Schedule Initiative: Overview - NASA · schedule management and schedule assessment requirements (1.2) Reinforce existing and establish new . sustainable best practices . for schedule

Office of the Chief Financial Officer

Schedule Initiative Overview

August 2017

NASA Cost and Schedule Symposium

Michele T. King, PMP, CSEP

Robin K. Smith, PMP, CSEP

For Internal Use Only 1


For Internal Use Only

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Agenda

Schedule Capability Overview

SI Road Show

SI Efforts

Schedule Community of Practice (SCoPe)

Policy & Guidance

Data & Research

Tools

Working Groups (Internal and External)

Consulting

Training & Skills Development

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Timeline of the Schedule Capability at NASA

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• The Schedule Initiative is revamped to reflect OCFO’s new role

SI Road Show kicks off

The SCoPe is re-established

OCFO resumes Handbook update efforts

Training/tool R&D continues (e.g. SMART)

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2016 - 2017 SCoPe / SI Road Show

Programmatic Capability 2015

Agency reorganizes Programmatic Assessment Capability Leadership, transferring two critical functions from OoEto OCFO/SID:

Programmatic Standards and Policies Owner

Programmatic Capability StewardAgency moves ownership of the scheduling capability from OCE to the OoE

OoE/CAD begins the Agency’s Schedule Initiative (SI), which intends to strengthen NASA’s scheduling capabilities and provide stewardship across the Agency through the establishment of the Schedule Community of Practice (SCoPe)

2013-2014 Schedule Initiative

SAWG / P&S CoP / SMH 2009-2010

IPCE/IPAO establishes the Schedule Analysis Working Group (SAWG) geared towards analysis methodologies and techniques

OCE establishes the Planning & Scheduling Community of Practice (P&S CoP)

IPAO begins drafting the Standard Operating Procedure Instruction (SOPI) for Programmatic AssessmentsOCE leads initial drafts of the Schedule

Management Handbook starting in 2004, which were made available Agency-wide on the EVM website in late 2006

2004-2006 Draft Handbook

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Schedule Initiative- What is it? What are our goals? -

The Schedule Initiative is an Agency initiative to work all aspects of growing the Scheduling and Schedule Assessment capabilities across the Agency. The primary focus is to:

Ensure that Agency policy and guidance documents reflect consistent information regarding how to meet schedule management and schedule assessment requirements (1.2)

Reinforce existing and establish new sustainable best practices for schedule management and schedule assessment (1.2)

Establish a community of practice that can strengthen the schedule management capabilities through Agency-wide communication (best practices, lessons learned, etc.), improvement of methodologies and tools, and training of personnel (1.1, 1.4, 1.7)

Provide reach-back for Programs and projects with respect to schedule assessment expertise (1.6)

Work with other programmatic disciplines to ensure an integrated approach to advancing the schedule management and schedule assessment capabilities through data collection and research (1.5, 1.3)

Schedule Initiative Work Breakdown Structure

1.1 Schedule Community of Practice (SCoPe)

1.2 Policy & Guidance

1.3 Data & Research

1.4 Tools

1.5 Working Groups (Internal and External)

1.6 Consulting

1.7 Training & Skills Development

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Pictures from the SI Road Show 2017

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SI Road Show 2017

When and Where…

Glenn Research CenterCleveland, OHApril 18, 2017

Goddard Space Flight CenterGreenbelt, MDOctober 18, 2017

Langley Research CenterHampton, VAFebruary 3, 2017

Kennedy Space CenterCape Canaveral, FLJanuary 18, 2017

Marshall Space Flight CenterHuntsville, ALAugust 3, 2017Stennis Space Center

Hancock Count, MS August 3, 2017 (Remote from MSFC)

Johnson Space CenterHouston, TXMay 17, 2017

HaleakalāObservatoryHaleakala, HawaiiTBD

Armstrong Flight Research CenterEdwards, CAJune 8, 2017

Ames Research CenterMoffett Field, CAJune 6, 2017

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SI Road Show Agenda

Discussion with civil servants and contractors

Questionnaire (40+ questions) sent in advance to Schedule PoC at each Center to help facilitate discussion

Open, informal discussion covered the following topics:

Current Schedule Initiative efforts – including those coordinated with SCoPe WGs

Current work – types of projects (small vs large), EVM-requirements vs. no EVM requirements, etc.

