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IMP/IMSStepbyStepBuildingtheIntegratedMasterPlanandIntegratedMasterSchedulefromProposalandSuccessfulExecution

Building,deploying,andexecutinganIMP/IMSrequireschangeintheconventionalparadigmofprojectplanningandcontrolsandthemanagementprocesses.ThischangestartsbymeasuringprogressasthecompletionofAccomplishmentCriteria(AC)andthefulfillmentofSignificantAccomplishments(SA).Thisprogressisdescribedthroughtheassessmentofphysicalpercentcompleteratherthanmeasuringprogressthroughthepassageoftimeandconsumptionofresources.

ThischangemeansplanningVerticallyforeachProgramEvent(PE),fromtheexitcriteriaofWorkPackagestotheirAccomplishmentCriteria(AC),totheSignificantAccomplishments(SA),tothePE.Onlythen,canplanningtakeplaceHorizontallyforthedependenciesbetweenProgramEvents.Aswell,achangetakesplaceinconventionalapproachtoProgramEvents.TheseProgramEventsaremorethanmilestones.Theyarematurityassessmentpointsintheprogram,wherepre-defineddeliverablesareassessedtoassureTechnicalPerformanceisbeingmetagainstthepre-definedmetrics.Aswellthatthepre-definedlevelsofriskarebeingretiredormitigatedasplanned.

AllthesechangesmeandefiningthetechnicalandprogrammaticperformancemeasuresforthecriticalACdescribingwhat“done”lookslikepriortostartingthework.

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MotivationofthisGuide

“Ifaprofessionistosharpenitsskills,todevelopnewskillsandapplications,andtogainincreasingrespectandcredibility,thentheoryandpracticemustbecloselyrelated”–MartinShrub

In tegrated Master P lan / In tegrated Master Schedule S tep-by-Step

Copyright©2017,GlenB.Alleman,AllRightsReserved

SourceBackground

ThematerialsinthisguideoriginatefromavarietyofsourcesandexperiencesindevelopingIMP/IMSandapplyingthemfromtheproposalphasethroughtheexecutionphaseofprograms.Alldiagramsandsomeofthetextaretakenfrompublicsources,manyofwhicharegovernmentstandards.Everyattempthasbeenmadetoprovidefullcredittothesepublicsources.

ThefieldexperienceofdevelopinganddeployingIMP/IMSincludes:

§ RockyFlatsEnvironmentalTechnologySite(CH2MHill)§ WesternAreaPowerAuthorityproposal(CH2MHill)§ OakRidgeNationalLaboratoriesK–25Reclamation(CH2MHill)§ IdahoNationalLaboratoryReclamationproposal(CH2MHill)§ HubbleRoboticServiceMissionproposalandexecution(LockheedMartinSpaceSystemsCompany)§ CrewExplorationVehicle(renamedOrion)proposalandexecution(LockheedMartinSpaceSystemsCompany)§ GPSIIIOCXGroundSystem(Raytheon)§ JointPrecisionApproachLandingSystem(JPALS)proposal(HoneywellDefenseandSpace)§ AresInstrumentUnit(AvionicsRing)proposal(BallAerospaceandTechnologyCompany)

In tegrated Master P lan / In tegrated Master Schedule Step-by-Step


ThereisnosinglesourceforthemandatoryuseofIMP/IMSinthesamewayEarnedValueandanIMS.However,theIMPreferencesItstartwiththeEVMSstandards,andissupportedbyDID81861andtheSystemsEngineeringapproachofEventBasedPerformanceMeasurement.

Manyproposalscallforan“EventBasedPlan,”andprovidethemandatoryEvents.TheofferorisrequestedtoprovideanIMPandconnectthistotheIMS.

TheOfficialMotivationsfortheIMP/IMSApproach

Part2.B.3AcquisitionStrategies,ExitCriteria,andRiskManagement

§ Eventdrivenacquisitionstrategiesandprogramplansmustbebasedonrigorous,objectiveassessmentsofaprogram’sstatusandtheplansformanagingriskduringthenextphaseandtheremainderoftheprogram.

§ Theacquisitionstrategyandassociatedcontractingactivitiesmustexplicitlylinkmilestonedecisionreviewstoeventsanddemonstratedaccomplishmentsindevelopment,testing,andinitialproduction.

§ Theacquisitionstrategymustreflecttheinterrelationshipsandscheduleofacquisitionphasesandeventsbasedonthelogicalsequenceofdemonstratedaccomplishmentsnotonfiscalorcalendarexpediency.

DoDInst5000.2,OperationofDefenseAcquisitionSystem,May12,2003

§ EVMisaregulatoryInformationRequirement§ ImplementEVMGuidelinesinANSI/EIA–748C

DefenseAcquisitionHandbookJune7,2016,Chapter11.3.1.4.2(ReplacedDoD5000.2–R)

§ Guidanceonpreviouspolicy§ RevisedEVMcontentsinChapter11

BasicRequirementsforEVMS

§ EarnedValueManagementSystem(EVMS)incompliancewithANSI/EIA–748isrequiredonallcostorincentivecontractsequaltoorgreaterthan$20M.

§ AformallyvalidatedandacceptedEVMSisrequiredforcostorincentivecontractsequaltoorgreaterthan$50M.

§ EVMmaybeimposedoncontractslessthan$20Masarisk–baseddecisionoftheprogrammanagerbasedonacost/benefitanalysis.

DFARSClauses

§ NoticeofEarnedValueManagementSystem(MAR2005),DFARS252.242–7001.§ EarnedValueManagementSystem(MAR2005),DFARS252.242–7002.

DataRequirements

§ Forcontractsgreaterthan$20M§ IntegratedProgramManagementReport(IPMR)DI-MGMT-81861§ IntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)(DIDDI–MGMT–81861)isrequired

§ Aproduct–orientedContractWorkBreakdownStructure(CWBS)inaccordancewiththeDoDWBSHandbook(MIL–STD–881C)andtheCWBSDID(DI–MGMT–81334D)ismandatorywhenEVMisimplementedandaIPMRandanIMSarerequired.

§ ForcontractsthatrequireContractorCostDataReports(CCDRs),theCWBSwillbedeveloped,approved,andmaintainedinaccordancewithDoD5000.4–M–1,CostandSoftwareDataReportingManual,andtheCWBSDID.

§ AsingleCWBSwillbedevelopedandmaintainedforallcontractorreporting.§ AContractFundsStatusReport(CFSR)(DI–MGMT–81468)isrequired.§ NospecificdollarthresholdsareestablishedfortheCFSR,butapplicationtocontractsoflessthan$1.5Mshouldbecarefullyevaluated.

MoreGuidance

§ SystemsEngineeringHandbook,AGuideforsystemlife-cycle-processesandactivities,FourthEdition,



§ DFARS252.242–7001and252.242–7002willbeappliedtoallcontractsrequiringEVMintheinterimperioduntilthenewDFARSclausesareapprovedandpublished.

§ However,forcontractsequaltoorgreaterthan$20Mbutlessthan$50MtheSOWmustcontainaspecialstatementthatexcludestherequirementfortheGovernmenttoformallyvalidate/acceptthecontractor’smanagementsystem(novalidationreview).

TheConceptofEventBasedPlanningas“StrategyMaking”

Everyprojectmanagerislookingfora“winning”strategytomanageprojects.

§ Programmaticarchitecturedefinesthecreationofincreasingvalueastheschedulemovesfromlefttoright.Theevaluationofthisincreasingvalueisperformancethroughreviewandevaluationevents.AteachEventthepredefinedmaturityanditsassociatedvalueisevaluatedforcompliancewiththeplan.

§ TheseEventsarecapabilityassessmentpointsintheprogram.TheseEventsaremini-“AuthorizationstoProceed.”AteachEvent,theprogramisassessedforitsplannedmaturityasdefinedintheReviewEntryandExitcriteria.AsourceofthiscriterionthroughCDRcanbefoundattheNAVAIRsite.

§ ThecapabilitiesavailableateacheventcanbesubstantiatedusingSignificantAccomplishments(SA)andtheirAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).

§ CompletionofeachSignificantAccomplishmentandtheirAccomplishmentCriteriaarethephysicalmeasuresoftheexistenceofthecapability.ThisisthedefinitionofPhysicalPercentComplete.

§ Theprogram’sworktasksproducetheproductsorservicesthatenablethecapabilitiesneededbytheprogram.§ Thecriticalconceptisthatnoworkshouldbeperformedthatdoesnotresultintheincreasingmaturityofacapability

§ Identifyingthisworkshouldbeperformedforaneededcapabilityforeachprogramevent.Thisistheconnectionbetweenvertical(IMP)andhorizontal(IMS).

§ TheIMSdescribestheworkrequiredtoproducetheSignificantAccomplishments(SA).TheassessmentthatthisworkhasresultedinanacceptableconclusionisdefinedinthenarrativeoftheAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).

§ ThestrategyforsuccessfullycompletingtheprogramisstatedinthelogicalsequencesoftheSignificantAccomplishments.AstheSAsmovethroughtheirlogicalsequence,theproductsandservicestheyproduceincreaseintheirmaturityforeachProgramEvent(PE).

StrategyMaking,IMP/IMSandaSystemsEngineeringProcess

BuildingproductsorprovidingservicesusingIMP/IMSwithinasystemsengineeringcontextisastepbystepprocess:

1. Createavisionoftheoutcome–thisisusuallydescribedintheConceptofOperations2. Analyzethecurrentsituation–performanceanAnalysisofAlternatives3. Determineastrategyformovingfromthecurrentsituationtotheoutcome–what“maturityincreasing”

activitiesmustbeperformedtomoveforward4. Selectthesystemsdevelopmentactivitiesneededtomakethismove–thesearetheSignificant

AccomplishmentsforeachProgramEvent5. Draftaplanbasedontheseactivities–arrangetheSAsinalogicalsequenceforeachProgramEvent6. Performapilotsetofactivitiestoconfirmtheyresultindesirableoutcomes7. Evaluatetheseresults–“test”thelogicoftheSAstoassureincreasingmaturitywillresult8. Executetheprocessesinsteps6and7untiltheoutcomeisreached–developtheAccomplishment

CriteriaforeachSAandthetopactivitiesforeachAC.Thisextremelysimplemindedapproachisthebasisofallcredibledevelopmentactivities.Thechallengecomesinfindinghowthedetailsofeachsteparetobedefined,developed,executed.Thisisthepurposeofthisdocument.



IMP/IMSStepByStepTableofContents

1 FirstPrinciplesofIMP/IMS.....................................................................................................................................1

1.1 IMP/IMSFeaturesandBenefits....................................................................................................................51.2 IMP/IMSisaSystemsEngineeringProcessnotaSchedulingProcess..........................................................61.3 StepbyStepforBuildingtheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP).........................................................................81.4 CreatingaFullyIntegratedIMP/IMS...........................................................................................................121.5 SomeDefinitionsNeededforIMP/IMS.......................................................................................................131.6 IncreasingMaturityistheOnlyMeasureofProgress.................................................................................151.7 LogicalFlowofTaskswithintheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)...........................................................191.8 DecomposingtheSystem............................................................................................................................201.9 ProcessFlowoftheIMPandIMSElements................................................................................................221.10 LinkVerticallywithinanEvent....................................................................................................................231.11 LinkHorizontallywithinanEvent................................................................................................................241.12 LinkHorizontallyacrossEvents...................................................................................................................261.13 IntegratingtheIMPandIMSwithEarnedValue.........................................................................................281.14 Summary.....................................................................................................................................................32

2 ProcessFlowtoBuildTheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP).....................................................................................33

2.1 DefiningtheProgramEvents......................................................................................................................372.2 DefiningtheSignificantAccomplishmentforeachProgramEvent............................................................382.3 DefiningtheACsforeachSA.......................................................................................................................39

3 BuildingtheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)...................................................................................................40

3.1 BuildingaCDRLsplan..................................................................................................................................413.2 TheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS).......................................................................................................413.3 StructuringtheIMS.....................................................................................................................................42

4 TheWorkBreakdownStructure(WBS)................................................................................................................43

4.1 ToIndentorNotIndentThatistheQuestion.............................................................................................444.2 CapturingtheACcontents..........................................................................................................................444.3 BuildingtheIMS..........................................................................................................................................454.4 ConnectingCostandSchedule....................................................................................................................47

5 IntegratingCostandSchedule.............................................................................................................................48

5.1 DollarizedRAM............................................................................................................................................485.2 CrossReferenceofallMaterials..................................................................................................................495.3 ResourceAssignments,LoadingandLeveling.............................................................................................495.4 EstablishingtheEarnedValue.....................................................................................................................49

6 WorkingonanExecutionTeam...........................................................................................................................53

6.1 IntegratingtheIndividualEventSchedules.................................................................................................536.2 DefiningtheFunctionalTechnicalflows.....................................................................................................536.3 ExecutingthePerformanceMeasurementBaseline...................................................................................536.4 BusinessRhythms........................................................................................................................................536.5 IMSArchitectureandExecution..................................................................................................................53

7 WorkingonaProposalTeam...............................................................................................................................54

7.1 IterativeandIncrementaldevelopmentoftheIMP/IMS............................................................................557.2 FocusOnOnlyThree(3)ThingsADayForTheTeam.................................................................................567.3 HaveAutomation........................................................................................................................................567.4 WorkingOnATeam....................................................................................................................................567.5 NeverLeavetheRoomWithoutIt..............................................................................................................57



7.6 BetterIsTheEnemyOfGoodEnough.........................................................................................................577.7 VerticalLinking............................................................................................................................................587.8 HorizontalLinking........................................................................................................................................59

8 References...........................................................................................................................................................60

TablesTable1–theuseofIMP/IMSprovidesdirectbenefitstotheprogramnotfoundintraditionalapproaches.Eachof

thesebenefitsneededtobetestedinpracticebydefiningtheProgramManagementPlan(PMP)processesthatproducethebehaviorsneededtodeliverthebenefits.Simplystatingthebenefitsarepresentisnotsufficient.Andactualplantodeliverthebenefitsisneeded.................................................................................5

Table2–EachstepinthedevelopmentoftheIMPbuildsanincreasingfidelityofthefinalproduct.......................10Table3–SampledefinitionsofIMPverbs.SometimetheRFPprovidesalistoftheseverbs.Sometimestheverbs

comefromthestandardproceduresofthefirm.Inallcases,adictionaryofverbsisneededandshouldbelimitedtothoseverbsthatdescribeactualoutcomesmeaningfultothecustomerandtheprovider...............17

Table4–ActionverbstobeusedasthefirstwordforeachTaskintheIMS.TheseverbscomplementtheverbsusedattheendofthedescriptionoftheIMPelements.....................................................................................19

Table5–These10processesmustbeimplementedinorderforEarnedValuetobeusefulintheIMP/IMSenvironment.Theseconceptsaretakendirectlyfrom“EarnedValueProjectManagement:APowerfulToolforSoftwareProjects,”QuentinFlemingandJoelKoppelman,CrossTalk,July1998...............................................32

Table6–Noteveryoneis“wiredup”toworkonaproposalteam.Thesuccesscriteriaforaproposalteammemberstartswithsometrainingonhowthemanageaproposal,whichcanbefoundinbooksandtheclassroomaswellasformal“onthejob”trainingwithaproposalmanagementfirm.However,moreimportantlyarethepersonalityattributesofaproposalteammember.............................................................................................54

FiguresFigure1–TheIMPandtheIMSareahierarchyofProgramdescriptions,eachconnectedthroughasingleparent

andmultiplechildren.This“wellformed”treetopologyiscriticaltothemeasurementofincreasingmaturityoftheprogram.......................................................................................................................................................1

Figure2–TheDOD5000.2processmodelneedstobeunderstoodinordertodefinethetypesofmaturityassessmentprocessesforAccomplishmentCriteria.“Done”hasadifferentdefinitioninaConceptandtechnologyDevelopmentprogramthanitdoesforaProductandDeploymentProgramandevenmoredifferentforanOperationalSupportprogram......................................................................................................7

Figure3–TheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)andIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)arepartofanoverallProgrammaticArchitecturethatstartswiththeRFPandendswiththeexecutionoftheprogram.TheIMPandthesupportingIMSaretheframeworkfortheexecutionoftheprogramaswelltheframeworkfortheprogrammaticwinthemesoftheproposal...........................................................................................................9

Figure4–ConnectingtheStatementofWorktotheContractWorkBreakdownStructure,totheIntegratedMasterPlan,totheIntegratedMasterScheduleandfinallytotheBasisofEstimate.ThetraceabilitybetweentheseartifactsshouldbetheIMP/IMSnumber.However,inmanycases,thisisnotpossible.TheWBSisthenextbesttracenumber,iftheWBSiswellformed.IntheabsenceofawellformedWBS,theIMP/IMSnumberisthebesthopeofconnectingtheprogrammaticaspectswiththetechnicalmaturityaspectsofaprogram......13

Figure5–ThecontentoftheIMPelements(Event,Accomplishment,Criteria)makesuseofasentenceendinginapasttenseverb.TherearealimitednumberoftheseverbsofmostIMPs.TheydefinedthestateoftheproductorservicethatresultsfromtheactivitiesthatcomposetheAccomplishmentCriteria–thetasksofthe



IMS.learningtospeakinthepasttenseofthebasisoftheIMP.Describingwhat“done”lookslikerequiresapasttenseverbbeconnectedwith“done.”........................................................................................................16

Figure6–ThesourceofguidanceandmaterialsforbuildingtheIMPandtheIMScomesfromavarietyofsources.Someofofficialguidancefromthegovernment.SomefromtheRFPandmanyfromtrainingandguidancesourcesavailableontheweb,throughcoursesandbooks.................................................................................20

Figure7–TheflowfromrequirementstoWBStotasksisreplicatedintheIMPandIMS.Thistraceabilityofcriticalinboththeproposalenvironment,mandatedbythe§Land§MguidelinesandtheexecutionenvironmentfortheEVMScollectionofphysicalprogresstoplan................................................................................................21

Figure8–TheconnectionsbetweentheIMPandIMSelementsisusedtodemonstratetheincreasingmatureoftheprogram.TheseflowscanalsobeconnectedtotheCrossReferenceMatrix(CRM)requiredinmostproposals.Aswelltraceabilityforprogramperformance(EVMSmeasures)isprovidedthroughtheIMPandIMSelementsfromvariouspointsofview..........................................................................................................22

Figure9–TheconnectionsoftaskswithintheACmustlandontheplaceholderfortheAC.BecauseMicrosoftProjectdoesnotallowlinkagetoSummaryTasks(Primaveracallsthesehammocktask),anersatztaskisneededto“holdtheplace”oftheAC.ThesameisthecasefortheSAandPE.Withtheseplaceholdersandcomplete“network”canbeconstructedfortheIMSandIMP.Nowidowsororphansforanyelement...........24

Figure10–ThelinkagetotheSAandthentothePEisdoneinthesamewaythelinkagefromtheTaskswithintheAC.ThislinkageiscriticalinmaintainingtheverticalnatureoftheIMPwhileprovidingthebasisforthehorizontalconnectionsoftheIMS.BothVerticalandHorizontalconnectionsareneededintheend...............24

Figure11–ConnectionsbetweenAccomplishmentCriteria–Theonlyhorizontalconnections,othersthanthestartofacollectionoftasksfromanSAorPE,ismadefromthepredecessorACtothefirsttaskintheSuccessorAC.Inthisway,thedependenciesbetweencollectionsofworkareisolatedtothecompletionofthepreviouscollectionofwork.Thistopologyimprovesthevisibilityinto“done”andisolatespartiallycompletedworkfrombeconsumedbydownstreamactivitiesresultingin“rework”onceitiscompleted..........................................26

Figure12–thehorizontalconnectionsbetweenprogramfiles–theindividualProgramEvents–ismadethroughaSend(SND)andReceive(RCV)field.TheseconnectionsarethenmadeintoactualpredecessorandsuccessorconnectionsinaMasterFilethroughaVBAmacrothatlocatesmatchingpairsandinsertstheproperlinkage..............................................................................................................................................................................27

Figure13–MicrosoftProjectServer2007providesan“outofthebox”solutiontotheinter-filedependencyissuesdescribedabove–theDELIVERABLESfield.ThisapproachcanreplacetheVisualBasicmacrosneededtoconnectthefiles...................................................................................................................................................28

Figure14–theprocessflowfordevelopingtheIMPshouldbestrictlyfollowed.IthasbeenshownthatnotfollowingthisflowleadstoconfusionandreworkoftheIMPelements.Eachstepmustbeevaluatedforitscompletenessandsuitabilityforuse.Ifthisisnotdonereworkandlostworkwillresult.Intheproposalenvironment,timeandresourcesarelimited.Managingtheproposalasa“timeboxed”projectisthestartingpointforsuccess..................................................................................................................................................33

Figure15–asampleofanIMPproducedfromaMicrosoftProjectfile.ThisviewistakenfromtheplaceholdersinthefilethatrepresenttheindividualIMPelements.TheIMPnumberingisinsertedbyamacroaswellastheprefixinfrontofeachIMPphrase.ThephrasecontentsaretakenfromthesummarytasksintheGanttviewofthefile..................................................................................................................................................................36

Figure16–definingtheSignificantAccomplishmentsforaProgramEventinthiswayshowsboththeincreasingmaturityandtheIPTstreamsthatproducethismaturity.Thedevelopmentofthis“picture”oftheProgramEventtakesplaceusingaMini–ProductKaizen.SystemsEngineeringandPlanningandControlssitinaroomandworkouttheprocessflowoftheSAsfortheEvent.Fromthisstructure,theIMPcanbedevelopeddirectly.ThisisamuchbetterapproachthenjustlistingtheSAsandtheresultingACsinalinearmanner......38



Figure17–ThenotionalconceptofanIMPandanIMSdescribestheTasksneededtocompletetheAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).TheseAccomplishmentCriteriainturndefinetheincreasingmaturityoftheworkproductsinsupportoftheSignificantAccomplishments...........................................................................40

Figure18–LinkingthetaskstotheAccomplishmentCriteriawithineachACfirstistheprocessusedtomaintaintheintegrityoftheACbeforestartingtolinkbetweenACs.ThisstructureisthebasisofindividualWorkPackagesthatcanthenbemeasuredwithPhysicalPercentCompletefortheWorkPackageandApportionedMilestoneswithintheWorkPackageitself..........................................................................................................46

Figure19–oneapproachthathasworkedwellinthepastistohavea“preamble”onthefrontofeachProgramEventfilethatcontainstheEventnames,dates,anddeadlines.ThisinformationshouldbekeptinaseparateMSFTProjectfileandupdatedthroughamacro,eitherfromadatabaseouraninternalprocess.Singlesource–multipleusekeepseverythingstraight.LinkingfromwithinthebodyoftheProgramEventfileisthewaytoisolatetheevents.ThenthepreambleislinkedtotheMasterProgramEventfilewhenallthefilesareassembledintoasingleMasterFile.....................................................................................................................58


G len B . A l leman , Copyr igh t © 2017 1|P a g e

§ TheIntegratedMasterPlan/IntegratedMasterSchedule(IMP/IMS)definesandtrackstheincreasingmaturityofaProgramthroughprogrammaticandtechnicalperformancemeasures.

§ TheIMSisaverticallyintegratedexecutionscheduletraceabletotheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP).

§ Oncethisverticaltraceabilityhasbeenestablished,thehorizontaldependenciescanbedefined.

§ TheIMPisanEventBasedplan,notatimebasedschedule.TheIMSistimebasedrepresentationoftheachievementsneededforthedefinedprogrammaturityofdeliverablesdescribedintheProgramEvents

1 First Principles of IMP/IMS ThetermsIntegrated,Master,Plan,andSchedulehavespecialmeaningintheIMP/IMSparadigm.Thesemeaningsaredifferentfromtraditionalprojectmanagementusage:

§ Integrated–verticalandhorizontaltraceabilitybetweentheplannedwork,theProgramEvents,andthecustomerrequirementsdefinedintheRFP,StatementofWork,StatementofObjectivesandthesupportingdocuments(CDRLs,DRDsandDIDs).

