Vanguard Magazine

Let's Celebrate Project Management in Military Procurement S SIT REP 10 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2024 www.vanguardcanada.com 7 November is this year's Internation- al Project Management Day (the first Thursday in November annually). It is not a day much highlighted with- in Canada, yet their construction asso- ciations alone suggest there are over 450 major projects underway at this time. The Project Management Institute (PMI) estimate the there are between 8 million and 11 million project manag- ers (PM's) in North America, and Canada projects growth by an additional 90,000 in the next 5 years. Nevertheless, the existence of the day begs the question, why should we care? Project management has been prac- ticed for centuries, as indicated by such wonders of the World as the great Pyra- mid of Giza. Modern project manage- ment is generally agreed to have be- come an accepted and unique discipline since the 1950s – one that has continu- ally evolved to meet the growing com- plexity of endeavours and emerging technologies. Yet, the statistics are disturbing. De- spite the efforts of organizations to spend as much as 20% of a complex project's budget on project manage- ment and the growth of certification as- sociations, up to 70% repeatedly fail to meet expectations. Noting that VANGUARD serves the Ca- nadian defence and security industries, it is appropriate to focus on project management for military acquisitions. My experience in Canada's Department of National Defence (DND) spanned the decade 2007-2017 with a portfolio of billion-dollar complex weapon system platform acquisitions responding to Ca- nadian Army and Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) requirements. Throughout and since, media reporting followed two themes: the continual critiquing of the government's highly complex procure- ment system and assessed degree of failure of such projects to be delivered in a timely and affordable manner. Aside from the well documented shortfalls of the military procurement system, much of the criticism has fallen on the shoulders of those charged with project management and led by PM's employed in DND. Project management in government has been defined as 'the systematic planning, organizing, and monitoring of allocated resources to ac- complish identified project objectives and outcomes. Clearly, those engaged in project management and PM's in par- ticular are responsible for the outcomes. Structurally, military project manage- ment occurs in two phases. The first phase is led within government until contracts are approved for award. The second phase is led by industry once contracts are awarded, but with their performance constrained by Requests for Proposals (RFP's) but enabled and closely monitored by the project man- agement teams in DND. Much has been written about the 'bro- ken military procurement system' – its lack of accountability and questionable governance, the shortage of personnel with the needed project management skills and business acumen, the lack of transparency, and the risk aversion that has continuously layered more and more processes on the procurement system (Figure Two) while avoiding meaningful innovation. In essence, DND PM's and their Project Office Teams are charged with advancing highly complex projects through an ever more complex acquisi- tion and procurement approval system. A typical Project Office team is led by a PM (sometimes accompanied by a Deputy PM) and includes a project control office, an engineering team, an integrated logistics and support team, a procurement and finance cell, and a supplier liaison section (on-site with B Y I A N M A C K Figure 1: Project Management is a complex activity and Project. Managers strive to maintain balance every day, along with time. Management, leadership, and teamwork (Courtesy Pixabay & Ian Mack) Figure 2: Project management requires satisfying many government stakeholders and generating copious approval documents (Courtesy Ian Mack)

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