The Future of Program Management: How Will Trends in Employment Style Affect Program Management?

Abstract

The fast growth of working remotely and in hybrid ways has changed how businesses work together and has created challenges and opportunities for program management. Although there are more studies on remote working at the project or team levels, research on the impact of changing ways of working on how we perform program management across different industries is still limited. This study aims to fill this gap by examining how remote and hybrid work impacts coordination, leadership, oversight of performance, and governance in program management. To conduct this study, we did a literature review using data that was published between 2015 and 2025. The sources for the study were taken from different databases and websites using keywords such as remote working, hybrid working, and program management. A total of six studies, which satisfied the inclusion criteria, were used to analyze the impact across three industries: software, construction, and the public sector. These results suggest that future program management will depend on digitally enabled governance, trust-based leadership, and standardized hybrid coordination practices. This requires program managers to balance accountability and collaboration in increasingly fluid, distributed work environments.