§ Master–theallinplanandscheduledefinedatthreelevelsofdetail.

§ Plan–thestrategyforcompletingtheproject.ThisplanrepresentstheincreasingmaturityoftheprogramthroughProgramEvents(PE),SignificantAccomplishments(SA),andtheirAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).

§ Schedule–thesequenceofworkactivitiesneededtofulfilltheAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).

ManagingprojectsusingIMP/IMSisnewtomanyorganizationsand"oldhat"toothers.FromthecurrentUSDepartmentofDefenseGuideline:

§ TheIMPandIMSarebusinesstoolsthatenhancethemanagementofdevelopment,acquisition,modification,andsustainmentprograms.Theyprovideasystematicapproachtoprogramplanning,scheduling,andexecution.Theyareequallyapplicabletocompetitiveandsolesourceprocurementswithindustry,aswellasGovernmentin-houseefforts.Theyprovideatoolforimprovedday–to–dayprogramexecutionandforongoinginsightintoprogramstatusbybothGovernmentprogramofficepersonnelandcontractorpersonnel.Theyhelpdevelopandsupport“what–if”exercisesandtoidentifyandassesscandidateproblemworkarounds.

§ TheIMPisanevent–basedplanconsistingofahierarchyofprogramevents,witheacheventbeingsupportedbyspecificaccomplishments,andeachaccomplishmentassociatedwithspecificcriteriatobesatisfiedforitscompletion.TheIMPisnormallypartofthecontractandthuscontractuallybinding.TheIMPisanarrativeexplainingtheoverallmanagementoftheprogram.

TheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)andtheassociatedIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)arecomposedoffive(5)tiersshowninFigure1.

ProgramEvents–areperiodicassessmentsoftheprogram’smaturitythroughreviewsorphysicaldemonstrationoftheSignificantAccomplishments.SignificantAccomplishments–aretheEntryCriteriafortheProgramEvents.AccomplishmentCriteria–aretheExitCriteriafortheworkeffort.TheACdescribeswhat“done”lookslikeforthecollectionofTasks.EachACistheterminalactivityforthiscollectionofTasksinthenetworkofactivities.Tasks–arethefirstlevelworkeffort(WorkPackages)neededtofulfilltheAccomplishmentCriteria.TheseTasksare“self-contained”withintheACsandproducethedeliverablesthatfulfillthe“exitcriteria.”TheirdurationdefinesthedurationoftheAC.CareisneededtounderstandanddeploythisapproachtoavoidhavingtasksthatspanmorethanoneProgramEvent.Ifthisisthecase,theTasks

Figure1–TheIMPandtheIMSareahierarchyofProgramdescriptions,eachconnectedthroughasingleparentandmultiplechildren.This“wellformed”treetopologyiscriticaltothemeasurementofincreasingmaturityoftheprogram.


2|P a g e G len B . A l leman , Copyr igh t © 2017

andtheresultingACsandSAsmustbesplitintosmallercollectionsofworkthatremainwithintheboundariesoftheProjectEvent.ThisisacriticalconceptinthedevelopmentoftheVerticalIMStraceability.AllworkintheIMSisverticallytraceabletotheProgramEvents–thisisthedefinintionofawellformedplan

SupplementalSchedules–detailedexecutionschedulesforeachtaskwithinanAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).ThefirstleveltaskswithintheACareusuallythetoplevelactivitiesofaWorkPackage.ThesupplementalschedulesareprivateschedulesusuallyheldbytheCAMs,describingthedetailsofhowtheseWorkPackageactivitieswillbeexecuted.ThedetailsofthesesupplementalschedulesaremanytimesthebasisofthephysicalpercentcompletereportingsystemfortheWorkPackage.

IncreasingLevelsofDetailConnectsPhysicalProgresswithIncreasingMaturity

TheIMP/IMSparadigmcontainsfourlevelsofincreasingdetail.Alllevelsareneededforsuccess.Nolevelcabbeskippedorbemissing.Allmilestones,deliverables,maturityassessmentpointsmustbetraceablethroughalllevelsoftheIMP/IMS.

§ ProgramMasterSchedule(PMS)–PresentstheContractPeriodofPerformance(POP),ProgramEvents(PE),KeyMilestones,MajorProgramDeliverables,andReportsProgressataSummaryLevel.TheProgramMasterScheduleincludestheFirstLevelWBSandSignificant,MeasurableEventsforEachLevel–TwoWBSElement.

§ IntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)–IdentifiesProgramEvents(PE),SignificantAccomplishments(SA),andAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).TheProgramMasterScheduleestablishestheStructure,Parameters&BasisfortheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)Development.

§ IntegratedMasterschedule(IMS)–TheIMSisalogicnetworkscheduleofprogramplannedactivitieskeyedtotheIMP’saccomplishmentcriteria.TheIMSisthebasisoftheperformancemeasurementsystem;commonelementintegratingcost,schedule,andperformance.TheIMSisconstructedtoprovideintegratedplanningtotheworkpackagetasklevel,provideshorizontalandverticaltraceabilityforthisworkandsummarizationofinformationandcriticalpathidentificationandanalysis.

§ SupplementalSchedules–arecreated–asneeded–toprovidelowerlevelsofdetailwithintheACschedules.ThesupplementalschedulesaresummarizedintheIMSandarepartoftheprogram’sPerformanceMeasurementBaseline(PMB).TheSupplementalSchedulessupportcontrolaccountschedulesandthemanagementofday–to–dayoperations.TheseschedulesareheldbytheCAMsandarenotonbaseline.However,theseschedulesarecriticaltotheexecutionoftheIMS,sincetheycontainthedetailsofhowtheprogramwillbeexecutedattheday–to–daylevel.

TheCoreConceptofEventBasedSchedulingisMeasuringPlannedMaturity

Thechallengeindevelopingacredibleplanandthesupportingschedulesistoensurethatallidentifiedactivtiesmovetheprogramforwardinameasureableway.The“unitsofmeasure”ofthismovementmustbemeaningfultoalltheprogram’sparticipantsandbeassessiblethroughtheperformancemanagementprocessesbytheProgramPlanningandControls(PP&C)staff.ThefirstimpulseistousetheWorkBreakdownStructure(WBS)asthemeansoforganizingtheprogramplanandschedules.Eventbasedplanningandschedulingprovidesanalternativeapproachforseveralbenefits:

§ Measuringtheincreasingmaturityoftheproductsandservicesproducedbytheworkeffortmustbedirectlyconnectedtothevalueproducedbytheprogramforthecustomer.ThisissometimesreferredtoaCapabilitiesBasedPlanning.Theprogramplanstateswhatcapabilitieswillbeavailableatwhattime,howthesecapabilitieswillbedescribedandassessedandhowthesemeasureswillbemadevisibleintheplansandschedules.

§ ByisolatingallworktoAccomplishmentCriteria“containers,”themeasurementofprogresscanbedescribedbytheExitCriteriaofthiscollectionofwork.Thisremovesthedefaultconceptofmeasuringprogressbythepassageoftimeandconsumptiononmoney.



ThetermIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)shouldnotbeconfusedwitha“schedule.”TheIMSisderivedfromtheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP).Withoutthisderivation–directtraceabilityofTaskstotheAccomplishmentCriteria,theSignificantAccomplishments,andtheProgramEvent–the“schedule”isnotintegrated.Itissimplyaschedule.Possiblyausefulschedule.ButnotanIntegratedMaster.Schedule.Withoutthedisciplineofvertical

integration,the“schedule”turnsintothealltoofamiliarrat’snestoftasks.Thestructuralintegrity,visibleflowofincreasingmaturityandcredibilityisdescribedinarobust,resilient,andrisktolerantscheduleisthenlost.

Productv.Functionalgoestothecoreofdefining“whatdoesdonelooklike?”

IntheFunctionalapproachtoplanning,“done”meanstheconclusionoftheallottedtimeperiodofperformance.Thisisnotliterallytrue,sincedeliverablesresultinthetaskeffortperformedbythefunctionalunits.IntheProductapproachtoplanning,“done”isdefinedupfrontintheSA/ACdescriptions.Theaccomplishmentsandthecriteriastateexplicitlywhatmustbe“done”inordertocompleteanEvent.Thisinversionofthedefinitionof“done,”fromthepassageoftimeandreachingamilestone,tothedescriptionofthedeliverablescreatesanewvocabularyforplanning.Approachingeachplanningactivityfromtheviewof“whatdoesdonelooklike?”isthestartingpointofIMP/IMS.Oncetheanswerstothisquestionaredeveloped,theplanningoftaskdurationsbecomesstraightforward–wellasstraightforwardaspossible–sincetheoutcomehasbeendefined.

§ The“hardpart”isIMP/IMSischangingourhabitsofdefiningthetasksfirst–insteadwemustdefine“whatdonelookslike”firstandonlythendefinehowtogetto“done.”

§ Definingtheevents,theaccomplishmentsthatresultfromtheevent,thecriteriaforassessingthematurityoftheaccomplishmentisthecycleofanIMP/IMSplanner.

§ GatheringtherawmaterialsforIMP/IMSisstraightforwardifapproachedinaniterative/incrementalmanner.§ Thedifficultyisavoidingthenaturaltendencytoarrangetherawmaterialsinatimephasedorderbyworkeffort.

§ Continuallyaskingthequestion,“Whatdoesdonelooklike”reinforcestheIMP/IMSapproach.Ifyouarenotaskingquestionsandgettinganswersfor“whatdoesdonelooklike”oneventboundariesthenyouarenotdoingIMP/IMS.

TheBeneficialOutcomeofUsingIMP/IMStoManageaProgram

Duringtheactualprogramexecution,theIMPandIMSprovideaframeworkforinsightintothecontractor'sperformanceforboththeprogramorprojectofficeandforthecontractor'smanagementteam.TheIMPandIMSwhenproperlyintegratedwithEVMthroughasoundtechnicalmanagementapproachasdocumentedenablestheprogramorprojectofficeto:

§ Identifyandassessactualprogressversustheplannedprogress–thisisdonethroughtheEarnedValueprocessesattheTasklevel.EachTaskinanAChassomeEVmeasurement.Thisshouldbepredominately0/100measuresforshorttomoderatedurationtasks.Somefirmslimittaskdurationto45elapseddaysforthecurrentrollingwave.Thecultureofthisapproachmaynotbeineveryfirm,butlimitedthedurationtosomereasonabletimeiscriticaltosuccessfullymanagingperformance.TheassessmentofactualperformancemustcomefromPhysicalPercentComplete.ThismeansdefiningupfronthowtheEarnedValue(BCWP)willberecognizedforeachtaskandtheWorkPackageasawhole.ThesimpleformulaofPercentCompleteXBCWSisfineasapercentcompete.However,the“percentcomplete”cannotbeanopinion.ItneedstobeanassessablemeasureoftheactualphysicalprogressoftheTask.

§ Monitortheprogramcriticalpathandhelpdevelopworkaroundstoproblemareas–theconceptofaCriticalPathismorethanthepaththroughtheprogramwithzero(0)orsmallTotalSlack.Itneedstobethe“logical”criticalpathdefinedbythesubjectmatterexperts.ThisdefinitionthenneedstobereflectedintheIMS.

§ Assessprogrammaturity–programmaturityisbestassessedthroughTechnicalPerformanceMeasures(TPM).Systemsengineeringusestechnicalperformancemeasurementstobalancecost,schedule,andperformancethroughoutthelifecycle.Technicalperformancemeasurementscompareactualversusplannedtechnicaldevelopmentanddesign.Theyalsoreportthedegreetowhichsystemrequirementsaremetintermsofperformance,cost,schedule,andprogressinimplementingriskhandling.Performancemetricsaretraceableto



user–definedcapabilities.TheIMSthenconnectsactualversusplannedprogress(throughthephysicalpercentcomplete)withthetechnicalactualversusplannedprogress.

§ AssessthestatusofriskmanagementactivitiesbasedontheinclusionoftheprogramriskmitigationactivitiesintheIMPandIMS–thisprogrammaticriskstartswiththemodeledvarianceinthedurationoftasks.ThisvariancecanbedefinedbyaMostLikely,Optimistic,andPessimisticestimate.Thishascalibrationissues,sinceeachpersonsupplyingtheseestimateshasadifferentopinionofwhatismeantbyoptimistic,pessimistic,andevenmostlikely.Anordinalrankingmethodismorereliablebutitselfneedscalibration

§ AssesstheprogressonselectedKeyPerformanceParameters(KPPs)andTechnicalPerformanceMeasures(TPMs)–theunitsofmeasurefortheTechnicalPerformanceMeasureneedstobeconnectedwiththeKeyPerformanceParametersoftheIntegratedMasterSchedule.Thisconnectionanswersthequestions:howarewedoingagainstourplan?

§ Provideanobjective,quantitativebasisfortheperformanceassessment–theIMPandIMSshouldbethebasisofobjectiveandquantitativeperformanceprogrammaticmeasuresoftheaspectsoftheprogram.Thismeansthatthesimplepassageoftimeandconsumptionofresourceisnotagoodmeasureofthisperformance.Onlybypredefiningthe“unitsofmeasure,”startingwiththetechnicalperformancemeasures,cantheIMSbeconsideredcredible?

§ Developandsupport“what–if”scenarios,andtoidentifyandassesscandidateproblemworkarounds–alternativepaths,costmodels,andriskadjustedestimatestocompletearetherawmaterialsforthe“whatif”assessmentoftheIMS.

§ Providebetterinsightintopotentialfollow–oneffortsthatwerenotpartoftheoriginalcontractaward.Forexample,thecontractorshouldbeabletomoreclearlydefinetheactivities,newinterfaces,andotherclarifyinginformationnecessaryforapotentialprogramincrementorcontractoption.

ChangingtheProgramPlanningParadigmfromHorizontaltoVertical

BuildinganIMP/IMSrequiresachangeinthenormalparadigmofprojectmanagement.ThischangemeansstoppingthemeasurementofprogressasthepassageoftimeandconsumptionoffundingtomeasuringprogressbythecompletionofAccomplishmentCriteriaandthefulfillmentofSignificantAccomplishments.

Itmeansmovingfromhorizontalschedulingtoverticalplanning.Thesewordsareprobablymeaninglessatthispoint.Theroleofthisstep–by–stepguideistoprovideanunderstandingofthisconcept,thebenefitstotheprojectmanagement,andtheprocessesneededtodeliverthesebenefits.Inmanycases,thehorizontalschedulesarethestartingpointfortheprogram.Thisoccursforseveralreasons:

§ TheprogramstartedwithoutanIMPorarealIMS.Theyfirstbuiltahorizontalscheduleinthemannerof“shopfloor”schedule.ThisisusuallyforthePeriodofPerformanceoftheProgram.

§ Theprogramwasinheritedfromahigherorlowerlevelprocess.EitherasasubcontractororapartofonIPTteam,thescheduleisfocusedonthefunctionalaspectsoftheprogram.

Inmanycases,theconversationfromhorizontaltoverticalisrequiredordesired.Theefforttodothisconversationinvolvesseveralsteps:

§ IdentifytheProgramEventsandwhereinthescheduletheseeventstakeplace.§ Identifywhichworkintheschedule“lands”onwhichevent.IfthereisworkthatcrossesanEventboundary,thenitwillneedtobe“broken”intotwo(2)parts.Onethat“lands”ontheEventandonethatrestartsatthecompletionoftheEvent.

WorkBreakdownStructureParadigmversustheIMP/IMSParadigm

§ WorkBreakdownStructure–TheWBSprovidesabasicframeworkforidentifyingeachelementofaprojectinincreasinglevelsofdetail.Inessence,itdescribesthewayworkisperformed.TheWBSalsoprovidesacoherentmethodforreportingprogresstowardplangoals.IfthescheduleisWBSfocused,costtrackingispossible,workpackagescanbedefined,andtheoutcomesoftheseworkpackagescanbemadevisible.However,theincreasingofthematurityoftheprogramisnotexplicitlyvisiblefromtheoutside.

§ IntegratedMasterPlan–TheIMPisanevent–basedplandepictingtheoverallstructureoftheprogramandthekeyprocesses,activities,andmilestones.Itdefinesaccomplishmentsandcriteriaforeachevent.WiththeIMP,theincreasingmaturityoftheprogramisstatedexplicitlyintheSignificantAccomplishments(SA)andtheir



Ifyouwishtopersuademe,youmustthinkmythoughts,feelmyfeelings,andspeakmywords.—Cicero,RomanStatesman(106BC)

AccomplishmentCriteria(AC).TheWBScanbeassignedtotheTasksineachACsocostcanbetracedtospecificwork.

TheIMPshouldbeconstructedfromthelogicaldecompositionoftheProgramEvents,SignificantAccomplishments,andtheirAccomplishmentCriteria–notfromtheWorkBreakdownStructure.Thisapproachcausesproblemswiththetraditionalist,becausetheyseetheworldthroughtheWBS.TheWBSandtheCWBSarecostaccountingstructures,notprogrammaturityassessmentstructures.TheWBSandCWBSareimportantprogramperformancemeasurementprocesses–theycapturecostsandassignthesecoststotheproducedproductsandservices.However,theWBSandCWBSdoesnotprovideanymeasurementofprogressintermsofincreasingmaturity.ThatistheroleoftheIMPandthesupportingIMS.

ConstructingtheIMPandIMSwiththeWBSinmindmayberequiredbycontract,sinceseparationoftheworkmaybedrivenbythecostaccountingprocesses.ResistingthelureofWBSandCWBSstructuringisdifficult.Askthequestion–howdoesthisstructurerevealtheincreasingmaturityoftheprogram?Whataretheunitsofmeasureofthismaturityintermsmeaningfultothecustomer?Howcanthestructureshowtheflowofmaturityusingasinglenotation?

1.1 IMP/IMS Features and Benefits TheIMPandIMSfocusonspecificareasoftheprogram,whichhavebeenshowntobeproblemswithmoretraditionalapproaches.TheprimaryfocusisonprogrammaturityEventbasedplanningprovidesa“singularly”focusedprocessallowingeachIPTtoanswerthequestion–“whatdoIneedtodoforaspecificevent?”ForexamplePDR:ListalltheaccomplishmentsneededforPDR?Whatactivitiesneedtoperformedforeachoftheseaccomplishments?Whenalltheactivitiesarecompleted,thecriteriasatisfied,andtheaccomplishmentscompletedthenameasurementof“maturity”cantakeplace?

FeaturesofIMP/IMS BenefitstotheProgramProvidesanunderstandingandalignmentofrequiredtaskswitheventsstartingwiththeproposal

Drivesdowncostofexecutionbyconnectingchangeswiththeimpactofchangesthatoccurearlyintheprogramlifecyclewhencostsareloweraremadevisiblefromdayone.

Integratesrelationshipsofproductsanddevelopmentprocesses

ImprovesmanagementvisibilitybyconnectingactivitieswitheventsPermitsbetterunderstandingofriskandhowitimpactscost,schedule,performance

Adisciplinedapproachtoplanningandimplementationactivities

Providesaframeworkforusingintegratedtools,teams,andprocesseswithverticaltraceabilityServesasfoundationforsystematicprogrammaticimprovementefforts

Iterativeplanning,tracking,andreportingprocess

Allowsprogramflexibility–onrampsandofframpstiedtoeventsHighlightsdetailsearly–tiesmaturityeventswithactivities

Event–DrivenPlanningRelatesprogrameventsintermsofsuccess–AccomplishmentsandCriteriaReducesriskbyensuringthatmaturityoftheplanisincrementallydemonstratedpriortostartingfollow–onactivities

Increasesvisibilityofentireprogramtotheprogramteam

ImprovesmeasurablematurityandimpactanalysisPromotesprogrambuy–inandteamcommitmentthroughsharedeventsFostersproactivemanagementatalllevelsthroughmeasurableoutcomes

ResourceandEarnedValueLoadable ProvidesfoundationforEarnedValueReportingandEVMSKeycustomereventsincluded Encouragesawin–winattitudewithcustomersClearcommunicationofhowtheteamviewstheprogram

Improveseffectivenessthroughacommonsetoftools,measurementsanddefinedoutcomes

Table1–TheuseofIMP/IMSprovidesdirectbenefitstotheprogramnotfoundintraditionalapproaches.EachofthesebenefitsneededtobetestedinpracticebydefiningtheProgramManagementPlan(PMP)processesthatproducethebehaviorsneededtodeliverthebenefits.Simplystatingthebenefitsarepresentisnotsufficient.Andactualplantodeliverthebenefitsisneeded.



Systemsengineeringistheintellectual,academic,andprofessionaldisciplinewhoseprincipleconcernistheresponsibilityofpracticingSystemsEngineersinasystemdesignandacquisitionprojecttoensurethatallrequirementsforthesystemaresatisfiedthroughthelifecycle(s)ofthesystem.—WayneWymore,ProfessorEmeritusofSystemsandIndustrialEngineering,UniversityofArizona

1.2 IMP/IMS is a Systems Engineering Process not a Scheduling Process BuildingtheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)andIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)isaSystemsEngineeringprocess.ThismeansthatsystemsengineeringprocessesareusedtoconstructtheIMPandthesupportingIMS.TheprocessesofSystemsEngineering

Whilethismayseemabitoutofplaceinaplanningandschedulingdiscussion,theconceptofProgrammaticArchitecturefitswellwiththeconceptofSystemsArchitecture.ItistheSystemsapproachthatisthebasisonbuildingtheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP).Thisapproachdefinesandanswersquestionslike:

§ HowdoestheprogramdefineTechnicalPerformanceMeasures?HowwilltheseTPMsbeconnectedtotheIMS?

§ Whataretheunitsofmeasureofmaturity?§ Whatistheunitofmeasureofcredibility,asin:“Dowehaveacredibleschedule?”Inaddition,ifweclaimwedo:“Howcanitbeproventoothers?”

SystemsThinkingistheBasisofaSuccessIMP/IMSDevelopmentandDeployment

TheprinciplesofSystemsEngineeringarefoundedonconceptsimportanttothedevelopmentoftheIMPandIMS:

§ Systemexiststhroughoutthenaturalandman–madeworld,whereverwehavecomplexbehavior“emerging”fromtheinteractionbetweenthings.

§ Wecanonlyfullyunderstandsuchbehaviorbyconsidering“completesystems”astheyinteractwithintheir“natural”environment.

Tosolvecomplex“SystemProblems”wemustengineercomplete“SystemSolutions,”throughacombinationof:

§ Theabilitytounderstand,describe,predict,specify,andmeasurethewaysinwhichelementsofacomplexsystemaffectwholesystembehavior.

§ Theabilitytoapply“Traditional”engineeringknowledgetocreate,modifyorusesystemelementstomanipulateormaintainwholesystembehavior.

§ Theabilitytoorganize,manageandresourceprojectsinsuchawayastoachievetheaboveaims,withinrealisticconstraintsofcost,time,andrisk.

WhatisaSystem–fromtheViewofSystemsEngineering?

Asystemis–AsetofInteractingElementsthatformanIntegratedWholewithaCommonGoalorPurpose.

SomemoreimportantconceptsinSystemsEngineeringapplicabletoIMP/IMS:

§ Holism–considerstheWhole–System,initsenvironment,throughitsWhole–Life.TheIMPshowstheentireperiodofperformancefortheProgram.EachProgramEventthenhasSAsandACsforthisperformanceperiodaswell.WiththeIMPinplace,thewholeisintegratedfromtheparts.TheIMScanthenshowthedependenciesandworkactivitiestocausetheACsandSAstoappear.

