Imagine this scenario. You have a series of aggressive goals that can be met if a couple of large projects and several smaller ones are successfully delivered while increasing your operational productivity with a smaller work force.

Although it will not be easy, you still feel confident. The correct projects were selected from the lengthy lists of suggestions and decisions were reached after considering proposed benefits, economies of scale, risk, resource needs, and interdependencies. Two were planned to go live at the same time to maximize benefits and reduce the number of times jobs change in key functions. You have a pulse on how each project is progressing with a good warning system regarding upcoming problems - allowing for timely corrective action. Each project has a sponsor and competent leader/team.

Operationally you have useful metrics that tell you how activities are lining up to the productivity expectations. As projects are implemented the resulting benefits are measured and reported. Lessons learned are shared to help the environment continue to improve.

If this is not the level of execution/ communication you are experiencing and you need to bring about substantial change, let’s look into program and project management. Program management is responsible for doing the right projects for benefit maximization. Project management is responsible for doing the projects right – on scope, on schedule, on budget. It is an art as well as a science and requires a common sense approach to balancing rigor and flexibility, based on many factors including the industry, company size, risk of the change and speed of the change.