Center/Program/project processes – use of schedule management plans for all or some projects; nuances/tailoring of schedule management practices depending on projects; use of “best practices”

Preferred tools – for scheduling, analysis (SRAs/JCLs), etc.

Types/levels of analysis – DCMA, GAO, critical path analysis, EVM, SRAs, JCLs, other “integrated” analyses, etc.

Resource mix – schedulers vs schedule analysts, contractors vs civil servants, multi-disciplined vs single-disciplined, increments of FTE/WYE per project or full-time on each project, etc.

Current issues – possible lack of a specific type of training, tool incompatibilities or functionality issues, lack of appropriate scheduler/analyst resources, difficulty meeting project/Agency requirements, etc.

What were the takeaways?...

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• Information Shared

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SCoPe

SI Roadshow Takeaways – Expectations of SCoPeCommunication - Fill the gap of the need for a CoP - even split between Centers with and without their own

CoPsConduit for staying up-to-date on Agency scheduling activities and the opportunity to provide input to Agency Scheduling policy and initiativesTo share the perspective of “small center, small project” and contribute to guidance for small/7120.8 projects

Finding areas where we can learn and improve to help better the scheduling practices at our Center; Understanding how scheduling is performed elsewhere in the Agency will enhance the growth in the discipline at our Center

Insight into other Centers’ skills/capabilities, tools, training and lessons learned; Share our Center’s lessons learned

Standard Operating Procedure Instruction (SOPI) for Independent Programmatic Assessment

Schedule Test and Assessment Tool (STAT) Updates

Templates for Milestones Professional

Working GroupsWG#1 – Schedule Management Handbook Framework

WG#2 – Small Projects Schedule Management Plan Template/Input to the Project Plan

WG#2 – Cost-Loading Schedule Models

WG#4 – Schedule BoEs

Alignment with Agency Initiatives and Objectives

BSA Cross-Cutting Observations: “Each mission and each program behaves and organizes its work differently…. which results in gaps in Agency toolset resulting in ‘homegrown’ supplemental tools that may not be integrated, and a need for increased

• Meetings in January, March, April, July, August (Cost Symposium), October-TBD

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• Schedule Management Handbook Update

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Schedule Management Handbook

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SI Roadshow Takeaways - GuidanceNeed for Clear, Concise GuidanceNo consistent scheduling policies across Mission Directorates; Consistent language and philosophies on the use of project schedule and analysis will benefit our Center (and the Agency) in the area of efficient and effective project management Better alignment with Agency practices, processes, and tools (vs. industry standards; NASA “does it differently”)Center leadership supports and encourages application of scheduling best practices and schedule management; however, it seems that a paradigm shift is required (in some instances) from middle management in an effort to utilize schedules for project management; cross-training between directorates and projects

Why isn’t resource loading a best practice at NASA?

Developed Schedule Management Framework via SCoPe WG#1 – April thru June

Using feedback from community regarding areas needing further guidance

Intro Sections Drafted as of August

Handbook Draft expected to be released to the community by Spring 2018


BSA 4 Objective: “Strengthen the overall health, effectiveness, and efficiency of PP&C capabilities through a capability leadership approach”• SI Roadshow 2018 – Focus will be on understanding the needs among and bridging the gaps between

different organizational levels

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Schedule Management Handbook Framework

*Organization and

detail of Best

Practices may change

slightly as the

Handbook Revision is

further developed.

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Schedule Management Handbook

differently”)Better alignment with Agency policies (NASA “does it

SI Roadshow Takeaways - Policy

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Stakeholders

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SI Roadshow Takeaways – Internal/External Stakeholders

Alignment with auditing agencies NASA undergoes audits from both internal and external organizations (e.g. NASA Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Government Accountability Office (GAO)).

GAO gets its authority from Congress: The explanatory statement of the House Committee on Appropriations accompanying the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 includes a provision for GAO to prepare project status reports on selected large-scale NASA programs, projects, and activities.

GAO’s Annual Assessments: The most current report is from May 2017. The report “assesses (1) the cost and schedule performance of NASA’s portfolio of major projects, (2) the maturity of critical technologies and stability of project designs at key points in the development process, and (3) NASA’s progress in implementing initiatives to reduce acquisition risk and potential challenges that could affect project management, execution, and oversight. This report also includes individual assessments of 21 major NASA projects. When NASA determines that a project has an estimated life-cycle cost of over $250 million, we include that project in our annual review up through launch or completion.”

