What is a Program Manager

What is a Program Manager

I was in a meeting with one of my colleagues who codes. As we were talking, I realized this individual had no idea what a PM actually does. I.e. this colleague I’ve worked with for the past 5 years doesn’t actually know why I get paid.

That got me thinking, there may be others are out there wondering the same thing. I might as well write about it if I am spending time explaining it.

First, “PM” is an acronym. In my universe, this often refers to one of the following:

• Project Manager — person that manages project(s). Each individual project has a set scope with a concrete start and finish (and multiple steps in between). I once blogged about various agile methodologies one could use when managing project(s).
• Product Manager — person that manages a product through the entirety of its lifecycle. This can be a physical product, software, or a service. Regardless, it exists to solve a customer need, and can evolve endlessly with multiple projects within a single product lifecycle.
• Program Manager — person that manages an area, or program within an organization. This often means managing multiple related projects in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control not available from managing them individually. This usually implies an operational aspect.

Although the expectations of each is different, the core competencies are similar and I’ve seen many job postings use the…