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6
DOE Project Management Culture
INTRODUCTION
An organization's culture is not the list of values developed at an offsite
meeting those are ideals. Culture is how the organization operates. It is the
core values and norms of behavior that drive the organization's actions and guide
how employees think, act, and feel. The degree to which a large organization
integrates its subcultures into a dominant overarching culture can vary widely. It
is probably undesirable and unrealistic to try to homogenize the culture of an
organization as large and diverse as DOE. However, to be successful in managing
large projects, an organization must have a core set of values, principles, systems,
and procedures that cut across subcultures (Hagberg and Heifetz, 2000~.
(cultural strength refers to the dominance or preeminence of certain aspects of
the culture in affecting everything that happens in an organization. It also
reflects the intensity with which cultural values are held and clung to....
Cultural congruence refers to the extent to which the culture reflected in one
part of the organization is similar to and consistent with the culture reflected in
another part of the organization.... [O]ther things being equal, the greater the
total degree of congruence or fit between the various components [of an organi-
zation], the more effective will be organizational behavior at multiple levels.
(NRC, 1997, p. 74)
33
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PROGRESS IN IMPROVING PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT THE DOE
LEADERSHIP
DOE leaders have implemented several policies to help define its project
management culture over the past 12 years e.g., O 4700 Project Management
System, O 430.1A Life Cycle Asset Management (LCAM), and O 413.3 Program
and Project Management for the Acquisition of Capital Assets. DOE Order
O 413.3 defines current policies and procedures; however, the committee has
witnessed several variations of project management procedures some strictly
following O 413.3 and others utilizing some but not all of the procedures
mandated by O 413.3. Full-time, experienced project managers manage some
projects, while line personnel who function as part-time project managers are
managing others. Some projects utilize strict project cost controls, while others
use less rigorous cost control programs. DOE has been trying to standardize its
project management procedures (viz., its draft PPM for implementing O 413.3) in
recent years; however, it will not achieve this goal unless senior management
conveys a unified vision that effective project management is all-important, worth
doing, and actively supported and expected by all senior managers throughout the
department. The directives issued by the deputy secretary in 2001 and the chief
financial officer in 2001 and 2002 have conveyed DOE's intent and the impor-
tance of project management policies and procedures. The committee believes
that there is now greater involvement of the under secretary and assistant secre-
taries in project approvals.
Implementation
Key to achieving consistent implementation of policies and procedures is the
existence of a DOE senior management group that is involved in the implemen-
tation. Senior managers should believe that oversight of project management is
their first and most important responsibility. They should understand the processes
as well as be able to articulate why such processes are important. This does not
mean that senior managers need to be expert in all phases of project management,
but they should be able to easily discuss the elements of the program. Personnel
in the field need to be shown how and why implementation of new project
management procedures make it more likely that their project will be success-
fully completed. Developing detailed reports and preparing answers to questions
posed by senior managers improves project planning. Each time a project is
rejected and resubmitted it should be better prepared to achieve success. The
committee believes that reviews by the Office of Management and Budget Evalu-
ation (OMBE) prior to Energy System Acquisition Advisory Board (ESAAB)
reviews and critical decisions have helped with this process.
Communication across the levels of an organization is not easy to accom-
plish. Senior management needs to take advantage of each and every opportunity
to explain and promote its policies, procedures, vision, and expectation of desired
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DOE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CULTURE
35
outcomes. Field organizations need to be convinced that DOE's senior manage-
ment is united and that its course is unwavering. Uniformity of the message, as
well as its repetition, is essential for the entire organization to accept the impor-
tance of the message.
Senior management is responsible for establishing a supervisory structure
that has consistent views and values. If project management is important to
senior managers, then it should be important throughout the organization. A
senior manager who expresses views contrary to those of project management
policy can partially paralyze efforts to institutionalize policies and procedures
within DOE. The issuance of orders and memos from headquarters cannot by
itself realign the thinking of the field offices. Senior management can accom-
plish such realignment only by visiting the field offices repeatedly to deliver a
consistent message. The committee recognizes that this requires the expenditure
of a substantial share of the time of senior managers. To assure that this time is
available, less pressing work must be delegated to others. Senior managers
should avoid conveying mixed messages within the organization. If senior
management has given top priority to implementing project management policies
and procedures, then it should ensure that there are no competing priorities.
