1、Lessons Learned Entry: 1574Lesson Info:a71 Lesson Number: 1574a71 Lesson Date: 2005-06-05a71 Submitting Organization: ARCa71 Authored by: Ronald. C. WinterlinSubject: Stability of Project Technical Content/Focus and Milestone Creep Abstract: A number of times, the AATT Project was directed to add, d
2、elete, and/or change the project focus of research, not only on existing agreed-to ATM products (tools and concepts), but in some cases, change of direction to develop totally new tools. It is understood that flexibility in research must be maintained in order that concepts that do not prove worthwh
3、ile can be dropped allowing for focus and priority shifts to more promising ones. However, both realistic and reasonable controls on project scope and priority setting must be maintained to assure prudent management planning and decision-making. Excessive control and redirection of focus/priorities
4、late into a projects life leads to wasteful use of resources and hampers the projects ability to manage and deliver effectively. Significant changes well into the implementation phase can be very costly as contractual planning and funds obligations limit the scope and/or task requirement changes tha
5、t can bemade after the fact. Directly related to the above is what we refer to as milestone creep. Project management shifts, along with changing (sometimes mandated) project priorities, resulted in too many milestones that grew in number all the way into the last trimester of the project. This also
6、 made it difficult to adhere to a uniform, consistent milestone organization and management system, resulting in some sub-projects with many more milestones and resultant work than others and the milestones becoming somewhat jumbled and not following the most logical sequencing. This caused a signif
7、icant amount of work to support programmatic/administrative management, documentation and configuration control, tracking, etc. across organizations (including 3 centers and multiple directorates and divisions). Description of Driving Event: There is no single “driving event.” Lesson(s) Learned: Pro
8、vided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-It is easy to lose sight of the big picture and overall historical evolution with continual guidance to change direction/focus and/or project deliverables and related milestones. A strong Systems Managemen
9、t function will go a long was to maintain this perspective and advise management accordingly. Recommendation(s): Upper level management at Program, Center and Headquarters levels need to control the tendency to pass down mandatory shifts in project research work and deliverables after a project has
10、gone thru formulation and is going into implementation. They need to remember and respect that the whole Program/Project Management process in NASA is based on detailed planning during formulation phase way before a project receives the go-ahead after a successful Non-advocate Review (NAR). The budg
11、ets, resource commitments and procurement planning and strategy are all negatively impacted when such significant changes in direction and focus occur. This is costly, inefficient and can result in significant waste of scarce project resources to deliver what they signed up to deliver. Project manag
12、ers and their support staff need to be sensitive to Milestone-Creep and make a concerted effort to carefully plan and control from the beginning in order to maintain manageable milestones that efficiently represent at the appropriate level, work accomplished for products and deliverables. Carefully
13、thought-out identification and definition of each product and/or supportive milestones/deliverables will go a long way in this effort. Maintaining a clear distinction and crosswalk relationship between these is also very important. Evidence of Recurrence Control Effectiveness: N/ADocuments Related t
14、o Lesson: NPG 7120.5Mission Directorate(s): a71 Exploration Systemsa71 Sciencea71 Aeronautics Researcha71 Space OperationsAdditional Key Phrase(s): a71 Air-Traffic Managementa71 AircraftProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-a71 Risk Management/Assessmenta71 Safety & Mission AssuranceAdditional Info: Approval Info: a71 Approval Organization: ARCProvided by IHSNot for ResaleNo reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS-,-,-
