In From Tactics to Strategy: Stepping Up as a Program Manager I share advice I gave someone in the r/Project Management to a Project Manager moving up to doing Program Manager level work.

"Sooo, you're now going to do more strategic work and your focus should be at the 30k ft. level, not the 100ft level. Make sense?

My $.02 for free:

• Do you have PMs for each project?
• If so, ask them to help shore up the information you need
• If not, KISS
• Gather what I call the "Foundational 5" of Leader/Sponsor's intent, objectives, team organization structure, resources and communications plans for each project
• To track at a program level you need a list (MS Teams, Excel, Jira, etc.)
• Suggested list headings
• Project Name
• Phase (Discovery, Design, QA/Testing, Deployment, Complete or Cancelled)
• Estimated % complete (0, 25, 50, 75 or 100)
• Primary workstream/swimlane/category
• Owner
• Status (Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, Complete)
• Priority (High, Medium, Low)
• Due/Go Live Date"

Have a plan, stay informed and get involved,

Kevin

Kevin Pannell, PMP | Creator & Host KEV Talks Podcast