PMP Education for the US Military to Reduce Wasted Time, Money, and Energy – Demko
Abstract:
Every day of every year the United States military manages thousands of projects, programs, and portfolios ranging from hundreds or thousands of dollars at the smallest of organizations up to those at the Pentagon often in the billions of dollars. The problem is that those projects, programs, and portfolios are often managed by personnel who are not familiar with or not qualified to use Project Management Professional (PMP) practices. Often the untrained or untested project managers use PMP terminology or cliches incorrectly, out of scope, or to provide a fragile framework of control over oft-enormous projects to solve complex, ill-defined problems.
The lack of PMP-educated managers creates enormous waste in time, money, and quality. The news is replete with stories of US military projects with cost overruns in the millions of dollars or delays of costly, important national defense systems that keep them from Service Members use for months or years. Often poor quality control puts non-functioning equipment in the field only to need costly repairs or upgrades just to meet the original project specifications.
The solution is simple: Teach proper project management skills to the project, program, and portfolio managers of the US military using Project Management Institute best practices. The Project Management community must find a way to help get PMP certification or education opportunities into the standard training and education touchpoints for US military Officers, Non-Commissioned Officer, and Civilian. Those opportunities would best be suited at the O-4, E-7, or GS-13 level and continue as those leaders remain within the US military. Training leaders early and often on PMP best practices could save millions of dollars and put functioning equipment and systems in the hands of US Service Members on time and with fewer quality problems.
PMI Talent Triangle: Ways of Working
PDUs: 0.75
