# Program

A coordinated set of projects pursuing a shared benefit.

A program is a coordinated set of projects pursued together to achieve a benefit that no single project would deliver on its own. Where a project is accountable for an output, a program is accountable for the outcome and benefit that the outputs are meant to create.

The defining discipline of a program is benefit ownership. Running a program as though it were a large project means managing delivery — schedules, scope, budget — while no one is responsible for whether the coordinated outputs actually produce value. A program without a benefits owner tends to deliver its projects and lose its benefit.

### Commonly confused

A project. A project produces a defined output; a program coordinates projects toward a benefit. Running a program as a big project means managing delivery while no one manages the benefit.

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