Improving Project Management in the Department of Energy

Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999. Presumed First Edition, First printing [A limited number of copies of this report were available from the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment, National Research Council]. Trade paperback. very good. xii, 137, [1] pages. Wraps. Figures. Tables. References. Appendices. Glossary. Acronyms. Pencil erasure on title page. Project management is the discipline of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria. A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique product, service or result with a defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or deliverable) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual (or operations), which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to produce products or services. In practice, the management of such distinct production approaches requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and budget. The secondary - and more ambitious - challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives. DOE requested that the National Research Council (NRC) conduct a study to review the policies, procedures, and practices used by DOE to identify, plan, design, and manage its portfolio of projects. The goal of the study was to develop recommendations to improve DOE's oversight and management of projects.The Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE) advises the executive and legislative branches of government, other governmental and private sector organizations, and the general public on questions of technology, science, and public policy applied to:· the design, construction, operations, maintenance, security, and evaluation of buildings, facilities, and infrastructure systems; · the relationship between the constructed and natural environments and their interaction with human activities; · the effects of natural and manmade hazards on constructed facilities and infrastructure · the interdependencies of infrastructure systems (power, water, transportation, telecommunications, wastewater, buildings) and the potential for cascading failuresThe BICE brings together in an independent forum expertise from a wide range of scientific, engineering, and social science disciplines to address problems and issues in these areas. It provides a unique structure to respond to specific requests from government, or to act on its own initiative with public or private sector support. To respond to requests, the BICE oversees committee activities involving studies, briefings, workshops, symposia, and a variety of information dissemination activities.Established in 1946 as the Building Research Advisory Board, BICE and its predecessor organizations have been the principal units of the NRC concerned with the built environment. Although advisory services make up the bulk of BICE activities, a number of specific programs have been created and maintained over the years, the most significant and longest running of which is the Federal Facilities Council.