"Program". Comparison of the concepts of project and "program"

In a number of industries, such as the aerospace or defense industry, the objects created are so complex that work on them is carried out not as part of projects, but as part of Programs, which can be defined as a set of projects or a project characterized by the particular complexity of the products being created and / or methods of managing its implementation. In this approach, the term "project" is usually associated with relatively short-term goals. Currently in Russian Federation a number of development programs have been developed and are being implemented: fuel and energy, food, transport and communications, housing, mechanical engineering and some others.

Priority federal programs include programs for energy supply, electrification and gasification of rural areas, improving security nuclear power, the use of non-traditional energy sources, the development of gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula, the development of the Kansk-Achinsk fuel and energy complex.

Characteristics of the concept of "project". Project features

The project as a control object is described by a set of certain indicators - the characteristics of the project, which are laid down at the planning stage (see Chapter 1). On the basis of the characteristics, firstly, the feasibility, feasibility and sustainability of the project is determined, and, secondly, the ways and means of achieving the planned indicators. That is why, for the adoption financial institution a positive decision on the allocation of funds, subsequent effective management the project and its successful implementation, it is necessary to formulate and justify the planned characteristics of the project.

The main characteristics of the project include the following:

· Purpose and main results of the project, received by the beneficiaries during the implementation of the project and after its completion;

· Financial resources required for the implementation of the project;

· Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the resources required for the implementation of the project;

· Qualification of specialists and the capabilities of organizations involved in the implementation of the project;

· Quantitative and qualitative indicators of work on the project;

· Terms of the project.

The current values ​​of these indicators may change throughout life cycle project due to the impact internal environment the project and its external environment. The effectiveness of management is precisely what presupposes the achievement of the planned indicators of the project under the action of these influences... Thus, the very purpose of applying the methodology and tools of project management to achieve an optimal result under given constraints and existing risks becomes clearer.

The main differences between the project and the program and operational activities, the differences between projects and business processes

The program has no termination point. Rather, the program is a continuous process of change. The project can be part of programs.

For example, the Apollo 11 project is part of the American lunar program. Program management includes the management of the projects included in it.

A project is a tool strategic development... The goal is a description of what we want to achieve. Strategy is a statement of how we are going to achieve these goals. Projects transform strategies into action and goals into reality.

Thus, each work that a specific employee performs is tied to the achievement of the strategic goals of the organization (Fig.1.1)

The reason for such attention to the concept of "project" is that the methods and tools of project management are effectively applied specifically to the project. However, not all work carried out in an organization is a project. Therefore, companies implementing project management often have difficulty separating projects and operating activities.

For example, is an employee training course a project? Any course has a limited time frame, budget, quality requirements. Objectives can be defined for the course. Thus, the training course can be viewed as a project. But if a company conducts dozens of courses a year and the activities for organizing training are routine, repetitive, does not carry any uniqueness in terms of management, is the course a project? Do you need to apply project management techniques for each course, such as appointing a project manager and creating a project timeline? A similar situation can arise in a plant that makes machines. Each machine can be viewed as a small project.

In the above examples, most likely, the training course and the production of the machine are not projects. In fact, in the proposed context of mass production of machines and courses, the company implements the mass production of standard products and services without explicitly limiting this activity in terms of time.

Each project has a well-defined start and end. The project ends with the achievement of all its goals, or vice versa, when it becomes clear that these goals cannot be achieved. Temporality does not mean that the project is short-lived - many projects can last for several years. In any case, the project is finite and cannot consist of constantly ongoing actions.

A lot of enterprises are temporary in the sense that at some point the work on them will stop. For example, it is clear that the conveyor for the production of a certain car model will stop sometime, since the car will be discontinued. However, this kind of temporality does not make the assembly line a project, since the work of assembling the machines is a typical routine operating activity. The fundamental difference between the project is that the project ends when the goals are achieved, while in non-project activities new goals are set for the performers and the work continues.

