CPMR Fellows Conference January 19 20, 2005 Project Management Research: Lessons Learned Life Cycle

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CPMR Fellows ConferenceJanuary 19 20,
2005Project Management Research Lessons
Learned Life Cycle Processes and Aerospace
Workforce Development
Dr. Noel W. Hinners Senior Research
Associate Laboratory for Atmospheric Space
Physics University of Colorado-Boulder noelhinners
_at_msn.com
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Task 1 Lessons Learned Research

• Analyze Several Projects to Assess
• Gaps in capturing LL in the project LL life-cycle
  as projects progress through a continuum of
  conception/advanced study, mission and systems
  definition (FA), preliminary design (FB), design
  build (FC), integration, test and launch
  operations (FD), operations (FE) and close-out.
• Adequacy of funding for implementing LL processes
• Adequacy of project motivation
• Presence of Impediments
• Prepare for More Thorough F2 Assessment
• Conduct the Analyses on Specific Demonstration
  Projects
• A Student Flight Experiment
• Two Small Explorer Projects at LASP
• An Industry/JPL Project

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Student Dust Counter
Credit Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory/ Southwest Research Institute
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Student Dust Counter(SDC)

• An Education Public Outreach (EPO) for the New
  Horizons Mission to Pluto Kuiper Belt
• Principal Investigator Dr. Alan Stern, SWRI
• Applied Physics Laboratory Managing Mission
• Prof. Mihaly Horanyi, CU, SDC PI
• Proposed by SWRI and LASP to NASA as an
  Educational Opportunity for Students Initiated
  in 2002
• First-time Measurement of Interplanetary Dust at
  These Distances
• The Experience Counts

A Real Flight Experiment Going to Pluto and Beyond
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SDC Lessons Learned Goals

• Evaluate Student Performance
• Determine Improvements
• Evaluate Contribution to Student Education and to
  LASP/NASA
• Develop Recommendations for Future Student Flight
  Experiments

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SDC Implementation

• Team Selected Competitively
• 12 to 15 Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical,
  Physics, Humanities Students on the Team
• A Mix of Undergrads, Graduate Students
• LASP Professionals to Mentor, Advise
• A Student Project Manager Appointed
• Extremely Capable with Work History
• 20 Hours/Week in Academic Year, 40 in Summer
• Must Meet Real Flight Mission Requirements
• Design, Build, Integrate, Test and Operate to
  Succeed
• Meet all Schedule, Budget and Performance Reqs

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SDC Team
Student-Designed Logo
The Experiment
http//lasp.colorado.edu/sdc/
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Preliminary SDC Lessons Learned

• Challenges
• Student Academic Schedules Dont Always Mesh Well
  with Experiment Schedules. e.g., Exam Time. Must
  Factor in at Project Initiation
• Budget Was Underscoped
• Heritage Did Not Pan Out as Planned
• First Student Project Manager Did Not Work Out
• Replacement and Increased LASP Staff Attention
  Reestablished Team Spirit
• Consider Not Having Student PM
• Professional Staff Availability Initially Not
  Sufficient
• Must Have Some Dedicated Staff Time

Student Flight Experiments Require Significant
Professional Staff Could Not Be Done with One
or Two Department Faculty
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Preliminary SDC Lessons Learned

• SDC Was First NH Experiment Delivered to APL
  (Source of Student Pride)
• Students Performed with Professionalism
• Presented in NASA Reviews
• One Reviewer re Software Best Review Ive Seen
• The Learning Experience Unmatched as a Career
  Enhancement
• A Level and Variety of Experience New Hires in
  Government Industry Do Not Have and Often Do
  Not Get
• Five Students Hired by LASP Working on NASA
  Projects
• Student PMs Now Working in Industry

Unanimous Staff Student View Do It Again! Need
to Demonstrate Value to NASA
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SORCE AIM

• NASA Small Explorer Missions
• LASP Managed under NASA Goddard SMEX Management
• SORCE (Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment) in
  Flight Operations since Jan. 03
• AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere) is Under
  Development CDR Held in December, 04

SORCE
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Odyssey

• Selected in December as a LL Replacement for MRO
• A Highly Successful Mars Orbit Mission
• No Formal New Lessons Learned Process Took Place
• Odyssey Benefited from the Mars Surveyor Lessons
  Learned Activity
• Numerous Reviews Instituted
• Institution of Rigorous Fault Tree Approach
  Pre-flight Now Being Used on MRO
• Contractor Project Wanted to Conduct a Thorough
  LL
• No Funding Available from Project or Contractor
• Odyssey Staff at Contractor Reassigned After
  Launch
• Contractor S/C Manager Now Director of Mars
  Program
• LL by Assimilation

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Lessons Learned ProcessConsolidated Preliminary
Results - 1

