Advice from the pros: 9 tips for succeeding as a program manager

Program managers have to ensure projects are implemented successfully and on time, by both teams in country offices and project locations, making sure results are shared with policy makers, local decision makes, and stakeholders. A large part of the role is coordinating all different donor, beneficiary, and partner needs and priorities, which requires organizational and people management skills. Devex spoke with Ozan Cakmak, former program manager of the Syria Crisis and Resilience Response program with United Nations Development Programme, to get his insights on succeeding in the program manager role. Here are his top nine tips. 1. Learn the latest technologies and utilize them Technology is becoming increasingly important, Cakmak said, both for the delivery of programs and integration into the projects on the ground. It’s also important to reflect on how technology can have a positive impact on the work being done. Communication and project management technologies are especially useful here, due to the international nature and various teams involved in development programs. Cakmak suggested project team communication and management tools, such as Slack, Yammer, or Asana, that can facilitate smooth collaboration and communication with colleagues in remote locations. Technology can also be an excellent tool to integrate into programs and “could offer better prospects for the young people ... to find jobs and generate livelihoods, rather than the traditional occupations,” Cakmak explained. One such example is when UNDP worked with a nonprofit organization to provide mobile coding boot camps for young people — both Syrian refugees and host communities — in Turkey. Software design, software development, coding, graphic design, and many more professions can now be done remotely and on a freelance basis. This offers incredible opportunity to improve livelihoods for those unable to travel or relocate, such as refugees and many others situated in developing countries. 2. Management and communication As a program manager, your team will most likely be located across various countries and cities — which means communicating regularly and having an ongoing rapport is key. “It’s very important to have internal communication among the team on a regular basis — to make sure there’s collaboration across the different projects,” Cakmak said. Good collaboration leads to greater success and better results, meaning a better impact for the people and institutions on the ground. Cakmak advised program managers to check in and coordinate with their teams each day and to relay any updates on projects. “All the work needs to be faster by its nature. They are time-bound projects, and activities should be completed on time,” he said. Program managers need to maintain focus and prioritize activities across all teams, so constant communication and updates are pivotal. 3. Partnerships building As well as checking in with various team members each day, it’s equally important to check in with stakeholders and partners, whether by writing, by phone, or in person, Cakmak said. “It’s important to have the partnership building and partnership management skills and experience to work as a program manager,” he said. “Stakeholder relations, partner relations are key, and it may require everyday interaction.” 4. Understand the local context and listen to those in the field Knowing and understanding the local context is key in any line of development work. For program managers, it’s particularly important to know what’s going on in the field. Only then can you can manage projects and make informed decisions specific to the individual project needs. No matter where you’re working from — whether head office or in country — it’s important to be regularly informed and to adapt programs to changing needs, Cakmak said. Program managers need to listen and learn from those they’re assisting in field — as well as partners and colleagues based there. According to Cakmak, program managers can stay updated through project visits, stakeholder consultation meetings, and meetings with colleagues and partners. It’s also important to know what other agencies in the field — whether governmental, nonprofit, development bank, or United Nations — are bringing to the table, and to coordinate and complement each other, he explained. Additionally, program managers need to have good background knowledge of the projects they’re working on, no matter what the subject matter, Cakmak said. Going into the field, program managers should already know, “what are the socioeconomic circumstances? What are the needs and the challenges? And also, what are the solutions you are going to bring?” 5. Financial management A large part of being a program manager is also being the finance manager, Cakmak noted, adding that budget management and managing project finances are important skills. Project managers need to consider and monitor the status and situation of a project’s finances almost every day, he advised. It is important to ask “Are there challenges or areas we need to address? And how is it in line with the activities we implement?” 6. Focus on impact, not numbers Depending on the area or sector in which you work, development can take a long time and results might not be visible instantaneously. Cakmak advised that program managers “make the work more impact-focused and more impact-measured.” Instead of simply quantifying the number of projects implemented, program managers need to measure the overarching impact and work out how to sustain it. This can be done by scaling up and replicating programs, increasing accountability, and using new frameworks and approaches that focus on broader impact. 7. Be open and proactive in learning The global development landscape is constantly changing due to new methodologies and best practices. Cakmak encouraged program managers to invest in personal development. “Sometimes it’s not easy to balance the learning and the undertaking,” Cakmak acknowledged, “but it’s important to also be open to learn the new thinkings and good practices.” You need to stay up to date with the latest approaches, research, and successful projects in development in order to implement them into your own programs. He advised utilizing platforms — Devex, debate platforms, conferences, and summits — to keep up to date and learn from other development practitioners. 8. Accumulate a variety of skills There isn’t a specific path to becoming a program manager, Cakmak said. It’s more important to accumulate experience and a set of managerial, organizational, and supervisory skills. International development is becoming more interdisciplinary, he explained, so it’s increasingly important to have people from a mixture of backgrounds working together. Informal learning — skills learned through jobs and volunteer work rather than academic studies — are just as important as academic background, Cakmak said. 9. Enjoy your work Development work can be very challenging, Cakmak said, so it’s important that it doesn’t become overwhelming. “That people enjoy their work — that’s the key,” Cakmak said. “Regardless of the size of the team you have in your program — small, big, distributed in different places — it’s important to have everybody bonded together for the joint purpose and objectives,” he said. “And they also have fun when they do their work as well.” Seeing the positive results of an implemented project can be so rewarding and motivating, he said. Try to keep this in mind and focus on positive outcomes in order to overcome challenges. Advice from the pros is a new Devex series highlighting experienced professionals working across the global development sector and their advice for succeeding in this field.