What is the difference between Project Management and Program Management?

Let's think about it using something we really love: Lego.

Think about when we build a Lego set. It has a specific goal (to make the set according to the instructions), it has a clear beginning (opening the box and sorting the bricks), and end (the set is built, and you can play with it). That's like a project in project management. Each project has a clear goal, a start, and a finish.

Now imagine we want to build an entire city of Lego sets - a fire station, a police station, a park, some houses, and of course, a super cool race car track. Building each set is a project of its own, but they all connect to make your Lego city. Managing all these different projects together is like program management.

In simple terms, project management is about managing one single, focused project (like building a Lego set), and program management is about managing a group of related projects (like creating a Lego city). Each project in the program has its own goal, but they all work together towards a bigger purpose.