PMI-PgMP Tutorial

The Program Management Professional (PgMP)® credential from Project Management Institute (PMI)® is the next step after Project Management Professional (PMP)® Certification, and addresses the community of professionals who are responsible for the coordinated management of multiple projects that are in alignment with organizational objectives. They are required to direct and manage complex activities that may span functions, organizations, cultures and geographies.

Our comprehensive workshop covers the Project Management process from beginning to end, honing your skills in the six prime focus areas: Governance, Prioritization, Escalation, Resource Management, Benefits Realization, and Stakeholder Management. As a PgMP® credential holder, you will be able to promote better integration and coordination of multiple projects for the overall benefit of the program.

What are PMI-PgMP® and PMI

PMI-PgMP® stands for Program Management Professional. It is the name of the certificate awarded to those who pass all the evaluation stages of the PgMP.

As is evident from the name, this tutorial is for those who are interested in program management as a career.

PgMP qualification on a resume would be very helpful to move up the career ladder, and take up senior and executive level positions within organizations, while working on strategic programs. PgMP is not restricted to a specific domain.

A program manager working in any industry, be it Manufacturing, Retail, Defense, or Information Technology, can apply to become a PgMP.

Now let us look at PMI.

PMI stands for Project Management Institute. It is a non-profit organization that conducts the PgMP Examination.

PMI is based in the USA and has local chapters across the globe. So, if you are based in Singapore, you can look for a PMI chapter in Singapore. Such local chapters conduct regular knowledge sharing and networking sessions for people who are interested in project management.

What is a Project?

Before discussing programs, let us recall what a project is. This is important because the project is the building block for a program as well as a portfolio, and indeed any organizational task that results in a change in the status quo.

PMI defines a project as a “temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.” Based on this definition, we can make out that a project has two key characteristics.

Firstly, it’s temporary in nature. Please note that temporarily does not mean short in duration.

A project can go on for several years.

For example, creating a new “Indigenous Missile Defense System” for a country can be a project that can span several years. However, there is always a definitely planned start and end date for a project. It cannot go on indefinitely.

Secondly, the project is supposed to produce a unique output. The output could be a product, service, or a result. There can be many common activities between two projects, but the outcome of each project should be unique in some way or the other.

What Is Project Management Framework?

A project management framework consists of the processes, tasks, and tools used to take a project from start to finish. It encompasses all the key components required for planning, managing, and governing projects.

The project management framework can be broken into three parts:

Project lifecycle: This is the cycle a project goes through from beginning to end.

It consists of five phases:

1. 1. Initiation
2. 2. Planning
3. 3. Execution
4. 4. Monitoring & controlling
5. 5. Closure

Project control cycle: The control cycle is the process of monitoring and controlling the project.

Tools and templates: Project plans, project management reports, and risk logs are common tools and templates used for managing projects.

6 project management frameworks

There are many project management frameworks you can choose to use.

Here are 6 of the most common ones:

1. 1. PRINCE2: This framework is highly structured with a heavy emphasis on upfront planning.
2. 2. CCPM (critical chain project management): Critical chain focuses primarily on resource allocation across the project.
3. 3. Lean: A lean framework focuses on minimizing wasted effort and resources. Process improvement techniques are often incorporated into this framework.
4. 4. XPM (extreme project management): XPM was designed for complex projects that occur in fast-changing environments. Emphasis is on stakeholder management as plans and schedules are rapidly changing.
5. 5. Scrum: This framework was also designed for industries undergoing rapid change. Using this framework, projects are often broken down and planned in 2-4 week sprints.
6. 6. Waterfall: This framework is one of the traditional approaches to project management. Waterfall requires a project to be planned beginning to end, with no phase of a project beginning until the previous one has ended.

How to choose a project management framework

One single framework does not work for all projects, which is why so many of them have been created over the years. When deciding which framework is best for your project, consider the following:

• If your industry, technology, or product is fast-changing, an adaptable framework such as XPM or scrum is recommended.
• If the project deliverable is not well defined and is intangible in nature (such as software), a sprint approach (such as scrum) may work best.
• If the project is well-defined and stable, planning it out in its entirety decreases risks. Therefore, PRINCE2 or waterfall should work best.
• Frameworks may be chosen based on what your organization and stakeholders are familiar with. If your company has never completed an XPM project before, introducing one may be difficult.
• The priorities of your stakeholders will impact your framework. If waste is a critical concern, a lean framework may be chosen.
• Frameworks are designed to be flexible and adapt to the needs of a project. It may be that you will end up borrowing pieces of separate frameworks as the circumstances of your project change.