Generally, some members of an organization are prone to comparing messages,
looking for subtle differences from one day to the next. If such differences are
identified they generate resistance within an organization to acceptance of any-
thing new. While project management per se is not new, its current definitions
and practices are different from previous definitions and practices, and these
changes must be managed.
Opportunities for Success
One of the best opportunities for senior management to stress the importance
of project management is during project review meetings. At these meetings
senior managers should take an active role to demonstrate their interest. First,
senior managers should be in attendance, indicating that these meetings are
important and that they are willing to make time for them. Given the number of
projects being managed within DOE, this in itself will be a major task for senior
managers. Second, senior managers should demonstrate a commitment to project
management professionalism by their own actions at DOE-wide strategic plan-
ning levels. Third, senior management should take an active role in the meeting,
asking questions and prompting the project managers to consider alternatives,
possible risks, and actions that can be taken if the project exceeds its baseline
schedule or cost. Fourth, senior managers should be prepared to give praise when
appropriate, to show their personal interest in success.
Accountability is an integral part of project management. Senior manage-
ment should take an active role and share in accountability if project costs or
schedules are threatened. They should help solve problems by first assessing
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PROGRESS IN IMPROVING PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT THE DOE
alternatives and then selecting the best direction. To avoid the impression that
management is not committed to the process, senior managers need to devote
time to achieve this level of engagement. Project justifications, recommendations,
project plans, and information reports should be well prepared and reviewed at
each appropriate management level. Senior managers should determine if the
documents are adequate and, if not, return them for correction and communicate
to the authors that management expects better performance. Senior managers
also need to judge whether project managers are prepared and able to answer
probing questions. (See Appendix E for a list of questions for determining whether
a project is ready to proceed.) If the project managers are not prepared, senior
management must not permit the project to proceed but must send it back so that
better answers can be developed.
Another opportunity for senior management to demonstrate its commitment
to project management excellence is to assure that adequate resources are pro-
vided. Senior management can make a positive statement by bringing additional
resources to bear where they are needed for project management and project
managers. Senior management also has an important role in rewarding successful
project managers. Praise and recognition are the most important motivators;
however, monetary rewards are usually welcomed but need not be lavish. The
committee believes that the annual awards program managed by OECM has been
effective in recognizing project management achievements. What most success-
ful project managers want from senior-level corporate management is not so
much monetary rewards to motivate them (good project managers are already
highly motivated) but consistent support by senior management in removing the
obstacles to project success. Likewise, it is important for senior management to
remove a person from a position of responsibility if he or she is proving to be a
poor project manager. Usually, the field level organization is aware of poor
project manager performance well before senior management. Remedial action
by senior managers will reinforce the importance of good project management.
ACCEPTANCE OF CHANGE WITHIN THE DOE CULTURE
The committee has gathered input on DOE's project management culture
and acceptance of efforts to improve project management practices and proce-
dures requiring cultural change within DOE. Its observations are based on input
at meetings with DOE personnel and DOE contractor personnel from both the
headquarters and field locations and participation in DOE project management
workshops.
Change in Strategic Planning
The committee notes that there is a positive change in DOE culture reflected
by the effort to develop a department-wide strategic planning system. OMBE has
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DOE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CULTURE
37
created a draft planning, programming, and budgeting process for the first time in
DOE history. NNSA is developing a future-years nuclear security plan, a major
component of which is an integrated construction project plan (ICPP). The
NNSA Program Integration Office will put the ICPP together from inputs by field
activities based on their individual 10-year site plans. Using the ICPP as the basis
for determining which projects are included in the annual budget submission is
expected to gain broad support because managers will have a definite plan for
future-year projects rather than relying on an annual scramble.
Acceptance by DOE Personnel
The committee has observed that, in general, DOE personnel agree with the
need for a project management system. However, opinions differ on how the
system should work. Comments from personnel raised concerns that the require-
ments were similar to construction specifications, too prescriptive, and hard to
follow. Opportunities for tailoring the requirements were seen as positive, but
even with tailoring, there was continuing concern about the applicability of the
requirements to environmental projects. Discussions during the OECM project
management workshop in 2002 indicated concerns about the requirements for
front-end planning prior to requesting critical decision 0 (CD-0) and CD-1, and
delays were expected in obtaining approval to proceed from headquarters. Work-
shop participants recommended raising the threshold for the value of projects
required to comply with O 413.3. Their recommendations would exempt smaller
projects and environmental projects and would shift approvals to lower levels in
the organization.