• Several Additional Key Interviews and Refinements
  Scheduled for Late January/Early February
• Political Issues Must Be Resolved with Govt,
  Industry and Academia
• Some Reluctance to Openly Share Certain LL
  (Competitive Issues)
• Is an Anonymous System, a lá FAA Pilot Error
  Reporting a Partial Solution?
• A Clear Desire Exists to Conduct Systematic LL
• Useful Commentary Repeatedly Obtained
• Using Critical Milestones as Checkpoints for
  Systematic LL Can Obviate Memory Loss
• RFAs, Comments During Critical Reviews Are an
  Untapped Source of LL
• Story Telling Viewed as a Most Effective
  Mechanism
• LL Information Systems are Cumbersome and of
  Little Practical Use

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Lessons Learned ProcessConsolidated Preliminary
Results - 2

• Funding is a Significant Impediment Projects Do
  Not Budget for LL Activity
• Competitive Posture Institutional
  Responsibility Undefined Requirement
• Augment Project Staff with a Responsible LL Lead
• Quality Assurance
• Mission Success
• Central Engineering
• LL Seen as Only a Partial Part of Attaining
  Mission Success
• Training of New Hires, Recent Grads Is
  Inadequate Across the Aerospace Profession.
• How You Do Business
• Hands-On Experience

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Task 2 Workforce Development
Photos Courtesy NASA And DoD
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Senior Projects in Aerospace Engineering Sciences
at University of Colorado

• A Capstone Experience for All Seniors in AES
• Conceive, Design, Build, Integrate, Test and
  Operate a Project That Builds on Courses
• Form Project Teams Elect PM, Appoint CFO and
  Safety Engineer
• 2004 2005
• Eight Teams of 10 Students Each
• Project Advisory Board of Faculty Staff

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The CPMR Opportunity

• AES Faculty Recognized Need for Injecting Project
  Management Fundamentals into SP
• Conduct a Research Activity to
• Instill Fundamentals of PM into Student Teams
  Through a Series of PM Tutorials
• Use NASA Lessons Learned to Bring Tutorials Alive
• Evaluate Effectiveness and Relevance of Tutorials
  
• Evaluate Incorporation of PM Techniques in
  Project Performance
• Track Long-term Career Progression to Assess
  Impact of Hands-on Experience and PM Learning

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AES Senior Projects Fundamentals of Project
Management
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Example Lessons Learned in Student Tutorials
Make Them Relevant
Verification Failure
Budget, PM, Test
Shoddy Work
Model PM
QA Breakdown
Verification Process Failure
Budget, PM
Safety
Cost Overrun
Ethics
Ken Cedeno/Bloomberg News
Photos NASA
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Assessments of Student Learning

• 10 Qualitative Survey Questions
• Strongly Somewhat
  Neutral Somewhat
  Strongly
• Disagree Disagree
  Agree
  Agree
• 5 Survey Response Questions
• Survey Rank of Tutorials 1 Most Valuable, 8
  Least
• Examine PDR and CDR Reports for Evidence of PM
• Interview Student Project Managers
• Interview Project Advisory Board

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Student Tutorial Ranking (Examples)
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Student Response to Questions (Examples)
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Preliminary Conclusions

• Many of the Students are Learning and Using PM
  Techniques
• Students Vary Greatly in Desire to Learn PM
  Techniques
• Senior Project Variation in Scope and Complexity
  Influences Use of PM Techniques

University Senior Capstone Projects Provide an
Excellent Opportunity to Educate Engineers in PM
Value and Techniques
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Recommendations for Future

• Incorporate Lessons Learned from Past Student
  Projects to Bring More Reality to SP, e.g.,
• Oversubscription of Machine Shop
• Personality Issues
• Focus Some Mentoring on PMs and Teams
• Class-room Environment Not Conducive to Dialog
• PMs Have the Greater Need to Learn (Incentive?)
• Incorporate PM Goals in Syllabus and Make Part of
  Grade
• Students Respond to What Gets Graded
• Present Overview and Goals of Project Management
  to PAB at Beginning of Semester
• Will Improve Ability to Aid Student Teams
• Many Simply Do Not Have Time to Attend PM
  Lectures
• Find a Way to Continue in Second Semester

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Preliminary General Conclusions F 1 Program
Management Research

• University Hands-On Flight Projects Provide
  Powerful Training Grounds for the Future
  Aerospace WorkforceThe Importance of this Must
  Be Communicated to Government
• University Capstone Senior Projects Provide a
  Productive Opportunity to Instill Project
  Management Fundamentals into the Future Workforce
• University NASA Flight Projects Need to be More
  Carefully Integrated, at an Appropiate Level,
  into the NASA Management System
• NASA Needs to Better Define, Promulgate, Track
  and Use its Lessons Learned Process It Should
  Examine How Better to Cooperatively Involve
  Industry and Academia without Fear of Penalty
  vis-à-vis Competition. It Should Get 7120.5C
  Finished.