§ SystemofInterest–collectionofelementswithacommonidentity,e.g.product,organization.TheIMPisfocusedontheincreasingmaturityofthedeliveredproducts.UsingtheWBStocollectcostsforproductactivities

§ Viablesystem–mustincludeeverythingneededtomaintainitsexistenceandachieveitsgoals.TheconsequencesofthisHolisticapproachexposedthenotionthattheviabilityoftheproductreliesoninteractionsoutsideofitsimmediate(product)boundary.Thosesystemsareengineeredwiththecontextofoneormore"containingsystems."

Aswell,theconceptof"emergence"becomesimportant.Thesystemasawholeexhibitsapropertywhichismeaningfulonlywhenattributedtothe"whole"andnottoitsparts.Theemergentpropertiesvarywithenvironmentandrelationshipswithothersystems.



Theconsequencesofemergencearethatthereisnoguaranteefromoptimizingthepartsofthesystem,orevenfromthecomponentsindependently.Changingtheelementsortheirinteractionswithinthesystemmayaffectitsproperties,whichcancauseemergentpropertytochangeonanumberoflevels.1

AGeneralSystemsLifecycleisrepresentedintheFlowoftheIMPanditsIMS

UnderstandinghowIMP/IMSprovidesvaluetothemanagementofprojectsstartswithagenerallifecyclemodelforprogrammaticaspectsoftheproject.Theassumptionisthatprogrammaticarchitectureisequivalenttothetechnicalarchitectureintermsofinterfaces,couplingandcohesion,andvaluestreamflow.

§ Statetheproblem–byidentifyingthecustomer,thecustomer’sneeds,establishingtheneedforchange,discoveringrequirements,anddefiningthesystemfunctions.

§ Investigatealternatives–basedoncost,schedule,andriskasmeasuresofeffectiveness§ Modelthesystem–shouldbedevelopedforalternativeproductdesigns.Themodelingprocessesallowalternativeassessmentofschedulechanges,sensitivityofchangeoncostandschedulethatshowtheeffectofdelaysoraccelerationsoftheproductdevelopment.

§ Integrate–thesystems,business,andpeoplesotheyinteractsmoothly.§ Launchthesystem–byrunningthesystem(processes)toproducetheproducts§ Assessperformance–usingfigureofmerit,technicalperformancemeasures,andmetrics.§ Reevaluate–byobservingoutputsandusingthisinformationtomodifythesystem,itsinputs,productsorprocesses

TheUSDepartmentofDefensehasatop-levelprojectlifecycle,shownFigure2.This“picture”isthehighestlevelofsequenceforaprogram.Whenthediscussionturnsto“whereareweintheBigPicture?”theanswercanbe,“we’reinSDDheadedtoMilestoneC.”FortheactualdevelopmentofanIMP/IMS,thislevelofunderstandingisnotveryinteresting.However,foraproposalteam,itisimportanttounderstandwhatprocurementguidanceisapplicableforwhatphaseoftheprogram.ForSDDprogramstherearedifferenceguidesfortheoutcomesthanforapost–Milestone–Cprogram.

Figure2–TheDOD5000.02processmodelneedstobeunderstoodinordertodefinethetypesofmaturityassessmentprocessesforAccomplishmentCriteria.“Done”hasadifferentdefinitioninaConceptandtechnologyDevelopmentprogramthanitdoesforaProductandDeploymentProgramandevenmoredifferentforanOperationalSupportprogram.

1 ThereisacounterexampletothisinWayneWymore’s“SubsystemOptimizationImpliesSystemsSuboptimization:Not!”referencedin“TheSynthesisofOptimalSystemDesignSolutions,”SystemsEngineering,Volume6,Issue2,pp.92–105,10March2003.



§ BuildingtheIMPismorethanaprocess;itisawayofthinking.

§ TheIMPrepresentstheprogrammaticarchitectureandtheimplementationstrategyfordeliveringtheproductsandservicesrepresentedbythatarchitecture.

§ TheIMPisthelogicalflowoftheproduct’sincreasingmaturity,measuredinunitsmeaningfultothecustomer

PuttingTheseConceptstoWorkinIMP/IMS

TheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)describesthestrategyforcompletingtheprogramasplanned‒onbudget,onschedule,andcompliantwithMeasuresofEffective,MeasuresofPerformance,TechnicalPerformanceMeasures,andKeyPerformanceParameters.

ThisistheroleofaPLAN.

Assuchitrepresentsthe"Architecture"oftheProgram.TheProgrammaticFlowofincreasingmaturityoftheindividualcomponentsoftheprogram.Theseindividualcomponents–theProgramEvents–interactwitheachotherasa"System"ofactivities.TheIMPprocessprovidesadisciplinedapproachtodevelop,implement,update,maintain,andmanageaProgramthroughasingle,comprehensiveplan.TheIMPisusedtoaccomplishupfrontplanningandcommitment,provideabasisforsubsequentdetailedplanningandscheduling,measureprogramprogress,andprovidemanagementwithverificationofprogressenablinginformeddecisions.

TheboundariesbetweenthesecomponentsaretheProgramEventsandthehorizontaldependenciesbetweentheseevents.

1.3 Step by Step for Building the Integrated Master Plan (IMP) ThereareseveralstartingpointsforbuildingtheIntegratedMasterPlan.ThefirstistoputtheIMPinthecontextofaproposalandtheexecutionofthatproposalafteraward.ThesecondshowsthestepbystepactivitiesneededtobuildtheIMPinresponsetoaproposal.

FirstletuslookatthecontextofanoverallprogramandhowtheIMPfits.Figure3describesan“overview”oftheIMP/IMSfrombeginningoftheproposalprocesstotheexecutionoftheprogram.Whilethisoverviewappearssimpleandstraightforwardtherearemanysubtleaspectsnotshownhere.Figure3isreallya“dataflow”ofinformationbetweenthestagesoftheIMP/IMSdevelopmentprocess.MuchmoreunderstandingisneededbeforethevalueproducedbyIMP/IMScanbeproduced.

ThestepsshowninFigure3arenotionalinoneaspect,butareactualprocessesinpractice.MorethanjustasimplestatementaboutbuildingrequirementsorconstructingtheCWBSDictionaryisneededforasuccessfulIMP/IMS.InfactmanyofthefailuresofIMP/IMScomefromassumingthesimpleornotionalexamplescanbeputintopractice.

ThisisagoodtimetoberemindedofYogiBerra’squote:

IntheorythereisnodifferencebetweenTheoryandPractice.InPracticethereis.

SotheonlywayforwardistobuildandrebuildtheIMPandIMS,testingthemagainsttherequirementsandotherassessmentsof“Credibility.”

TheIMPstateswhat“done”lookslikeinMeasuresofEffectiveness(MoE)ofthedeliveredproductsorservices.AteachProgramEvent,theSignificantAccomplishments(SA)defineswhatmaturitylevelsmustbeachievedbeforetheProgramEventcanbeconsideredmet.



ForeachSignificantAccomplishment,workmustbeperformancetomeettheAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).ThesearedefinedbytheMeasuresofPerformance(MoP).This“exitcriteria”forthePackagesofWorkintheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)are“entry”criteriafortheSAs.

Figure3–TheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)andIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)arepartofanoverallProgrammaticArchitecturethatstartswiththeRFPandendswiththeexecutionoftheprogram.TheIMPandthesupportingIMSaretheframeworkfortheexecutionoftheprogramaswelltheframeworkfortheprogrammaticwinthemesoftheproposal.



IMPIMS DevelopmentSteps

UnderstandtheProduct

§ IdentifyCustomer,thebusinessprocesses,politicalaspectsofthecustomerandanyotherattributes.

§ CompilecustomerrequirementsfromSOO,SOW,CDRLsandotherapplicabledocuments.Thesedocumentsdefinethemasterscheduleandthedeliverablesaroundthisschedule.

§ DocumentthegroundrulesandassumptionsthatdescribeshowtheProgramEvents,SignificantAccomplishmentsandtheirAccomplishmentCriteria.

§ ClarifytheproductrequirementsbycrossreferencesallthecustomerdocumentthroughtheConceptofOperations(ConOps).

DevelopProductStructure

§ CreateTopLevelCWBSthatdescribestheproductstructurefirst,thentheIPTsthatwilldeliverthoseproducts.

§ Assessstructureforcompletenessandworkabilitybyasking“howwillthecomponentsoftheproductstructurecometogetherduringtheexecutionoftheprogram?”

§ Istheassemblinginatreestructurefromthebottomtothetop?OrisitscatteredallovertheWBS/CWBS.Ifitisthelatter,theWBSwillbenothingbuttroubleduringexecution.

§ WritetheCWBSdictionary.ThisisanarrativestatingwhatisbeingdeliveredforeachelementoftheCWBS.Itisfromthesedescriptionsthatlowerlevelworkeffortswillbedefined.

§ DefineTeams–intermsofIPTs–whowilldelivertheproducts§ DevelopthetoplevelSOWtaskstatementtoassurethecrossreferencebetweentheCWBSandSOW

FormIntegratedProductTeams

§ Formteamsanddefineleadersandkeyresources.TheseteamsareaccountablefordeliverablesdescribedintheWBS/CWBS.

§ ValidateandextendtheSOW,CWBSandCWBSdictionaryacrosstheIPTsforeachproductorprocess.

CreateIntegratedMasterPlan

§ SelectKeyeventsanddecisionpointsusinggovernmentprovidedEventsandprogrammaturityassessmentpointsthatassurematurityisincreasingandriskandbeingreduced.

§ Writetheeventdescriptionsdescribingthemeasurableoutcomesofeacheventintermsofmaturityassessmentandriskreduction.

§ DevelopmenttheSignificantAccomplishments(SA)andAccomplishmentCriteria(SA)foreachProgramEventinatopdownmanner,withthefocusondescribingtheincreasingmaturityoftheproductsresultingfromtheworkheldintheACs.

§ DeveloptheverticallogicbetweenthePE/SA/ACdescribingthelogicalflowofincreasingmaturity,thephysicalassessmentoftheproduct’sperformanceagainsttheTechnicalPerformanceCriteria,andthedependenciesbetweeneachAccomplishmentCriteria.

§ WritetheIMPprocessnarrativesintheformofaproductspecification.§ PreparealogicflowdiagramfortheSAs,showingincreasingmaturityoftheproducts

CreateIntegratedMasterSchedule

§ DefinehighlevelWorkPackagesfromtheACs.OneWP/ACifpossible§ DecomposetaskswithintheWPonasingleworksheet§ DefinethelogicanddependenciesbetweentheACsfirst.Onlythenconnecttaskdependencies§ Applythescheduleconstraints§ Establishworkpackageandsupportingtaskdurations§ Addresourcesattheworkpackagelevel§ Assesthecriticalpaths§ Performscheduleriskassessment

GenerateBasisofEstimate

§ Receiveflowdownofrequirementsandthecostestimatingprocessesaroundthem§ Determineappropriatemethodsofdefiningcosts§ Estimatethehours§ Reviewandadjustthecoststomatchtheallocations

Table2–EachstepinthedevelopmentoftheIMPbuildsanincreasingfidelityofthefinalproduct.



UnderstandtheProduct

Definingtheprogramframeworkstartswithunderstandingtheproduct,thecustomerandtheprocessesthatwillbeusedtodelivertheproduct.Byfirstidentifyingallthediscreteworkscopeandcategorizingtheminto–who,what,when,where,whyandhowcategories,theproductstructurecanemerge.

DevelopProductStructure

TheproductstructurestartswiththeWorkBreakdownStructure(WBS).

AProgramWBS“…shallbeestablishedthatprovidesaframeworkforprogramandtechnicalplanning,costestimating,resourceallocations,performancemeasurements,andstatusreporting.”DODD5000.2R

TheWBSestablishestheprimaryportioningoftheproductandworkneededtoproducetheproduct.TheWBSoutlinestheproductsandservicestobeprovidedbytheprogramina“structured”mannerwhereeachproductandorserviceistraceabletoitsparentproductandorservice.Theresultisa“ProductTree”thatdecomposestheprogramstructuretoalevelwhererisksaremadevisible.ThisisusuallyLevel3intheWBS.

TheWBSdefinesthelogicalstructureoftheprogram.Summarypointsforassessingtechnicalandprogrammaticriskandthephysicalprogressoftheworkactivities.ItiscriticaltonotlettheWBSbearepresentationoftheorganizationalstructureoftheprogram.Ifthisisdonetheabilitytomeasurephysicalprogressthroughtheproductionofproductsorservicesislost.

FormIntegratedProductTeams(IPTs)andAlignTheirWorkEfforts

“Wetrainedhard,butitseemedthateverytimewewerebeginningtoformupintoteams,wewouldbereorganized.Iwastolearnlaterinlifethatwetendtomeetanynewsituationbyreorganizing;andawonderfulmethoditcanbeforcreatingtheillusionofprogresswhileproducingconfusion,inefficiencyanddemoralization.”–PetroniusArbiter(210B.C.)AligntheWorkBetweentheIPTs

§ Ourteamstructureneedstoreflectthemostcost-efficientwayoforganizingthework§ Ourteamstructureneedstobesizedaccordingtotheworkrequired§ Ourteamsmustnotbetoobigortoosmalltobefunctional§ Ourteamstructureneedstoaccountforvertical(product)andhorizontal(process,system)integration§ Ourteamstructuremustnotunnecessarilycomplicateintegrationorproduction§ Ourteamstructuremusthaveclearscopeborders—knowwhereoneteam’sscopeendsandanotherteam’sscopebegins

Integrateacrosstheproductstodeliverthesystem-levelconfigurationsanddatatothecustomer:

§ Integrate,analyze,assemble,andtestconfigurationsmadeupofmodulesdevelopedanddeliveredbyIPTs§ Integrateprogram/systemleveldataandCDRLitems§ ElectronicInformationSystem(EIS)orIntegratedDataEnvironment(IDE)[bothtermsusedinRFPs]Ownandauditthecommonprograminfrastructureresourcesemployedbymultipleteams:

§ Processes§ Tools§ Databases§ Facilities§ Equipment



§ Theterm“integrated”intheIMPandIMSparadigmmeansverticalandhorizontalintegrationoftheworkactivities.

§ VerticalconnectivityshowshowtheplannedmaturityforeachProgramEvent(PE)isachieved.

§ HorizontalconnectivityshowshowtheworkeffortproducesthismaturityfortheProgramEvent(PE)andacrossProgramEvents.

CreateIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)

Eventsare:

§ Projectunique,keytransitionpointsbetweenmajorprogramactivities§ Pointsofconvergenceacrosstheentireprogram§ Keydecisionpointswhereitisnecessarytoassessprogressinachievingobjectivesbeforeproceeding§ MayincludemajorDoDmilestonereviews,programdesignreviews,tests,deliveries,andotherkeyprogressdemonstrationorriskmitigationpoints

§ Shouldbewelldistributedovertheprogram/projectperiod,andnotinordinatelyclustered§ Notdesirabletohavetoolongaperiodpasswithoutcheckingcriticalprogramprogress§ Avoidthisbyincludinganeventsuchasa“ProductionIn-ProcessReview”togaintimelyprogramprogressvisibility

Eventdefinitionsincludethepurposeandexpectedresults.Eventsmaybetiedinthecontracttoawardorincentivefeepaymentssotheymayaffecttheclient’scashflowtoo.

CreateIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)

TheIntegratedMasterScheduleisderiveddirectlyfromtheIMP.Itisnot–norshouldeverbe–builtbottomupduringthefirstroundofIMSconstruction.IntheIMP/IMSparadigm,alltheworkneededtomovetheprogramforwardinitsmaturityisdefinedbytheSignificantAccomplishmentsandtheirAccomplishmentCriteria.OncethesearedefinedintheIMP,thephysicalworkneededtoproducetheAccomplishmentCriteriaisobvious.

ItisatthispointtheIMSconstructioncanstart.TheIMSisbuiltwithsomesimplesteps:

§ IdentifyeachAccomplishmentCriteria(AC)bynamefromtheIMP§ Buildasinglepagedatacapturesheetthatprovidesalimitednumberof“lines”forenteringthetasksfortheAC.Thissheetwillcontainthefollowinginformation§ Thenameofthetask§ Thedurationofthetask§ Theordinalriskrankingofthetask§ Thepredecessorsandsuccessors“within”theAC§ ThepredecessorthatstartstheAC–thisistheexternalACthatstartsthecurrentAC.

GeneratetheBasisofEstimate(BOE)

FromtheconstructedIMSthenextstepistodeterminethecostforthiswork.Thiscanbederivedinseveralways:

§ ResourceloadtheIMSinsomesimpleway§ ExporttheperiodsofperformanceforeachworkpackageintotheBasisofEstimatetoolanddevelopthecostprofiles

1.4 Creating a Fully Integrated IMP/IMS ConnectingtheRFP'sSOWtotheCWBStotheIMPandtheIMSandtotheBOE'sistheidealexampleofafullyintegratedsystemdescribingtheprogrammaticarchitectureofanyproject.TheexampleofafullyintegratedIMPandIMSshowninFigure4isanidealexampleandnotusuallyfoundinpractice.However,ataminimumtheunderstandingofhoweachcomponentoftheintegratedsystemrelatestoothers.

ByfirstconnectingtheSignificantAccomplishmentsvertically,thematurityassessmentoftheproductorservicescanbedefinedforeachProgramEvent.Onceverticallyconnected,horizontalconnectionsdescribetheworksequencingprocessesneededtoproducethisincreasingmaturity.



Figure4describestherelationshipsbetweentheprogramelements.

§ StatementofWork(SOW)§ ContractorWorkBreakdownStructure(CWBS)§ IntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)§ IntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)§ BasisofEstimate(BOE)

Figure4–ConnectingtheStatementofWorktotheContractWorkBreakdownStructure,totheIntegratedMasterPlan,totheIntegratedMasterScheduleandfinallytotheBasisofEstimate.ThetraceabilitybetweentheseartifactsshouldbetheIMP/IMSnumber.However,inmanycases,thisisnotpossible.TheWBSisthenextbesttracenumber,iftheWBSiswellformed.IntheabsenceofawellformedWBS,theIMP/IMSnumberisthebesthopeofconnectingtheprogrammaticaspectswiththetechnicalmaturityaspectsofaprogram.

1.5 Some Definitions Needed for IMP/IMS ThetermsusedintheIMP/IMSdomainmaybenewtothetraditionalplanner.Thesetermsarespecificandwelldefined.Resistredefiningthemforyourlocaluse.Inmanydomains,thedefinitionofthesetermsisprovidedbythecustomerintheRFPorsomeguidancedocument.

HerearesomeexamplesofdefinitionsusedintheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP):

§ ProgramEvent(Event):§ "EventsshouldbeenvisionedasprogramreferencepointsormilestonesatwhichtheContractorandGovernmentjointlyassessprogramstatus."



§ "Aneventisaprogramassessmentpointthatoccursattheculminationofsignificantprogramactivities:accomplishmentsandcriteria."

§ “AnIMPeventisakeyprogrammilestonedefinedbythecustomerortheprovider,whichdefinesprogressataspecificpointintime.IMPeventsmarktheconclusion/initiationofintervalsofmajorprojectactivityandserveasdecision–orientedmeasuresofprojectactivityrelatedtotheproject’smaturityassignedtoaspecificsubsystemororganizationalelement.”

§ “AnEventisaprogramassessmentpointwhichoccursattheculminationofsignificantprogramactivities(AccomplishmentsandCriteria).”

§ SignificantAccomplishment(Accomplishment)§ "Foreachevent,theOfferorshallstatewhatprogressistobemeasuredattheevent.ThisbreakdownofprincipaltasksandactivitiesbecometheOfferor'saccomplishments."

§ "Anaccomplishmentisthedesiredresult(s)priortooratcompletionofaneventthatindicatesaleveloftheprogram'sprogress."

§ “Significantaccomplishmentsarecriticaleffortsthatmustbecompletedpriortocompletinganevent.Theaccomplishmentsshallbesequencedinamannerthatensuresalogicalpathismaintainedthroughouttheeffortandtracksagainstkeyevents.”

§ AccomplishmentCriteria(Criteria)§ "Foreachaccomplishment,theOfferorshallstatehowprogressistobemeasured.Criteriashouldbestatedusingobjectivemethodstoverifythattheaccomplishmenthasbeenachieved.TheOfferorshouldbeabletodocumentthatthecriteriahavebeensatisfied.Intotalthecriteriashalldemonstratethattheaccomplishmenthasbeenachieved."

Criteriaprovidedefinitiveevidencethataspecificaccomplishmenthasbeencompleted.

§ “AccomplishmentCriteriaaremeasurableandusefulindicatorsdemonstratingtherequiredlevelofmaturityandorprogresshasbeenachieved.AccomplishmentCriteriaincludetheuseofTechnicalPerformanceMeasuresandothermetricswhereverpossibletoprovidemeasurablecriteria.Preferablytheaccomplishmentcriteriashouldavoidtheuseofpercentcompletedandavoidcitingdataitemreportnumbersratherthanidentifyingandsummarizingresults.”

ProgramEvent(PE)MaturityAssessment

TheProgramEventisaMaturityAssessmentpointintheProgram.Itasksandanswersquestions:Doweunderstandthetechnicalaspectsoftheprogramtoasufficientlevelatthispointintimetoproceedfor?

§ PreliminaryDesign–definetheattributesof“preliminary”asappropriatefortheprogram.§ CriticalDesign–criticaldesignusuallymeanstheproductsorservicesarereadyforfirstproductionruns.Definetheunitsofmeasureofthis“readiness”

§ IntegratedBaseline–arethecost,schedule,andtechnicalbaselinealignedandreadyforexecution?§ FlightReadiness–aretheproductsreadyto“goflying”Therearemany"checklists"fortheseProgramEvents.OneplacetolookforthesearetheNAVAIRandDefenseAcquisitionUniversityylibrarysite.Thepost–CDReventsneedsimilarchecklist.

SignificantAccomplishment(SA)MaturityAssessment

ForeachProgramEvent(PE)astatementabouttheprogresswillbemeasuresiscontainedintheSignificantAccomplishments.SignificantAccomplishmentsdefinetheEntryCriteriafortheProgramEvents:

§ WhatisthematurityoftheworkproductsneededtosuccessfullyconductthePE?Specificknowledgeaboutdesign,testing,performance,orotherbehaviorsofthesystem

§ WhatprogramactivitiesmusthavebeenconductedtosuccessfullyconductthePE?SpecificprocessstepsthatmustbeperformedpriortotheProgramEvent.

Review,documentproduction,meetings,"states"ofrelationships,organizationalprocesses

TherearebothProductandProcessmaturityassessmentsthatmusttakeplaceas"entry"criteria.



§ Definingtheexpectedmaturityoftheproductsorservicesateachassessmentpointintheprojectisthebasisofacredibleperformancemeasurementparadigm.

§ MeasuringtheincreaseinmaturityusingTechnicalPerformanceMeasures(TPM)ortangibledeliverablesdefinestheunitsofmeasureofsuccess.

§ Usingpasttenseverbstodescribeprogresshasapowerfuleffectonthecommitmentstotheoutcome.

AccomplishmentCriteria(AC)MaturityAssessment

ForeachSignificantAccomplishmentprogressneedstobedescribedintermsoftaskscompletedandthemeasurementofthosetasks.TheAccomplishmentCriteria(AC)documentstheExitCriteriaforthecollectionoftasksthatmoveaproductorservicetothenextlevelofmaturity.

§ WhatisthematurityoftheproductsproducedfromtheworktasksforeachAC?§ HowisthismaturityassessedwithinthemetricsoftheTechnicalPerformanceMeasures(TPM)?

