Designing a Formal IT Program Management Career Path

For me, probably the most interesting point in the 25 Point Plan to Reform Federal IT is the one dealing with creating a Program Management career path. In fact, that is what my job is supposed to be, but I am listed as a Project Manager because what I actually do isn't yet a real position.

I've written in the past about how there is an apparent distinction between the Project Manager and the Business Analyst roles (PM vs. BA). My point back then was that the most effective PMs do not recognize this distinction and in fact are BAs at heart.

I've also written about the different responsibilities between the Project Manager and the Contract Officer Representative (PM vs. COR). On this issue both the PMI and acquisition side both want to make these duties different and carve out nice and neat roles.

The truth is that you can be a good Project Manager without performing the BA functions. Similarly you can be a good PM without performing the COR functions. However a good Program Manager will not be able to avoid the bleed in functions on either of these fronts. As such, I think the first three areas in which the Program Management career path must focus are in Project Management, Business Analysis and Acquisition.

The first pillar in the Program Management career path should be rooted in the business. IT exists to support the mission or the organization. It is easy to tell from my description of the friction between the BA and PM positions what I'm going to advocate for on this issue. A Program Manager who doesn't understand the business is doomed to fail.

Second on these, Project Management, I believe that the Project Management Professional certification is important because it allows the Program Manager to baseline the language that he or she uses when communicating about the portfolio. When we talk about schedule, scope, risk, cost, quality and satisfaction (the anti-triple constraint), we all understand what the other people are intending. But don't for 1 second believe that I am praying at the PMI alter. I don't believe that receiving a PMP credential makes any person a good Project Manager. It only baselines the language that we use so that we can more effectively communicate with each other. Although I don't have the credential, I do not thing that the Program Management Professional (PgMP) is necessary. If there is commonality in how we communicate at the Project Management level, I just don't think that we are going to achieve that much more at the Program Management level.

Lastly, as the core set of competencies, I believe a firm knowledge in acquisition is critical. Acquisition plays off of both the business and Project Management capabilities in that you must deliver value to your stakeholders and you have to know how to build a schedule and deliver within a budget. But specifically to the acquisition series, you must know how to structure the work in a way that can get the best competition and support the mission without breaking the budget. This would be consistent with the FAC P/PM levels. Perhaps the Level I, II and III there equate to grade levels with increasing degrees of responsibility.

So, for my money, the three core elements in a Program Management series include:

• Business Analysis
• Project Management
• Acquisition