chris yiannas program management 101

Program Management 101 A no-nonsense approach to program management from the school of 'hard knocks'

Author: Chris Yiannas Proton Aerospace Planet Terra: September 28, 2014

Program Management 101

A no-nonsense approach to program management from the school of 'hard knocks' Author: Chris Yiannas Proton Aerospace Planet Terra: September 28, 2014 Program Management. What is it, and what is it not? Many books have been authored and published and the world is full of promising students with University MBA Degrees thirsty to 'cut their teeth' on a project delivered to them on their lap. But how are programs generated? Is it simply a supply and demand issue? Is it as easy as marketing, making, and selling 'widgets'? Can demand be created? What drives consumerism? Are the governments also a 'consumer? Is the whole world a large consumer pool? How are program managers stacked and what role do they play in this world of ours? I will dispense with the standard 'cold hard facts' of program managing and provide a different 'face' to the 'business' at hand. For those who think that they know everything about effective program management this may serve as a humorous refresher. For those who are aspiring to be effective program managers read on. Who knows perhaps you may even take some of the skills outlined here to start a successful business. Let us start first by defining what is a 'program'. I will not

redefine it for you based on what you may find in the dictionary or your books, but keep in mind that I differentiate 'a project' from a 'program'. A project is something fairly well defined and of limited scope with finite beginning and end. A program on the other hand encompasses many projects or major programs within it, and these are typically buried and shown in the WBS (Work Break Down Structure) of the overall 'Master Schedule' program. For those familiar with programming languages in the software world, you may also think in terms of large self-contained subroutines designed to do a certain specific job within the overall context of the software matrix system we live. Since you are a work in progress, you may actually be surprised to find out that your whole life is sort of a program. Perhaps then, this is the single most important program that you will ever run, your life. Because you are born, you exist. You receive inputs and provide outputs based on a thinking process that is formed and impacted by your environment. You are affected and affect others in ways that many people have not understood. In this world, if you have not taken stock of your life properly, the majority of the time you act and indeed are an 'employee'. There is nothing wrong with being a contributing employee to the overall process. However, if you learn the rules and regulations and act on them judiciously then you can become an effective program manager of your life. Are you up to the task? If you can accomplish this then you can truly help others. Let us look at another example of program management, 'mother earth.' Could you be a program manager for the whole planet? How would you run the planet? Would you have a large corporation? Who would you invite



to be in your board of directors? Would you divide the world into smaller projects based on topography or geography based on large sections perhaps using the continents as natural divisions? Or would you divide the world based on population concentrations? What type of technology would be appropriate? Would you have countries? How would they be run? How would you tap into and realize for the benefit of Humanity all there is of this planet internal and external including near earth space in a sustainable way? How would you allocate the planet's resources? More about resource allocation later, but what do you think is the most important resource allocation? Is it the oceans, the fish, the animals, energy production and distribution, 'oil', or water, or nuclear energy, the seas, the mountains, wheat production, or food production and distribution, gold or iron ore other mineral resources, pharmaceuticals or other exotic precious metals? Actually, if you guessed that Humanity is the single most important resource to be allocated you guessed right. You, as a Human Being are the most valuable resource.

There are about seven billion of us on the surface of this planet. The planet can support probably fifty billion people if it was managed properly but it is not. On this planet, and others, all the products and services that program

managers manage go to support all aspects of our living conditions. In our world, a single key element that drives program management is by design a Value-Based system. The system derives its power from a 'Value' that after striping the humanistic attributes of day-to-day operations, it is by Design is a Calculated Monetary Value. It is based on a fictitious value of either a precious metal such as the 'gold standard' or it is based on a fictitious value of a coinage such as the United States dollar. So long as everyone agrees to follow certain rules the system overall progresses in a snail pace unless there are inputs that change the flow rate and thus progress is made at a faster pace or stepped function or even resembling an exponential function. Throughput can be modeled via an electric circuit, which can be in series or in a parallel circuit. The math is relatively simple. Wealth accumulation is the subsequent wealth distribution to strata of society. A pyramid, or a cone can be used to explain that as one moves to the apex she accumulates more wealth. This wealth is supported and is also distributed to the various strata of society, all the way down to the base. There is a constant 'Flow' or movement or Mobility of the Human Resource such that Competition is created and individuals move from the base to the Apex and from the Apex to the Base. You need to think what would happen if somehow this constant 'Flow' of movement suddenly stopped. Many times, restructuring occurs in violent ways meaning wars. Wars of course are also business driven and have existed since antiquity. Program managers therefore, occupy a specific place in the worldwide machine so that via effective program management they get things done anywhere within the pyramid or conical



system and thus goods and services and wealth is distributed to upper and lower tiers and the levels of society distributing the wealth within their respective capacities. So, do you want to be a program manager? Do you want to get things done? Consider this. Can you tie effectively your shoelaces? When did you learn how to do this task and what was the process? What? There are no shoelaces on your shoes? You chose a solution utilizing Velcro? Or perhaps you dispensed altogether with all these other solutions and wear shoes with built in elasticity via elastic bands or simply you wear boots? Do you recognize that some others thought outside the 'box' for you and made products that you now use and take for granted? Thus, as a program manager do not think in limited terms, use all resources available to you but always think outside the 'box'.