TasksaretheRawMaterialfortheIMS

Thisiswheretheheavyliftingtakesplace.Theworkperformedtodeliverthe"exitcriteria"–theAccomplishmentCriteria(AC)whichformsthe"entrycriteria"(theSignificantAccomplishments)fortheProgramEventaretheworkactivitiesdefinedintheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)

ThetasksthatcomposetheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)aredefinedthroughvariousexamples:

§ “TheOfferorshallprovideanIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)inAnnexXthatdelineatestheOfferor'splannedscheduleforallactivities,events,milestones,andcriticalpathsassociatedwithallprogrameffortsinaccordancewithDIDDI–MGMT81650.TheIMSshallincludetheprogramschedulewithtechnicaltasksandactivitiesnecessarytocompletetheworkeffortscopedwithintheIMP.Theprogram'scriticalpath(s),basedoncriticalpathanalyses,shallbeidentifiedintheIMS.TheOfferorshalldeveloptheIMSinaccordancewithMIL–HDBK881A(asaguide).TheOfferorshallprovideinthesubmittedIMSallcontractorstasks,events,milestoneswhichshouldbetraceabletothecontractWBSandcontractor'scostmanagementsystems.TheIMSshallbedevelopedbylogicallynetworking(predecessorandsuccessorlogic)alldiscreteContractorandprinciplesubcontractor,criticalsubcontractor,andteammemberactivitiesfromcontractawardthroughprogramcompletion.”

§ “TheIMSisanintegrated,masterschedulecontainingthenetworked,detailedtasksnecessarytosupporttheevents,accomplishments,andcriteriaoftheIMP,ifapplicable.TheIMSshouldbealogicalnetwork–basedschedule,basedonsoundtechnicalplanning,thatisdirectlytraceabletothecontractor'scostandschedulereportinginstrumentusedtoaddressvariances.”

1.6 Increasing Maturity is the Only Measure of Progress Measuretheincreasingmaturityoftheprogramworkproductsandprocessastheindicatorofprogress.

ThisisdonebyfirstidentifyingtheProgramEventwherematurityassessmentwilltakeplace.UsingtheDoD5000.2guidelines,thisusuallymeans

§ ContractAward(CA)orAuthorizationtoProceed(ATP)§ SystemRequirementsReview(SRR)§ IntegratedBaselineReview(IBR)§ SystemFunctionalReview(SFR)§ PreliminaryDesignReview(PDR)§ CriticalDesignReview(CDR)§ TestReadinessReview(TRR)§ FlightorsomekindofOperationalTest(FT)Whenspeakingtotheincreasingmaturityoftheprogram,weneedtousetherightsemantics.Thewordinginthenextpictureisanapproachforthiswording.ForeachProgramEvent,SignificantAccomplishment,andAccomplishmentCriteriaapasttenseverbisneeded.Thisapproachisunsettlingatfirst.Butonceputintopracticeitchangeshowworkisdiscussedandprogressismeasured.



Figure5–ThecontentoftheIMPelements(Event,Accomplishment,Criteria)makesuseofasentenceendinginapasttenseverb.TherearealimitednumberoftheseverbsofmostIMPs.TheydefinedthestateoftheproductorservicethatresultsfromtheactivitiesthatcomposetheAccomplishmentCriteria–thetasksoftheIMS.LearningtospeakinthepasttenseofthebasisoftheIMP.Describingwhat“done”lookslikerequiresapasttenseverbbeconnectedwith“done.”

DataDictionaryofIMP/IMSVerbs

Thebestwayoutofthesesemanticsdiscussionsistohaveapre–defineddatadictionaryfortheverbsintheIMPandIMS.ManyRFPprovidesthisdictionaryandtherearesourcesofverbsinotherplaces.

Verb DefinitionApproved Thesubjectitem,data,ordocumenthasbeensubmittedtotheGovernmentandtheGovernmenthas

notifiedthecontractorthatitisacceptable.Forsomedataitems,itisspecifiedthatnoresponseconstitutesapproval.

Available Thesubjectitemisinplaceorthesubjectprocessisoperational.ThesubjectdataordocumentisaddedtotheDataAccessionListandisaccessiblethroughProgram/ProjectAssetsorothermedia.

Acquired Procuredand/orfabricatedandavailableCompleted Thesubjectitem,data,document,orprocessispreparedorconcludedandreviewedandacceptedbythe

IPTorresponsibleteam.Analyzed Thesubjectparameter(s)hasbeentechnicallyevaluatedthroughequations,

charts,simulations,prototypetesting,reduceddata,etc.Conducted Thesubjectmeetingorreviewhasbeenheldwithallrequiredprogramparticipants.Thepresentation

chartsorminutesareavailablethroughProgram/Projectbaselinealongwithassignedactionitems.Defined Thesubjectitem,data,document,orprocessisdescribedinanappropriatedescriptiondocumentthatis

availablethroughProgram/ProjectAssetsorothermedia.DeficienciesCorrected

Newdesignsand/orprocedurestocorrectdocumenteddeficienciestorequirementshavebeenidentifiedandincorporatedinto

Delivered Theappropriateuseracceptedthesubjectconfigurationitem,data,ordocument.Documented Properlyrecordeditemsoractivitiesrequiringformalpaperwork;completedreportsandreviewby

appropriatetechnicalormanagementpersonnel.(Ifsoftcopyisavailable,itismadeaccessibleonProgram/ProjectAssets.

Demonstrated Thesubjectconfigurationitem,data,ordocumentdemonstratesrequirementscompliancethroughverificationorvalidation.

Drafted Aninitialversion(usuallyofadocument)hasbeencreatedwhichwillrequireupdatingtofinalize.Ended Complete;over

Established Thesubjectitemiscreatedandsetinplaceinamannerconsistentwithitsintendeduse,afterreviewandacceptancebytheIPT.Thesubjectitemhasbeensetanddocumented.

Finalized Thesubjectdataordocumentreceivedcontractorapprovals,wasdistributed,andisavailablethroughProgram/ProjectAssetsorothermedia.Lastsetofplannedrevisionshasbeenmadeorfinalapprovalhasbeenobtained.

Implemented Theprocedureorprocessisexecutedregularly,inaccordancewithestablishedpractice.Initiated Thesubjectpolicy,approach,orprocedurehasstarted.Installed Thesubjectitem,system,orsystemprovisionshavebeenattachedtotheirstructuralinterfacesandto

eachotherpertheirdesigns.Integrated Thesubjectitemorsystemhasbeenconsolidatedintoanentity(e.g.,datarequirements,document,and



Verb Definitionconfigurationitem)byappropriatelycombiningseparaterequirements,functionaldisciplines,andconfigurationitemconsiderations.

Generated Requiredinformationhasbeenplacedintowrittenform.Identified Madeknownanddocumented

Implemented Putinplaceand/orbegunLoaded Thesubjectsoftwareitemhasbeenenteredintotheappropriateprocessororprocessors’memoryspace

toallowprogramexecution.Mated Thesubjectstructuralitemormodulesandinstalledsystemsprovisionshavebeenattachedattheir

interfacespertheirdesigns.Operational Theproductorelementshavebeen“delivered,tested,andcertifiedreadyforoperationbythecustomer.

Ready ThesubjectconfigurationitemwasdeliveredtoandacceptedbytherequiringIPT.Reduced TheriskofthesubjectitemisloweredaccordingtothecriteriaestablishedintheRiskManagementPlan

andapprovedbyRiskManagementBoard(ROMB).Refined Nextlevelofdetailhasbeenaddedorupdatesmade.

Released Thesubjectitem,data,ordocumentsarecomplete,havecontractormanagementapproval,andareunderrevisioncontrol.

Retired TheriskofthesubjectitemhasbeenloweredsufficientlyfortheRMBtoberemovedfromtheprogram’srisklist.

Submitted FormallysubmittedtotheGovernmentTested Thesubjectitem,element,orprocesshasbeenexercisedunderappropriateconditionsinaccordancewith

testplans,procedures,andmeasurementswithananalysisofthedatagenerated.Updated Thesubjectitem,process,dataordocumenthasbeenre–evaluatedusinglaterinformation,and

adjustmentshavebeenincorporated.Validated Thesubjectitem,process,data,ordocumenthasbeenconfirmedbyobjectiveevidence(e.g.,testedusing

existing,accepted/approvedprocedures,instructions,orchecklists)tohavebeenaccuratelyderivedordetermined,orhasmetallrequirementsforitsintendeduseandperformsitsintendedfunction(s).TheContractor/Customerteamusuallyperformsthiscertification.

Verified Thesubjectitemhasbeenevaluatedagainstitsspecifiedrequirementsandcharacteristicsandproventomeetdocumentedrequirementsusinganalyses,demonstrations,inspections,ortests.

Table3–SampledefinitionsofIMPverbs.SometimetheRFPprovidesalistoftheseverbs.Sometimestheverbscomefromthestandardproceduresofthefirm.Inallcases,adictionaryofverbsisneededandshouldbelimitedtothoseverbsthatdescribeactualoutcomesmeaningfultothecustomerandtheprovider.

OneexampleofwhythedictionaryshowninTable3isusefulisinthesimpleuseofthewordcompleted.ManyusethewordCompletedwhentheyshoulduseComplete.Completeisthestateoftheeffort.SubtletieslikethismayseemwastefulbutarecriticallyimportantfortheintegrityoftheIMPandIMS.

ActionverbsusedintheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS)Tasks

AnothersourceofverbsfortheIMPelementscomesfromtheINCOSESystemsEngineeringGlossary

Verb Definition

Allocate Apportionforaspecificpurposeortoaparticularthing

Analyze Solvebyanalysis

Annotate Providewithcomments

Apply Puttouse

Ascertain Findoutwithcertainty

Assess Appraisecritically.

Attend Bepresentat

Audit Officiallyexamine

Build Makebyputtingtogether

Calculate Findoutbycomputation

Certify Endorseofficiallytoattestconformancetosetstandards



Verb Definition

Chair Presideaschairmanof

Co-chair Chairjointly

Collect Bringtogetherintoonebodyorplacebycarefulselection

Compare Findoutlikenessordifferences

Conduct Guide,lead,direct

Consider Thinkabout,decide

Construct Puttogether,build

Contribute Shareinajointeffort(suggestsfurtheringanend)

Control Direct,regulate

Coordinate Bringintoacommonaction.movementorconditionsmoothly

Create Causetobe,make

Define Makeclear,settlethelimits;determineprecisemeaningof

Demonstrate Proveormakeclearbyreasoningorevidence,illustrate,explain

Design Performanoriginalact

Determine Resolve,settle,decide

Develop Bringintobeingoractivity

Differentiate Makeadistinctionbetween

Downselect Selectasmallernumberorgroupthanoriginallyexisting

Egress Todepartfromamission,target,orthreatarea

Erect Puttogether,setupright

Establish Makefirm,provebeyonddispute,gainacceptanceof

Estimate Approximateanopinionof

Evaluate Findorfixthevalueof;examineandjudge(nonmonetary)

Evolve Developgradually,workout

Examine Scrutinizetodeterminethenature,conditionorqualityof

Explore Examinefordiscovery

Extract Takeout,deduce,select

Fabricate Build,manufacture,invent

Form Giveshapeto,establish

Formulate Puttogetherandexpress

Generate Produce,causetobe

Incorporate Unitethoroughlywithsomethingexisting,blend

Ingress Toenterintoamission,target,orthreatarea

Initiate Begin,takethefirststepofsomethingthatistocontinue

Input Feedinformationintoacomputer

Inquire Ask,makeasearchof

Inspect Examinecarefullyorofficially;scrutinizeforerrorordefect

Install Place,putintoposition

Institute Setup;establish,begin

Integrate Addpartstomakewhole

Interpret Explainthemeaningof

Investigate Searchinto,examineclosely

Judge Decide,formanestimateof

Maintain Keepinanexistingstate,preservefromfailureordecline

Make Causetocomeintobeing

Manage Succeedinaccomplishing,direct,achieveone'spurpose



Verb Definition

Manufacture Fabricatefromrawmaterials

Notice Commentupon,review

Observe Inspect,watch

Organize Integrate,arrangeinacoherentunit

Originate Initiate,giveriseto

Participate Takepartinanundertaking,activityordiscussion

Perform Do,carryout,accomplish

Plan Deviseaschemefordoingorarrangingactivitiestoachieveanobjective

Prepare Makeready,putintowrittenform

Prioritize Assignpriority

Probe Investigatethoroughly

Process Subjecttoaspecialprocessortreatment

Produce Givebirthorriseto

Provide Supplywhatisneededforsustenanceorsupport

Pursue Seek,obtain,oraccomplish

Reason Think,influenceanother'sactions

Recommend Advise,attractfavorof

Record Setdowninwriting,oractofrecordingelectronicreproduction

Resolve Reducebyanalysis,clearup

Review Inspection,examinationorevaluation

Scan Lookthroughhastily,surveyfrompointtopoint

Scrutinize Examinecloselywithattentiontominutedetail

Search Examinetofindsomething

Seek Trytodiscover,makeanattempt

Select Takebypreferencefromanumberorgroup,makeachoice

Solve Findananswer

Study Carefullyexamineoranalyze

Support Assist,help

Trace Copy,orfindbysearching

Track Observeorplotthepathof

Update Bringuptodate

Validate Verify,substantiate,andgrantofficialsanctionto.Table4–ActionverbstobeusedasthefirstwordforeachTaskintheIMS.TheseverbscomplementtheverbsusedattheendofthedescriptionoftheIMPelements.

1.7 Logical Flow of Tasks within the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) ThelinkingoftasksstartswithverticallinkingoftheACcollectionoftasks.

§ AssignalltaskstoAsLateAsPossible(ALAP)whenbuildingtheVerticalLinkingandtheinitialHorizontallinking.Thisallowsavisibleindicationiftheworkfits"inthebox"foreachProgramEvent.

§ LinkalltaskstotheirrespectiveACsandtheACstotheirrespectiveSAsandtheSAstotheProgramEvent



1.8 Decomposing the System Thereareseveralapproachestodecomposingthesystem:

§ Puretopdownflowfromasinglesystemintosub–systemsandsub–sub–systems.§ InterfacesdefinitionsbetweendisparatesystemsmanagedthroughInterfaceControlDocuments(ICD)insomeway.

§ Functionaldecompositionthroughdifferentengineeringdisciplines§ Nevershouldthedecompositionbeinahorizontalmanner.OnlyaverticalapproachshouldbeusedtodeveloptheIMPandresultingIMS.

Therearemanysourcesforthismaterial.ThefollowingfiguredescribesmostoftheseandhowtheyarearrangedtoproducetheIMPandtheIMS.

Figure6–ThesourceofguidanceandmaterialsforbuildingtheIMPandtheIMScomesfromavarietyofsources.Someofofficialguidancefromthegovernment.SomefromtheRFPandmanyfromtrainingandguidancesourcesavailableontheweb,throughcoursesandbooks.

SourcesofInformationfortheIMPandIMS

AnotherviewofthesourcematerialsfortheIMPandIMSistheDoDVersionofPMBOKinFigure7.This“notional”conceptcanactuallybeputintopractice.ThekeyistomakesuretheWBSstructuredoesnotdominatethetopologyoftheIMS.Instead,focusontheproductdeliverablesaspartofan“increasingmaturity”processflow.

ThisstructureistheguidingframeworkfortheIMP/IMSintegrationandemphasizesthefactthatwhiletheWBS/CWBSiscritical,theProgramEventsandthedecompositionoftheSignificantAccomplishmentsandAccomplishmentCriteriaaretherealdriversoftheIMS.



Figure7–TheflowfromrequirementstoWBStotasksisreplicatedintheIMPandIMS.Thistraceabilityofcriticalinboththeproposalenvironment,mandatedbythe§Land§MguidelinesandtheexecutionenvironmentfortheEVMScollectionofphysicalprogresstoplan.

SubsystemsinDOORSorSomeRequirementsManagementSystem

IfDOORSisusedforthesystemsengineeringrequirementsflowdown,thenthisisagoodplacetolookforthestructureoftheprogramthroughasystemsengineeringpointofview.

UsingtheDOORSexporttheRequirementsTreecanbeexported.Thisrequirementstreecanthenbeusedtostructurethe“productoriented”IMPelementspastCDR,wheretheworkisfocusedondeliveringhardwareorsoftware.

WorkBreakDownStructure(WBS)

IfthereisaproductWBSthatdecomposesthesystemproperlyintosubsystems–anddoesNOTmodelthefunctionalactivitiesorfunctionaldepartments.

RemembertheWBSisNOTtheIMP.TheWBSisacostaccountingandcostcollectionprocess.StartingwiththeWBSleadstoanIMPthatisfocusedcost,notondefiningtheincreasingmaturityoftheprogram.

DefinetheProgramEvents,theirSAsandACs–thenaddtheWBSnumberstocollectthecostsofperformingtheworkintheACs.

LogicalProcessFlow

Ineveryprogram,thereissomekindoflogicalprocessflowtogetfromthecontractawardtothefinalproductandcontractcloseout.

DefiningthisprocessflowiscriticaltodefiningtheIMP.Thiscanbedoneinseveralways:

§ Thebestwayistoconveneagroupofsubjectmatterexpertsthatunderstandhowtheproductisdesigned,build,manufactured,andused.Theycanlayouttheprocessflow.Withthislayout,programeventscanbeallocatedtothevariousstagesoftheprocessflow.

§ Usingthegovernment’sprogramevents,assignSAsandACsfromtheprocessflow.Thisareverseengineeringapproach,butveryuseful.



§ ConnectionsbetweentheIMP/IMSelementsdefinehowmaturityismeasured.

§ Fullydefiningeachelementanditsinterfaceisrequired–nomissingelementsareallowed.

§ Theverticalandhorizontalflows–together–areneededforsuccess.

1.9 Process Flow of the IMP and IMS Elements TheflowbetweentheIMPandIMSelementsisfocusedondemonstratingincreasingmaturityoftheprogram.Withthisapproach,themeasurementoftheprogramperformancecantakeplaceusingEarnedValuemeasuresofthedeliverablesproducedbytheAccomplishmentCriteria.WhileEarnedValuetraditionallyisappliedtotheTaskswithintheAccomplishmentCriteria,additionalinsightcanbegainedthroughtheassessmentoftheACs.Theseliterallybecomethe“accomplishmentcriteria”ismeasuringtheincreasingmaturity.

Figure8–TheconnectionsbetweentheIMPandIMSelementsareusedtodemonstratetheincreasingmatureoftheprogram.TheseflowscanalsobeconnectedtotheCrossReferenceMatrix(CRM)requiredinmostproposals.Aswelltraceabilityforprogramperformance(EVMSmeasures)isprovidedthroughtheIMPandIMSelementsfromvariouspointsofview.

TheseconnectionsarecriticaltothestructuralintegrityoftheIMS.Theremaybeotherattributes–SOW,SOO,IPTandthelike,butthecoreconnectionsareshownabove.ThisallowstheIMStobe"pickedup"asanIMSoraWBSstructure.TheWBScanbeusedasagroupingfieldfortheActivities,SAs,ACsandPEsifthesummarytasksareignored.ThisisanotherreasontostructuretheIMSfirstasaVerticaltopology.Thentheconnectionsbetweenwork,theExitCriteriaofthatwork(AC)andtheentrycriteriafortheEvents–SAscanbeseparatedfromtheWBS.WhiletheWBSisveryimportanttothecostaccountingfunctionandthecoststructureforthecustomer,ithaslittlevaluetotheassessmentoftheincreasingmaturityoftheIMS.

Thisunderstandingisusuallynotfoundatfirst,whentheconceptofIMP/IMSisintroduced.AtfirsttheconceptofaCDRLasthedeliverableishardtograsp.Especiallyforthosecomingfromthefunctionalorproductionplanningdomain.ThroughPDR,the“product”oftheprogramofrepresentedinitsphysicalformbythecontentsoftheCDRL’s.itistheCDRLthatisdeliveredatthereviewmeetings.

Theremaybelongleaditems,testsoftwareofhardwareatPDR,butthemajorityofwhat“done”lookslikeatPDRandpossiblyCDRand100%atSRRandSFRisthecontentoftheCDRLdocuments.



1.10 Link Vertically within an Event Capturing,buildingandlinkingeachindividualProgramEventFIRSTprovidesseveralbenefits:

§ Eachprogrameventistreatedasanindividualproject.Thisisactuallythecasemanytimes,whentheProgramiscanceledatPDR.

§ Developmentofeacheventindividualfocusestheteamofthe"increasingmaturityparadigmoftheIMS.Bydefiningthe"eventgrade"deliverables,thedevelopersoftheIMScanrevealwhatisreallytakingplacetoincreasethematurityoftheprogram.

§ ByseparatingthedevelopmentoftheIMSintoProgramEvents,paralleleffortcanbeusedbytheplannerstobuildtheIMS

DownSideofLinkingVerticallyFirst

WhiletheverticallinkingiscriticaltothesuccessoftheIMP/IMS,therearesomedownsidestothisapproach.

§ Thesubjectmatterexperts(SME)needtobevisitedmultipletimes,onceforeachProgramEvent.§ Interdependenciesbetweeneventsthatarenottiedtothecompletionontheevent.§ EachACmustbeselfcontained.§ EachACmustbesplitifitproducesanoutputbeforeitiscomplete.ThesesoundlikeimpedimentstousingtheIMPinproductionenvironment.ButthebenefitsfaroutweightheeffortneededtobuildandmaintaintheIMP/IMS.WhenaPerformanceBasedEarnedValueapproachistakentothemeasuringprogresstoplan,eachACisequivalenttoaWorkPackage.InthePBEVapproachnopartialcompletionisallowed.TheWorkPackageiseither0%downor100%done.Thisisextremeofcourse,so50%canbegivenwhentheworkpackagestartsand50%givenwhenitends.

Inallcases,usingAC’sasthedescriptionofthe“exitcriteria”fortheworkdirectlyconnectstheplanwiththemeasurementof“done.”

IntheEndThisistheWaytoProceed

Bycapturingindividualeventsfirst,thelogicalflowoftheprogramintermsofmaturitycanbediscovered.

Thisapproachalsominimizesthenaturaltendencytobuilda"shopfloor"schedule.Whenhorizontallinkingisfirstused,tasksarestrungtogetheracrossthelifeoftheprogramandtheconceptofanEventisforeverlost.

WhenEventisolationisforcedontheplanners,thistendencyisremoved.OnlylateinthedevelopmentoftheIMSshouldhorizontallinkingtakeplace.Atthisitbecomesclearwhatthe"real"dependenciesareandwheretheyshouldbe.

VerticalExample

TheexamplebelowisaverticallinkingfromTasks,toACs,toSAs,totheProgramEvent.ThereareplaceholderswithineachSummaryBarthatrepresentsthePE,SA,orAC.Thesearethepointsthatcollectthe"children"frombelow.LinkingtheseverticallyFIRSTisthebasisofarrangingtheIMS.

InthissimpleexampleanAccomplishmentCriteriaanditsTasksarelinkedtotheSignificantAccomplishmentsandthentotheProgramEvent.ThedependencycomingfrombelowTask1.1.4isadependencyfromanotherAC,shownintheFigure9.



Figure9–TheconnectionsoftaskswithintheACmustlandontheplaceholderfortheAC.BecauseMicrosoftProjectdoesnotallowlinkagetoSummaryTasks(Primaveracallsthesehammocktask),anersatztaskisneededto“holdtheplace”oftheAC.ThesameisthecasefortheSAandPE.Withtheseplaceholdersandcomplete“network”canbeconstructedfortheIMSandIMP.Nowidowsororphansforanyelement.

InFigure10,thedependenciesbetweentasksareactuallymadethroughtheACs.TherecanbenoTasktoTasklinkinginIMP/IMS,sincethecompletionofanACisthepre–conditionforstartingthenextAC.Thisforcestheverticallinkingwhileprovidingaminimalsetofhorizontallinks.

Figure10–ThelinkagetotheSAandthentothePEisdoneinthesamewaythelinkagefromtheTaskswithintheAC.ThislinkageiscriticalinmaintainingtheverticalnatureoftheIMPwhileprovidingthebasisforthehorizontalconnectionsoftheIMS.BothVerticalandHorizontalconnectionsareneededintheend.

