Ferguson - MSP for dummies

MSP For Dummies

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, www.wiley.com

This edition first published 2014

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Chapter 1

In This Chapter

Thinking about the differences between projects and programmes

Discovering the key programme management terms

Uncovering the structure of MSP

The term programme can have lots of different meanings in business and within organizations. Perhaps you think of a programme as a schedule in the heart of a project. Be careful if that's what your colleagues think they may consider Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) a scheduling tool! Or it can mean a set of projects, which is fine because you can use parts of MSP successfully to look after such a set. Let's call that multi-project management.

In this chapter, I explore the nature of programme management. I look at projects and programmes, building on the idea of a project to introduce the concept of a programme. I also share with you a few terms used frequently in programme management, to help you develop that all-important common vocabulary, and I have a quick look at the programme management structure as it's used in MSP.

If you already have a fair amount of programme experience and are reading MSP For Dummies to discover additional details of good practice in managing transformational change programmes, by all means skim rapidly through this chapter.

But more than likely you're newly arrived at the programme management station and want to orientate yourself. Well if any of the following applies to you, you're in the right place:

• Your project is getting a little complicated and someone at work mentions programme management (perhaps at the coffee machine while you're waiting for a so-called espresso that in fact looks more like washing-up water when it's dispensed).
• You're looking after a number of projects and really want to tie them together a little more tightly (as much as you really want a caffeine boost right now).
• You know that your business has to change and your gut feeling is that putting a few people to one side to deliver a technical solution from a project isn't going to suffice (just like that machine-produced cup of joe won't do).

Whatever your level of programme management experience, no doubt you already have some ideas on the following:

• What a project is
• What a programme is
• What the difference is between a project and a programme

As you read through this book, I share some new ideas with you, and so I want you to be clear in your own mind about genuinely new ideas or ones you have some previous experience of.

Start by folding a piece of paper in half. Label one half project and the other half programme. Then write down a characteristic of a project and the equivalent characteristic of a programme. Repeat this exercise until you've identified six to twelve sets of characteristics.

Take your time with this important exercise; perhaps leave the list on your bedside table.I bet you wake up in the middle of the night (especially if you read the list before trying to sleep) and think of another pair of characteristics.

Whatever you write on your comparison list is fine; this is your starting point, so there are no wrong answers.