The temporary nature of projects affects other aspects of project activities as well. For example, projects usually have a well-defined time frame for creating a product or service, because the market situation for them is favorable for a limited time. Besides, project team, as a rule, upon its completion, it disintegrates, and its members move on to other projects.

Unlike a conveyor belt for assembling cars good example the project could be the development of a new car. Development is carried out within a limited time frame and continues until a certain result is achieved - a prototype of a new car. When the result is achieved, the car is sent to production, and the project team - designers, designers, engineers and others - can be involved in new project, although not necessarily in the same composition.

Thus, operational activities consist of the constant repetition of the same operations with the aim of producing the same product (or providing the same service). Examples include batch production, sales of standard products, accounting transactions.

The main difference between operating room and project activities(Table 1.1) is that operational activity operates with the usual results in established business processes, and project work implies unique results and a limited period of work.

Differences between projects and business processes

	Buisness process
Works, interactions, resources, roles.	Habitual, repetitive, are limited by the approved regulations.	New, changing one-time, heterogeneous, cross-functional
Environment	Habitual, stable	New, changing
Organizational structure	Works are carried out in stable organizational structures	Work is carried out in temporarily created structures operating within the project cycle
		Limited
Priorities and performance evaluation	Reproduction, efficiency is determined by the achievement of intermediate functional results	Achievement of the goal, efficiency is determined by the achievement of the established final goals
The main elements of the life cycle	Implementation	Planning, implementation, control, completion
Changes	Turning resources into a product	Purposeful change of the internal environment in which the project is being implemented

A dream is a specific goal that a person strives for all his life. We need a dream as an incentive to constantly move forward and improve ourselves, even if it is not always within reach. For the sake of a dream, a person is able to abandon his past and find new values ​​in life.

Desire, unlike a dream, is quite achievable and represents a specific task, the solution of which does not take much time and effort. Desire is most often of an everyday nature and is caused by human needs.

What is the difference between a desire and a dream? I believe that the main distinguishing feature of these concepts is that the dream is much more ambitious than desire and is able to motivate and cheer up a person in difficult situations, because he will never give up, knowing that he has not fulfilled his dream.

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Fiction convinces me of the correctness of this point of view.

Let's remember the novel by Jack London "Martin Eden". The cherished dream of the main character, a sailor and a tramp, is a young and beautiful girl from high society named Ruth, for the sake of which he abandons his former life among working uneducated people in favor of self-development. Martin spends all his time reading the most difficult books, tries himself in various fields of science, tries to surround himself with smart people. The hero never made his dream come true, but on the way to it he changed beyond recognition, surpassing even the representatives of the bourgeoisie in his erudition and education. This example proves my idea that a dream can work miracles, encourage people to do noble deeds and makes you think about serious changes in life.

As a second argument, let us consider the philosophical and psychological novel by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". Rodion Raskolnikov, the main character works, from the very beginning, wants to fulfill his dream of radically changing society, making all people equal and helping the poor. But, unfortunately, instead, he only realizes his personal needs, which consist in the desire to test his own theory of the division of people into groups and to prove to himself that he "is not a trembling creature, but has the right." Thus, the author wants to show us that desires are quite achievable, but the cherished dream often remains unattainable.

So, after looking at both examples, we have seen that the concepts of "dream" and "desire" are very different from each other. Soviet playwright Alexander Vampilov once said: "Dreams that come true are not dreams, but plans." This statement confirms my idea that the dream must be difficult to achieve and spiritually high. A desire helps us to live productively one day, and a dream helps us a whole life, because in the pursuit of the latter, a person changes beyond recognition.

Updated: 2018-10-24

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From the very beginning, strategic planning took the form of a “forecasting - programming - budgeting” system, which reflected the continuity of planning documents, different in terms of development and implementation. This fairly common system has been shown to be effective at the Pentagon. In the USSR, there was an attempt to repeat this positive experience in 1979, when the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 695 "On improving planning and increasing production efficiency and quality of work" introduced a similar system "forecast - program - plan". Some authors investigated this system, but it was not fully applied due to the impact of objective and subjective reasons. At the same time, targeted comprehensive programs were an example of strategic activity at the macro and micro levels of the Soviet economy (see also Section 6).

