Program Manager vs. Project Manager


Program manager and project manager roles are a bit similar because these jobs share similar responsibilities, but there is some key difference between them. First, we need to discuss the basic definition of projects and programs so that we can clarify your mind about these two aspects.

**Programs** are formed from several underlying and interconnected projects—these projects accompany and build one another for achieving a more substantial, long-term objective of the business objective. An appropriate program makes strategic advantages and organizational extension, instead of a single, actual deliverable.

**Project** is a temporary, one-off undertaking. These projects are bounded with cost, budget, time constraints, and resources. Projects have definite end dates as well as short-term goals that give way to tangible outcomes or deliverables.

Imagine a company requires turning more chief information officers (CIO) then they may consult with the marketing team for creating the demand generation program for managing CIO conversion and engagement.

**Basic comparison between Program and Project**

<table>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Factors</strong>
   </td>
   <td><strong>Program</strong>
   </td>
   <td><strong>Project</strong>
   </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Meaning</strong>
   </td>
   <td>A program indicates the set of projects that links to one another, in a constant manner for attaining the linked benefits.
   </td>
   <td>A project is a temporary activity, which is offered to build a different product or service having certain objectives.
   </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Focus on</strong>
   </td>
   <td>Context
   </td>
   <td>Content
   </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Time horizon</strong>
   </td>
   <td>Long term
   </td>
   <td>Short term
   </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Concerned with</strong>
   </td>
   <td>Benefits received
   </td>
   <td>Specific deliverables, i.e. product or service
   </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Functional units</strong>
   </td>
   <td>Multiple 
   </td>
   <td>Single
   </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Tasks</strong>
   </td>
   <td>Strategic in nature
   </td>
   <td>Technical in nature Output
   </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Produces</strong>
   </td>
   <td>Outcome
   </td>
   <td>Output
   </td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
   <td><strong>Success</strong>
   </td>
   <td>Success is measured through the degree to which program meets out the requirements and benefits, for which it was conducted.
   </td>
   <td>Success can be measured through product quality, timeliness, cost-effectiveness, compliance and degree of customer satisfaction
   </td>
  </tr>
</table>

**Different roles but have the same challenges**

Both Jobs have the same challenges despite having distinct job roles because both project managers and program managers always look for an increment of organizational efficiency. They face many same challenges and profit through similar techniques or tools such as program management and [project management software](https://orgzit.com/project-management/), so let’s discuss a brief comparison of project manager and program manager.

**Objective**

1. Program managers imagine widely, and they initiate the schedule as well as the budget for a program. They are liable for the completion of all projects in a specific program. Program managers have an aim to maintain the long-term growth of a business.
2. Project managers are more tactical because they regulate the cross-functional work needed to deliver the Complete Product Experience on a particular schedule with the budget. Project managers have their aim to help the delivery of the project on a restricted start and end date.

**Guidelines**

1. Program managers create a program guideline for representing the intended work over the complete program. They can join the program or specific projects to a company plan and visualize dependencies among projects in a program.
2. Project managers create a project guideline for representing the specifications of future work and a process chart for achieving it. They can identify any issue, control cross-functional dependencies, and visualize progress.

**Responsible Areas**

1. Program managers are liable to deliver on company aims. They focus on internal and external, and represent the best methods, streamline processes over the organization. They typically work as the customer interface if a customer requires for negotiating a settlement or changes the range of work. They understand the strategic direction so that they can work for making decisions that influence customers.
2. Project managers are responsible for addressing their project on time, and they do a complete resource planning for defining the scope, set the budget, and schedule the work for the project. They mainly focus on internal, and they are experts at supporting teammates to stay on the schedule so that projects can be done on time.

**Metrics**

1. Program managers measure Return on Investment (ROI) for a complete program, and they also follow budgets, resource utilization, issues, schedules,  risks and risk reduction plans,  and delivery to the program. At sophisticated organizations, program managers can also track earned profit.
2. Project managers measure Return on Investment (ROI) for their project, and they also follow the budget, resource utilization, risks, schedule and issues for a project they are managing.

**Dashboards:**

 A transparent view of task statuses and progression is essential when success relays on multiple people as well as moving parts.  Project and program managers must have a dashboard for showing them specific workings. This dashboard will give both an overall view and the capability to maintain necessary factors.

**Flexible Work Views**

As we know, everyone does not work in the same way. Program and project managers’ jobs are much more comfortable when they don’t force their working styles on others. It’s essential for them to be able to view a single program or project from various angles, think Kanban boards, lists, tables, and timelines. 

**Templates**

Various programs consist of similar projects. For example, every marketing project may have an ad campaign instead of reinventing the wheel, program and project managers must templatize their work. It minimizes the requirement of starting new initiatives through scratch and supports duplicate past success.

**Conclusion:**

In this article, we have discussed a brief difference between **the Program Manager and Project Manager**. As we have discussed, Program manager and project manager roles are a bit similar because these jobs share the same responsibilities, but there is some key difference between them. So this information can be helpful for you to understand the difference between these two jobs