Program and Project Alignment

Program and Project Alignment is a dynamic state in which an organization’s projects and initiatives are structured in a way that they contribute to a program’s overall strategic direction and ultimately, desired business results. As such, programs become more valuable, enhancing the overall competitiveness of an organization. Alignment has to be achieved on all levels – people, processes and resources. When projects are misaligned with their respective programs – and other projects – productivity suffers, confusion ensues, and progress crawls to a halt. With proper alignment, an organization realizes the full potential of its vision, and achieves its strategic and operational performance objectives faster than its competitors.

How We Can Help

In order to ensure your projects add to the competitiveness of your organization and do not waste unnecessary resources, you need strong Project Program Management. Our seasoned consultants, portfolio and project managers are ready to help you become successful by mapping your strategic goals, helping select which portfolios and project meet those goals, and lastly giving you the means to deliver those projects through results oriented and effective program and project alignment.

Specifically, we can help you with:

  • Reviewing your current projects and how they contribute to program objectives
  • Improving your project decision making processes (how do projects get approved? What are the key questions? Do these criteria make sense?)
  • Reviewing your project track-record – the projects you have conducted over the past few years, how results were measured, and how much value they brought
  • Conducting a program-project GAP analysis. What projects do your programs need to achieve their strategic objectives?
  • Providing you with project management strategies – to get the most out of the projects you do undertake
  • Conducting a project resource analysis: do projects consistently have the right resources to succeed? What steps are needed to help them become more productive?

Key Considerations

Questions to Ask

  • What are the types of projects you have conducted over the past 2, 5, 10 years?
  • Did they contribute to your programs strategic goals and objectives? How much? What are the measurement criteria used?
  • How many projects does any one program cover at a given time?
  • Are there always enough resources to ensure that the project succeeds?
  • Are resources spread thin? How does this affect performance for the project; the program; the business?
  • What is our project approval process? Do we rigorously evaluate how a project will meet program strategic goals? Do projects align with one another and work together to meet common objectives?

Thoughts to Consider

  • There is always an abundance of projects that are handicapped by the assignment of limited resources to work on the projects. When resource limitations are violated, the result is project delay, possible termination and a decrease in total project output.
  • By implementing project portfolio management as part of overall strategic project management initiatives, many organizations have improved project success rates by 35%.
  • Proper program-project alignment often boosts employee morale and contribution rate. When project teams understand how their project contributes to the organization’s overall goals and how it fits with other projects, they are more willing to work harder, be more patient, and think outside the box.

There are many benefits of having strong program and project alignment in addition to increased competitiveness and financial performance. Some additional benefits include:

  • Increased program effectiveness including: project strategic alignment, prioritization, business case development, financial and performance tracking – Project results of a higher caliber
  • Less wasted resources through enhanced resource management (allocation, productivity)
  • Improved and consistent alignment and use of project management methodologies (definition, compliance, software, templates and tools)
  • Improved and across the board alignment of project management training, mentoring, audits
  • Enhanced ability to “manage” project managers
  • Decreased confusion among departments
  • Higher project team morale and participation
  • A “well-oiled” machine

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