project:

* We live in a world of multi-tasking. Right now I have my Tweetdeck open with multiple Twitter streams for 4 accounts and 6 search terms. My IM is shooting messages at me, my phone is lighting up with text messages, my IRC back channel is on fire, and someone is ringing me on Skype. On top of that I have 50 emails to read and a meeting to rush off to. Imagine that you have developers with all those same distractions and you have a deadline looming. You have some burning questions about the user flow, if the community has been notified of that big blocking bug you found and if that third party developer has released their API yet. Do you *really* want to go bug your developer with those questions? Doesn’t it make sense to go to someone that is informed of all aspects of the product and thrives on being interrupted? Enter, Program Manager.

From IT Today:

Program managers are people who are expecting and embracing change and managing change to improve the overall direction of their programs. Their success is measured in terms of the benefits the program delivers both at the time the program is complete and later into the future. Program managers are people with a sense of vision and innovation and transformation are desired results.

* Do you want to work on business deals and moving your product forward or do you want to worry about bug scrubbing and checking if everyone is on schedule. Oh and by the way that feature you wanted makes no sense the way you described it. Oh really, not into it? Enter, Program Manager.

* Here are a few reasons from the Program Management Academy:

Program management can be viewed as the organizational “glue” that translates strategic business objectives into actionable plans and then manages the tactics to achieve the desired business results.

A skilled and competent program manager is the primary business manager on a program, and is responsible for focusing on, and ensuring the return on investment for his or her program is met.

* Some more from Max’s Project Management Wisdom:

Smooth transition from current to future business operations through the clear recognition and responsibility for preparing the organization for migration to new ways of working

More efficient management of resources by providing a mechanism for project prioritization and project integration.

* From Daniel Pink’s book Drive – “a program manager understands the larger picture and can point individual contributors in the right direction. The best program managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of each team member, the better to assign each to the most appropriate role.”

At the end of the day you can argue with every single one of my examples. Here’s something for you to noodle on: if you aren’t successfully releasing your products and features on time, your team isn’t communicating, the quality is not what you would like it to be, and you just feel like things are not jiving, consider a program manager.

Stay tuned for the final post of five: How to be a Program Manager.

-Tara

* Monday: What do Program Manager do and Who can be one
* Tuesday: When do Program Managers make an impact
* Wednesday: Where do Program Managers work
* Thursday: Why companies need Program Managers
* Friday: How you can become a Program Manager