Despite the many common features(target orientation, focus on the implementation of complex strategies, large time characteristics necessary for their implementation, the probabilistic nature of the results, high level costs for research and development, and the like), strategic plans and programs are not the same thing (Table 10.2). First of all, this is the orientation of programs towards achieving "development goals" (for example, increasing competitiveness or social development team), and projects - to "achieve the goal (creation)" (for example, a new product, production, technical system).

Table 10.2

Differences between strategic plans and programs (projects)

Specifications		Program (project)
	Many goals	The only goal
Problems to be solved	A set of problems that can be solved in the planning period (subject to restrictions)	The unity of the problem is solved
Term of development and implementation	In accordance with the adopted planning system at the enterprise (5 years, 2 + 1 + 2 years, 2 + 1 years, current, budgets, etc.)	Necessary to achieve the goal, the stages of execution are determined by the planning system in the enterprise.
Planning document structure	Single for the entire object (enterprise, set of enterprises, for example, a holding company) for which the plan is being developed	Determined by the nature of the problem, resolved
Management bodies (development and control)	Available	Available or specially created coordination
Performers	Due to the specialization of individual subsystems and officials	First of all, the main executor is the initiator of the program (project) with the involvement of interested co-executors
Financial security	The current system of enterprise finance, the distribution of available financial resources between sections of plans, in accordance with certain priorities
Resource security	The current system of material and technical support, the distribution of available material and technical resources between sections of plans in accordance with certain priorities	Depending on the type of program (project)

Separately, attention should be focused on the differences between strategic plans and programs and projects.

A strategic program is a coordinating address document, which is an economically and scientifically grounded system of interconnected, and aimed at achieving a common goal of various measures (socio-economic, scientific, technical and organizational and economic), agreed in terms of time and performers (co-executors), as well as provided with the necessary financial and material and technical resources.

The program consists of certain program activities, the content of which depends on the type and focus of the program on the implementation of certain strategies (see subsection 8.4-8.7).

A program task is a specific action filled with specific content aimed at achieving a current goal (associated with achieving strategic goals through a “tree of goals”), for the implementation of which performers (co-executors), terms and required volumes of all types of resources are justified and established.

Since strategic programs are complex in content and structure planning documents, should use modern methods their justification, which causes the need for their formalization. In this case, the main attention should be focused on the target orientation of strategic programs, which are the implementation of the target approach to planning (see Section 6). Target and strategic programs are very similar in their main parameters and areas of application and can be developed on the same methodological basis.

Target program- a structured set of the "goals - strategies - measures" graph and a set of characteristics associated with this structure.

In a formalized form, the program can be represented as follows:

П = (G, H), (10.1)

where G = (A, M, R); H = (L0, L, Y, Β, Q, T);

P - program;

G - graph "goals - strategies - measures", built on the basis of the "tree of goals";

H - a set of characteristics of the specified graph G;

A - a set of goals identified for implementation within the program P;

M - a set of strategies and activities necessary to achieve a set of goals;

R - a set of relationships between goals, objectives and strategies, strategies and activities;

L0 is a set of criteria for achieving goals;

L is a set of indicators for achieving goals;

Y is a set of system priorities in column G;

Β - a set of local priorities in the graph G;

Q - a set of resources required to achieve goals;

T is the time it takes to achieve goals.

This presentation of the program allows you to expand the possibilities of using economic and mathematical methods for its development and control over its implementation.

A project is a one-time set of goals, strategies, tasks and actions that has systemic characteristics regarding the relationship of resources, the sequence of work and the involvement of specialists of a certain profile.

