Create a hub then head to the pub

[Penny Lew]

Whenever I’m starting a new program or inheriting an existing one, one of the first artefacts I look for is a program hub. A program hub is a central place that houses key artefacts that stakeholders (the direct working teams, partner teams, program sponsor, etc.) can find key info about the program to dive deep on areas of interest (program strategy, roadmap, metrics, delivery plan, etc.).

I use Confluence to create the hub where the spokes of the hub are links to other Confluence pages, JSW projects, Atlas goals and projects, and more.

Let’s dive into an example program hub!

ABC Program Hub

What	Details	Recommended Atlassian product and template
Blue info box	Quick blurb on the program, inclusive of workstreams and milestones. Link to your program charter which could be a succinct Confluence page on the program intent, metrics, scope, key dates, risks, and more. (The program charter id’s and defines the program, essentially serving as the golden ticket to start the program.)	Confluence While a project poster template is not a program charter, it's a good template to build off of to create a charter page in Confluence.
Strategy	High-level plan and goals that the program will help realize	Confluence Strategic plan template
Metrics	The OKRs the program contributes to and any dashboards tracking metrics that help inform scoring of the OKRs and the success of the program	Confluence (basic use cases) OKRs template  Atlas (advanced use cases) Atlas goal tracking
Product roadmap	Evolution of the product broken out by monthly/quarterly/yearly increments of time	Confluence (basic uses cases) Product roadmap template  JPD (advanced use cases) Product discovery template
Program plan	How the program will be executed to deliver the program in a set time against specific milestones	Confluence Project plan template
Reporting	Status tracking of projects within a program	Atlas Atlas project communication Check out Communicate effectively with a little help from Atlas - the Atlas update composer for great pointers on using Atlas for project/program communication.
Resourcing	The open and filled positions needed for the program	Confluence Depending on your program's size, it may be optimal to capture resourcing in a tool like GSheet. But if your program is relatively small, you could potentially capture resourcing in a Confluence page such as in a Team homepage template
Registers	It’s a triple whammy here! Successful tracking and closing out of dependencies, risks, and decisions are instrumental to a program’s trajectory. I shared an earlier post on the different flavours of a register at Oh, my most favourite decision and risk register flavours!	Confluence (basic uses cases) Dependency mapping template For risks and dependencies, create a table for each. See Oh, my most favourite decision and risk register flavours! for deets. JSW (advanced uses cases) See Oh, my most favourite decision and risk register flavours! for how I use JSW project boards for risks and decisions. Then check out Project board template.
Contact Us	It can take a village to ship a program! Make sure to have a contacts page listing teams working on the program and how they can be reached.	Confluence  Team homepage template

Keep it tight to make it right

Your hub is essentially a map to help folks self-navigate to key program artefacts so they can quickly onboard, stay aligned on goals, make upward progress, and know who to reach out to. Avoid throwing the kitchen sink into your hub by keeping it light and tight! Some pointers:

• Start the hub ASAP. All the info in your hub may not be readily available or even more so, in a very drafty draft state. That’s ok! Call out sections in your hub that are a work in progress and share a target date when they’ll be ready for consumption.

• Stick to key info. As mentioned, your hub is a map. Don’t distract stakeholders and yourself with detours by listing tangential info. Treat your hub like a product and stick to an MVP.

• Pithy for the win! Short headings and brief descriptions makes for easy scanning. White space is your BFF in a hub.

• Visuals and up to date links. Make your hub engaging with images and direct links to specific info that is up to date. This is table stakes but worth emphasizing as these two elements are what helps capture your stakeholders attention, helps them remember your hub, and gets them to keep coming back.

Wrap up

A program hub is a great way to flaunt your program management skills in connecting the dots and providing clarity on a program. From new team members joining your program needing onboarding to seasoned stakeholders wanting to dive deep into the latest metrics and status on your program, they’ll be able to self-serve through your program hub. (And at the very least, you’ll be able to quickly walk them through what they need as you’ll have all the info centralized in your hub). So, pat yourself on the back for getting your program organized! With your hub set up it’s time to head to the pub!  

[Laurie Sciutti]

Great tips, @Penny Lew !  Cheers!  🍻

[Penny Lew]

Thanks, @Laurie Sciutti ! Have you set something up similar in Confluence or another tool? Would love to hear your experience!

[Laurie Sciutti]

Hi @Penny Lew ~ I have actually, as a blueprint for all new product spaces I create for my company.  While most of our users tend to follow the approach, we do have some that significantly deviate from the recommended approach and end up with something that looks more like a document dumping ground than a helpful wiki.  I like seeing other blueprints (like yours) as it gives me ideas for refining my own.

[Penny Lew]

@Laurie Sciutti , I hear you on the deviations from a blueprint/template given the amount of flexibility user generated content tools can have. On one side, you're trying to provide a standard for folks to follow and then on the other side, it can be easy for folks to get carried away with adding info to the hub thinking all info on the program is equally important!

Ideally, info on the program can be grouped into themes or categories from the start so that the hub can be structured around them. And then from those themes/categories, the most important key info is id'd and linked from the hub.

It might be that some groups/categories start to emerge after a bunch of links get added to the hub. (An example is maybe you started with one metrics dashboard but as your program evolved, other metrics dashboards were id'd. Instead of listing all the dashboards in the hub, create a parent page or parent dash for all the dashboards and have that parent link in the hub vs. the individual dashboard links).  Sometimes, you have to work backwards in an ideal flow.

Are there particulars about other blueprints you've seen that have been useful for you and your teams?

[Rick Breumelhof]

I've implemented a similar hub for my programs but love the clean layout you've designed!

[Penny Lew]

Thanks, @Rick Breumelhof Making good use of white space in a hub is key along with simple imagery. They're my BFFs when creating a hub. :)