Presentation Title: Performance Management – Should We Manage to a Single Data Point? A NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Perspective
Abstract: With today’s changing environment, meeting project commitments can be challenging. The Flight Projects Directorate at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has a portfolio of over 60 missions in various stages of the space flight life cycle. Numerous methods and approaches are used to monitor and track project performance and utilization of tools can provide valuable information to help manage missions. However, challenges can arise when these approaches are viewed as the sole data point for assessing the project status. At GSFC, performance management metric-based tools have provided insightful information for evaluating the programmatic health of space projects. These tools have provided the awareness and foresight desired to effectively manage and meet commitments, which is tremendously beneficial on the road to achieving mission success.
PMI Talent Triangle: Strategic and Business Management
Biography: Dr. Wanda Peters serves as the Deputy Director for Planning and Business Management in the Flight Projects Directorate (FPD) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. In her role, she serves as the principal operating official for the directorate in planning and developing management processes and business strategies. Wanda manages all directorate matters related to business, project planning and control, resource management, organizational staffing, workforce development, diversity and equal opportunity, and physical assets.
Wanda’s professional development and career have progressed through the following positions: research scientist, aerospace engineer, engineering discipline lead, product team lead, Principal Investigator, technology development team lead, group manager, Contract Officer’s Representative (COR), Source Evaluation Board (SEB) Chair, Assistant Division Chief, Associate Division Chief, and Associate Director.
She is a Senior Executive Fellow and graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore; a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the Catholic University of America; and a Master of Engineering Management degree and a Doctor of Philosophy in Systems Engineering from George Washington University. She is married and has two daughters.