Project Management has several knowledge areas. The project management processes are a part of those project management knowledge areas. All of these project management processes belong to five major project management process groups. These project management process groups are called initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing.

What are the project management process groups? What is the purpose of each project management process group? What are the relations between these process groups? How are these project management process groups related to each other? Are the process groups the same in all types of projects?

We are going to review the five Project Management Process Groups during this article. These are part of project management knowledge. If you desire to get more information about project management visit our CAPM® course page and enroll for this self-paced, high-quality online training.

What are the Project Management Process Groups?

We can state five project management process groups which are the phases of the project life cycle.

These process groups are:

• Initiating phase triggers the planning process group. After preparing the required documents and steps for initiating the project the next process group begins.
• Planning phase triggers the execution process group. The project must have a proper planning in order to start the execution phase.
• Execution is the phase where the most of the project work is delivered.
• Monitoring and controlling is the only project management process group that interacts with all other four. In this phase, the project team checks whether everything is going as planned.
• Closing helps to close the project after all objectives are met.

Note that the project life cycle can change from project to project. It may also change depending on the industry. Even if the life cycle changes, the project management process groups are always the same.

Interrelationship Between the Project Management Process Groups

This figure shows the interrelationship of project management process groups with each other. As you see, initiating a process group triggers the planning process group. So when the documents and the steps are ready to initiate a project, the planning phase starts.

Then, the planning process group triggers the execution process group. After proper planning of the project, the execution phase starts. This is the phase where the most of the project work is delivered.

Monitoring & Controlling process group is the only process group that interacts with all other four project management process groups. Because this process group checks whether the project is going as planned and whether everything is going smoothly.

The last project management process group is the closing phase. The closing process group helps to complete and close the project after all objectives of the project are met. Or another possibility is that the project may have been terminated in the middle.

Note that project management processes are documented and controlled by the help of project management templates. You can see sample free project management templates to have an idea of how they work.

The Difference Between the Project Management Process Groups Between Small and Large Projects

The processes under all these project management process groups should be initiated and executed in each project. But they are not initiated or executed in the same way in all types of projects. The size of the project defines how the process groups are

As you notice in the figure above, in a small project, all of these phases can be planned as one whole project. Because these phases are not really complex and they don’t require complicated steps to take.

On the other hand, as you see in the second figure if the project is a large one this should also mean that if each one of its phases is big enough to be considered as a separate project. Then, these project management process groups are initiated and executed separately. In other words, during each phase of a large project, there is a small project going on with its own project management process groups.

One should have knowledge in areas

• Integration management
• Scope management
• Time management
• Cost management
• Quality management
• Human resource management
• Communication management
• Risk management
• Procurement management
• Stakeholder management

The Project Management Institute (PMI®) gives a professional credential for program managers, identified as the Program Management Professional (PgMP). The PgMP exam is a lively part of the activities driving to obtaining a professional credential, thus it is important that the PgMP examination reflects exactly the practices of the program management professional. The Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification acknowledges advanced experience, skill, and achievement in the overlooking of multiple, related projects, and their sources followed with an organizational objective.

Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification possessors supervise the progress of a program — a way to group multiple, associated projects to obtain benefits that may not be received if the projects were managed in a stand-alone fashion. As project managers progress in their careers, the knowledge they gain in managing multiple, related projects and making decisions that advance strategic and business objectives shows this competence. 

PgMP credential holders can be confident that their professional credential has been developed according to best practices of test development and based upon input from the practitioners who establish those standards.

Who Should Apply?

If you have the proven ability to manage multiple, related projects and navigate complex activities that span functions, organizations, regions, or cultures and to align results with organizational goals, then you’re a potential PgMP.

Learning Objectives

The candidates should know the objectives for the Program Management Professional (PgMP) in order to prepare for it. The candidate can download the exam guide from the official website of PMI. The objectives for PgMP are:

1. 1. Strategic Program Management
2. 2. Program Life Cycle 
3. 3. Benefits Management 
4. 4. Stakeholder Management 
5. 5. Governance 

Learning Path

PMI allows a complete certification program for practitioners with many various levels of education and experience. There are currently eight certifications that are developed and maintained through a vigorous process.

Program Benefits Management – Knowledge and Skills

The following are the knowledge areas and skills required for program benefits management:

• Benefits optimization to ensure strategies are employed to deliver maximum benefits
• Business value measurement to be able to quantify and articulate the business benefits delivered
• Decision tree analysis to be able to make decisions that maximize the benefits and reduce the threats to benefits realization
• Maintenance and sustainment of program benefits post-delivery
• Performance and quality metrics to be able to quantify the factors that contribute to the benefits
• Program transition strategies to be able to smoothly transition to the recipient organizations.