Customer Reviews

The Handbook of Program Management: How to Facilitate Project Success with Optimal Program Management

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I've read the book from cover to cover and it's a excellent pragmatic book that explains how to manage both small and large programs. I can easily see myself using this as a reference for many years to come especially when I find myself trying to figure out how to handle one of the many of situations the author describes in his book.

The chapter on attributes of an effective Program Manager was really helpful to me as I was in the process of assigning one of my staff as a Program Manager. When I read the simple to understand attributes it really helped me to focus in on who on my staff could do the role. Additionally, it was an excellent guide for my selected Program Manager to use to understand what my expectations of him was.

The chapter that covered stakeholder management was another excellent chapter that I have sense asked all of my Program AND Project managers to read. I did this because it's an excellent chapter on helping the Program and Project Managers to understand what stakeholders REALLY expect of them. Additionally he goes over the types of stakeholders that you can run into and simple yet effective methods to work effective with them. For example he talks about the meddling stakeholder which all Program and Project managers run into. Here he guides you though why they might be meddling, such as they recently got burned by a prior project or there is a distrust with the organization. In these situations he recommends on involving them through many tasks and details. They want to meddle great jump in the mud, roll up your sleeves and help, otherwise step back and let those truly involved in the project get the work done while properly informing all stakeholders.
Over all this book is a really good and easy read.

I expect to be referencing for many years to come!

If you are a program manager, or thinking of becoming one, you will want this book. Dr. Brown shares his wisdom on the program management without overburdening you with methodology. In reading the book, I often felt like I was having a discussion about program management with a knowledgeable and experienced colleague.

Dr. Brown clearly knows what he is talking about. His time at NASA seems to have been a large influence on his perspective of programs. There is probably no better place to learn and experience a program management culture. Dr. Brown seeds the book with "scenarios" from his extensive experience to tie a real life event to the topic under discussion.

A couple of things I really liked about the book:

* Dr. Brown is very well-read, and not just on program management topics. He sites authors such as Dale Carnage and Robert Cialdini. He understands the broad set of skills that are needed by a program manager, and he also consistently returns to the importance of people. He has a lot of charts and "tips", but the management of the people is always in the forefront.
* The book is very well laid out - 10 chapters covering the fundamentals. Each chapter contains advice, tips, and useful tools. Dr. Brown does not stress the tools, rather he uses them as examples or methods of achieving the goals. In the risk chapter he has an example of a 5x5 risk matrix, but goes on to say that a 3x3 or 4x4 will work just as well. He stresses that important point is to perform the risk analysis and management, not get caught up in the details of the tools.
* There are several quotes that really hit home. Early in the book he talks about program management being the place where "operations and project management collide." EXACTLY - we've all faced the challenge of trying to explain that a program is not a project to the project managers, and trying to convince operations that it's not a department.
* Another favorite that I will freely steal is "kill what's ugly while it's young" - AMEN!!! This brings to mind the practice of Spartans to take their "ugly" children out into the wilderness - well maybe not exactly the same thing, but I've seen a few ugly projects that never should have been allowed to grow.

So - great book - it is on my shelf, now dog eared and full of highlights. It will make me a better program manager, and I know it will help anyone else who reads it.

It is obvious to me that the author spent a lot of time thinking about this book before he started writing it. I bought this book to use as a reference while studying for the PgMP exam and found it to be very helpful for providing another perspective beyond the PMI standard and the exam preparation book that I bought.

For me, the ordering of topics is very logical and the writing is very clear. Where examples are necessary, examples are provided. Where topics are a bit more obscure, Mr. Brown takes the time to provide explanations to help you understand. I really can't find any major faults with this book.

This book was published in 2008, so the information in it reflects the current state of program management. In his forward, Dr. Brown states that his book will provide "a framework of structured, organized common sense". He observes that it requires "leadership and integrity to repeatedly execute successfully".

He then goes on to provide examples of project characteristics that indicate if there are problems with an organizations program environment. The examples he provides are both clear to understand and described in a way to understand the root issue. He then goes on to provide insight into attributes of an effective program manager, stakeholder management, program process strategy, program execution, communication and risk management. His book is written clearly, with practical examples and with actionable recommendations.

Now that project management methodologies have reached a level of understanding and maturity to provide companies with project managers that are highly effective, the focus needs to shift to the world of program management. Managing portfolios of projects across multiple business lines is extremely challenging and the processes to support these efforts are just emerging. This book is an excellent starting point to benefit from Dr. Brown's research and incorporate some new best practices into your Program management processes.

I can tell when I like a PM book after I'm done with it, and I don't mean from a kinesthetic standpoint, I mean from a physical standpoint. When a Project (or in this case, Program) Management book gets to me, it has dog-eared corners, drawings, notes, and yellow highlighter marker all over it.

