Program Management Complexity: A Competency Model

Although complexity is a phenomenon that confounds and challenges program managers across industry sectors, there is little information available that identifies the set of competencies managers need to complete their program successfully and deliver the benefits desired by stakeholders. Program Management Complexity: A Competency Model fills this void.

Written by two of the first professionals to obtain the Program Management Professional (PgMP) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI), this book begins with a literature review of program and project management complexity. Next, it presents a competency model, based on the authors’ seven decades of collective experience in the field, which follows the framework of PMI's model for project managers. Useful for corporate and government organizations, universities, executives, PMO directors and human resources professionals who need to determine program management training needs, this unique model is divided into performance competencies and personal competencies.

The performance competencies are organized according to the six domains of program management, while the eight personal competencies are based on research plus a survey of PgMPs worldwide. After presenting the model, along with detailed plans and guidelines for its implementation in a real-world setting, the book presents three questionnaires designed to help organizations, existing program managers, and aspiring program managers assess their own development plans.

Supplying you with the insight to recognize the elements of complexity during the defining and initiating stages, this book includes detailed guidelines to help you recruit, train, and develop program managers capable of delivering stated program benefits, services, and results.

About the Authors

Dr. Ginger Levin is a senior consultant and educator in project management. Her specialty areas are portfolio management, program management, the Project Management Office, knowledge management, metrics, and maturity assessments. She is certified as a PMP, PgMP, and as an OPM3 Assessor and Consultant. She was the second person in the world to receive the PgMP. In addition, Dr. Levin is an Adjunct Professor for the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where she teaches in its M.S. in Project Management Program and for SKEMA (Esc Lille) University, France, in its project management program at the master’s and doctoral level. Also, she is a Visiting Professor for RMIT in Melbourne, Australia.

In consulting, she has served as Project Manager in numerous efforts for Fortune 500 and public-sector clients, including UPS, Citibank, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, General Electric, SAP, EADS, John Deere, Schreiber Foods, TRW, the New York City Transit Authority, the U.S. Joint Forces Command, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Prior to her work in consulting, she held positions of increasing responsibility with the U.S. Government, including the Federal Aviation Administration, Office of Personnel Management, and the General Accounting Office.

She is the co-author of Implementing Program Management: Forms and Templates Aligned with the Standard for Program Management, Second Edition (2008); Project Portfolio Management: Tools & Techniques; Metrics for Project Management; Achieving Project Management Success Using Virtual Teams; The Advanced Project Management Office: A Comprehensive Look at Function and Implementation; People Skills for Project Managers; Essential People Skills for Project Managers; The Business Development Capability Maturity Model; and ESI’s PMP Challenge! PMP Study Guide and the PgMP Study Guide (along with J. LeRoy Ward). Her book entitled Interpersonal Skills for Portfolio, Program, and Project Managers also was published in 2010.

Dr. Levin received her doctorate in Information Systems Technology and Public Administration from The George Washington University, and received the Outstanding Dissertation Award for her research on large organizations. She also was inducted into Phi Alpha Alpha, the National Honorary Society for Public Affairs and Administration.

J. LeRoy Ward, Executive Vice President, is responsible for ESI’s worldwide product offerings and international partnerships. Complementing a 17-year career with four U.S. federal agencies, Ward has delivered project management programs to clients around the world.A noted author and speaker, Ward has served on the adjunct faculties of The George Washington University and The American University, presenting courses in remote sensing, cartography, computer systems management, and information systems. He has authored numerous articles and publications, including the Dictionary of Project Management Terms (3rd ed.); the PMP Exam Practice Test and Study Guide, PMP Challenge!, and the PgMP Exam Practice Test and Study Guide (with Ginger Levin); a set of audio CDs entitled Conversations on Passing the PMP Exam (with Carl Pritchard); and, ProjectFRAMEWORK, a Project Management Maturity Model (with multiple authors).

His articles have appeared in PMNetwork, Chief Learning Officer, and Project Manager Today (U.K.). A popular and dynamic presenter, he speaks frequently on project management and related topics at professional association meetings and conferences around the world. Ward holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Southern Connecticut State University in geography and an MSTM degree, with distinction, in Computer Systems Management from The American University, where he was inducted into Phi Alpha Alpha, the National Honorary Society for Public Affairs and Administration. He is an alumnus of the General Services Administration’s Trail Boss Program (for major systems acquisitions) and the Federal Executive Institute.

Ward is a member of several technical societies, including the American Society of Training and Development, the International Project Management Association, and the Project Management Institute where he is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP - Number 431) and a Program Management Professional (PgMP), one of the first to earn the credential.