1.11 Link Horizontally within an Event WithinaProgramEvent,thehorizontalconnectionstakeplacebetweentheACs.ThisdoesnotmeanACtoAClinkage–thiswouldbeaFinish–to–Finishconnection.SincetheACrepresentstheExitCriteriafortheTaskswithintheAC,connectingAC–to–ACisillogical.

LinkingbetweenACsisdonebythefollowingsteps:



§ ThecompletionofanACisthestartofasuccessorAC.ThefirsttaskinthesuccessorACstartsthatACfromthecompletionofthepredecessorAC.

§ LinkthecompletionofanACtoastartingtaskofasuccessorAC.ThisFinish–to–Startrelationshipstatesthatwhenonesetoftasksofcompleteanothersetcanstart.

§ InthesuccessorAC,theremayneedtobeasingle"collector"tasktitled"startAC",thatisstartingpointfortheAC.

FinishtoStartRelationshipsarePreferred

ThecurrentDCMAguidancefora“Green”IMSistolimitthenumberofnon–FinishtoStartrelationships.Beforethe14–Pointassessmentarrivedin2009,themotivationforFinishtoStarthadtoovercomethetendenciestouseleads,lags,andotherrelationshipstogetthescheduleto“playnice”withtheneedsoftheCAMs.

§ Therelationshipabovemaynotbethefirstlogicalapproach.Sometypeofintermediateconnectionmaybedesirable.Thisisusuallydonewitha"lag"relationshipfromtheFinish–to–Start.

§ Thisshouldnotbedoneforseveralreasons:§ TheLeadandLagrelationshipshidetheconnectionsbetweenACs§ Theserelationshipscause"odd"outcomesfortheMonteCarlomodeling§ Thelogicalpaththroughthenetworkisdisruptedbytheseoffsetrelationships§ Inordertofixthissituation,theACshouldbebrokenuptodefineonlytheFinish–to–Startrelationships.Thiscanbedoneisasimplerule:

Only100%completeproducts(definedbytheExitCriteriaoftheAC)canbeusedtostartanysuccessorwork.Whenitistimetostartlinkinghorizontally,startwiththedependenciesassociatedwiththecompletionofapredecessorevent.Forexample

§ ATaskinCDRthatdependsonPDRcanusethecompletionofPDRasasuccessor.ThisFinishtoStartbetweenthetaskandPDRmakesitclearthattheworkinCDRstartsafterthecompletionofPDR.

§ TherearecaseswheresomethinginCDRneedstostartbeforePDRcompletes.IdentifytheEventthatisthepredecessorpriortoPDRtolinkto.

WithinaProgramEvent,thehorizontalconnectionstakeplacebetweentheACs.ThisdoesnotmeanACtoAClinkage–thiswouldbeaFinish–to–Finishconnection.SincetheACrepresentstheExitCriteriafortheTaskswithintheAC,connectingAC–to–ACisillogical.LinkingbetweenACsisdonebythefollowingsteps:

§ ThecompletionofanACisthestartofasuccessorAC§ LinkthecompletionofanACtoastartingtaskofasuccessorAC.ThisFinish–to–Startrelationshipstatesthatwhenonesetoftasksofcompleteanothersetcanstart.

§ InthesuccessorAC,theremayneedtobeasingle"collector"tasktitled"startAC",thatisstartingpointfortheAC.

Inbothcases,whenthetasksareturnedtoAsSoonAsPossible(ASAP),therewillnotbetheproperpositioningofthestartdates.ThefigurebelowisanexampleoflinkinghorizontallybetweentwoAccomplishmentCriteria.NoTasktoTasklinkingisallowed.OnlyACtoTaskconnectionsareallowed,asshownbelow.



Figure11–ConnectionsbetweenAccomplishmentCriteria–Theonlyhorizontalconnections,othersthanthestartofacollectionoftasksfromanSAorPE,ismadefromthepredecessorACtothefirsttaskintheSuccessorAC.Inthisway,thedependenciesbetweencollectionsofworkareisolatedtothecompletionofthepreviouscollectionofwork.Thistopologyimprovesthevisibilityinto“done”andisolatespartiallycompletedworkfrombeconsumedbydownstreamactivitiesresultingin“rework”onceitiscompleted.

FinishtoStartRelationshipsareactuallytheRule

§ Therelationshipabovemaynotbethefirstlogicalapproach.Sometypeofintermediateconnectionmaybedesirable.Thisisusuallydonewitha"lag"relationshipfromtheFinish–to–Start.

§ Thisshouldnotbedoneforseveralreasons:§ TheLeadandLagrelationshipshidetheconnectionsbetweenACs§ Theserelationshipscause"odd"outcomesfortheMonteCarlomodeling§ Thelogicalpaththroughthenetworkisdisruptedbytheseoffsetrelationships§ Inordertofixthissituation,theACshouldbebrokenuptodefineonlytheFinish–to–Startrelationships.Thiscanbedoneisasimplerule:

Only100%completeproducts(definedbytheExitCriteriaoftheAC)canbeusedtostartanysuccessorwork.Iflessthan100%maturity(fortheexpectedlevelatthispointintheprogram)isused,severaloutcomesoccur:

§ EarnedValuemustbeevaluatedasapercentcompletethroughanintervieworopinionprocess.theo/100evaluationcannotbeused.

§ Thesuccessorworkeventstarts(entrycriteria)withpartialorincompleteresultsfromthepredecessoreffort.Thisusuallyresultsinrework.

§ Thelogicalflowofproductmaturityisnotclearlyvisible.EarnedValueisthereforedisconnectedfromphysicalpercentcomplete.ThePhysicalPercentCompleteisbestrepresentedbya0%/100%evaluationoftheeffort.“You’reeitherdoneoryou’renotdone.”

ByusingFinishtoStartand0/100,eachworkeffortisseparableinitsevaluationofprogresstoplan.

1.12 Link Horizontally across Events WiththeindividualEventACslinkedinawaythatdescribesthelogicalflowofwork,thenextstepistoconnecttheEventshorizontally.TheremaybethecasethateachEventisinitiatedbythepreviousEvent.Thiswouldbethe"ideal"condition.NoEventshouldstartwithoutthe"permission"receivedfromtheexitofpreviouseventisthe"ideal"condition.ThismaynotalwaysbethecaseandtherearelikelydependenciesbetweenEvents.

TherearethreepopularwaystolinkbetweenindividualEventfiles

§ BuildaSND/RCVfile–asaseparatefile,whichcontainstheconnectionsbetweentwootherfiles.Theselinksarethepredecessor/successorpathwhichincludethefilesystempathname



§ Hardcodetheeventsineachfile–definedforeachfilewiththedueorsenddatesdefinedasMustFinishOnorMustStartOn.

§ Indicatethedependenciesinseparatefilesandlinkthemintheconsolidatedfile–thenuseamacrotomaketheconnectionsbetweenthesefileswhentheyareassembledintoamasterfile.

Theresomefundamentalweaknessesineachapproach:

§ TheGet/Putfilehaslimitsonthefieldsizeinthepredecessorandsuccessorfields.Forlongpathnames,thislimitationveryquicklyrunsoutofspace.Oncethe255characterlimithasbeenreachedthefieldcannotlingerbeeditedthroughtheUserInterfaceofMSFTProject.

§ TheHardCodedapproachrequiredcontinuousmanagementofthedatesforeachfile.Thisdoesworkwhenthereareasetof“masterdates”forallportionsoftheprogram.

§ Theinterconnectionsarenot“set”untilthe“masterfile”isassembled.ThisapproachworkbestforaIMP/IMSproposaldevelopmentwherethereareaminimalnumberofinterconnectionsbetweenProgramEvents.Foranexecutionschedule,thisisabiggerissue.

TheexampleFigure12showshowtobuildtheconnectionsusingSNDandRCVindicators,thatarethenusedbyaMacrotomaketheconnections(predecessorandsuccessorconnections)whenthetwofilesareinsertedintoamasterfile.

Asanaside–theinsertedfilesshouldnotbeinsertedandProjects,butthetwosummarytasks–thepreambleProgramEventsandtheEventBody–arecopiedandpastedintotheMasterFile.Thisallowseachfileanditscontentstobeattheproperlevel.

LinkingHorizontallyAcrossEventsUsing«SND»and«RCV»fields

Therearemanyapproachestobuildingtheinter–Eventlinks.Asimpleoneistodothismechanically–especiallyforaproposalIMS–usingtextfields.InFigure12,Text21andText22arethetwoplaceswheretheinterconnectionsaremade.

§ Text21istheSenderField–thiscontainsaconcatenationoftheEventLetterandtheUID§ Text22istheReceiverField–thiscontainsthenamefromText21thatisthereceiver

Figure12–thehorizontalconnectionsbetweenprogramfiles–theindividualProgramEvents–ismadethroughaSend(SND)andReceive(RCV)field.TheseconnectionsarethenmadeintoactualpredecessorandsuccessorconnectionsinaMasterFilethroughaVBAmacrothatlocatesmatchingpairsandinsertstheproperlinkage.

Therearemanyconceptsbuiltaroundthenotionof«SND»and«RCV»fields.Acriticallyimportantonethoughistheuseofthe«DELIVERABLES»typeinMicrosoftProjectServer2007.



§ ShowingtheincreasingmaturityistheroleoftheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP).

§ ShowinghowthisincreasingmaturitywillbeachievedistheroleoftheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS).

§ MeasuringtheincreasingmaturityistheroleoftheEarnedValueManagementSystem.

Figure13–MicrosoftProjectServer2007providesan“outofthebox”solutiontotheinter-filedependencyissuesdescribedabove–theDELIVERABLESfield.ThisapproachcanreplacetheVisualBasicmacrosneededtoconnectthefiles.

ThefundamentalproblemthatistryingtobesolvedwiththeVisualBasiccodingapproachesisthattheindividualfilesare“outofsynch”inregardstotheirinter–filedependencies.TheProjectServerapproachremovesthisissueby“keepingthedependencies”in–synchatalltimes.Atleastwhentheyareout–of–sync,altersalltheplannersoftheproblemsotheycanfixit.

1.13 Integrating the IMP and IMS with Earned Value TheconnectionbetweentheIMP,theIMS,andEarnedValueisacriticalaspectofasuccessfulprogrammanagementprocess.StartingwiththeIMP,thedefinitionofincreasingproductorservicematurityisdefinedthroughtheProgramEvents(PE),SignificantAccomplishments(SA),andAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).ForeachAccomplishmentCriteriaasetofTasksdeliverstheproductsorservicesthatareassessedbytheAC.ThesetasksaresequencedwithintheACandbetweenACs.TheseTasksformtheIntegratedMasterSchedule(IMS).

ConnectingallfouroftheseelementsoftheIMP/IMSisthemeasureofthephysicalpercentcompleteoftheTasks,theresultingcompletionoftheAccomplishmentCriteria,theSignificantAccomplishments,andfinallytheProgramEvent.Theunitsofmeasureofthephysicalpercentcompleteareappliedtothe“plannedvalue”ofthetasks.ThisPlannedValueisthebudgetedcostforworkperformed(BCWS).WiththePhysicalPercentCompleteandtheBCWS,the“EarnedValue”orBCWPcanbecalculated.ItistheEarnedValuethatisusedtomeasuretheprogressoftheproject.Table5describesthe10stepsneededtosuccessfullydeployanEarnedValueManagementSystem.

ThesestepsarebasedonEarnedValueManagement(EVM)principlesandformthebasisofanyPerformanceMeasurementBaselineprocess.IntheendmeasuringperformanceinIMP/IMSisanEarnedValueManagement



Systemprocess,wherephysicalpercentcompleteisequatedtothecalculatedBCWPofeachWorkPackageandthedetailedtaskscontainedinthatWorkPackage.

StepsinImplementingEarnedValue

DetailsrequiredtosuccessfullyimplementtheEarnedValueManagementprocessesandconnectthemtotheIMP/IMSframework IMP/IMSImplementations

DefineWorkScope

100percentoftheproject'sworkscopeisdefinedusingaworkbreakdownstructure(WBS)

Themostcriticalandmostchallengingrequisitetoemployingearnedvalueistodefinetheproject'stotalworkscope.Ifwhatconstitutes100percentisnotdefined,howcanameasureoftheproject'sperformancebedetermined?Withouta100%referencepoint,itcannotbeascertainedwhether10%,20%,or25%oftheplannedworkhasbeencompleted.

TheWBSistotheprojectmanagerwhattheorganizationchartistotheexecutive—itallowstheprojectmanagertodefineaprojectbylayingoutalltheassignedworkanddecomposingeachtaskintomeasurableworkpackages.

TotalworkisdefinedintheIMSconnectedtotheIMP.

NoworkontheprojectcanbeperformedwithoutbeingdefinedintheIMS.EachAccomplishmentCriteria(AC)definestheExitCriteriaforthedefinedworkintermsof100%complete.

CreateanIntegratedMasterSchedule

Combinecriticalprocesses,definedworkscope,schedule,andestimatedresources,intoanIntegratedMasterSchedulewithdetailedmeasurementsofprogressheldinaControlAccountPlans(CAP)

EarnedvalueprojectmanagementisimplementedwithindetailedCAP,whichconstitutesaformalbottom–upprojectplanningprocess.TheindividualCAPrepresentstheintegrationofallcriticalprocessessuchasworkscope,planning,scheduling,estimating,andauthorization.

TheperformancemeasurementtakesplacewithinthedetailedCAP,andthetotalproject'sperformanceisthesummationofwhatwasreflectedinthedetailedCAPs.Inessence,eachprojectCAPisasubprojectofthetotalprojectthatismanaged,measured,andcontrolledbyaCAPmanager.

TheIMSdescribestheflowofworkasitsupportstheincreasingmaturityoftheprogram

Thisisnotthesameasa“schedule”oftheworkinahorizontalsense.Thosetypesofschedulescanbeusedatthelowestlevelsoftheprogram,butonlyforsequencingtheactivitiesofsomethinglikemanufacturingandassembly.Thiscanbeusedwhereprogressismeasuredbythepassageoftimeandconsumptionofresources.

TheIMSmustshowtheincreasingmaturityintermsofdeliverableswithapre-definedvalue(EarnedValue).Onlythencanphysicalpercentcompletehavemeaningtothemeasureofperformance.

FormallyScheduleControlAccountPlan(CAP)

EachdefinedCAPmustbeplannedandscheduledwithaformalschedulingsystem

Thisisthesinglemostcriticaltoolrequiredtoimplementearnedvalue.Theproject'sschedulingsystemwillportraytheapprovedworkscope,whichiscarefullyplacedintoaspecifictimeframeforperformance.Inearned–valuevernacular,thisscheduledworkwillconstitutetheproject'splannedvalue.Asperformancetakesplaceontheproject,theportionoftheplannedvaluethatisphysicallyaccomplishedbecomestheearnedvalue.Boththeplannedvalueandtheresultingearnedvaluemustusethesamemetricstomeasuretheirperformance.

Theproject'sschedulingsystemis,therefore,criticaltotheemploymentofearnedvaluebecauseitisthevehicletorepresenttheproject'sscope,plannedvalue,andearned–valuemeasurement.Theprojectmasterscheduleisvitaltotheprojectbecauseitconstitutestheprojectmanager'sspecifiedplannedvalueforeveryonetofollow.

EachCAPisfootandtiedwiththeSignificantAccomplishmentsandAccomplishmentCriteriaforthedeliverablesaccountableforintheCAP

CAPsaremorethancollectionsofbudgetsfortheplannedworkpackages.TheyaredescriptionsofhowthatallocatedbudgetwillbeappliedtoproducethedefinedoutcomesintheWorkBreakdownStructure(WBS)throughtheworkeffortsoftheIMS.

AssignEachCAP EachdefinedCAPmustbeassignedtoapermanent ThecriticalsuccessfactorfortheIMP/IMS





toanAccountableManagerforPerformance

functionalexecutiveforperformance.ThisassignmenteffectivelycommitstheexecutivetooverseetheperformanceofeachCAP.

Projectsarebytheirnaturetransientwithinanyfirm'spermanentorganizationalstructure—theyareauthorized,implemented,andperformed,theneventuallygooutofexistence.Many(perhapsmost)ofthosewhomanagethedetailedperformancethattakesplacewithintheCAPswillnotcarrytheformaltitleof"manager"withinthefirm'spermanentorganizationalstructure;rather,manyormostoftheseCAPmanagersarefunctionalemployeestemporarilyassignedandmatrixedintotheprojectbyoneofthepermanentfunctionalorganizations.Tosecureafirmcommitmentfromthefunctionalexecutiveswhohavetheauthorityandresourcestomaketheplanhappen,itiswisetohaveeachofthedefinedprojectCAPsessentiallyadoptedbyaseniorfunctionpersonwithatitlesuchasvicepresident,director,ormanager.

paradigmistoassigna“businessmanager”fortheplannedwork.ThismanagerisparalleltotheTechnicalManagement

FinanceandBusinessOperationsisequivalenttotheTechnicalManagementoftheprogram.

Assigningbusinessresponsibilityoutsidethetechnicalresponsibilityprovidestheseparationofconcernsneededtoassurethatbothtechnicalprogressandbusinessperformancearebeingmadeontheprogram.

ThePerformanceMeasurementBaseline(PMB)istheshareddocumentusedbybothbusinessandtechnicalmanagement.

EstablishaBaselinethatSummarizesCAPs

Atotalprojectperformancemeasurementbaselinemustbeestablished,whichrepresentsthesummationofthedetailedCAPs.

Thenextrequiredstepistoformatotalbaselineagainstwhichprojectperformancemaybemeasured.SuchbaselinesmustincludealldefinedCAPsplusanymanagement(contingency)reservesthatmaybeheldbytheprojectmanager.Ifmanagementreservesarenotgiventotheprojectmanagerbutareinsteadcontrolledbyaseniormanagementcommittee,theyshouldbeexcludedfromtheprojectperformancebaseline.

Onacommercial–typecontract,thebaselinemayincludesuchthingsasindirectcosts—andevenprofitorfee—tomatchthetotalauthorizedprojectfunds.Internalprojectswilltypicallynotcontainindirectcosts,profits,ormanagementreserves.MostinternalprojectbaselineswillbethesumofthedefinedCAPs.

MeasurePerformanceAgainstSchedule

Periodically,measuretheproject'sscheduleperformanceagainstitsplannedmasterprojectschedule.

Theformallyissuedandcontrolledprojectmasterscheduleconstitutestheproject'splannedscope.Eachtaskdescribedontheprojectmasterschedulecanbeloadedwithestimatedresources,suchashoursordollars,whichareembeddedwithintheauthorizedCAPs.AsperformancetakesplacewithintheCAPs,youcanquantifytherelationshipbetweenthevalueoftheworkscheduledascomparedtothevalueoftheworkaccomplished.Thedifferencebetweentheworkscheduledandworkaccomplishedconstitutestheschedulevarianceinearnedvalue.

Anegativeschedulevariancemeansthatthevalueoftheworkaccomplisheddoesnotmatchthevalueoftheworkscheduled,i.e.,theprojectisfallingbehindinitsscheduledwork.Eachbehind–scheduletaskcanbe

PerformancemeasurementstartsandendwithmeasuresofPhysicalPercentComplete

EachworkpackagemustbecompliantwiththeEarnedValueManagementSystemDescription.ThisusuallydefineshowprogressisbeingmeasuredfortheWorkPackage.





assessedregardingitscriticalitytotheproject.Ifthelatetaskisonthecriticalpath,orifthetaskcarriesahighrisktotheproject,effortscanbemadetogetthelatetaskbackonschedule.Conversely,ifataskhaspositivevarianceorisnotconsideredahighrisktotheproject,addedresourcesshouldnotbespenttoaccelerateitsperformance.

MeasureCostEfficiencyAgainsttheCostsIncurred

Periodicallymeasuretheproject'scostperformanceefficiencyrate,whichrepresentstherelationshipbetweentheproject'searnedvalueperformedandthecostsincurredtoachievetheearnedvalue.

Thesinglemostimportantbenefitofemployingearnedvalueisthecostefficiencyreadingsitprovides.Thedifferencebetweenthevalueofworkperformedandthecostsincurredtoaccomplishtheworkprovidesthecost–efficiencyfactor.Ifyouarespendingmoreontheprojectthanitreceivesinvalue,thisreflectsanoverruncondition.Absoluteoverrunshavebeenfoundtobenonrecoverable.Overrunsexpressedasapercentagevaluehavebeenfoundtodeteriorateunlesstheprojecttakesaggressiveactionstomitigatethecondition.

Perhapsofgreatestbenefit,thecostefficiencyratehasbeenfoundtobeusablystablefromthe15percentpointofaprojectcompletionandprogressivelymorestableasitgoesfromthe20percentto30percentto40percentcompletionpoint.Therefore,thecostefficiencyfactorisanimportantmetricforanyprojectmanagerorenterpriseexecutivetomonitor.

ForecastFinalCostsBasedonPerformance

Periodically,forecasttheproject'sfinalcostrequirementsbasedonitsperformanceagainsttheplan.

Oneofthemorebeneficialaspectsoftheearned–valueconceptisitsabilitytoindependentlyforecastthetotalrequiredfundsattheendofaproject,commonlycalledthe"estimateatcompletion."Basedonprojectperformanceagainsttheplan,aprojectmanagercanaccuratelyestimatethetotalfundsrequiredtofinishthejobwithinafiniterangeofvalues.

Thesestatisticalestimatesaresomethinglikeagrass–rootssanitycheckagainstestimatesbasedmoreonwishfulthinkingbecausetheyprovideamorerealisticestimateofthevaluesneededtofinishthejob—unlesssomeonehasapreconceivednotionofwhatthatvalueshouldbe.AsreflectedinFigure1,iftheearned–valuestatisticalestimatesaregreaterthanthe"official"projectestimatestocompletetheproject,someoneinaseniormanagementpositionshouldreconciletheseprofessionaldifferencesofopinion.

ManageRemainingWork

Continuouslymanagetheproject'sremainingwork.Theresultsachievedtodateonaproject,goodorbad,areineffect"sunkcosts"—goneforever.Thus,anyimprovementsinperformancemustcomefromfuturework—tasksaheadofthelateststatusdate.Earnedvalueallowstheprojectmanagertoaccuratelymeasurethecostandscheduleperformanceachievedtodate.If





theresultsthusfararelessthandesired,theprojectmanagercanexertamoreaggressivepostureonallfuturework.Earnedvalue,becauseitallowstheprojecttoaccuratelyquantifythevalueofitsworkachieved,allowstheprojectmanagertoalsoquantifythevalueoftheworkaheadtostaywithintheobjectivessetbymanagement.

ManageBaselineChanges

Continuouslymaintaintheproject'sbaselinebymanagingallchangestothebaseline.

Theprojectperformancemeasurementbaselineputinplaceatthestartoftheprojectisonlyasgoodasthemanagementofallproposedchangestothebaselineduringthedurationoftheproject.Anyperformancebaselinebecomesinvalidifitfailstoincorporatechangesintotheapprovedbaselineeitherbytheadditiontooreliminationofaddedworkscope.

Allnewchangesofprojectworkmustbeaddressedeitherbytheapprovalorrejectionofchanges.Fortheinitialbaselinetoremainvalid,everychangemustbecloselymanaged.Maintainingabaselineisaschallengingastheinitialdefinitionoftheprojectscopeatthestartoftheproject.

Table5–These10processesmustbeimplementedinorderforEarnedValuetobeusefulintheIMP/IMSenvironment.Theseconceptsaretakendirectlyfrom“EarnedValueProjectManagement:APowerfulToolforSoftwareProjects,”QuentinFlemingandJoelKoppelman,CrossTalk,July1998

1.14 Summary § BuildeachProgramEventbyasking“whatmustbeaccomplishedtosuccessfullycompletetheevent?”ThisisatopdowndevelopmentoftheSignificantAccomplishments.

§ Ask“whataretheexitcriteriaforthe“yettobedefined”workthatallowtheSignificantAccomplishmentstorealized?

