Here's how you can excel as a program manager in the future.

To succeed in the future as a program manager, you must embrace agility. This entails having an adaptable mentality and being ready to quickly change course when project specifications or market conditions alter. You can make sure that your team continues to be flexible and strong by cultivating a culture of constant improvement and honest communication. By utilizing agile approaches, you can improve the overall efficiency and success of your project by making data-driven decisions, delivering incremental value, and receiving fast feedback. In the end, agility helps you to drive your projects to better results and effortlessly traverse challenging situations.

Agile project management approaches are becoming increasingly prevalent. Familiarize yourself with Agile frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, and Lean, and be prepared to lead teams using these methodologies.

Suggest scanning through your network; even today, Program Managers who make use of AI as their companion excel and complete many of their daily activities quickly, with proficiency and quality. So they are giving a message, learn and follow their path... Excelling as a program manager in the future involves a blend of technological proficiency, continuous learning, and strong leadership skills. Embrace technology, leverage AI and automation, and continuously adapt to new tools and methodologies. By doing so, you’ll not only enhance your efficiency and effectiveness but also drive innovation and success in your projects. Above are tools to ensure you add value to your clients, teams and Org. That's pivotal.

Stay up-to-date with the latest tools, software, and technologies that can streamline program management. This may include project management software, collaboration platforms, and data analytics tools.

Effective program managers think beyond just executing projects. Develop the ability to align program initiatives with the organization's overall business strategy and goals.

People Skills are a subtle category of soft skills that helps in fostering relationships, understanding team dynamics, and inspiring collaboration. It’s the balance between leadership and empathy, driving success through people-centric approaches.

People skill often plays a very important role in Program management as they are in the center of execution. It's important as a leader to understand capabilities/Skillset of each individuals in the team and distribute tasks effectively. Leaders can also use SMART goals in team for a smooth execution and high quality delivery of programs. People skill is also a reflection of how you manage your stakeholders, maintain great communication within and ensure a safe environment for employees to share ideas effectively.

To excel as a program manager in the future, I believe in the power of continuous learning. By staying informed about industry trends, refining my project management skills, and developing my leadership abilities, I aim to tackle complex challenges effectively and achieve successful outcomes. Embracing lifelong learning not only ensures I remain adaptable and innovative but also enables me to drive projects forward and foster team success

Engage in ongoing professional development, attend industry events, and seek feedback to continuously enhance your program management skills and knowledge.

Try Pre-Mortem workshop. I did recently, amazingly below are the outcomes : - Great Collaboration across the teams - Each team identified the potential risks that could derail or make project failure - Achieved great confidence across the teams, client and key stakeholders What is Pre-Mortam: A pre-mortem session is a valuable strategy to anticipate and mitigate potential risks and challenges in an IT project before it begins. Imaginary Failure Scenario and start listing the risks.. A Great way to start your engagement to be successful.

Excelling as a program manager is realising its both an art and a science. Yes, the science can be achieved from courses and theory but the power move, which sets your above all others, aka the art, comes from understanding the nuances: fostering collaboration, navigating interpersonal dynamics, and inspiring teams towards a shared vision. A skilled program manager harmonizes these aspects, leveraging data-driven insights while also intuitively adapting to evolving challenges. Consider yourself a Progam Jedi - take your structured training, your tool sets (lightsabers) and your empathy to make a real difference #ProgramManagementJedi

Through the journey of Program Management role, ensure AI & Gen AI capabilities are leveraged to add value to yourself, to your teams and clients. Smartly use to augment and support your decisions, don't go with AI decisions just like that.