Introduction

I wonder what you think of when you see the word ‘programme’: perhaps a TV show such as New Tricks, The Simpsons or The Wire (or Rastamouse if youngsters are in charge of the remote control in your home). Or do you immediately picture a concert programme detailing the evening's entertainment? Perhaps you even interpret the word in a chilling Orwellian way, in the sense of indoctrination requiring de-programming (don't worry, no brainwashing in this book – just masses of useful info!).

However you think of it, as far as this book is concerned a programme is a structure within an organization that aims to manage the delivery of benefits from change (I provide a much fuller explanation in Chapter 1). Programme management means many different things to different people, but I use the term to mean, quite simply, managing big change. By ‘big’ I mean larger than can be comfortably managed in a single project.

Some people like to arrange significant organizational change into multiple projects, and while I cover managing multiple projects in depth in MSP For Dummies, a growing body of experience shows that transformational change needs more than project management. You also need to deal with the outputs from projects in business as usual and to help people come to terms with the change they are undergoing. In other words, you need programme management, and in particular, MSP.

For me, programme management becomes really exciting when it combines managing multiple projects with achieving change in business as usual.

Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) has been describing how to do all this since the turn of the millennium. I've been fortunate enough to be involved in programme management and MSP for all that time. I've had some exciting and fulfilling experiences helping organizations around the world to change themselves fundamentally. Now I want to share the tips and tricks that I picked up over the years, many of which are included in MSP, to help you achieve transformational change in your business.

About This Book

Although MSP For Dummies builds on the MSP manual Managing Successful Programmes, which is owned by a UK government joint-venture called Axelos and published by TSO, it isn't intended to be a complete replacement for the manual. Instead this book is an abbreviated guide to MSP and, most importantly, a practical commentary. If you want the full detail of MSP, I recommend that you look in the manual.

My aim in MSP For Dummies is to bring MSP alive. I try to explain some of the exciting new ideas in MSP in engaging and amusing ways. I also give you lots of examples from my own experience to give you a real feel for programme management.

Many people go on to take exams in MSP, so I make sure that MSP For Dummies helps you if you want to sit these exams later. I cover most of the terms and items in the MSP syllabus for at least the first exam – the Foundation. If you come across an MSP term that's new to you, check it out in the index or the Glossary in Appendix B.

But as well as the official MSP line, I also give you my personal views on programme management in general and MSP in particular. I've trained thousands of people in MSP from around the world. I'm aware that MSP programme management contains some incredibly useful, but pretty large, ideas. Therefore, I lay out MSP For Dummies in a way that shares these new ideas with you and also shows you how to apply them in a practical way while running your programme.

People often understand these big ideas when I first share them, but they lose track of the message when they start applying them. If that happens to you, don't worry. Follow the book's cross-references to all these exotic new ideas and get them clear in your mind.

Foolish Assumptions

I'm very keen that this book is accessible to as wide an audience as possible, and so I make a few assumptions about you:

• You don't know about projects (but if you do, I promise not to talk down to you).
• You're familiar with what typically happens in business as usual (that is, the way the business normally achieves its objectives), even if you aren't working in the business-as-usual part of an organization.
• You are familiar with some reasonably large organizations, whether public, private or third-sector.
• You don't think a programme is the schedule at the heart of a project. Programme management involves more than working out when you can deliver something.

By the way, this book is aimed primarily at Programme Managers, the people who undertake the day-to-day management of programmes.

Icons Used in This Book

I sprinkle the chapters of this book liberally with icons that highlight some key points.

This icon shows a simple way of making a particular part of programme management more flexible in the real world.

Check out the text besides this icon to see the key points to bear in mind around a subject.

Pay attention when you see this icon, because here I describe a problem or trap to help you avoid difficulties.

Here you can get a precise definition of an MSP term: useful stuff for exams or when you want to agree a definition with colleagues in your programme.

This icon indicates an opportunity to consolidate your understanding by applying new ideas to your programme.

Beside this icon I relate examples of programme management in practice.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you're reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web.

Check out the free Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/msp and head to www.dummies.com/extras/msp for free online bonus content about managing successful programmes.

Where to Go from Here

The simple answer is that the world is your oyster. Well MSP For Dummies is your oyster, anyway. You can go wherever your mood takes you in the book.

I suggest you begin with Part I and see how many of its ideas are familiar to you and how many are new. You then have a chance to reflect on new ideas as you look elsewhere in the book. Part I also describes the beginning of a programme, so it's a great place to look if you're just about to get started in a programme.

If you're logical and practical, you may want to look at the processes (flip to Chapters 3 and 7), as well as the chapters in Part V. If, on the other hand, you prefer to get your mind round the concepts first, look through the Table of Contents to find the chapters covering the theme you're after. If you want to get a feel for programme governance themes, Chapters 5 and 6 are good places to start.

If you're in a tearing hurry, because you're in the middle of a programme and managing it doesn't leave you much time for reading a book, start with Chapter 4, which covers the fundamental ideas behind programme management. If you apply these principles pragmatically to your change initiative, you really are doing programme management.

Good luck and have fun.