§ WhatisthelogicalorderfortheseSignificantAccomplishments?Thatis,howdoestheincreasingmaturityoftheSignificantAccomplishmentsflowthoughtheprogram?Whataccomplishmentsmustbeaccomplishedfirst?Showthisflowintheformofamapmovingfromlefttoright.Thislookslikeaflowchart,butit’samaturityflowchart.Figure15isanexample.

§ WiththisIMPinplace,definetheworkneededtodelivertheoutcomesfromeachAccomplishmentCriteria.ThesearenaturallythehighlevelWorkPackages.Eachworkpackageproducesa100%complete–completetothedefinelevelofmaturityforthatspecificprogramevent–deliverable(initial,preliminary,critical,final,firstarticle,engineeringdesignunit,testready,initialoperations,finaloperations).



§ BuildingtheIMPrequiresdiscipline,rigor,skill,andexperience.

§ FollowingthestepsinFigure3isthestartingpointforthedisciplineandrigor.

§ DeviationstoFigure3usuallyresultinadisappointingresult.Inotherwords“don’tchangetheprocessunlessyouhavetheskillandexperiencetoknowthedifferentbetweenagoodchangeandabadchange.

2 Process Flow to Build The Integrated Master Plan (IMP) BuildingtheIntegratedMasterPlanisastepbystepprocess.EachstepisneededforasuccessfulIMP.Eachstepshouldbeperformedintherightsequence,althoughthisisprobablyneverthecaseinpractice.

ButitiscriticaltounderstandhoweachstepbuildsthematurityoftheIMPitselfaswellasbuildsthedescriptionoftheincreasingmaturityoftheproductorservicedescribedbytheIMP.

Itwillberepeatedmanytimestocome,don’tmakechangestothisprocessunlessyou’vebeendowntheroadofIMP/IMSconstructionandhavehadasuccessfulconclusion–awinningproposal,a“Blue”IMSatIBR,oranyotherexternalacknowledgethatyou’renowan“IMP/IMS-er”

Figure14–theprocessflowfordevelopingtheIMPshouldbestrictlyfollowed.IthasbeenshownthatnotfollowingthisflowleadstoconfusionandreworkoftheIMPelements.Eachstepmustbeevaluatedforitscompletenessandsuitabilityforuse.Ifthisisnotdone,reworkandlostworkwillresult.Intheproposalenvironment,timeandresourcesarelimited.Managingtheproposalasa“timeboxed”projectisthestartingpointforsuccess.



FormtheIMPTeam

ThisteamistheProgramandTechnicalarchitectureleadersoftheproject.Thisteamisthe"thoughtleaders"ofhowtheprogramwillproceed.Ifit'saproposal,thenthisconversationisdrivenbytheRFP,winthemesandalltheCDRL,DRD,DIDandotherDoD5000.2procurementprocessesanddocuments.Ifthisisacommercialprogram,thentheBusinessCaseandtheBusinessStrategy(fromtheBalancedScorecard)drivesthisconversation.Theoutputofthiseffortisadatadictionary,which:§ DefinesthecontentsofeachWBSelementstoaleveldetailthatcostestimatorsandplannercandetermine.§ WBSElement1.5.4.5.–SystemsIntegrationTestEquipmentPlanning–ThiselementincludestheefforttoidentifyrequirementsandspecifytypesandquantitiesoftestequipmentneededtosupporttheSystemIntegrationandTestprocess.Itdoesnotincludethedesignorprocurementofsuchequipment,whichiscoveredinElement1.5.4.6.

GatherInputsfromtheSystemsEngineersintermsofSystemsBehaviors

Reviewtherequirementsfortheprogramthroughallthesources.Thisincludes:§ 5000.2SETR(SystemsEngineeringTechnicalReview)-SETRsareanintegralpartofthesystemsengineeringprocessandlifecyclemanagement,andareconsistentwithexistingandemergingcommercial/industrialstandards.Thesereviewsarenottheplaceforproblemsolving,buttoverifythatproblemsolvinghasbeenaccomplished.AlongwiththeSETRisaProgramManagementRiskAssessmentchecklist.ThiscanbeusedtoverifyalltheelementsoftheProgramEventhavebeenaddressed.Thischecklistcanbefoundathttp://www.navair.navy.mil/kms/41G/

§ SOO/SOW§ CDRLS§ SectionLandSectionM–SectionListheguidetopreparingtheproposal.Itwillcontaininstructionsonformatting,neededdata,pagelimits,andthestructureoftherespondingvolumes.SectionMistheevaluationproceduresfortheproposal.Theevaluationfactorsandsubfactorsarelisted.

§ ConceptofOperations§ Governmentmilestones(DoD5000.2processflow)

EstablishCriteriafortheAccomplishments–EntryCriteriafortheAccomplishments

TheEventdictionarydescribestheoutcomeofeachevent.NAVAIRandDAUhavedefinitionsandchecklistsforeacheventthroughCDR.Thesecriteria

DefineandorDeriveDeliverableproducts

FromtheStatementofWork(SOW),CDRL,orotherdocuments,determinethedeliverablesfortheProgramEvent(PE),SignificantAccomplishments(SA),andAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).Thesedeliverablesmustbetangible,measureableartifactsoftheworkeffort.Theymustbe“things”thatcanbeseen,touched,measured,weighed,orinsomeway“madeevident.”Theyarephysicallythe“evidentiarymaterials”oftheworkeffort.

Assuch,thetestofadeliverableisneverthecompletionoftheeffortortheconsumptionoftheresources.Itissomethingphysicallycomplete.An“object”thathasbeenproducedbytheworkeffort.Anewstateoftheprogram.Soformofvisible,tangibledifferenceintheprogram.

DefineEventsforProgramandProducts

DoD5000.02providessampleevents.Startwiththese.Therewillbeothers.ManyRFP’sallowtheproposaltodefineeventsthatindicateincreasingmaturitythatarenotpartoftheDoD5000.2sequenceofevents.AnothergoodsourceofProgramEventsandtheirdetaileddescriptionsistheNAVAIRSystemsEngineeringTechnologyReview(SETR),http://www.navair.navy.mil/kms/41G/.TherearehandbooksandchecklistsforeachProgramEvent.ThiscanbeusedasstartingpointsfortheentrycriteriafortheeventtoaugmentthetechnicalSignificantAccomplishments.

ThereisaCDthatcanbeorder(forfree)fromNAVAIR.ThisshouldbethestartingpointforIMPdevelopment.

DefineIPTStructuretoImplementProductStructure



Define

ExpandWBStoIPTStructure

TheWBS

ProducetheProductIMPMatrixwiththeCWBS

TheProductIMP

DefineProgramDemonstrationcapabilities

Programcapabilities

Defineaccomplishmentsforeachcapability

Eachcapability

Settheorderoftheprogramevents

Orderofprogramevents

SelecttopicsforIMPnarratives

IMPnarratives

Definetasksandworkproductsforeachaccomplishment

Taskandworkproducts

Demonstratehowsubjectaremanaged

Managingsubjects

SummaryofIMPwithE/A/C

SummarizetheIMP

InitialapprovaloftheIMP

ApprovaloftheIMP



ExampleIMP

ThefigurebelowisanexampleIMP.Thisexampleshowsanindentedschedulewiththesummarytaskshidden.Therowsarezero(0)durationactivitieswhichrepresentthePE/SA/ACelementsoftheIMP.

Figure15–asampleofanIMPproducedfromaMicrosoftProjectfile.ThisviewistakenfromtheplaceholdersinthefilethatrepresenttheindividualIMPelements.TheIMPnumberingisinsertedbyamacroaswellastheprefixinfrontofeachIMPphrase.ThephrasecontentsaretakenfromthesummarytasksintheGanttviewofthefile.

TheProgramEventisinasinglefile,with2SignificantAccomplishments(cleverlynamesSA1andSA2).EachSAhas2AccomplishmentCriteria(AC1.1,AC1.2andAC2.1,AC2.2).

Whilethismaylooktoosimple,arealIMPisstructureisconstructedinthesameway.



§ EachProgramEventisatransitionpoint§ EachSignificantAccomplishmentisaninterimorcriticalactivitythatmustbecompletedpriortotheProgramEvent(PE)

§ EachAccomplishmentCriteria(AC)isameasureableindicatorthatdemonstratesthattheworkintheIMShasbeencompletedasdefinedintheIMPdictionary.

2.1 Defining the Program Events IdentifyingProgramEventsstartswiththegovernmentseventsdefinedintheRFPandreferencedocuments.

Therearethreebasicphasesoftheseevents:

§ FromcontractawardtoCriticalDesignReview§ FromCDRtoInitialProductcomplete§ Frominitialproducttofullrateproduct§ Majorprogrameventsareopportunitiestogaugeprogramstatus...

Thereisnosetrequirementforwhatwillbedefinedasamilestoneorevent,butMILStandard1521Bcontainsthetraditionalmajorprogrameventsandservesasagoodstartingpoint.

§ An“event”isakeypointintheprogramwherewecanmeasureprogresstodeterminewhetheritisappropriatetoproceedtothenextseriesofactivities.Interimstatusreviewsmayneedtobeinsertedtopreludeexcessivetimebetweenevents.

§ Eventsallowustoaskpermissionofthecustomertoproceed.Assuch,wemuststructuretheSAsandACstowardthisgoalandmostimportantlygettingtheproperanswerto–canweproceedtothenestevent?

StatementofWork(SOW)

FromtheStatementofWork(SOW)

RFPSectionL&M

SectionL&MoftheRFP

InternalIMP/IMSProcess

InternalIMP/IMSprocesses

IEEE

IEEESystemsManagement

NAVAIRINST4355.19

NAVAIR4355.19

DoD5000.21A

DoD5000.21A

NAVAIRSystemsEngineeringHandbookSupplement

NAVAIRSystemsEngineeringHandbookSupplement

NAVAIRAcquisitionGuide2003

NAVAIRAcquisitionGuide2003

EIA–632ProcessesforSystemEngineering

EIA–632ProcessesforSystemEngineering



§ SignificantAccomplishments(SA)definethe“Entry”criteriafortheProgramEvent.

§ ThelogicalflowoftheSAsshowstheincreasingmaturityofthedeliverablesneededtosuccessfullycompletetheProgramEvent(PE).

§ Thematurityofthesedeliverablesisdefinedbythe“EventDictionary.”

MIL–STD–1521B

MIL–STD–1521B

2.2 Defining the Significant Accomplishment for each Program Event TheSignificantAccomplishments(SA)or"Accomplishments"aretheentrycriteriaoftheProgramEvents.AsentrycriteriatheSA'sshould:

§ DescribetheconditionsforthesuccessfulcompletionoftheProgramEvent.ForexampleforPDR–whataretheAccomplishmentsneededforasuccess.

OneeffectivewayofcapturingtheSAsisthroughamini–kaizenprocessthatdefinestheSAprocessflowforeachProgramEventProgramEvent.Thisisdoneusinga"swimlane"approachwheretheSAsflowfromlefttorightandtoptobottom,terminatingonaProgramEvent.EachSAislinkedto"downstream"SAstocreatetheprocessflowthatassurestheincreasingmaturityoftheProgramEvent.

Thefollowingfigureshowstheoutcomefromonesuchmini–kaizenprocess.FortheProgramEventAscentAerodynamicsConfirmed,thereare11SignificantAccomplishments,eacharrangedinthesequenceneededtoincreasethematurityofthiseventanddescribetoflowofworkcontainedintheAccomplishmentCriteriaandthesupportingTasks.

Figure16–definingtheSignificantAccomplishmentsforaProgramEventinthiswayshowsboththeincreasingmaturityandtheIPTstreamsthatproducethismaturity.Thedevelopmentofthis“picture”oftheProgramEventtakesplaceusingaMini–ProductKaizen.SystemsEngineeringandPlanningandControlssitinaroomandworkouttheprocessflowoftheSAsfortheEvent.Fromthisstructure,theIMPcanbedevelopeddirectly.ThisisamuchbetterapproachthenjustlistingtheSAsandtheresultingACsinalinearmanner.



SystemsandSubsystems

TheallocationofSystemsandSubsystemsstartswithaSystemsEngineeringviewoftheprogram.TheinterdependenciesbetweentheSystemsandSubsystems,drivethestructureoftheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP).

Thedefinitionsofinterfaces,definesthecouplingandcohesionmeasuresbetweenthesesystemelements.TheIMPneedstoidentifytheseinterfaces,theirimpactonthecredibilityoftheIMP,andthevisibleconnectionsastheprogrammovesfromlefttorightinitsmaturity.

IPTflows

EachIntegratedProductTeamisthebasisoftheflowofvalueforeachProgramEvent.TheIPT“swimlanes”arethestructuretoidentifytheinterdependenciesbetweentheSignificantAccomplishments.TheseIPT’sareusuallyallocatedfromexternalfirms–actualIPTs,internalCentersofExcellence,orspecificengineeringdisciplines.

TheIPTflowconceptpresentstheorganizationalelementsoftheProgramEventmappedagainsttheSignificantAccomplishments.TheseconnectionsaredevelopedthroughaProgrammaticSystemsArchitectureDevelopmentKaizenmeeting

ProductMaturity

TheflowofmaturityistherealpurposeoftheIMP.ThechallengeistodefinewhatthemeasuresofmaturityinunitsofmeasurethataremeaningfultoPP&CforcapturingPhysicalPercentCompleteandthesystemengineeringstaffinthedescriptionofthedevelopmentoftheprogram.

ThiseffortstartswithcapturingwhatSignificantAccomplishmentsfromeachIPTareneededfortheProgramEvent.Thesearethe“entry”criteria.

WorkProducts

TestStepsorArtifacts

2.3 Defining the ACs for each SA

Subsystems

CDRLS,DID,DRD

SystemsEngineeringGuidebooks



3 Building the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) WiththeIMPinhead,it’stimetostartthefirstcutattheIntegratedMasterSchedule.Thisisaniterativeandincrementalprocess,justliketheIMP.WiththedefinitionsoftheIMPandIMSelements,letuslookatasimple–andnotional–pictureoftheIMPandtheIMS.

EachSignificantAccomplishment(SA)anditsAccomplishmentCriteria(AC)definesthe“flowofincreasingmaturity”fortheprogram.TheIMSshowstheworkneededtoproducethisflow.RememberingeachACistheexitcriteriaforthecollectionoftasksthatproducetheincreasingflowofmaturity.ThefirststepistocreateaWorkPackagefromeachAccomplishmentCriteria.Theseworkpackagesmaybetoolargeortoosmall,butinthefirstiterationthisstepproducesvalue.

Figure17–ThenotionalconceptofanIMPandanIMSdescribestheTasksneededtocompletetheAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).TheseAccomplishmentCriteriainturndefinetheincreasingmaturityoftheworkproductsinsupportoftheSignificantAccomplishments.

TheIntegratedMasterPlan(IMP)shouldcoverthefollowing:

§ TheTechnicalSolution§ UnderstandingtheProblem–TheBackgroundofthesituationdescribingwhythereisaproblemandwhatneedstobesolved.TheScopeoftheprogram.TheProgramObjectives

§ DescriptionofSolution–awrittendiscussionoftheproposedsolution§ Deliverables–theCLINs,CDRLs,thereviews

§ TheManagementSolution§ TheOrganizationalStructureoftheSuppliersandtheCustomer§ ManagementPlansdescribedintheWBS,SOW,IMP/IMSandtheriskassociatedwiththese§ TheManagementProcesses,includingquality,risk,productdevelopment§ TheContractingElementsincludingPrice,theTermsandConditions,anyWarranties



§ TheIMSisanintegrated,networked,multi-layeredscheduleofprogramtaskstocompletetheworkeffortcapturedintheIMP.

§ TheIMSshouldincludeallIMPeventsandaccomplishmentsandsupporteachaccomplishmentclosurecriteria.

§ TheIMSisaperformanceforecastingtoolaswellasaMasterScheduleandRiskidentificationtool.

§ TheIMSconnectstheIMP,whichshowstheincreasingmaturityoftheprogramwiththeactivitiesneededtoproducetheevidencethatmaturityisincreasing.

§ ThroughPDRthemajorityoftheworkisbuildingthedeliverablesfromtheCDRLs

§ Buildingtheinitialplanofthe“plannedoutcomes”fromtheCDRLs–astheirmaturityisdefined–isthestartingpoint

§ EachCDRLshouldbeassignedtoasingleACandbeconnectedtoasinglePEforthedefinedmaturitylevel.

§ TheCapabilitiesSolution§ PastPerformanceRelativetothisprogramandanyKeySupplier’sdatathatdescribedpastperformance§ FacilitiesandEquipmentneededtosuccessfullydelivertheproductincludingInternalandKeySuppliers§ AnyKeyPersonnelIPTLeadNamesandResumesandtheKeySupplier’sLeadNamesandResumes

§ TheCostSolution§ SupplierCosts§ MaterialCosts§ CapitalExpenditures§ EngineeringandotherLaborCosts

3.1 Building a CDRLs plan TheCDRLsdeliverablesplanisusuallyahugemess.CDRLsareassigneddeliverydatesbefore,during,andafterProgramEvents.DifferentversionorrevisionsoftheCDRLsaredueatdifferentpointsintheprogram.Keepingtrackofallthesemovingparts,startswiththeunderstandingofwhattheCDRLsactuallysayinthebodyoftheirtextaboutdelivery.Severalapproachescanbetaken:

§ Buildadatabasethatkeepstrackofallthedependencies§ BuildaschedulethatdescribesthedeliveryoftheCDRLsThismayappearoverkillbutitisnot.TheCDRLcomplianceisacriticalfactorthroughPDR.AlsotheCDRL’saretheactualdeliverablesthroughPDR,sinceuptothatpointtheprogramrarelyproducesarehardwareorsoftwareproducts–justdesigns,models,tradestudiesandotherpaperbasedassessments.

InsidetheCDRLsarereferencestootherdependencieslikedates,reviewcyclesandthelike.

3.2 The Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) TheIMSisalivingdocumentthatiscontinuouslyupdatedtoreflecttheprogressoftheprogramorproject.TheIMSshould:[Guide05]

§ MaintainconsistencywiththeIMP§ Illustratetheinterrelationshipsamongevents,accomplishments,criteria,andtasks

§ Indicatethestartandcompletiondatesanddurationforeachevent,accomplishment,criterionandtask

§ Provideforcriticalpathanalysis§ Providetheabilitytosortschedulesmultipleways(e.g.,byevent,byIntegratedProductTeam(IPT),orbyWBS)

§ Providescheduleupdatesonaregularbasis,indicatingcompletedactions,scheduleslips,andrescheduledactions

§ ProvidethecapabilityfortheGovernment,contractor,orsupportcontractorstoperform“whatif”scheduleexerciseswithoutmodifyingthemasterprogramschedule

§ MaintainconsistencywiththeworkpackagedefinitionsandtheEarnedValueManagementSystem(EVMS)§ BetraceablebetweentheWBSitemssupportedbyeachIMStask§ Beverticallyandhorizontallytraceabletothecostandschedulereportinginstrument(e.g.,CostPerformanceReport(CPR))



AnExampleIMS

TheIntegratedMasterScheduleisderivedfromtheIntegratedMasterSchedule.TheexamplebelowissimilartothesimpleIMPintheprevioussection:

TheIMSisEventBased

Thissoundslikearestatementoftheobvious,butitismoresubtlethanthat:

§ EventBasedmeansthereisonescheduleforeachEvent.§ EachEventisheldinaseparate,self-containedschedule.§ AlltheworkthatgoesintoasingleEventisinasingleschedule.§ Thisrepeatedthemeneedstoberepeatedallthetime–EventBasedPlanningisadifferentparadigmfromhorizontal,functionalplanning.

3.3 Structuring the IMS DonotstructuretheIMSbyWBS.BuildtheIMSfromtheACs,thenassigntheWBSnumberstotheTasksintheIMS.

Theseassignmentsmayrevealtheill–logicalstructureoftheWBS

WiththeWBSassignments,theIMScanbeGroupedtolooklikeaWBSstructuredprojectplan.



4 The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) TheWorkBreakdownStructure(WBS)isoneofthemostmisused,misapplied,troublesomeconceptsinprogrammanagement.ThefirststepinbuildingtheIMPandtheresultingIMSistoresistthetemptationtostartwiththeWBS.TheWBSisatoolthatdefinesaprojectandgroupstheproject’sdiscreteworkelementsinawaythathelpsorganizeanddefinethetotalworkscopefortheproject.AWBSelementmaybeaproduct,aservice,ordataassociatedwitheitherofthese.TheWBSprovidestheframeworkfordetailedcostestimatingandcontrolalongwithprovidingguidanceforsupplementalscheduledevelopmentandcontrol.BeforetheIMPandIMSaredeveloped,theWBStakesasecondaryroleinstructuringtheprogramfromtheperformancemeasurementpointofview.

ItisimportanttorememberthattheWBSisprimarilyacostcollectionmechanism.TheIMPandIMSareprogrammaturityassessmentmechanisms.ThetwoshouldnotbemixeduntiltheIMPisdefinedandtheIMSelementsidentified.OnlythenshouldtheWBSelementsbeassessed.

EachdescendingleveloftheWBSrepresentsanincreasinglevelofdetaileddefinitionoftheprojectwork.Asyou

StatementOfWork(SOW)

TheStatementofWork(SOW)isthestartingpointfortheWBSassignments.Inmanycases,theRFPwillprovideaWBS,whichthecontractorisrequiredtoturnintoaCWBS.InmostofthesecasetheWBSisnotaswellformedastheauthorsoftheRFPthinkitis.ThisisnotbecausetheyhavenotworkedhardtoconstructtheWBS.Itisbecausetheyarenotusuallyonthe“productconstruction”sideoftheWBSandtheCWBSandcannotseethedetailsofhowtomakeitbetter.

AccomplishmentCriteria

CDRLs

IntheIMSeachAccomplishmentCriteriaisassociatedwithaCDRL(DRDinsomeotherdomains).

Thisdoesn'tmeanthat'sallthatisassociatedwiththeAC,butCDRLsareone–to–onewithACs.Thereasonforthisis:

§ TheproductionofaCDRLrepresentstheoutcomeofsomeeffortthatisdocumentedbytheCDRL.§ TheCDRLisadeliverabletothegovernmentandtheACistheexitcriteriaforthateffort.§ eachACisassociatedwithaCDRL§ multipleCDRLversiontraceablehorizontallythroughtheProgramEvents

PhysicalProducts

TheproductsandservicesoftheprojectmustbeidentifiedattheACleveloftheIMS.

OnewaytostartthisiswiththeWBSifitisaproductWBS.MatchingtheProductIMSagainsttheSystemDecomposition–usuallyheldinsomesortofrequirementsmanagementsystem,likeDOORS–isthesourceoftheseproductelements



4.1 To Indent or Not Indent That is the Question

Assumptions

TheIMSandtheIMPthesupportsitneedtobeafullyformednetworkofactivities.ThepathsthroughtheIMSmustbefullyconnected.NoWidowsorOrphansinthisnetwork.Todothis,theIMPandtheIMSneedtobefullyconnected.ThatisallactivitiesintheIMPandIMSmustbeinasinglelogicalnetwork.Thisisimportantforseveralreasons:

§ TheMonteCarlosimulationoftheIMSusestheIMPelementsascollectionnodes§ TheproposalwordingaboutthecredibilityoftheIMSissupportedbystartingwiththeverticalconnectionsoftheProgramEvents

TherearetwoapproachestobuildingtheIMS

§ Indented§ Unindebted§ IndentedTheindentedIMShassummarytasks.ThesesummariesarethelogicalplacesforthePE/SA/ACelementsoftheIMP.TheproblemisthesesummarytaskscannotbelinkedtoformanetworkfortheIMS

4.2 Capturing the AC contents ThetasksintheACscanbecapturedinseveralways:

§ SimpleentryintotheMPPfile§ Entryintoaseparateworksheet

TheSeparateWorksheetApproach

Thisprocesshasseveraladvantagesandsomedisadvantages

§ TheworkofdefiningtheTasksfortheACscantakeplaceinparallel.Thisspeedstheentry,sincethesubjectmatterexperts(SME)canworkindependentfromtheplanners

§ TheworksheetnarrowtofocustosingleACs.TheSMEsarenotdivertedinto"bigpicture"issues,butinsteadworkonlyontheeffortneededforeachACasapackage–a"lumpofwork."

