Program Management Board

A Program Management Board is a governance body responsible for supervising and directing a program. Its remit covers the program's policy, objectives, resources and management decisions. The board sits above the teams that deliver the work and provides oversight, direction and decision-making authority.

The exact wording differs between organizations. NATO uses closely related forms such as Programme Board, Capability Management Board and named programme boards. In each case the board governs the program rather than running day-to-day delivery, and that distinction is the core of the concept.

How NATO describes programme boards

NATO's Governance and Delivery report separates governance from programme management. It describes a Capability Management Board as the board responsible for supervising the Integrated Project Teams that execute a capability programme. The same report states that, in a P3M approach, the management layer would be a Programme Board. The report is available on nato.int.

NATO's Central Europe Pipeline System shows the same idea in a working programme. Its Programme Board is responsible for policy decisions concerning the management of the system. It establishes policy and objectives, approves annual budgets, approves financial resources and sets the long-term strategic plan.

The NAPMO Board of Directors as a worked example

In the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control programme, the NAEW&C Programme Management Organization Board of Directors (NAPMO BOD) governs the programme. According to the NAPMO page, it has authority over the programme's technical, initial-support, financial and contractual management.

• The Board of Directors has one member from each participating nation.
• It meets at least twice per year.
• At those meetings it reviews the programme, addresses major issues, and provides policy guidance and strategic direction.

Below the board sits the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Programme Management Agency (NAPMA). As the NATO financial audit for 2017 shows, NAPMA is accountable to the Board of Directors for acquisition-strategy coordination, modernization projects, sustainment support and technical airworthiness oversight. The board sets direction and the agency carries it out.

Board, committee and agency are different bodies

Similar names describe different things. A board governs and decides. A programme management agency, such as NAPMA, manages delivery and reports to the board. A committee may be an internal coordination body with a narrower purpose.

Public Services and Procurement Canada, for example, refers to a Program Management Committee for the GC HR and Pay program in its open data listings. That is a different term and concerns internal HR and pay governance, not supplier procurement. NATO's official terminology resource, NATOTerm, is maintained by the NATO Terminology Office within the NATO Standardization Office. It is the reference for NATO usage.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

Program boards decide matters that directly affect suppliers. In the NATO examples, boards hold authority over technical, financial, acquisition, sustainment and contractual questions. If a Canadian solicitation or contract refers to a program board, read the clauses closely and confirm four things:

• Who sits on the board and who speaks for the buyer.
• Which decisions the board makes and which stay with the contracting authority or project authority.
• What reporting, briefings or approvals the contract requires from you.
• How often the board meets, so your delivery schedule can line up with its decision points.

Treat the board as the body that sets direction for the work you are pricing, and write your management approach to match.