Programme overview
Introduction:
Many organisations group related projects under one banner but still run them as separate efforts, so shared resources clash, dependencies surface late and the operational change that produces benefits is never planned. This Core Concept course builds Programme Management practice for those who lead a programme from mandate to closure: shaping the vision and blueprint, structuring governance and tranches, controlling interdependencies and escalations across component projects, and managing transition into business operations. Participants work through multi-sector cases and produce a Programme Delivery Plan and Tranche Transition Pack for a programme of their own.
Course Objectives:
- Shape a programme mandate and brief into a vision statement and a blueprint of the target operating model
- Structure programme organisation and governance, defining the duties of the senior responsible owner, programme manager, business change managers and programme board
- Plan tranches and an integrated programme plan that sequence component projects towards defined outcomes and benefits
- Control interdependencies, shared resources and risk and issue escalation across component projects
- Lead the transition of new capabilities into business operations, tranche-end reviews and programme closure
- Produce a Programme Delivery Plan and Tranche Transition Pack for a programme in their own organisation
Target Audience:
- Managers directing a group of related projects towards shared strategic outcomes
- Senior owners accountable to executives for programme results and funding
- Business change managers responsible for embedding new capabilities in operations
- Programme office managers supporting planning, reporting and board decisions across projects
- Senior project managers whose projects form part of a wider programme
- Transformation managers turning approved strategy into delivery programmes
Course Outline:
Day 1: Programme Foundations and the Programme Mandate
- Programme Versus Project Characteristics: Outcomes, Ambiguity and Duration
- Programme Drivers: Strategy Change, Service Redesign and Mandatory Change
- Programme Mandate and Programme Brief Content
- Component Project Inventory and Current-State Delivery Assessment
- Sponsor Readiness Checklist for Launching a Programme
Day 2: Programme Standards and Reference Frameworks
- Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) 5th Edition Principles and Themes in Practice
- The Standard for Program Management Fifth Edition: Program Performance Domains
- ISO 21503:2022 Guidance Applied to a Live Programme
- Programme Lifecycle Stages Compared Across the Three References
- Programme Approach Tailoring Matrix by Scale and Complexity
Day 3: Vision, Blueprint, Organisation and Tranche Planning
- Programme Vision Statement and Target Operating Model Blueprint
- Programme Benefits Map and Benefit Profiles for Component Outputs
- Programme Organisation Chart: Senior Responsible Owner, Programme Manager and Business Change Managers
- Programme Board Terms of Reference and Decision Rights
- Tranche Design and the Integrated Programme Plan
Day 4: Interdependencies, Escalation and Transition Risk
- Cross-Project Interdependency Register and Dependency Owners
- Shared Resource Scheduling and Cross-Project Conflict Resolution
- Programme Risk and Issue Escalation Thresholds and Tolerances
- Programme Stakeholder Map and Communications Plan for Business Change
- Transition Plan: Business Readiness Assessment, Handover and Embedding
Day 5: Case Work and the Programme Delivery Plan
- Public Service Digitisation Programme Case: Replanning a Delayed Tranche
- Utility Network Upgrade Programme Case: Resolving Shared Resource Conflicts
- Tranche-End Review Exercise and Programme Closure Report Drafting
- Programme Delivery Plan and Tranche Transition Pack Assembly
- Peer Programme Board Challenge Session
Skills You Will Gain:
- Programme Blueprint Design
- Programme Organisation Design
- Integrated Programme Planning
- Interdependency Control
- Escalation Threshold Setting
- Business Transition Management
- Programme Closure Management
Why Attend This Course:
- Return with a Programme Delivery Plan and Tranche Transition Pack for a live programme, challenged at a peer programme board
- Replace late surprises between component projects with a working interdependency register and agreed escalation thresholds
- Hand new capabilities to operations with business readiness assessed before go-live rather than after it
- Compare programme practice with managers leading public service, utility, health and technology programmes
Conclusion:
A programme succeeds when its component projects, shared resources and operational changes are directed as one effort towards stated outcomes. This course moves from the programme mandate and the principal programme standards, through vision, blueprint, organisation and tranche planning, to interdependency control, escalation and transition into operations. The final day applies the sequence to multi-sector cases and to each participant's own programme, producing a Programme Delivery Plan and Tranche Transition Pack that sets out how the next tranche will be planned, governed, handed over and closed.