And this book is one of those that has a whole mess of bent corners, drawings (one of which I actually will share with you), and it caused the demise of my trusty yellow marker. May it rest in peace.


Dr. James T. Brown has written the book to which I refer, "The Handbook of Program Management". As you can tell, I like the book even though I disagree with Dr. Brown on some points. One of those points is the title. First: the word "Handbook". This book was better than a handbook, at least how I think of handbooks. It read very well (unlike my stereotype of a handbook which a choppy, reference guide) and was full of "gems" from real example projects and programs. The other word is "Program". While it's of course true that the book focuses on Program Management, my issue is that it is an excellent book for Project Managers, as well. This is covered in the subtitle, "How to facilitate project success with optimal program management". I know it's long, but perhaps that - or some shorter version of it, like "Project Success through Optimal Program Management" - should have been the title! I guess I just don't want to see Project Managers miss out on the good things in this book - and this is one of the reasons I am blogging about it on a Project Management post.


I really liked the way in which Dr. Brown distinguished project and program management. For example, there is this:


Typically, the project manager is and should be more delivery and execution focused whereas the program manager has to also be concerned with the overall health and effectiveness of the program over the long term.


When he talked about the way that program manager and project manager view the projects they oversee, it actually inspired me to create a figure for the book:

Program managers see the projects in their context, where as project mangers may not necessarily see this - they instead see each as an independent entity. In fact, I personally think the more effective, enterprise-oriented project managers do take on this program view. Which is why I think this is an important book for project managers, not just program managers.

But here also is one other area where I found myself disagreeing with the author. He says that "Project management offices that establish policy as a primary function should be scaled down or phased out when that policy is mature. ". I agree that the push to follow the policies should be phased out, but not necessarily the whole PMO, and that the phase-out doesn't begin when the policy is mature, but rather when the project managers understand it, are following it, and it is reaping the benefits it intended. It's a matter of PM Maturity, which is always about more than the policy itself.

I point out this difference, but generally I found myself often shaking my head (vertically in agreement, that is) as I read the book. In fact, in some cases, especially in the excellent section on Program Communications Processes, the text was exactly in line with the kind of advice and consulting I have been giving PMs for the past decades - the author and I are definitely in tune on this whole section. In particular, his guidelines on p"Presentation Basics" is a great read not just for program managers, but for ANYONE who has to make a presentation, which, these days, seems to include almost everyone of nearly adult age.

One other example of violent agreement: the section on Identifying Stakeholders. I have already blogged about this and will undoubtedly blog about it again. But Dr. Brown eloquently put into words how important this is but how to do it with these guidelines to fully identify stakeholders:

* Follow the money! Whoever is paying is definitely a stakeholder. Also, if the program produces savings or additional costs for an organization then the organization is also a stakeholder
* Follow the resources. Every entity that provides resources, whether internal or external, labor or facilities, and equipment, is a stakeholder. Line managers and functional managers providing resources are stakeholders
* Follow the deliverables. whoever is the recipient of the product or service the program is providing is a stakeholder.
* Follow the signatures. The individual who signs off on completion of the final product or service (or phases thereof) is a stakeholder. Note: this may or may not be the recipient referred to in the previous bullet. Often there may be more recipients than signatories.
* Examine other programs stakeholder lists. Include active programs and completed projects.
* Review the organizational chart to asses which parts of the organization may be stakeholders.
* Ask team members, customers, and any other confirmed stakeholder to help you identify additional stakeholders.
* Look for the "Unofficial People of Influence". These may be people who are trusted by high-level leaders or who wield a lot of power through influence and not position.


The sections of Dr. Brown's books which cover Risk, Execution, Communication, and Team Building are extremely well -assembled and illustrated with "tips", "keystones", and actual snippets of program and project best-practice documents. Many of these are gems and are the cause of the folded-over corners and the death of my highlighter. Importantly, they are a great read not only for Program managers, but for Project Managers as well.

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Disappointing book based only on soft skills type of common sense. If you are looking for good tricks and practical, pragmatic advice... . Good for young managers looking for an intro. A must read to master the soft skills... But empty on the hard ones. Time to read it through on kindle ( if you have already had an intro to project mgmt): 15 mintues. I should have bought it on paper, at least I could resell it now...

I was looking for a good reference when trying to understand the nuances of program management and came across Dr. James T Brown's 'The Handbook of Program Management'. I found the content of the book very easy to read and digest, giving me some very good practical tips on how to mange a program tactically to achieve organizational strategy. Got some good ideas on how to present status of program to manage various stakeholder expectations. One can gauge the content by reading a quote included in the book, "Remember, it is often your best people that make the worst mistakes, because your best people do the most complex work." Book is all about "common sense" but then there is nothing common about "common sense". I did read this book as a precursor for PMI's Program Management Professional Credential (PgMP). Though the book does not include much direct PMI standard content but it helped me gain an overall perspective about program management in general.