§ Thecapturingoftheworkisincremental.Theworksheetsaregatheredovertimeintoa"pileofwork,"managedbyoneofmoreplannersindependentoftheauthorsoftheACworksheets.This"staging"oftheworksupportstheparallelnatureoftheprocesses,buffersthecollectionprocessbyremovingtherealtimeneedtoenterdatawhentheknowledgeisavailable.

§ Theindependentdatacapturingandstorage(inaspreadsheetofWordfile)protectsthedataincaseofa"crash"ofMSFTProject.

Therearesomedisadvantagesaswell

Theformatofthedatacapturesheetmanyvary,butitneedstomatchtheentryofthetasksinProject.Usuallythisformatincludes:

§ Taskdescription§ Duration§ PredecessorsandSuccessorswithintheAC§ WBS,SOW,CDRL,etcMaintainingtheintegrityofthisformatrequirescareandmanagement.Randomdataformscannotbeused,sincetheprocessofcutandpaste"istheonlywaytosavetime.

Durations



MostEarnedValueManagementSystemDescriptionslimitthedurationofWorkPackagesto60calendardaysorlessforthemajorityofworkonthecurrentrollingwave.Withthisguidance,theAccomplishmentCriteria(AC),thisisastartingpointtoboundingthedurationoftheworkefforts.

ForPlanningPackages,thisboundislarger,butsomerationalforthedurationofWorkPackagesneedstobeinplace.

DurationConfidence

ThecapturingoftaskandAccomplishmentCriteria(AC)durationsneedstobebasedonaMostLikelyestimateandanordinalrankingofthevarianceonthisestimate.

4.3 Building the IMS BuildingIMSfromtheIMPstartswithgatheringthetasksthatdefinethecompletionoftheAccomplishmentCriteria(AC).

Thiseffortmustalsocollect“riskadjusted”durationforeachtaskaswellasthedependenciesbetweentasks.

WhatisneededfromeachIPTLeadinordertobuildtheIntegratedMasterScheduleinatrulyintegratedmanneris:

§ Taskname–atwolinedescriptionofwhatworkmustbeperformedtocompletetheAC.Keepthissimplewithapresenttenseverbandincludethedeliverableanditsmaturity

§ Duration–thisisusually10–to45daysforthefirstrollingwaveoftasks.Nothinglessthan30daysfortasksbeyondthefirstrollingwave.OneguideistonothavetheACcrossmorethanone(1)accountingperiod.ThismayappearoverlydetailedbutitdrivesthemeasurementofEarnedValue.AllLevelofEfforttasksshouldbekeptinaseparateIMSfile.Trytolimitthenumberoftaskstoaround10perACforthefirstroundofcapturingworkeffortforeachAC.

§ Sequenceofexecution,withpredecessorsandsuccessorswithintheAC.ThissequenceshouldfollowtheFinishtoStartapproachfortheACsthemselves.2

§ Someformofordinalriskrankingforeachtasktoprovideguidance§ AssemblingtheIMSfromtheIMPrequirescareanddiscipline.Thisisnotthetimethethrowthingstogether.

2ThereisacommunitythatthinkstheFinishtoStart(FS)relationshipapproachisoverlyconstrainingtotheir“schedulingstyle.”TheprimaryreasonforFSrelationshipsistopreventthepropagationofincompleteworkasthebasisofstartingnewwork.Thisphilosophyof“finishingyourpreviousworkbeforestartingthenextjob”isthebasisofacrediblescheduleaswellasacrediblequalityassuranceprocess–technicalriskreduction.TheobjectionstothisFSapproachcomefromavarietyofsources.(1)Itismoreworkonthepartoftheplanners.TwotaskswithaStart-to-startPlus30days,ismucheasierthanfiguringoutwhatactuallystartsthesecondtaskotherthanthepassageoftime;(2)Itallowstheresponsibleparty(usuallytheCAM)tohidethedetailsofthedependenciesonthetwotasks.Thismaybeforgoodreason–shedoesnotactuallyknowwhatthedependenciesareexpectthatonestarts30daysaftertheother;andfinally(3)it’sjustplaineasiertodoandthereforeistheminimumeffort.

Theresultisaschedulethathas“hidden”dependencies.”Thisisbadforseveralreasons:(1)SeeingthesedependenciescanonlytakeplacebylookinginthepredecessororsuccessorfieldsofMSProject;(2)Thedynamicnatureoftheschedule(freenessforthetaskstomove)isrestrictedintheMonteCarloSimulations;(3)ThedrawingofthePERTprocessflowisnolongerlinearfromlefttoright,buttheflowgoesbackward.



§ GathertasksforeachAC–linktasksintra–ACfirst.ThelasttaskintheACmust"tree"totheACplaceholder.ThefirsttaskintheACisleftunattachedforthemomentuntilalltheACshavebeendefined.

§ AssesstheEventdurationby"treeing"alltheACstotheirrespectiveSAsandtheSAstotheProgramEvent.Thentheinter–AClinkingcanstart.

Figure18showshowthetasksarelinkedwithintheAccomplishmentCriteriafirstbeforeproceedingtodoanyother–inter-AC–linking.

Figure18–LinkingthetaskstotheAccomplishmentCriteriawithineachACfirstistheprocessusedtomaintaintheintegrityoftheACbeforestartingtolinkbetweenACs.ThisstructureisthebasisofindividualWorkPackagesthatcanthenbemeasuredwithPhysicalPercentCompletefortheWorkPackageandApportionedMilestoneswithintheWorkPackageitself.

InthisapproachthereisnoTasktoTasklinking–onlyACtoTask,SAtoTask,PEtoTask,orExternalpredecessortoTask.IfACtoAClinksweremade,theywouldbeFinish–to–Finish,whichnotmakesense.

BuildingCredibilityintotheIntegratedMasterSchedule

EachACmustproducearesultthatisa100%“assessable”item.Nopartialpercentcompleteassessmentisallowed

Focusonthematurationassessment,inthesamewayasSA/ACmaturitystatements.Foranactiverollingwave:

§ Eachtaskshouldhaveadurationof10to40days.InmanyEVMSSystemDescriptions,theWorkPackagesarelimitedto60calendardaysor45workdays.ThisadherestotheconceptofWorkPackagescrossingonlyoneaccountingperiod.



§ ForPlanningPackagestheWorkPackagedurationscanbelongerandthedetailsoftheircontentvaguer.ButacriticalpathtotheendofthecontractmustgothroughthePlanningPackages.Soconsiderationoftheircontentmustbeperformed

§ Eachtaskhasadurationsufficientlydetailedtoassignedresourcesanddefinesthecompletionperformancemetrics

§ ButnotsonarrowlydefinedtolimittherearrangementoftaskswhentheplanningPackageisturnedintoanexecutionpackage.

LinkingtaskstoAccomplishmentCriteriadefinesthefoundationforWorkPackages:

§ AnAccomplishmentCriteriawillhaveitstaskslinkedtoeachotherwithintheACfirst,thenfromanotherAC(predecessor)ortoataskinanotherAC(successor).Whenthe“last”task(s)inthecollectionoftasksiscomplete,theACwillbe100%complete

§ TaskdependencieswithintheACmustbeFinish–to–StartTheinitiationofthe“first”taskinthecollectionoftasksshouldbestartedbythecompletionofapreviousACasa1stchoiceIfthisisnotpossible,the“first”taskcanbestartedbythecompletionofaprevioustaskinanotherAC,butthisshouldnotbethefirstchoice.IfallthetasksaredefinedforthecompletionofanACfirst,thenitshouldbeobvioushowtostartthiscollection.

§ Getthecollectiondefined,linked,andconnectedtothecompletionoftheACfirstandonlythenstartlinkingtheACstogether.

4.4 Connecting Cost and Schedule Insomecases,costandscheduleneedstobejoinedfortheproposal.AlwayscostandschedulewillbeconnectedatIBR(IntegratedBaselineReview).Theapproachtoavoidingdisconnectsgoeslikethis:

§ DefinetheIMP–PE/SA/ACtosomelevelofconfidencebeforeeverstartingtheBasisofEstimates(BOE)§ WiththeAC'sdeterminethecostoftheworkinsidetheAC§ UsetheWBSassignmentswithintheACs,butdevelopcostsonanACbyACbasis.§ DevelopthetasksforeachACfromtheBOEandviceversaWiththisapproach,theBOEsandthedetailingoftheACscankeepinsync.AswellwhentheperiodsofperformancechangeintheIMS,theycanbecommunicatedtotheBOEteambyIMP/IMSnumber.Thiswaysimpleadjustmentscanbemade.



§ Integratingcostandschedulestartswiththeschedule,NOTthecost.

§ Scheduledrivescost.

§ TheWBSandCWBSareusedforcostaccountingNOTforstructuringtheprogram.ThatistheroleoftheIMP.

§ Thisistheinverseofmostapproaches.Andthisinvertedapproach(costfirst)isthecommonsourceofdisconnectsbetweentheperiodofperformanceforcostandschedule.Adisconnectthattakemonthstosortout.

5 Integrating Cost and Schedule Thekissofdeathforaproposal,andlateronanexecutionproject,istoallowthecostandscheduletobecomedisconnected.Oncethistakesplace,theefforttoproducetheproposalormanagetheexecutionisnotonlydoubleditmaybetripled.

ThefirststepindevelopingcostistoestablishtheIMPtotheAClevelandhaveitfrozenlongenoughtogetacostbaselineinplace.ThiseffortrequirestheSystemsEngineer’sandtheirSystemsEngineeringprocessestoallocateactivitiestoeachProgramEvent,sequencethemattheSAlevel,allocateACsforeachSA,andmatchthisstructuretotheWBSandCWBSforcostallocation.

WiththeACsallocated,thecostteamcananswerthequestion–"howmuchdoesthisACcost?"UsingtheAC,the"lumpofwork"representedbytheACcanbedefined.Thisapproachprovidescriticalitems:

§ TheBOE'sareorganizedbyIMP/IMSaswellasbyWBS§ TheperiodsofperformancefortheBOEsstartwiththeACarrangement.AlthoughtheIMPdoesnothavetime,whentheIMSisdeveloped,theperiodofperformancecanbereverseengineeredbyintotheIMPandthenbacktotheBOEs.

§ SincetheBOEsareisolatedtotheACs,anymovementoftheACfromtheIMSwouldbereflectedintheBOE.Keepingtheminsynchronizationremovesmostofthedisconnectsproducedwhencostandschedule.

5.1 Dollarized RAM TheResponsibilityAssignment(Accountability)Matrixneedstohavedollarsassignedtoeachmember.AstructurecalledtheResponsibilityAssignmentMatrix(RAM)isdevelopedbyintegratingtheOrganizationBreakdownStructure(OBS)withtheContractWorkBreakdownStructure(CWBS).ThismatrixdisplaystheCWBSononeaxisandtheOBSonthesecondaxis.

Theproperintegrationofthetwostructures(CWBSandOBS)intotheRAMwillcreateahomeforeachworkstatementofthecontractandprovideadisciplinedframeworksothatorganizing,planning,budgeting,measurementmonitoring,andreportingoftheperformancemeasurementcanbecorrectlyimplemented.EachintersectionpointontheRAMdefinesapossiblerequirementforoneormorespecificscopesofcontractualworktobeperformedbytheresponsiblefunctionalorganization.Thisintersectionpoint,envisionedasathirdaxiswithintheRAM,definesapointwhereoneormoreTaskPlansmaybeformedandapointatwhichworkisorganized,scheduled,budgetedanditsprogressmonitored,measuredandreported.ThefourthaxisoftheRAMwhenproperlyimplementedallowsfortheuseofauniqueTaskPlanforeachphaseofthecontractasitprogressesthroughtime.

ByinsertingthebudgetsdefinedforeachTaskPlanintothedesignatedlocationoftheRAMthe"Dollarized"RAMiscreated.ThisbudgetinformationisnormallysummedbeginningfromtheTaskPlanlevelthrougheachleveloftheRAM.TheinformationisdisplayedforauditpurposesduringSystemImplementationreviewsforthecustomer.ThedollarizedRAMisamechanicalmethodoffootingandcrossfootingallofthedistributedbudgetstoassuretheProjectManagementOfficethatthebudgetshavebeenproperlyallocated.



5.2 Cross Reference of all Materials MostRFP’srequireafullCrossReferenceMatrix(CRM)

5.3 Resource Assignments, Loading and Leveling Thereareseveralapproachesofbuildingaresourceloadedschedule

§ Laborcodesatthehighestlevel§ Laborcodesbyspecificsubsystemorsystemtype

5.4 Establishing the Earned Value EstablishingaPerformanceManagementBaseline(PMB)isacriticalstepfortheIMS.ThisPMBmaybe“proposalgrade,”or“executiongrade”dependingonthephaseoftheproject.Ineithercase,thePMBmustbedevelopedthroughthefollowingprocesses

§ DefineWorkScope§ CreateanIntegratedBottom-UpPlan§ FormallyScheduleCAPs§ AssignEachCAPtoanExecutiveforPerformance§ EstablishaBaselinethatSummarizesCAPs§ MeasurePerformanceAgainstSchedule§ MeasureCostEfficiencyAgainsttheCostsIncurred§ ForecastFinalCostsBasedonPerformance§ ManageRemainingWork§ ManageBaselineChanges§ Summary

DefineWorkScope

Defining100percentoftheproject'sworkscopeusingaworkbreakdownstructure(WBS)isthestartingpoint.Thisisadifficulttaskforanyproject,andparticularlysoforsoftwareprojects.Yet,ifyoudonotdefinewhatconstitutes100percentoftheassumedwork,howcanyoumeasuretheproject'sperformanceinadefinitiveway?Withouta100percentreferencepoint,howcananyoneascertainwhetheryouhavecompleted10percent,20percent,or25percentofajob?Realistically,noonecandefineanewjobwithabsoluteprecision,butyoumustmakesomeintelligentassumptionsaboutanewprojecttoquantifytheworkwithsufficientconfidencethatthedefinedeffortcanbeplanned,scheduled,andestimatedwithsomedegreeofcertainty.Anythingless,andmanagementmustcommittoajobbyauthorizinga"blankcheck"fortheproject.Howdoesonedefineajobwhenspecificdetailsareoftenlacking?Therearenoabsoluteanswers,butoneofthemostusefulofalltoolsavailabletoanyprojectmanageristheWBS.TheWBSistotheprojectmanagerwhattheorganizationchartistotheexecutive-itallowstheprojectmanagertodefineanewendeavorbylayingoutalltheassumedwork,thendecomposingeachtaskintomeasurableworkpackages.OncetheWBSisassumedtoconstituteareasonableportrayalofthenewproject,itcanbeusedtotakethenextstepsintheprojectplanningprocess,includingthemake-or-buyanalysis,riskassessment,planning,scheduling,estimating,andauthorizationtoproceed.

CreateanIntegratedBottom-UpPlan

Allcriticalprocesses,includingdefinedworkscope,schedule,andestimatedresources,intoanintegratedbottom-upplanofdetailedmeasurementcellscalledControlAccountPlans(CAPs)arecombinedintoasinglebaselinemasterschedule.EarnedvalueprojectmanagementisimplementedwithindetailedCAPs,andconstituteformalbottom-upprojectplanning.TheindividualCAPsrepresenttheintegrationofallcriticalprocessesincludingworkscope,planning,scheduling,estimating,andauthorization.Theperformancemeasurementtakesplacewithinthe



detailedCAPs,andthetotalproject'sperformanceisthesummationofthedetailedCAPs.EachprojectCAPisasubprojectofthetotalprojectthatismanaged,measured,andcontrolledbyaCAPmanager.

FormallyScheduleControlAccountPlans

EachofthedefinedControlAccountPlansisplannedandscheduledwithaformalschedulingsystem.Thisthesinglemostcriticaltoolrequiredtoimplementearnedvalue.Theproject'sschedulingsystemportraystheapprovedworkscope,whichisplacedinaspecifictimeframeforperformance–thePeriodofPerformance(PoP).Thisscheduledworkconstitutestheproject'splannedvalue.Asperformanceproceedsontheproject,theportionoftheplannedvaluethatisphysicallyaccomplishedbecomestheearnedvalue(BCWP=PercentComplete×BCWS).Boththeplannedvalue(BCWS)(PV)andtheresultingearnedvalue(BCWP)(EV)mustusethesamemetricstomeasuretheirperformance.Theproject'sschedulingsystemiscriticaltotheuseofearnedvaluebecauseitrepresentstheproject'sscope,plannedvalue,andearned-valuemeasurement.Theprojectmasterscheduleisvitaltotheprojectsinceitconstitutestheprojectmanager'sspecifiedplannedvalueforeveryonetofollow.

AssignEachCAPtoanExecutiveforPerformance

EachofthedefinedCAPsisassignedtoapermanentfunctionalexecutiveforperformance.ThisassignmentcommitstheexecutivetooverseetheperformanceofeachCAP.Projectsaretransientwithinanypermanentorganizationalstructure–theyareauthorized,implemented,andperformed,theneventuallygooutofexistence.ManyofthosewhomanagethedetailedperformancewithintheCAPswillnotcarrytheformaltitleof“manager”withinthepermanentorganizationalstructure.ManyormostoftheseCAPmanagersarefunctionalstafftemporarilyassignedandmatrixedintotheprojectbyoneofthepermanentfunctionalorganizations.Tosecureafirmcommitmentfromthefunctionalexecutiveswhohavetheauthorityandresourcestomaketheplanhappen,itiswisetohaveeachofthedefinedprojectCAPsessentiallyadoptedbyaseniorfunctionpersonwithatitlesuchasvicepresident,director,ormanager.

EstablishaBaselinethatSummarizesCAPs

Aprojectperformancemeasurementbaseline(PMB)isestablished,whichrepresentsthesummationofthedetailedCAPs.Thenextstepformsabaselineagainstwhichprojectperformancemaybemeasured.SuchbaselinesmustincludealldefinedCAPsplusanymanagement(contingency)reservesthatmaybeheldbytheprojectmanager.Ifmanagementreservesarenotgiventotheprojectmanagerbutareinsteadcontrolledbyaseniormanagementcommittee,theyshouldbeexcludedfromtheprojectperformancebaseline.Onacommercial-typecontract,thebaselinemayincludesuchthingsasindirectcosts-andevenprofitorfee-tomatchthetotalauthorizedprojectfunds.Internalprojectswilltypicallynotcontainindirectcosts,profits,ormanagementreserves.MostinternalprojectbaselineswillbethesumofthedefinedCAPs.

MeasurePerformanceAgainstSchedule

Periodically,theproject'sscheduleperformanceismeasuredtheagainsttheplannedmasterprojectschedule.Theformalandcontrolledprojectmasterscheduleconstitutestheproject'splannedscope.Eachtaskdescribedontheprojectmasterscheduleshouldberesourceloaded.AsperformancetakesplacewithintheCAPs,therelationshipbetweenthevalueoftheworkschedulediscomparedtothevalueoftheworkaccomplished.Thedifferencebetweentheworkscheduledandworkaccomplishedistheschedulevarianceinearnedvalue.Anegativeschedulevariancemeansthatthevalueoftheworkaccomplisheddoesnotmatchthevalueoftheworkscheduled,i.e.,theprojectisfallingbehindinitsscheduledwork.Eachbehind-scheduletaskcanbeassessedastoitscriticalitytotheproject.Ifthelatetaskisonthecriticalpath,orifthetaskcarriesahighrisktotheproject,effortscanbemadetogetthelatetaskbackonschedule.Conversely,ifataskhaspositivevarianceorisnotconsideredahighrisktotheproject,addedresourcesshouldnotbespenttoaccelerateitsperformance.



MeasureCostEfficiencyAgainsttheCostsIncurred

Periodicallymeasuretheproject'scostperformanceefficiencyrate,thatrepresentstherelationshipbetweentheproject'searnedvalueperformedandthecostsincurredtoachievetheearnedvalue.Thesinglemostimportantbenefitofemployingearnedvalueisitscostefficiencyreadings.Thedifferencebetweenthevalueofworkperformedandthecostsincurredtoaccomplishtheworkprovidesthecost-efficiencyfactor.Iftheprojectisspendingmorethanitreceivesinvalue,thisisanoverruncondition.Absoluteoverrunsarelikelytobenonrecoverable.Overrunsexpressedasapercentagevaluehavebeenfoundtodeteriorateunlesstheprojecttakesaggressiveactionstomitigatethecondition.Thecostefficiencyratehasbeenfoundtobeusablystablefromthe15percentpointofaprojectcompletionandprogressivelymorestableasitgoesfromthe20percentto30percentto40percentcompletionpoint.Therefore,thecostefficiencyfactorisanimportantmetricforanyprojectmanagerorenterpriseexecutivetomonitor.

ForecastFinalCostsBasedonPerformance

Periodically,forecastsoftheproject'sfinalcostrequirementsbasedonitsperformanceagainsttheplan,mustbeproduced.Earned-valueprovidestheabilitytoindependentlyforecastthetotalrequiredfundsattheendofaproject,commonlycalledthe“estimateatcompletion”(EAC).Basedonprojectperformanceagainsttheplan,aprojectmanagercanestimatethetotalfundsrequiredtofinishthejob.Thesestatisticalestimatesareagrass-rootssanitycheckagainstestimatesbasedmoreonwishfulthinkingbecausetheyprovideamorerealisticestimateofthevaluesneededtofinishthejob-unlesssomeonehasapreconceivednotionofwhatthatvalueshouldbe.Iftheearned-valuestatisticalestimatesaregreaterthanthe“official”projectestimatestocompletetheproject,someoneinaseniormanagementpositionshouldreconciletheseprofessionaldifferencesofopinion.

ManageRemainingWork

Theproject'sremainingworkmustbecontinuouslymanaged.Theresultsachievedtodateonaproject,goodorbad,areineffect“sunkcosts”–costsgoneforever.Anyimprovementsinperformancemustcomefromfutureworkaheadofthelateststatusdate.Earnedvalueallowstheprojectmanagertoaccuratelymeasurethecostandscheduleperformanceachievedtodate.Iftheresultsarelessthandesired,theprojectmanagercanexertanaggressivepostureonallfuturework.Earnedvalue,becauseitallowstheprojecttoaccuratelyquantifythevalueofitsworkachieved,allowstheprojectmanagertoquantifythevalueoftheworkaheadtostaywithintheobjectivessetbymanagement.

ManageBaselineChanges

Theproject'sbaselinemustbecontinuouslymaintainedbymanagingallchanges.Theprojectperformancemeasurementbaselineisonlyasgoodasthemanagementofallproposedchangestothebaselineduringthedurationoftheproject.Anyperformancebaselinebecomesinvalidifmanagementfailstoincorporateapprovedchangesbytheadditiontooreliminationofaddedworkscope.Allchangesofprojectworkareaddressedbytheapprovalorrejectionofchanges.Fortheinitialbaselinetoremainvalid,everychangemustbecloselymanaged.Maintainingabaselineisaschallengingastheinitialdefinitionoftheprojectscopeatthestartoftheproject.