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GAO Example

As an example, the GAO Report to Congressional Committees in May 2017 stated:

“To assess the cost and schedule performance, technology maturity, and design stability of NASA’s major projects, we collected information on these areas from projects using a data collection instrument, analyzed projects’ monthly status reports, interviewed NASA project and headquarters officials, and reviewed project documentation. There are 22 major projects in total, but the information available depends on where a project is in its life cycle. For the 16 projects in the implementation phase we compared current cost and schedule estimates to their original cost and schedule baselines, identified the number of technologies being developed and assessed their technology maturity against GAO-identified best practices and NASA policy, and compared the number of releasable design drawings at the critical design review against GAO-identified best practices and analyzed subsequent design drawings changes. We reviewed historical data on cost and schedule performance, technology maturity, and design stability for major projects from our prior reports and compared it to the performance of NASA’s current portfolio of major projects. We also analyzed prime operations cost data for projects that have launched and were included in our prior annual reviews of NASA’s major projects. To assess NASA’s progress in reducing acquisition management risk, we met with officials and analyzed information pertinent to ongoing NASA initiatives, including its efforts to improve cost and schedule estimation and earned value management capabilities. We also followed up on other potential acquisition management challenges that we identified during our review, such as NASA’s transition to a new independent assessment model, emerging workforce issues, and project funding and budget phasing. Finally, to conduct our project assessments, we analyzed information provided by project officials, such as monthly status reports, and interviewed project officials to identify major sources of risk and the strategies that projects are using to mitigate them.” (http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/684626.pdf)

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http://www.gao.gov/assets/690/684626.pdf


Data & Research

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SI Roadshow Takeaways – Data Collection Challenges

Central repository of data (IMSes) would help with future project schedule planning and development; CADRe doesn’t collect/provide a low enough level of detail with respect to schedule dataWould like to do better data-drive forecasting

What can we do? How can we do it?

First step…we’ve recently developed the Schedule Management and Relationship Tool (SMART), which compares analogous data to validate schedule (phase and overall) durations…but we need to do more

For Internal Use Only 14



Tools

SI Roadshow Takeaways – Tools/Tool TrainingMost Centers/projects use MS Project as their scheduling tool however, several projects are

using Oracle Primavera P6; other projects would like access to Oracle Primavera P6 & PRA; desire for MSP/P6 ReadersAgency provided Schedule Risk Analysis tools are being utilized mostly for JCLs; however, Centers / projects are interested in doing more analysis (e.g., SRAs) and need tools/trainingAdditional tools/training to aid in the visualization of the schedule (reports and quality

management)Sometimes basic tools are difficult to obtain if they are not pre-approved (e.g., Milestones

Professional)

• Schedule Tool Survey / Matrix – compiled a list of scheduling, analysis, and reporting tools:

– Description of Tools (~15-20)

Specific Capabilities/Uses per the Schedule Management Framework (Planning / Development / etc.)

Life Cycle Phase and KDP the tool helps support

Additional resources, such as links to websites, FAQs, etc.

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Tool Description Specific Capabilities/Uses Life Cycle Phase / Milestone

Availability / Additional Resources

SMART The Schedule Management and Relationship Tool (SMART) combines analogy-based and parametric methods in a schedule estimating tool for unmanned spacecraft projects. The tool utilizes high-level technical and programmatic characteristics to determine the confidence level around the spacecraft’s schedule duration.

Schedule Management Planning Verify/validate schedule estimate based on analogous project durations Provide confidence level in schedule durations Document Schedule Basis of Estimate

• Pre-Phase A (MCR) • Phase A (SRR/MDR) Basis of Estimate • Phases B to aid in communication of Schedule Baseline • Phase C/D/E as comparison for remaining project durations

Free to NASA civil servants and contractors FAQs Tool Download (ONCE Database) Related Products: NASA Master List of Project Schedule Milestone Data

STAT The Schedule Test and Assessment Tool (STAT) assists in the identification, measurement, and rating of key credibility indicators contained within a project IMS. In addition to the basic health check, the software can produce a summary report for the project manager, including any performance issues or scheduling errors, as well as a less technical summary for executive-level managers. It can also show how many activities have been completed and how many are left to meet, and it allows the project manager to choose an endpoint and trace the logic behind it. It gives the scheduler the ability to add a cushion or reserve of time and monitor the reserve’s depletion over time. It can also compare a current schedule with a previous version and show any changes.

