Navigate the Complexity of Multi-Project Coordination
Managing individual projects differs fundamentally from coordinating interconnected initiatives at the program or portfolio level. This course addresses the strategic thinking and coordination skills required for program-level responsibilities.
Strategic Capability for Program-Level Coordination
This course develops your capability to coordinate multiple interconnected projects and align them with organizational strategy. You'll learn frameworks for portfolio prioritization, resource optimization across programs, governance structures, and benefits realization management.
Over ten weeks, you'll work through case studies involving complex organizational scenarios where multiple projects compete for resources, where dependencies create coordination challenges, and where strategic priorities shift during execution. These situations require different thinking than single-project management.
The curriculum addresses both technical frameworks and leadership considerations. Program management involves influencing without direct authority, negotiating resource allocation, communicating with executive stakeholders, and making decisions that balance competing organizational priorities.
By completion, you'll have practical understanding of program and portfolio management frameworks that larger organizations typically use. You'll also develop judgment about how to adapt these frameworks to your specific organizational context and constraints.
The Transition from Project to Program Leadership
Your organization has asked you to coordinate multiple related projects, or perhaps to take responsibility for portfolio decisions that affect several initiatives. Your project management skills are solid, but this new scope introduces different challenges.
Resource allocation becomes substantially more complex. Multiple project managers request the same specialized personnel. Prioritization decisions affect several teams simultaneously. You need frameworks for making these decisions systematically rather than responding reactively to whoever requests most urgently.
Dependencies between projects create coordination requirements that individual project plans don't capture. One project's delay cascades through related initiatives. Technical decisions in one area constrain options in another. The interconnections require visibility and coordination mechanisms beyond standard project tracking.
There's also the strategic alignment challenge. How do you evaluate whether a proposed project actually supports organizational objectives? How do you measure whether a portfolio of projects is delivering the intended business benefits? These questions require different analytical frameworks than individual project success metrics provide.
Systematic Frameworks for Strategic Coordination
Advanced Program and Portfolio Management teaches established frameworks for coordinating multiple initiatives. These include the Standard for Program Management and The Standard for Portfolio Management published by PMI, along with organizational portfolio management approaches used in various industries.
The course uses extensive case study analysis. You'll examine documented situations where organizations managed complex program portfolios, identifying what worked effectively and what could have been improved. These cases come from various sectors including technology implementation, construction programs, and organizational transformation initiatives.
Portfolio prioritization receives substantial attention. You'll learn multiple approaches for evaluating and ranking initiatives against strategic objectives, considering factors like strategic alignment, resource requirements, risk profiles, and interdependencies.
Portfolio Prioritization
Systematic approaches for evaluating initiatives against strategic objectives, resource constraints, and organizational capacity. Frameworks for making defensible prioritization decisions.
Resource Optimization
Coordinating resource allocation across multiple projects. Techniques for identifying conflicts, negotiating trade-offs, and maintaining visibility of capacity utilization.
Benefits Realization
Moving beyond project deliverables to measure actual business value. Frameworks for defining, tracking, and realizing intended organizational benefits from program investments.
Ten Weeks of Strategic Analysis and Application
Strategic Alignment
Understanding how portfolios connect to organizational strategy. Frameworks for evaluating strategic contribution and ensuring initiative alignment with business objectives.
Portfolio Management
Prioritization approaches, portfolio balancing, and resource allocation across initiatives. Case studies involving competing demands and constrained organizational capacity.
Program Coordination
Managing interdependent projects, coordinating dependencies, and maintaining integrated schedules. Governance structures for program-level decision-making and issue resolution.
Benefits Realization
Defining measurable benefits, tracking realization progress, and adjusting programs to ensure value delivery. Distinguishing between outputs, outcomes, and benefits.
Stakeholder Management
Executive communication, governance board interaction, and cross-functional coordination. Influencing without authority in complex organizational environments.
Implementation Strategies
Establishing program management capabilities in organizations. Change management for portfolio implementation, and adapting frameworks to organizational maturity levels.