Projects must meet the following requirements:

· Ensuring the simultaneous fulfillment of technical, economic, organizational and other requirements;

· Establishment of external and internal relationships: "goals-tasks-resources" - requiring clear coordination of work;

· Determination of the start and end dates of the project;

· Overcoming the limitations on critical resources;

· Prevention of conflicts in the process of project implementation among performers of different specialties.

Project management is a scientific and practical activity to determine the goals and organize the work of a group of people in such a way that the goals are achieved after the end of all planned work.

As noted, programs and projects have many similarities. The strategic program (project) will have a high result if the program activities envisaged for the implementation of the program (project) will represent a systemic integrity, that is, they will have reasonable links, an order of implementation and mutual reinforcement, that is, achieving synergy.

Characteristics of a strategic program (project) is a set of quantitative and qualitative characteristics, features, properties that determine for a specific program (project), features, properties associated with the process of achieving the goals of the program (project) and assessing the results of its implementation.

In order to quantitatively and qualitatively express the characteristics of the program (project), which fix the state of the control object in the process of implementing the program, various quantitative and qualitative indicators are used that concretize the forecast estimates of the development of the object for which the program or project is being developed.

It is advisable to single out such programs and projects in the activities of organizations:

· Work automation program;

· Cost reduction program;

· A program to rationalize the structure of production and auxiliary processes;

· Program introduction of days of "efficiency" to attract workers to the process of improving production;

· A program for creating insurance stocks using foreign sources of resources;

· Program of accumulation of strategic information banks;

· Organization of the SGC and the signing of an agreement with large wholesale depots in one of the CIS countries.

The list of projects can be considered in a similar way:

· A project for mastering the process of assembling diesel engines from imported components with a gradual transfer of production of some of them to our own production facilities;

· A project for the development of a new technological line and the like;

A project for the construction of a joint venture with suppliers
state for the treatment of industrial waste;

· Project of scientific developments for the creation of new materials;

Creation project trading network etc.

Now it is widely used in successful firms in the West and East. automated planning production process, which allows in practice to carry out one of the key principles strategic management- alternative plans.

Distinguish between variational and generated production planning (PPP)

Variational PPV means the creation of programs for the development of a range of alternative plan options for the PPO system. Plan options are stored on electronic media, which allows you to make adjustments if necessary.

Generated PPW is a more complex approach compared to
with variational PPV. This method involves the use of such software which uses information on a wide range of technical and economic characteristics production process, including a description of equipment, tools, parts, as well as technological and organizational operations.

Rice. 10.2. Schematic diagram of the relationship between development goals and the system of plans, projects and programs
(- the process of achieving goals; - the process of forming plans)

Modern information Technology create conditions for wider adoption strategic planning in the practice of organizations different types.

Strategic programs of any content are implemented through a system of strategic, current and operational plans (Figure 10.2).

Enterprise Planning: A Cheat Sheet By Unknown

58. MAIN TYPES OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PLANNING PROGRAMS

In some cases, when a full-fledged business plan is not required, but only a feasibility study is enough, you can use the product of ROFER Business Plan M or similar programs for calculating and writing a feasibility study. Systems for writing the text part of a business plan contain templates, samples and guidelines. These systems include: Success Success (Dynamic Pathways Company) and Business Plan PL text (ROFER), etc.

Programs for drawing up a fully functional business plan differ from programs of the previous type the presence of the calculated part... This part of the business plan is designed to solve the following tasks: analysis of several strategies for achieving the goals of enterprise development and selection of the optimal one; creating a flawless business plan that matches international standards; development of a financing scheme for enterprise development projects, taking into account future needs for Money ah based on the cash flow forecast at the entire planning stage, selection of sources and conditions for raising funds, assessment of possible terms and schedules of loan repayment, etc. Such software systems for writing a business plan include Business Plan PL (ROFER), Project Expert (Proinvest-IT), Alt-Invest (ALT), INEC-Analyst (INEC), etc.

