Essential Program Manager Skills for Effective Leadership

What is a Program Manager?

Program managers are professionals who direct the path of the program or project towards completion with efficiency and in-time. They exhibit effective communication, leadership, organizational and strategic characteristics, and program manager technical skills that are essential to function in the shoes of the mentioned role-holder. The program managers are universal to every industry, from government to private and healthcare to mining. Functioning in the role, the program manager coordinates multiple projects at a time, referred to as a program, and communicates with stakeholders while leading the team towards results.

Did You Know? 🔍

The median pay for US-based project management specialists is $94,500 per year.

What Does a Program Manager Do?

Tasked with handling complex projects, the program manager ensures that the goals and objectives of programs align with those of the company. They offer strategic insights and workflow for different types of programs, including—but not limited to—new branch openings, product launches, novel process implementations, and other such tasks. Hence, the program manager needs to practice a broad viewpoint to ensure the proper functionality of each project.

The roles and responsibilities of project manager include:

• Regular program management and governance
• Perform team supervision
• Planning the flow of the program and expected progress with a timeline
• Handle program budget and resources efficiently
• Manage program documentation
• With thorough analysis, possible risks can be determined, and appropriate, timely measures can be taken to prevent and mitigate them
• Communicate with stakeholders about future possibilities, new inclusions, progress, and challenges

Program vs. Project Management: What's the Difference?

Program management involves managing projects specific to the organization’s goals and objectives. Program managers handle the projects' interdependence, ensure optimal resource capacity and availability utilization and develop effective strategies for perfect results. Program management also involves strategic planning, interaction with stakeholders, and handling the challenges of different projects and associated tasks.

Project management refers to the progress of specific projects that contribute to the gradual progress of the program. It is handled by project managers who pave the path to project initiation, progression and completion. Project management involves risk management, resource allocation, progress tracking, and other tasks essential for success.

Also Read: Program Manager vs. Project Manager 🎯

Skills Needed for Program Managers

The skills required for the program manager role are:

1. Risk management

Identification, assessment, and strategic planning to deal with risk are key program manager skills expected from the potential candidate. With their ability to recognize the potential risks and issues that can hamper productivity and progress later, this skill can ensure timely mitigation.

2. Leadership

Working on various projects and dealing with different project managers requires leadership quality to complete tasks accurately, efficiently and timely. Leaders must exhibit empathy, effective communication, cross-functional collaboration and the ability to foster a culture of teamwork.

3. Conflict Resolution

The possibility of conflict is certain due to the handling of multiple leaders, as listed above. Listening, understanding, and making the right judgment are crucial to function in the role and settle arguments. It allows the teams to collaborate efficiently while peacefully settling disputes and, if required, opting for the middle way to resolve them.

4. Project Management

Knowledge and experience in dealing with project management tools, technologies, methodologies, and processes are among the most desirable skills among potential candidates. It increases the efficiency of performing tasks and making data-dependent decisions.

Did You Know? 🔍

The project management software market is projected to reach $15.08 billion by 2030.

5. Communication and Collaboration

This program manager skill ensures the ability to work collectively in a team environment. It helps bridge the gap between interdisciplinary teams while widening the scope of efficient functionality and quality delivery of tasks. The skilled candidate must work well with team members, executives and other stakeholders. They must be adaptable and exhibit respect and open-mindedness to demonstrate these skills.

6. Problem-solving

Novel problems are part of every role. Navigating through them without burdening other team members is a skill. Exhibit the approach you used to demonstrate the problem-solving approach.

7. Resource Management

This skill is part of operational efficiency and is something aspiring program managers should learn. The ability to think for the long term and work in an organized manner is necessary to develop this skill. The ability to structure the task and workflow allows effective resource management that contributes to the timely delivery of quality results.

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8. Negotiation

This program manager skill is essential to exhibit during discussions with stakeholders, when requesting budgets or resources, when setting goals, and when conflict resolution is needed. It involves representing one’s demands in a manner that seems logical and worthy of agreement by the listener.

9. Analysis

When dealing with multidisciplinary teams, facing novel challenges, conflicts, and much more, the ability to analyze has solutions to such problems. The analytical skill can be developed by breaking issues and complexities into smaller parts to understand the impact of each part of the problem. The analysis also offers different perspectives on how to work out the situation by providing solutions.

10. Budgeting

The budget is key in dealing with projects, handling resources, and optimizing the overall flow. Developing the ability to oversee the allocation and flow of budgets with future requirements is an essential skill to work as a program manager.

11. Program Lifecycle Monitoring and Reporting

The ability to analyze data and create reports effectively is discussed in this program manager's technical skills. The program manager must do this by analyzing performance metrics, tracking the progress, checking budget and resource allocation, issue resolution and similar activities. The effective presentation contributes to supporting decision-making.

12. Project Coordination and Interdependence

This program manager skill is critical in the program manager role and depends on the presence of communication and collaboration. It focuses on the smooth running of dependencies in the projects and programs within the team and with accuracy. Conflict resolution and leadership skills also contribute to the seamless ability to practice these skills.