Apologies in advance for typos. Please check to make sure people giving reviews have the "Amazon Verified Purchase" next to their name.

I bought The Handbook of Program Management about a month ago to prepare for a job change to a new/beginning program manager.

I can't really tell if this is a good book or not for Program Management. I'm about ¾ of the way through the book and frankly, I think it's too high-level for someone who is new to the field and needs to learn basic program management concepts. Mr. Brown speaks to an audience who has enough experience in the field to pick up on his quick examples and overview of concepts.

When I say I'm beginner, I mean I need someone to explain to me what is risk identification and management, even a basic change control form. What is its purpose, why do we need to use it? Not just say it's essential to use. How do I make one? How do I explain to people who've never had to use one why it's important? How do I get people to consistently use it? I've been googling things like "change control form." What if I don't yet have the decision-making clout within the company to get everyone on a retreat or any of the other suggestions he makes? How do I handle all the administrative work and when do I delegate to a team member? I manage District Account Coordinators and most of them turnover in less than a year. What do I do as a new program manager (and supervisor!) to get people to trust me, create a synergistic team, stable enough processes when I'm learning myself and my coordinators turnover like hotcakes? I don't doubt I will be able to put the suggestions and tips in this book into practice at some point, but how do I chunk this and not make all of these changes at once?

These are the kinds of things I thought would be addressed in the book but aren't.

It's also difficult to find books about beginning program management as opposed to beginning project management. I've resorted to using project management resources and trying to make them fit. The project management books are the ones that go into detail explaining how to make a timeline, budget, scopes, identify scope creep, and agile project management skills. In later editions, perhaps there can be a chapter that goes into agile program management because NOTHING ever goes according to plan unless you tightly control the variables, which is impossible.

Right now, the best chapters to me are the ones that I'm already familiar with the concepts: Ch. 6 "Team Building at the Program Level" and Ch. 7 "Program Communication Processes." I especially like Ch. 7 and the Team Charter...that is very useful and something I'm going to put into practice immediately. Ch. 3 "Stakeholder Management" isn't too conceptual for me not to grasp, but I would have liked more newb definitions in Chapters 4 - 5 and 8 - 10.

So as I said, I don't know if this is a good book or not because right now, it's not useful to me as someone who is a new program manager. Previous reviews lead me to believe that "Handbook" would actually be a Handbook and reference guide. Overall, this book just makes me do more homework and supplemental googling to get a definition of terms. One of the reasons why it's taken me a month to read a book that's 240 pages.

Mr Brown manages, in epic form, to translate a part of his vast knowledge into 239ish pages of jam packed information for the program manager. Also every page has something powerful on it and this is a book I will reread over and over again as I make my way into the PM world.

What sets this book apart is that you can feel Mr. Brown's experience on every page. While there are many great lessons in this book (the part on meetings and buy-in are worth the price of admission) the big theme of the book is simple. Listen. Always listen. Don't let tools or second hand knowledge rule you. Get down and talk to people. Understand your organization, understand what makes your co-workers tick. From this, all his other points take off.

And what an amazing amounts of points. He doesn't dig too deep; you may need a primer on product management (or, if you've been in the trenches as long as me, you may have gathered this knowledge via osmosis). From dealing with your stakeholder, to software, to Agile, to building teams, to work load; Mr Brown runs the gamut.

If you are a program manager, or want to be one, or want to know what they do - this is an excellent place to look.

As someone who is relative newbie when it comes to Program Management, until I came across this book, most of my colleagues and I were fumbling to describe what the role of Program Management was. The funny thing is that not only did my colleagues not know this but even our manager had no practical advice - well other then build relationships. In fact this would be funny here in silicon valley if it weren't a serious problem.

Dr Brown has obviously laid out the scope for a Program Manager from his experience into 10 chapters that are easy to read and understand. You can jump into any chapter to quickly gain knowledge for area of your greatest weakness or highest priority, there after turn the knowledge into practice that fits your environment and situation. The book is a fast read and doesn't overwhelm you with jargon that is otherwise least memorable. This book greatly serves Project Managers who are taking an over the horizon, long term view of how their skills shape up to the more challenging role of managing a Program. It also educates those who are for ever confused by the organization blur created within their own company in identifying the role of a Project manager vs. a Program Manager. I have witnessed in environments that rather bank the title inflation this blurring is perpetuated by the vested powers, often untrained in the art of Project Management or Program Management, who have little interest other then forming a power pyramid and a hierarchy. In such environments have this book by your work station and then do a lunch and learn sessions with your colleagues to better shape the art of Program Management to attain highest value right where you are.