The committee found widespread acceptance of the need to improve project
management throughout the DOE complex. Based on presentations and discus-
sions during meetings, the committee believes that the requirements of O 413.3
are generally being incorporated into projects across the board. Although con-
cerns were voiced over delays associated with headquarters reviews and the work
associated with up-front planning, the committee found no evidence of a refusal
to comply or of efforts to derail the project management system. However, the
committee observed that the quality and completeness of the plans and reports
required for compliance with O 413.3 are not consistent. The vigor displayed in
implementing O 413.3 and related efforts to improve project management vary,
but cultural change has been observed throughout DOE.
One sign that change is being accepted is evident at the Richland Operations
Office (RL) and the Office of River Protection (ORP). Senior managers expressed
a positive view of the fundamental project management principles including
those of environmental management contained in O 413.3 and the PPM. Fur-
ther, the efforts and work products of federal employees should enhance the
oversight of contracts for project management services.
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PROGRESS IN IMPROVING PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT THE DOE
Acceptance by Contractors
The committee observes that DOE contractors, perhaps even more than DOE
personnel, agree that a project management system is needed, but the O 413.3
requirements and the PPM methods were not universally accepted. Nonetheless,
contractors clearly intend to comply with and implement O 413.3. In several
instances, even projects that had been initiated prior to the effective date of the
Order are being brought into compliance. Contractors expressed concerned about
possible delays resulting from headquarters reviews and the costs of implement-
ing the requirements of O 413.3 and the PPM (e.g., independent reviews and
additional documentation). While the contractor representatives who met with
the committee were on cost-reimbursable contracts and presumably had the means
to recover this type of additional cost, the issue was mentioned frequently.
The varying degree to which project management reforms are accepted
reflects the wide range of contractor cultures. Perhaps the broad range of reactions
by different DOE components reflects the diversity of missions. The NNSA
mission is driven by its Department of Defense customers, and pressures from
external requirements for environmental cleanup drive the EM mission. The SC
mission, on the other hand, is developed by scientists in the DOE national labora-
tories, which are run by university contractors and are naturally resistant to
direction from Washington.
The committee observed a positive response to the project management
process improvement initiatives incorporated in overall management contracts.
BWX Technologies has established an ongoing education program for project
managers at the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The University of California
(UC) Office of the President has responded vigorously to a contract initiative by
establishing process improvement programs that apply to all facilities managed
by the university. The UC program includes creating an external advisory panel
to provide guidance and oversight, establishing senior management positions
responsible for process improvement, identifying people across the UC sites with
the requisite knowledge and experience, and conducting meetings and workshops
to increase awareness of new DOE procedures. The committee believes the UC
program exemplifies what is needed to implement a cultural change in project
management.
OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO CULTURAL CHANGE
The reaction of DOE field personnel and contractors to current initiatives to
develop and align project management culture through O 413.3 and the PPM
reflects a general desire to do their jobs without interference from others. This is
not unusual when considering that resistance by scientists and other highly edu-
cated people to oversight from managers is not uncommon. Acceptance of project
management improvement initiatives by individuals and organizations within
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
senior management
DOE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CULTURE
39
DOE ranges from enthusiastic to somewhat grudging. The key to effecting
cultural change and an eventual payoff from a disciplined, comprehensive project
management system is consistent, long-term application. Accordingly, maintain-
ing a course with minor adjustments, rather than starting over in a new direction
every few years is essential for improving the management of projects that span
several years. The continued strong personal interest and involvement that has
been shown by DOE senior managers appears to be the biggest single agent of
cultural change related to project management within DOE. This type of front
office involvement is crucial over the long term to establishing and maintaining
an effective project management system.
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Finding. DOE personnel and contractors generally support the need for a compre-
hensive project management system but prefer a system with fewer requirements
for upper management oversight.
Recommendation. DOE should resist efforts to reduce up-front planning require-
ments and to lower the level of authority at which critical decisions are approved.
DOE should apply persistent pressure to ensure that the right projects are picked
for execution and that they are planned and executed according to established
policies and procedures. Procedures should continue to include a process for
tailoring requirements to the size and complexity of projects.
Recommendation. DOE should assess its culture and subcultures and develop
strategies to bring about organization alignment on core project management
principles at all levels of the organization.
REFERENCES
Hagberg, R., and J. Heifetz. 2000. Corporate Culture/Organizational Culture: Understanding and
Assessment. Foster City, Calif.: HCG. Available online at