13. Strategic Thinking

Setting a well-thought-out plan based on a long-term vision helps complete the programs in alignment with the company’s goals. Strategic thinking allows the analysis of complex situations and their impact on the organization and mindful resolution without negative consequences. It requires critical analysis to develop and execute successful strategies.

14. Quality Assurance

To build this skill, focus on defining the standards for obtained results. Also, effective measures must be taken to monitor the process and regularly perform the checks. The program managers must also ensure that steps for testing and validation are taken on time.

15. Time Management

With the requirement to handle multiple projects simultaneously, time management skills are necessary. The program manager must be able to delegate the work and practically schedule milestones and deadlines correctly. They must know when and how to prioritize tasks and should also recognize and perform adjustments.

16. Change Management

The teams don’t usually welcome changes. Hence, practicing this program manager skill requires efficient leadership capabilities, negotiation, communication and understanding. Strategic thinking and analytical skills ease the tasks.

Program Manager Salary and Job Outlook

On average, a program manager can expect to earn a minimum of INR 12 lakhs per year and a maximum of INR 30 lakhs per year. Thus, the average salary of program managers in India is about INR 21 lakhs annually. The additional salary is also stated to range from INR 2 lakhs to 4 lakhs per year, making it an average of INR 3 lakhs per year.

Considering the job outlook, the Project Management Institute (PMI) projected its report on the job growth of project managers. Owing to the similarity in most prospects, the job growth of 33 % holds for program managers as well. The stated percentage translates to 22 million new jobs expected by 2027. In addition, the report also stated that India and China require 75% of the employees in expected vacancies.

"Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward."— Joy Gumz.

How to Improve Program Manager Skills?

Here are some tips to help improve program manager skills:

• Conduct regular meetings to ensure proper responsibility of each accountable person and identify the weak points hindering the progress
• Ensure the  creation and definition of special and specific guidelines for each program
• Ensure optimal use of resources and budget. Have a long-term viewpoint to identify unnecessary expenditures and cut them down
• Strictly ensure the presence of a Work Breakdown Structure and relevant milestones to focus on
• Develop strategies to avoid the condition of burnout among employees
• Focus on team building by incorporating associated exercises
• Make use of program management tools and software
• Learn and enhance your knowledge by getting familiar with new program management processes and methodologies.

Highlight Your Program Manager Skills

To highlight the presence of skills required for program managers, there are three opportunities that most candidates get. It is done through a resume, cover letter, and interview.

• A resume is concise, so a section on skills can be included. Here, enlist the relevant skills you have gained, demonstrated, or experienced.
• The cover letter offers a detailed opportunity to discuss yourself. Mention your strongest skill and its significance in the role you are applying for. To showcase your experience, you should use qualitative or quantitative indicators.
• During the interview, exhibit your STAR skills, i.e., talk about the Situation, Task, Action and Result. Be concise and precise, and discuss the approaches that helped you overcome challenges.

Companies Hiring Program Manager

There are numerous vacancies for program managers, including those in top MNCs. The list by Glassdoor includes the following well-known names:

• Accenture
• Amazon
• Wipro
• Microsoft
• Tata Consultancy Services
• Cognizant Technology Solutions
• IBM
• Dell Technologies 

Future of Program Managers

The program managers, similar to other job roles, are also expected to benefit from the advent of AI. By eliminating repetitive tasks and getting a concise and effective representation of the data, the professionals will get to focus on their tasks, which will then be time-consuming and inefficient work. Further, assistance from software and tools will assist in gaining insights via predictive analysis, real-time visibility and more data drive information.

The field's future and job roles can be expected to be dynamic and promising. The only thing to focus on for any aspiring candidate is to focus on skill development, gaining certification and real-world experience.

Conclusion

The role of a program manager is inevitable in the current scenario of competitive markets and fast progress in companies. Gaining the right qualifications, experience, and skills is essential to set a firm foot as a professional. The same can be exhibited by gaining certifications that help indicate fulfillment of eligibility criteria and dedication to progress in a career.

By this, Simplilearn brings you the PMP® Certification Training program. The program is available in partnership with the Project Management Institute and can earn 35 PDUs, learn through 12 simulation assessments and practice via over 2000 premium questions. Learn more about what else you can gain by visiting the link or connecting with our experts.

FAQs

1. What are the strengths of a program manager?

The leadership quality, strategic planning, risk management, communication, interpersonal skills and much more mark the strength of a program manager. 

2. Is program manager a good role?

It is a challenging and rewarding role that helps individuals develop personally and professionally. Professionals are responsible for the organization’s success, strategic insights, complex project management and more, making them important personnel.

3. Does the program manager require coding?

Program managers use well-developed and user-friendly software. Hence, they do not need to code.

4. Can a fresher be a program manager?

The role requires leadership, strategic planning, interpersonal skills, and similar skills developed through experience. Hence, a fresher cannot efficiently perform it.

5. Is the program manager the same as the PMO?

No, here lies the difference between the two. Program managers deal with multiple projects for successful completion, while PMO develops standards and processes for project management.