Program Manager vs. Project Manager

4 min readMay 22, 2024

There is a distinct difference between program and project managers that requires clarification to understand each role and its unique responsibilities to a company’s broader strategy. Essentially, program managers are focused on the macro needs of an organization while project managers are responsible for the micro needs.

This article will equip business leaders with a clear understanding of the two roles and how each role contributes to the success of an organization.

What Is a Program Manager?
A program management oversees a group of individual projects with multiple deliverables that work in conjunction to hit macro-level business initiatives. They are highly strategic, and the role requires a deep understanding of an organization’s big picture and how all the intricate details work together.

While program managers are experts in project and team management, they must be able to navigate the leadership landscape in various departments to bring multiple project plans to life successfully. Strong change management skills are vital to successful cross-company navigation. Their experience should afford them the ability to review project plans and instinctively know how to forecast potential speed bumps and interdependencies as well as make pivot decisions to keep metric alignment intact within the various departments of the organization.

Primary duties of program managers:

Deeply understanding an organization’s objectives
Managing a series of complex projects through the lens of executive-level strategy
Ensuring project outcomes meet and exceed company quality standards
Actively participate in ensuring a company can continue to meet its long-term objectives

Key Goals of Program Managers
Ensure each project within a broader program is appropriately managed to meet macro-level timelines using project management frameworks and philosophies such as Agile or Scrum
Ensure project management teams are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to meet their given deadlines and objectives to align with the macro needs of the group of projects within a specific program
Create an empowering environment for team members to collaborate within a defined scope of work creatively
Develop teams capable of managing complex projects under pressure within defined budgets and time constraints

What Is a Project Manager?
On the other hand, project manager roles are tactical team members supporting the micro-level details and activities needed to bring project plans across the finish line. Responsibilities include subject matter expertise that helps the three project fundamentals of planning, execution and quality control.

Project managers navigate the project lifecycle, ensuring that each phase is executed in the correct order and maintain alignment with short-term and long-term project objectives. Project completion is deemed successful when planning properly identifies interdependencies and those dependencies work within the predefined budget, ultimately meeting the quality standards of the organization before deployment.

Key Goals of Project Managers
At the highest level, project managers ensure company projects are completed on time, within budget and within predetermined quality standards. They have various day-to-day goals.

Ensuring processes are in place and align with overarching business objectives
Ensuring tactics are prioritized based on keeping projects moving within strategic guardrails
Converting projects from plans to reality with effective communication to stakeholders
Developing teams that can stay focused on tactics while understanding the overarching strategy
What Are the Differences Between Program Managers and Project Managers?
While complementary roles, program and project managers operate at different levels with distinct duties, each supporting a company’s ability to meet their objectives. Strong collaboration and consistent communication between program and project managers empower teams to pursue the activity required for efficient project execution seamlessly.

Below is a look at some key differences between the two roles from a 30,000-foot view.

Strategic vs. Tactical Focus

Program managers are strategic, and project managers are tactical. However, both hold the responsibility to navigate between the lines as a primary skill to keep things moving efficiently. Executing tactics is a prerequisite for implementing strategy, which is why project managers are often promoted to program managers.

Multiple Projects vs. Single Project

Program managers oversee multiple projects while project managers are responsible for single projects. As a business leader, it’s important to understand your strengths regarding project management and assess your experience level to determine if you’re ready to take on and successfully deliver multiple projects to completion.

Abstract vs. Concrete Deliverables

Strategically focused program managers are more likely to have abstract deliverables as part of their KPIs compared to project managers. Abstract deliverables are often results of a well-executed concrete deliverable from a specific project.

For example, a project manager oversees a data implementation project designed to empower sales team members to have more focus on closing deals. The project outcome of simplified data processing directly improves the morale and performance of the sales team which in turn, supports the abstract deliverable at the program manager level.

Stakeholder Communication vs. Team Communication

Stakeholder communication primarily lives with the program manager and team communication lives directly with the project manager. The nature of each type of communication has some differences.

Stakeholder communication is concise and consistent in format and frequency to allow project stakeholders to capture relevant information that empowers them to continue making strategic decisions.

Team communication has more fluidity to allow for course corrections with any type of project. Project managers are versed in navigating changes, keeping their teams up to speed and remaining focused on priorities while simultaneously fostering an environment rich in problem-solving and knowledge sharing.

The dichotomy between the two types of communication is that every project has its own set of teams and stakeholders that both project managers and program managers have to navigate. As project managers become more experienced in their role, they ultimately gain the skills to better navigate larger, more complex opportunities in an organization. Seasoned program managers will help develop the project managers on their teams to understand how to differentiate the types of communication.

Originally published at http://programmanagementprofessional.home.blog on May 22, 2024.