Schedule Development Build error-free Schedule Baseline and updates to the schedule

Schedule Assessment Verify/validate schedule calculations

Schedule Analysis Perform health checks Trace critical path(s)

Schedule Control Monitor schedule changes and performance

• All Phases to ensure that project schedule is free from mechanical errors • Phase A (SRR/MDR) • Phases B-E as comparison for remaining project duration

Free to NASA civil servants and contractors (U.S. only) FAQs Tool Download

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Working Groups

SI Roadshow Takeaways – Scheduling as part of Programmatics

Better alignment with other PP&C functions (e.g., Cost/EVM, Risk, etc.)Better guidance on tying costs and risks to the schedule Better guidance on EVM techniques

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Participating in Agency Working Groups: ECASG, EVM WG, and ARMWG

Looking for synergies

Contributing to programmatic handbooks to ensure consistency across domains

Involved in Joint Space Cost Council (JSCC) Scheduler’s Forum:The term “joint” refers to the council’s composition of both government (NRO, NASA, USAF and others) and industry representatives with an interest in space.

The JSCC is currently jointly chaired by a government representative from the NRO and the industry rep is from Lockheed Martin.

The Scheduler’s Forum is currently co-chaired by NRO and NG.

Current efforts of the Scheduler’s Forum:

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Critical Path and Schedule Margin Management

Resource Loading

Should Schedule

Over-Target Schedule


BSA 5 Objective: “Strengthen related Program Planning and Control (PP&C) capabilities in the areas of scheduling, cost estimating, cost assessments, and earned value management, and enable more focused and efficient operations across NASA”

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Consulting

SI Roadshow Takeaways – Independent AssessmentsBetter guidance in performing SRAs/JCLs for independent assessments

Better communication in the need and benefits of schedule/schedule assessment best practices within the Agency

Participate in OCFO Checkpoint Reviews

Peer review SRA results for SRB analysis

Discuss and provide resources on assessment techniques/methods for the independent assessor

SRB Programmatic Assessment Process

Communicate the process associates with independent programmatic assessments, including timelines, project deliverables, assessment products, etc.

SRA Overview

Communicate the “why” to stakeholders, project managers, and schedulers

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Training and Skills Development

SI Roadshow Takeaways - TrainingTraining gaps exist in the schedule analysis capability; schedulers are being asked to do

more analysisOverarching Training Courses exist but are not specific to NASA and NASA Best PracticesCenters rely on OJT and mentorship to bridge training gapsLack of career development guidance in the programmatic community

Current Training Courses

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– Scheduling & Cost Control

Scheduling Virtual Learning

Project Planning Analysis and Control

Assessing Project Performance

Earned Value Management Systems

Integrated Baseline Review

Risk Management I &II

Performing Risk Analysis

Scheduling courses specific to MS Project 2010/2013

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• CFO-U Courses

– Cost Analysis Assessment and Control,

Cost Estimating–

• Cost Estimation for Project Managers

Basic Cost Estimating Training•

Center Training Requests

• Schedule Risk Analysis and Assessment

– CPM, resource loading, Cost/Schedule integration, analysis with earned value

• Courses that emphasizes NASA Schedule Management Handbook guidance/best practices and how to apply them

– Structuring/coding schedule data

Logic network techniques

Trend analysis

Margin establishment and management techniques

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• “Scheduling Appreciation” for audiences outside of the Schedule Management function


BSA 7 Objective: “Ensure the current and future Program Planning and Control workforce has the skills it needs to perform PP&C functions efficiently and effectively”

BSA, with respect to PP&C Integration: Eliminating stovepipes and focusing training and development on a holistic view of project management will improve cost and schedule 18

performance on agency



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Contact Info

Michele T. King, PMP, CSEP

NASA HQ, OCFO – Strategic Investments Division (located at LaRC)

Schedule Initiative and SCoPe Lead

[email protected]

757-506-5818

• Robin K. Smith, PMP, CSEP

NASA HQ, OCFO – Strategic Investments Division (located at LaRC)

Schedule Training and Tools Lead

[email protected]

757-775-2207

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mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Schedule Initiative: Overview - NASA · schedule management and schedule assessment requirements (1.2) Reinforce existing and establish new . sustainable best practices . for schedule