You may have met people that cannot tie their own shoelaces. Think, what specific abilities is a child learning by the simple task of tying his own shoelaces? Then, look at the population at large, male and female what percentage of males utilizes shoes with shoelaces and what percentage of females utilizes shoes without shoelaces and why? Male and female can be successful program managers. Ask your self do program management styles vary greatly based on gender, or only in the peripherals while the core of

business style is 'strict business rules', a sort of Quality Control built into the Management System designed to almost always bring the desired outcome? Let us now look briefly at different positions that we all recognize. Is a politician a program manager? Is an army general a program manager? Is a captain a program manager of her ship? Is a cook a program manager of his kitchen? Is a priest a program manager of his flock? Is a doctor a program manager of his operation during surgery? Is an attorney who was just made partner a program manager? Is a President of a country a program manager? The President of a corporation is he a program manager? Are the Universities Corporations? How do they differ? Each person manages in accordance to his capacity and his authority in a specific place in space-time until 'retirement.' But how does program managing differs in the 'business world'? In the so-called 'business world' the bottom line is the successful execution of programs, or projects that provide quality goods and services to customers. The 'middle man' that takes a product for example from the farmers, reprocesses it and sells it for a profit is a program manager. Thus, program managers they can serve the population at large, or they can serve a very select group a 'niche market' of a few individuals. Some of the biggest customers are the governments who generate specific demands to be filled in all sectors of society. It should be clear by now that a project or program has by necessity inputs and outputs, with the end goal of successful program execution, meaning the delivery of the product or services at the right price to capture market, while at the same time



increasing profit margins, or in other words Adding Value. These profits are then redistributed to the owners of the corporation; the stockholders get some of the profits and a percentage of the profits are reinvested to continue development of new programs. And the cycle the 'Flow' continues. As you progress, you will grow from project manager to program manager. This means that you will manage either several smaller project managers, or a fairly large multi billion-dollar program yourself perhaps being in the top position of the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Being a 'Senior Level 3' program manager, a position that usually provides you with 'perks', you may be given your own vehicle. As you circumnavigate mother earth with your 'perk', in your advanced anti-gravity machine that can take you anywhere on the planet within fifteen minutes, you would land at specified locations to check how the 'program management of mother earth' is progressing. You will prepare your self in anticipation of a business review meeting with the other important 'stake' holders. These can be the President, the Vice Presidents, Business Development and Marketing, Operations, Accounts Receivables and Payables, other Engineering and Manufacturing, Other Program Managers etc. You would devise strategies, talk and take accountability from the lower 'level 2' or 'level 1' program or project managers. You will not micromanage, but you should pay very close attention to every single word or detail they provide to you, no matter how 'angelic' they may appear. This after all is serious business. Every word has a specific meaning, as do their facial expressions and their posturing. You should be nice and cordial but very firm questioning

all results. Take nothing for granted. If you are not satisfied with their answers you should ask again until you are satisfied or bring in the most knowledgeable person in the subject within the organization to get answers. If answers are still not provided, and something is amiss you gather all available data and make a command decision and solve the issue on the spot. It is your job. But there may be times that alas, you have to report to your friendly Vice President after a game of golf and bring 'outside help'. I should caution you though that as the bearer of bad news that cannot be easily fixed, you may get the blame, whether it is actually your fault or not, is at this point immaterial, and you will may be blamed and get the 'ax' or a 'kick' in the 'ass' and you will be thrown out from the corporation. Thus, it pays to know early in the game as much as possible about all there is to know in the program or programs you manage and to have friends in high places-literally! Do not wait until Program Review to discuss serious issues. In the Program Review there should not be any new 'surprises'. If indeed you discover issues within the program you are entrusted, and you cannot solve them, you bring them to the higher levels for resolution early in the process. No one likes 'surprises'.



As you already gather, program management is not for the light hearted. Program managers are responsible people, they are go-getters they are the one's that make or break the backbone of a corporation. They are the ones that spend countless hours at night reviewing every single detail of multiple projects until a successful program runs like a well oiled machine runs it self. Well, almost, alas, there are times that even well oiled machines have outlived their usefulness. Successful program managers understand the processes within the overall process and look at the program as an Organic Live System. Therefore, successful managers apply Systematic Solutions to anything that comes in their path, and eliminate systemic problems.