Summary

Theearnedvalueprojectmanagementconcepthasbeendemonstratedtobeaneffectivetechniqueinthemanagementofmajorprojects.Unfortunately,mostoftheexperiencewiththeconcepthasbeenrestrictedtothoseapplicationswheretheU.S.governmenthasimposedthetechniqueonmajornewsystemsacquisitionsforwhichitretainstheriskofcostgrowth.Thebestopportunitiesforearned-valueemploymentmaywelllieinthemanagementofthousandsofsmallerprojectsthatarebeingdirectedbypeoplewhomaybeunawareofearnedvalue.TheEVMSconceptshouldbeconsideredwhentheriskofcostgrowthresideswithaprojectmanager,oralumpsumorfixedpricecontractis



used,andonallIn–housefundeddevelopmentalprojectswhereafirmcommitmentismadetomanagement.Itshouldbeconsideredwhenaprojectmanagercanbenefitfromanearlywarningcostsignalintimetoaltertheultimatedirectionofaproject.Softwareprojectscanespeciallybenefitfromtheemploymentofasimpleearned-valueapproach.



§ UsetheIMPtodrivethefirsttierIMStoanEventBasedPlan.

§ Onlythen,developtheneededhorizontalschedulesforexecution.Thiswillbeclassifiedas“supplementalschedules”andkeptintheCAMnotebooks.

§ Ifthehorizontalschedules“leak”abovethesupplementallevel,thentheIMPandIMSwillbea“ratsnest”oftasksandtheverticalintegrationwillhavebeenlost.

6 Working on an Execution Team Withawinningproposal,theIMPandtheIMSwillbecomepartoftheexecutionstrategyfortheprogram.TheIMPispartofthecontractandthefirstlevelIMSelementsareconnecteddirectlytothiscontractualobligation,sotheyarepartofthecontractbyimplication.ThiswhyitiscriticalforseveralthingstohavehappenedduringtheproposaldevelopmentoftheIMP/IMS:

§ TheIMPproperlydescribestheincreasingmaturityoftheprograminawaythatseparatestheverticalworkfromthehorizontaldependencies.IftheIMSisa“rat’snest”oftasks,thatcrossEventboundaries,thenthetraceabilitytotheIMPisimpaired.Thenaturalinclinationofthe“oldschool”schedulersistobuilda“manufacturingschedule”astheIMSandlabeltheelementswithIMPidentifiers.Thiscanbedoneofcourse,butitisawasteoftimeforeveryone.DONOTDOTHIS.SticktothepurestructureoftheIMPandthefirsttierIMSasEventBasedPlanning

6.1 Integrating the Individual Event Schedules TheprimaryissuewiththeexecutionoftheIMSismanagingtheindividualeventsasacontinuousproject.duringtheexecutionoftheprogram,functionalareasoperateinparallelacrosstheprogrameventboundaries,whileatthesametimeproducingproductsandservicesthatareconnectedtotheindividualprogramevents.

Boththevertical(EventBased)andhorizontal(FunctionalBased)connectionsmustbemaintainedduringtheexecutionoftheprogram.Thispossessseveralproblems:

§ MuchoftheexecutionworkcrossesProgramEvents,solinkagesfromtheFunctionalnetworktotheProgramEventsmustbeprovided

§ ProgramEventworkmustbedefinedinordertodeterminethePhysicalPercentCompleteforeacheventSosomecompromiseneedstotakeplace.Thisisusuallydoneinstages.

§ FromcontractawardtoPDRthemajorityofthedeliverablesarebuiltaroundCDRLs.Thesedocumentshavespecific“maturity”assessmentstargetedtoPDR.ThisisanaturalcandidateforEventBasedPlanning.Each

6.2 Defining the Functional Technical flows

6.3 Executing the Performance Measurement Baseline

6.4 Business Rhythms

6.5 IMS Architecture and Execution



§ Proposalsare“mini-projects”withdeliverables,schedules,resources,andclearrequirements.

§ TheproposalthatrequirementsandIMP/IMScanuseanIMP/IMStobuildtheproposal.

§ Staffworkingaproposalmusthaveadifferentapproachtotheirworkthananexecutionteam.

7 Working on a Proposal Team ThereareseveralimportantactivitiesonaproposalteamwhenbuildingtheIMPandIMS.First,thereneedstobeadeepunderstandingofthe“attributes”ofapersonworkingonaproposalteam.Thesearenotthesameofsomeoneworkingonanexecutionteam.It’snotthattheexecutionteampersoncan’tbringvaluetotheproposalteam,it’sthattheproposalteamdemandsmoreofsomeone,thanjustexecutingonadaytodaybasis.

Ifthisisnotunderstoodupfront,itbecomesdifficulttoaddthisunderstandingwhileunderway.Bythattime,theexpectationshavebeensetorhavebeenmissingandmoreeffortisneededtogetbackontrack.

AttributesofaTeamMember Outcome0%/100%completionofassignedactivity Themeasureofprogressspeaksonlyinphysicalpercent

complete.Ifyouleaveworkonthetableattheendofthedayortheendoftheweek,youare“behind”schedule.Ifyouleave10%remainingaweek,in5weeksyouare50%behindschedule.

Focusallyoureffortsonthe“comingdue”deliverablesbeforemovingtothenextsetofactivities.

Untilthe“comingdue”itemsarecompleteanddelivered,itisofnovaluetoworkonanythingelse.Todososimplymortgagesthefuturewithincompletework.

Thinkaboutthesimplestapproachtotheplanthatconnectstheworkinserieswithasfewdependenciesaspossible

“Betteristheenemyofgoodenough.”Designinganddeployinga“better”process,system,ordeliverablesimplywastestime.Oncethe“goodenough”outcomehasbeenachieved,itcanbemade“better.”Todootherwisemeansyouwillnotonlybelateyouwillbenon-compliant.

Membersworkwitha“PlanoftheDay”and“PlanoftheWeek”

Iterativeandincrementaldeliverablesonfinegrainedboundariesarethekeytosuccess.Thisapproachconnectswiththe100%completerequirement

The“PlanoftheDay”and“PlanoftheWeek”isatightlycontrolledlist.

Norandomadditions,eveniftheymaybegoodideas.Doonlythatworkwhichmovestheproject(proposal)forward.Challengeeachadditiontothelistforitscontributedvalue.

Divideandconquertheworkeffort.Maintain“separationofconcerns”forallworkactivities.

Eachmemberhasspecificassignments.Nooverlapduringnormalworkprocess.100%dedicationtotheassignedworkactivities.Onlywhenextrahelpisneededdoesamemberpickuptheslackforothermembers.

Table6–Noteveryoneis“wiredup”toworkonaproposalteam.Thesuccesscriteriaforaproposalteammemberstartswithsometrainingonhowthemanageaproposal,whichcanbefoundinbooksandtheclassroomaswellasformal“onthejob”trainingwithaproposalmanagementfirm.However,moreimportantlyarethepersonalityattributesofaproposalteammember.

ACheckListforExecutingtheProposalDevelopmentProcess

Thislistiscontinuouslygrowing,buthereisastart.

IMP/IMSProposalDevelopmentProcess ImplementationDetailsBuildtheIMPandIMSbyevent.Thiscannotbeemphasizedenough.Thereisnootherviablewaytodothis.TodootherwisejeopardizestheintegrityoftheIMSforlargeprograms.

Byfocusingoneachevent–fromlefttoright–100%ofeacheventcanbedoneandthentheteamcanmoveon.Thisisthecoreconceptofincrementalanditerativedevelopmentofanything.OncethisisunderstoodtheprocessofbuildingtheIMPandtherelatedIMSwillflowsmoothly

Whenyouget100%ofsomethingdone,thenyou Bynotfinishing100%ofanevent–withtheinformation



IMP/IMSProposalDevelopmentProcess ImplementationDetailsdonothavetogobackandworkonitagain.Ifyouleavebehind10%work,anddothat10times,youare100%behind.

atthattime–youaremortgagingthefuturewithadebtthatcannotbepaidback.Thisapproachisthesameforthedailyprocesses.

AlwayskeeppastversionofeachfileinanArchive. Labelthefilesinsomelogicalmanner.PuttingthedateinthefilenameisNOTthewaytodoit.Itcluttersthenameandisredundant,sincethedateisinthefileproperties.UseaRevisionNumber–Rev02forexample.NamethefilesthenameoftheEvent–ProgramName–PDR–E09–isagoodway.Intheheatofbattle,havingconfusingornon–intuitivenamingconventionsisaserioussourceoferror.

Structuretheindividualfilesandusetoolstomaketheconnectionsbetweenthem

CreateaMasterEventsfile.ThiscontainstheProgramEvents,theirnamesandcodes–C–PreliminaryDesignReview(PDR).SetthedatefortheeventfromtheRFPorgovernmentassigneddate.ThisMasterEventsfileistheninsertedintoeachindividualeventfileforlinkage.

IneachindividualEventFilehaveonlyone(1)programevent.Useamacrotodefinetheeventcode.

ByhavingonlyoneProgramEventperfiletheworkcanbedividedbetweenseveralplannersandtheprocessesofdevelopingtheIMPandtherelatedIMSexecutedinparallel

Haveasinglepersonresponsibleforkeepingthefiles“clean”intermsofthepreambleProgramEvents,theMasterEventfile,andthenamingconventionsinsidetheindividualeventfiles.

Thispersonisthesoleowneronthebaseline.Heorsheallocateoutownershiponatemporarybasisforupdatingandediting.Butthetruebaselinecomesfromonlyoneplace.

7.1 Iterative and Incremental development of the IMP/IMS DevelopmentoftheIMPandIMSisaniterativeandincrementalprocess.Itisnota“bigbang”ormoreimportantly,itisnotapartiallycomplete“bigbag.”Theprinciplesofiterativesoftwaredevelopmenthavedirectapplicationfortheproposal–attheendofeachiteration(possiblyaweekandmaybeaday)–thereis100%complete,functioningandcompliantworkproducts.TheIMP/IMSLeadneedstobe“ruthless”aboutthis,otherwisetheteamwillbelatefromdayone.

IMPDevelopment

§ StartwiththegovernmentRFPandstandardProgramEvents.Puttheseinadatabaseorprojecttemplatefile.§ AssessthelogicalsequenceoftheseEvents§ BuildadescriptionoftheEventsfromavarietyofsources.ThesearefoundintheDAUDoDProcurementDesktop

§ NAVAIR4355.19C§ BuildtheSAsandACs

IMSDevelopment

§ BuildtheIMSbyEvent.Thisisnotanoptionalsuggestion,itismandatory.ThisplacestheburdenofcapturingtheIMSelementsontheCAMsnotontheIMSdevelopers.TheCAMsmayobjecttothis,butitiscriticalthateachEventbestandaloneandcanbedevelopedinparallel.

§ StartwithcapturingtheworkwithineachAC.Thisworkshouldbelimitedto10to15linesoftasksandcanbephysicallycapturedinaWorkorExcelfile.BecarefulwithExcel,sincethereisabuginMicrosoftProjectwhencuttingandpastingfromExcel,whenthatExcelfilehasanexternalURLconnection.Projecthangs.

§ DeveloptheAClogicstructurefirstandavoidanyinter-ACdevelopmentuntilthelogicalflowbetweentheACsiscompletelydefined.

§ WiththeAClogicinplaceonthe“whiteboard,”maketheinter-ACconnectionsintheFinish-to-Startmanner.



7.2 Focus On Only Three (3) Things A Day For The Team Thereisanaturaltendencytomakelonglistsofthingstodo.Continuouslytalkaboutthislist,focusonthetopthreethings,anddonotsuccumbtotryingtohandleallthethingsatonce.Threeisnotamagicnumber.Itcanbesomeothernumber.However,ifthenumberofthingstodoisnotmanagedtoasmalllist,itwillgrowwithoutbound.

Thereneedstobeaparkinglotforalltheitems,butonlythetopthreeareontheto–dolist.Theneveryonehasachancetocontributewhiletheteamcanstayfocusedonthe“comingdue”items.Thisisacoreskillforanyteam,especiallyaproposalteam.Donotlettheteammembersviolatethisaxiom.AsaIMP/IMSdeveloperusetheconceptofevents,accomplishments,andcriteriafortheIMP/IMSinthedevelopmentoftheIMPandIMSfortheproposal–thecobbler’schildrenshouldhaveshoes.

7.3 Have Automation TherecanbegreatadvantageofautomationoftheIMP/IMSprocessduringtheproposal.However,careisneedednottogetwrappedupinthedevelopmentoftools.Havea“toolsmith”bethepersondoingthework.Remembertokeepitsimple.Belowaresomeexamplesofautomationthataddsvalueandreducesrisk:

§ IMP/IMSnumbering–amacrothatauto–numberstheIMP/IMSnumberismandatoryinafluidproposalenvironment.ThismacroshouldallowthedefinitionoftheIMP/IMSformat,thestartingProgramEventidentificationandbesmartenoughtoknowwhattonumberandwhatnottore–number

§ CrossreferencedatabaseforalltheSOO,SOW,CDRL,IPT,etcitemsintheIMS–acentralrepositoryforallthecrossreferenceitemsisneeded.Keepingthestraightisthejobofapieceofsoftwarenotaperson.ThereshouldbeasinglepersonaccountablefortheintegrityofthecontentsoftheDatabase

§ BuildtheIMPfromtheMSFTprojectfileusingaViewthatcolorstherowsfortheproperidentification–formattingisactuallyimportant.Treatthediscussionofformatinthesamewayyoutreatthecontentdiscussion.Color,fontsandstyles,indentsandthelikeallcommunicateinformation

§ Useacommondatastoragelocation–managingchangecontrolandtheofficialversionoftheIMPandIMSiscritical.Maintainversionnumberingiscritical.AnyoneviolatingtheversioncontrolprotocolcancausebigdelaysinthedevelopmentoftheIMSinaproposalandserioussetsbackonanexecutionproject.EvenwithaProjectServer,versioningcanbebroken.EveryteammembersneedstobeaccountableformanagingthefilesthatrepresenttheIMPandIMS

§ ProjectServer–aMicrosoftProjectServercanbeusedtoadvantageforproposalsandexecution.However,thistoolcannotbemanagedbyagroup.Asystemsadministratorisneeded.TheEnterpriseGlobalistheplaceforallformats,macros,views,tableandeverythingconfigurable.

§ eProjects–afilebasedrepositorycanbeusedaswell.Clearandconciserulesaboutfolders,naming,versioning,andotherchangeimpactsmustbeestablished.Somethingassubtleasafilenamingconventioncanaddordetractfromtheproductivityoftheteam

§ Sharedrive–sharedrivesaretheleastdesirableapproach§ Haveadailybackupoftheprimarystorageserve–youcannothavetoomanybackups.Butbackupsstartwithversioncontrolandmandatorycheck–inattheendoftheday.Theendofthedaycanbe“sunrise”thenextday,butnoteammembershouldconsideredtheMSFTProjectfilestheir“property,”tobekeptondesktoporlaptopcomputers.Thefilesbelongtothe“team,”treatthemascommunityproperty.

7.4 Working On A Team Therearemanythingstobeconsideredinworkingwithateamonaproposaloronanexecutionprogram.Here’ssomethathavegotteninthewayinthepast.Thislistisprobablyendless...

Communication

§ Haveasimpleprotocolforcommunicatingbetweentheteammembers.Wholeads,whofollows,who’sresponsibleforkeepingnotes.



§ Whenusingaspeakerphone,haveagoodone.Speakonlyinshort,clearandconcisephrasesaboutthetopicathand.Almostallspeakerphonesarehalf–duplex,soifyouarehoggingthephonebyyammeringonendlessly,thenotherscan’tspeak,breakintoyourconversationandaddanyvalue.

§ Speakslowlyandclearlyonthespeakerphone.Beawareofhowimperfecttheconversationisacrossthewire.Talkingfast,inabbreviatedphrasesjustconfusestheconversation.

§ Talkonlyabouttheagendatopicsuntiltheyarecompleted.Resistthetemptationtomoveintootherareasuntilthecurrenttopiciscompleted,allonthephoneagreeitiscompletedandthereisan“actionableoutcome”fromtheconversation.

SharingtheLoad

§ Thereisafinelinebetweenbeinghelpful,beingcontrolling,andbeingapain.Findoutfirstifthepersonactuallywantshelpbeforedecidingtheyneedhelp.

§ Leteveryonebeaccountablefortheirassignedoutcomes.Onaproposalandduringexecution,clearandconciseaccountabilityismandatory.ThismeansaRAMfortheteam.However,withtheRAMallteammembersmustrespecttheRAM.“Answeringthemail”forothersisactuallynohelpful.

BeAccountable

§ Ateamisdefinedas“agroupofindividualswhoholdeachothermutuallyaccountableforasharedoutcome.”§ Remindyourselveseverymorning–atthestandup–ofwhatitmeanstobeonateam.

FocusingonDeliverables

§ Withtheteaminplace,decideeachmorningwhatisdueattheendoftheday.§ Makeamutuallyaccountableagreementto“getthisdone,”bytheendoftheday.§ TheprimaryroleoftheIMP/IMSLeadistodefineandmanagethedailyworkloadandmakesurethesearetherightdeliverablesandthatthislistcanbeaccomplishedduringtheday,theweek

7.5 Never Leave the Room Without It ... § NegativeslackintheIMS–removenegativeslackin24hours.Ifitstays,itwillbecome“stuck”andbehardertogetout.Thisisthecaseforproposalsaswellasexecutionprocesses.

§ Backupthedailywork–alwaysbackupindepth.EvenMSFTProjectServercrashesonceinawhile.Maketheversioncontrolprocessbepartofthebackup,withnumberingofthefilestomatchthedayandtheincrementalversionswithintheday.Beruthlessaboutmanagingthebackupsandtheversionnumbers.

§ Checkthethree“to–do”listitemstoseewhatwasaccomplished.Donotaddanythingtothelistwithoutfirstcompletingsomethingonthelist–haveallthelistsyouwant,buthavea“mustfinishtoday”listderivedfromthose.Itissimplybadtimemanagementtokeepaddingtothelistwithoutaplantoreducethecountofitems.Thisis“deathbyathousandcuts.”

§ Checkingtoseeifanyoneneedshelpwiththeirplans–buildingtheIMPandIMSisateamsport.Pickuptheslackforthosefallingbehind.Donotletthatpersonbeamartyr,insistonhelping.

7.6 Better Is The Enemy Of Good Enough Thereisatendencytotrytomakeitbetter.Thisisthekissofdeathforaproposalteamandanexecutionteam.

§ Asktheteam"whatis'goodenough?'"Decidewhatitmeanstobe"done"attheendofeachday,eachweek,andeachdeliveryperiod.

§ Managethis"donedefinition"inaruthlessmannerisaCriticalSuccessFactor.Thisisannoyingtomanypeople,butitisimportanttotheprocesstostayfocused

§ OnecommontraitformanypeoplenewtotheIMP/IMSandtheProfessionalPlanningCommunityis“AdultADD.”Thisisthe"shinypenny"syndrome.

§ UsingtheTODOlistwiththetopthreeitemsisonewaytoaddresstheA-ADDsyndrome.TheotherwayistobuildanIMP/IMSfortheIMP/IMSandmeasurematurityoftheproposalproducts



7.7 Vertical Linking Verticallylinkingthefilesdependsontheapproachtostructuring:

§ Un–indented(oreventheindented)filesindicatewhichIMP/IMScomponentbyaflagFlag–PE

Flag2–SA

Flag3–AC

Flag4–Task

§ IndentedfilesindicatewhichIMP/IMScomponentbytheoutlinelevelFlagscanbesetforfiltersandformatting.TheoutlinecodeindicatestheIMSlevel

Outline1–PE

Outline2–SA

Outline3–AC

Outline4–Tasks

Inthisapproach,thesummarytaskscannotbeusedastheIMPelements.Aseparate"placeholder"fortheIMPelementmustbeused.Thiscanbecreatedbyamacroorbyhand.Itwillhavethesamenameasthesummarytasks.IfitisanAC,thetasksinthatACarelinkedtoeachotherandonetaskmustbelinkedtotheACasasuccessor.

AllACsmustbelinkedtoSAsandsuccessorsandtheSAslinkedtothePEasasuccessor.Thisverticaltreeisthetopologicalstructureoftheprogramevent.

BuildingtheFilesIndependently

WhenbuildingthefilesindependentlythereneedstobeasingleplacewheretheProgramEventsaredefinedandthisisincludedineachindependentfile.

Thisisanexampleofverticallylinkingusingthesefiles:

Figure19–oneapproachthathasworkedwellinthepastistohavea“preamble”onthefrontofeachProgramEventfilethatcontainstheEventnames,dates,anddeadlines.ThisinformationshouldbekeptinaseparateMSFTProjectfileandupdatedthroughamacro,eitherfromadatabaseouraninternalprocess.Singlesource–multipleusekeepseverythingstraight.LinkingfromwithinthebodyoftheProgramEventfileisthewaytoisolatetheevents.ThenthepreambleislinkedtotheMasterProgramEventfilewhenallthefilesareassembledintoasingleMasterFile



A"Preamble"isplacedineachindividualfilethathastheProgramEventsdefined,thereplanneddates(settoMUSTFINISHON),andtheirLinenumberthatwillappearintheindividualfileforreference.Sincethisfileisthefirstelementineachindividualfile,theIDnumberswillalwaysbethesame.TheseIDnumbersarea"cheatsheet"whenworkingintheMSFTProjectvieworthePERTChartexpertviewtoremembertheIDforPredecessorandSuccessorentries.

ThisfileshouldbemaintainedbyasinglepersonandkeptwiththecollectionoftheotherIMSfilesinasinglefolderwiththetitleoftheProgram.

LittledetailslikethisarecriticallyimportantwhenunderdeadlineorwhenconfusionreignsduringanupdatetotheIMS.EvenwhensomethinglikeSharePointorProjectServerisusedcarefulattentiontoorganizationdetailspaysoffmanytimesover.Findtheneatest,moreorganizedpersonontheteamandassignthemthisrole

7.8 Horizontal Linking Horizontallinkingcantakeplaceintwoways:

§ InsidetheEvent,linksbetweenACstakeplacefromthepredecessorACtothesuccesstaskthatstartsthenextAC.

§ OutsidetheEventthereareseveralways§ TherecanbeaSND/RCVfile§ Therecanbetwofields(SNDandRCVintextfields)thatindicatethereceiverandsenderofadependency.§ Thelaterapproachisbetterforproposals,theformerforexecution.§ InbothcasethereshouldNEVERbealinkfromtasktotaskwithinanEventoracrossEvents.LinkingAcrossProgramEvents

LinkingacrossProgramEventscanbedoneinseveralways:

§ Liveconnections–usingsomesortofSND/RCVfile,wherethedependenciesaremadethroughpredecessorandsuccessorconnectionthatpassthroughaseparatefile.

§ Assembledconnections–identifyingtheconnectionsineachfilewithaSNDandRCVindexthatisthenassembledintoamasterfile.

§ Hardcodedconnection–whereeachfilehasastaticsetofdependenciesincludeinthefilethatdefinethedependencies.

Allthreeapproachesareviable,butadecisionneedstobemadewhentouseeachone.



8 References Thefollowingmaterialsmustbereadandabsorbedaswellasthecontentsofthisguide.Thismaybeadauntingtaskforthebeginner,butovertimemanyoftheconceptsdescribedinthisguidewillbeclearerandadeeperunderstandingofthedifficultiesofapplyingIMP/IMSinonimmatureprogramwillemerge.

§ “IntegratedMasterPlanandIntegratedMasterSchedulePreparationandUseGuide,”Version0.9,October21,2005.ThisGuideamplifiestheevent-basedtechnicalapproachdirectedbypolicyintheFebruary20,2004,USD(AT&L)Memorandum,“PolicyforSystemsEngineeringinDoD,”andOctober22,2004,USD(AT&L)Memorandum,“PolicyAddendumforSystemsEngineering;”complieswiththeEarnedValueManagement(EVM)policydirectedintheMarch7,2005,USD(AT&L)Memorandum,“RevisiontoDoDEarnedValueManagementPolicy;”andcomplementstheguidanceprovidedintheDefenseAcquisitionGuidebook.