With these programs you can accomplish the following tasks: plan economic activity firms for the near and distant periods in accordance with the needs of the market and the possibilities of obtaining the necessary resources; determine the specific directions of the firm's activities, target markets and the place of the firm in these markets; formulate long-term and short term goals and the plans of the enterprise, the strategy and tactics of their achievement, to determine the persons responsible for the implementation of the strategy; choose the composition and determine the indicators of goods and services that will be offered by the firm to consumers; estimate financial position the firm and the correspondence of the available financial and material resources to the possibilities of achieving the set goals; anticipate difficulties that may interfere with the practical implementation of the business plan.

Business Plan PL software product is intended for financial forecasting in the future period. This program is specially designed for writing business plans, feasibility studies and development different directions financial forecasting. It is possible to use the program in an abbreviated version for small businesses. Structurally, the program is divided into two parts: text (explanatory) and financial (calculated). Text part, in turn, is divided into two parts: "Layout Guide" offers a sequential methodology for project development and "Sample Plan", which consists of individual chapters of real business plans. A great achievement can be considered the ability of the program to create a chapter " Financial plan»- one of the most important explanatory chapters of a business plan. Chapter formation is fully automated.

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the author

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20 Jul 2016

To get to Program concepts (programblueprint), You have to go through 80 pages of the standard PRINCE2:ManagingSuccessfulPrograms (MSP)... But it's worth doing it, because the Program Concept is one of the most interesting tools in the entire guide. In this article, we will look at what the Program Concept is and why you need to use it, regardless of which approach to program management you use.

What is Program Concept (Program Blueprint)?

As a rule, at the very beginning of the development of the program, a Vision of the program (visionstatement)... it short description results to be achieved during the program. The concept, in turn, does not simply describe the benefits of the program and the properties of the product. It contains how the organization should change in comparison with the current state. And it is this “future organization” that must realize the benefits of the program.

What is the Program Concept for?

As already mentioned, the Concept defines the differences between the state of the business now and its state in the future. These differences are a good basis for GAP analysis. Moreover, the results of the GAP analysis are sometimes even included in the Concept documentation as an appendix.

After the Concept describes all the differences between the existing and the desired state, you will see the gaps between these states that need to be bridged. After that, a list of projects needed to bridge these gaps is developed.

In MSP terminology, this process is called Planning the blueprint delivery... In the course of planning, various possibilities for achieving the set goal are being worked out - it will be a series of small projects or one large-scale transformation project. Will these projects be implemented simultaneously or sequentially and what difficulties may arise during their joint implementation.

In addition, the Concept can influence the assessment of projects already being implemented by the company. After all, when we received a detailed vision of the state of the company during the implementation of the program, it becomes obvious which projects implemented in this moment bring the desired state closer. If projects do not do this, or even worse, do not fit well into the desired structure, it is advisable to stop their implementation as soon as possible, and use the freed up resources to implement the program to achieve the desired state.

How does the Concept help structure the program?

At the programmatic level, the value of the Concept primarily lies in the fact that it creates a starting point. A concept is a detailed picture of success. Everything that the program produces, everything that will be the result of the projects of the program, should lead to the desired state. It is the concept that allows you to maintain focus and move in the right direction.

In addition, the Concept allows for a fairly clear definition of intermediate steps on the way to the goal. Indeed, in the course of a large-scale transformation of an organization, several programs are often implemented. And the Concept not only allows you to determine the place of the program in the overall large-scale picture of transformation, but also allows you to more accurately draw up the Concept of subsequent programs.

How is the Program Concept written?

Obviously, the Program Concept is not a document that you can sit down and write alone, independently of everyone. If the program is dedicated to the transformation of the organization, the author of the concept cannot do without the help of employees from different parts of the organization. You will have to work hard to consolidate the team's efforts. To collectively write a document, you will need not only people who are well aware of the structure of the organization and how its business works, but also people with imagination who can imagine the future of the company, describe it and predict it. For especially large and priority programs, in addition to internal experts, external experts and facilitators may be needed - if correct application, the cost of them will pay off in the future.