Prerequisites and Course Format
Experience Required
This course assumes substantial project management experience. Participants should have managed multiple projects and understand basic project management frameworks.
Case-Based Learning
Weekly case studies require analysis and recommendations. Expect 6-8 hours between sessions for case preparation, readings, and strategic analysis assignments.
Peer Discussion
Sessions include substantial discussion of different organizational contexts and how frameworks apply across various industries and company sizes.
Understanding the Financial and Time Commitment
Course Fee
Advanced Program and Portfolio Management
10-WEEK PROGRAM
What's Included
Substantial Time Commitment
This advanced course requires 6-8 hours weekly for case preparation, strategic analysis, and readings. The workload reflects the complexity of program-level coordination and the depth of analysis expected.
Many organizations support advanced professional development for employees moving into senior project leadership roles. If applicable to your situation, we can provide documentation describing learning outcomes and strategic competencies developed.
Developing Strategic Thinking Through Analysis
Program and portfolio management competence develops through analyzing complex organizational scenarios and making strategic recommendations. The course uses detailed case studies that present multi-faceted situations requiring thoughtful evaluation.
Each case includes information about organizational context, competing priorities, resource constraints, and stakeholder perspectives. Your analysis must consider these various factors and propose defensible approaches based on program management frameworks.
Instructor feedback focuses on your reasoning process. Did you consider relevant factors? Did your prioritization approach align with stated strategic objectives? Did you identify key dependencies and risks? This feedback helps develop judgment alongside technical knowledge.
Framework Application
Early weeks focus on understanding portfolio and program frameworks. Assignments involve applying these structures to relatively straightforward scenarios with clear parameters.
Complex Analysis
Mid-course cases introduce ambiguity, conflicting information, and organizational politics. Analysis requires weighing trade-offs and making decisions without complete information.
Strategic Integration
Final cases require integrating multiple frameworks, considering organizational change implications, and developing implementation strategies that account for real-world constraints.
Making an Informed Decision About This Course
This advanced course assumes substantial project management experience. The case-based learning approach and analytical depth suit practitioners who are comfortable with ambiguity and strategic thinking. Before enrolling, consider whether this matches your current development needs.
We offer a preview session where you can review sample case materials, understand the expected analytical depth, and discuss prerequisites with instructors. This helps you evaluate whether the course aligns with your experience level and learning objectives.
If you attend the first regular session and find that the course assumes more background knowledge than you currently have, or if the analytical approach doesn't suit your learning style, we'll provide a full course fee refund.
Prerequisites Review
Discussion of experience requirements and course expectations before commitment
Sample Case Review
Preview session includes examining actual case materials to understand analytical expectations
First Session Refund
Full refund available if prerequisites or approach don't match expectations
The Path From Interest to Enrollment
Request Course Information
Contact us through the form below or at info@stemhillatelier.com. We'll send you detailed course syllabus, prerequisite discussion, and schedule for the next advanced program cohort.
Attend Preview Session
The preview session includes reviewing actual case materials and discussing prerequisites with instructors. This helps you evaluate whether your experience level and learning objectives align with the course.
Complete Enrollment
If the course matches your development needs, complete enrollment and payment. You'll receive the first case study and preparatory readings before the initial session.
Begin Case Analysis
The first session establishes analytical frameworks and introduces the case study approach. After experiencing this session, you can still request a full refund if the course doesn't meet your expectations or prerequisite assumptions.
Ready to Develop Program-Level Coordination Skills?
Contact us to receive detailed course information and prerequisite discussion for Advanced Program and Portfolio Management.
Alternative Learning Pathways
If you're earlier in your project management development, these foundational courses might be more appropriate starting points.
Project Management Essentials
If you're new to formal project management frameworks, this foundational course establishes core concepts before moving to advanced program coordination.
Agile Methodologies in Practice
For practitioners wanting hands-on experience with agile frameworks before tackling program-level coordination in adaptive environments.