Unfortunately, the MSP standard itself does not provide a specific template for writing the Concept. Therefore, in this section, we present the content of the concept template provided by ILX.

Concept Template

Section 1. The future state of the organization

The first section describes the future state of the organization to be achieved. This section includes:

1. Objectives and actions

This section describes the way to achieve the Company's Vision, including the main milestones that need to be passed on the way to achieving the goal. At this stage, it is determined what, in principle, is planned to be done. For example, whether it will be a large-scale transformation program, several programs, or a series of small change projects.

2. Main benefits of the program

This section is devoted to describing the benefits to the organization from the implementation of the program throughout its entire life cycle. The purpose of this section is not to miss the benefits and not to lose focus on the program objectives during the implementation of the concept.

3. Model of the future organization

This section defines the type, way of functioning, value creation and business model of the future organization. This section describes the state of the organization “as it will be” in order to compare it with the “as is” at the moment. This section allows you to see the gaps and understand the changes required to achieve the desired state.

4. Operational measurements

In this section, the level of costs, production and service of the organization of the future is predicted. Quantitative targets provide a clearer measure of program success.

5. Organizational structure

As the name suggests, this section describes organizational structure, the number of personnel, as well as the roles and skills of employees of the "organization of the future". This is a description of the composition of the organization that will be able to show the indicators and results described in the vision.

6. Information system

This section describes Information system, as well as other tools necessary for the functioning of the future organization. New business processes, systems and personnel often require technical support and ensuring that it is functioning to meet the targets.

7. Supporting services

This section is entirely devoted to determining the composition of support services necessary for the effective functioning of the main divisions of the future company. The section should describe the list of required departments, their functions, the number of personnel, competencies and roles.

Section 2. Current status

The second section of the Program Concept describes the current state of the organization. It can be made in any form, you can take the first part of the Concept as a basis. The main thing is that the structure makes it easy and clear to compare with each other. Often, companies cannot immediately answer all questions about the current state of the organization and they have to analyze the current state of affairs. This has a positive impact on the process and sometimes leads to interesting discoveries that lead to changes in the entire program.

Section 3. Comparison of States

The third section of the concept is the actual comparison of states and the definition of differences between states. The list of differences is then used to form a pool of projects to overcome these differences and achieve the desired state.

The MSP manual does not restrict you in any way in using the concept writing tools, as long as it is convenient for you. It is recommended to use diagrams, mind maps and other visualization tools. The more understandable the Concept, the lower the likelihood of discrepancies and misunderstandings between the participants in the process, as well as the fact that the Concept will be forgotten and will not eventually be used.

More often than not, one transformational program is unlikely to be able to radically change the entire organization and implement the original Concept for the implementation of the Vision. Therefore, you can identify several intermediate steps in achieving the desired state of the business, and implement programs to achieve them. This will make the process more manageable and stable.

Concept Update

The MSP does not officially indicate how often the Program Concept should be updated. But based on common sense, it's still worth doing, and here's why.

An organization does not exist in a vacuum - external conditions affect both the business and its development. The world is changing rapidly, and in order to comply with it, it is necessary to adapt to new conditions. And given that transformation programs of an organization can last for 5 or 10 years, changes are inevitable and must be taken into account in the concept.

In addition, a change of leader, for example, leaving general director or the head of an important department can have a serious impact on the development of the company. This means that the Concept must be revised and approved by all participants.

How regularly the concept needs to be revised depends on the specifics of the particular organization, industry and program. Nevertheless, this process makes it possible not to forget about the presence of a concept, makes it necessary to analyze in detail the ongoing changes and signals coming to the organization from the outside. And this is extremely useful.

Conclusion

The concept allows you to be sure that the implemented program has a solid base, consistent with the vision and strategy of the organization. The concept allows the organization to understand where it is, where it is going and what it is striving to achieve.