Program managers are positive people and impart the same positive attitude to anyone that works in their program and beyond. Program managers are quick learners, they keep a keen eye for new developments and processes to bring into their programs a lower cost, an increase in volume and capacity, a decrease time to market, and do it with exceptional quality. This may seem difficult to some but it is doable. Think of Harvesting. How is it done nowadays? How was it done in the

past? Has the process changed or have the means of harvesting changed? Thus, understand the difference of means versus process. Can you change the means of a task? Can you change the process? if a sub-process does not work well, change the subroutine to make it work. After all, you would not want your antigravity machine to break down while you circum navigate earth because a faulty rivet broke loose and fell and interfered with the mercury propulsion system while you are hovering above the Pacific Ocean. Right? Program managers identify key technologies and bring them to the organization for review to create new business opportunities programs. You will need to work closely with the BD (Business Development) and a series of a sort of 'gotcha' eye opener charts will be created. Do not be surprised to find out that large successes had their birth in small ideas that seeded new beginnings. Here's an example of a 'typical' small idea, a single chart on a 'Control Systems Technology' that could represent a small beginning. It could also be supplemented with a sort simulation video the BD guys provide to start your presentation.

After you submit the internal proposal together with a Cost



Estimate and ROI (Return on Investment) and the Master Schedule, etc, etc, that you will have created, the 'Corporate Structure' will evaluate your proposal and you may get a 'go ahead', or they may even give it to another program manager to manage it depending on your work load. If this happens, don't get too upset, think always of the Big Picture. Upper management may have other plans on how to execute and bring to fruition your idea. If you are able to accomplish all these, and have happy customers, then rightfully you will have earned your wings in the glorious Earned Value System. Remember your customers are both external and internal. It may surprise many to find out that in a majority of corporations program managers compete for resources allocation within the same corporation. The competition in very large corporations can resemble the competition for spheres of influence of countries at the global level. They compete for funds, they compete for people, they compete for engineering processes, they compete for materials, they compete for manufacturing, they compete for shipping, they compete for space and they may even compete for the same customer base. This fact makes for some very interesting 'discussions' among the program managers. Many times a program manager loses a 'fight' even if she knows 'karate'. The word comes from above and decisions are usually final. A visit to the local bar may smooth things out along with a small bonus, which always helps to swallow a loss. Thus, program managers get training on how to deal in the political arena. You recognize this in the

political arena and sphere of influences that govern our earth.

Did you know? Each program is indeed and operates as a small corporation. In this sense a program manager has to make alliances with other program managers to help each other's programs. Additionally, in the case of large corporations an outright buy out of other small corporations may happen so that the major corporation gains certain expertise very quickly and grows by acquisition. Furthermore, it is not uncommon that two or more programs are brought under one umbrella within a large organization much in the same way as small companies combine forces to compete or are bought by larger organizations. It stands to reason then, that if a program manager in his dealings finds a good small company, a high performer, and the value of a small company is for example fifty million dollars, then a good program manager should be able to make the case to upper management to acquire a business, restructure it and bring it within the fold of the corporation. Hopefully but not always, he or she may end up managing the new 'program' or 'business' if it is not taken as a precious jewel by one of the Vice Presidents. It is not uncommon to see small corporations to form Alliances with each other and create a new entity. This new entity is a larger corporation formed in order to



survive the competition. They also grow by acquisition. Surely most of you aspiring program managers have been to several types of restaurants. Many business discussions take place during or after a good meal. Next time pay close attention. I learned this lesson early in my career when the VP of 'Mc Donnell Douglas Aircraft' now 'Boeing' walked in one day and invited several of us to lunch. If you go to a restaurant, the waiter or waitress politely will ask you if you want 'drinks' since they just happen to run a 'special' or 'gourmet fries' or 'salad' or 'desert', thus increasing the Cost or Value of the meal. They are very good sales persons. This means profit to them, while presumably satisfying your thirst or appetite superbly so that you come back to do business with them again. If this is the case, then you become a repeat customer in their 'operations', and their Operations VP will love you as will the rest of the team. The waiter is a 'front line' sales person as well as a server. He is 'managing' a 'project' a table or as many tables or 'projects' as are allocated to him. Although he may or may not like his 'job' the bottom line is that the waiter is there to perform a function so that sales are made and the corporation 'the restaurant' makes money to pay him. But, he cannot act alone. No man is an island! Think how would you go about building a starship? Would you do it all buy yourself? Could you do it all by yourself?? Or do you need a large number of people working to create a huge undertaking an assembly in space itself? They would have to work in series and in parallel in large and small teams, using specialty materials, while they will have a large support system that will provide all necessary means

including food in order to make this task happen. And what a mighty task it is. Building a spaceship Earth.

He has to have a sustained support group and a system. Here is a list, not an exhaustible one, but it illustrates the concept. They are, raw materials (potatoes, meat, celery, vegetables, etc), kitchen space with stoves, the cooks, food servers, dishwashers, complete bar, refrigerators, tables, table cloths, chairs, spoons, knives, forks, napkins, ambiance, certain music, clean restrooms, upper management to ensure quality control (as well as to dispel any squabbles for resource allocation) It may astound some but the sale of a number of aircraft by the manufacturer to a foreign country goes through the United States Government even if it is commercial aircraft sale business, and a lot of 'special' offerings to sweeten the deal are made and many include a sort of advanced bartering system which today we call 'offsets'. Thus, deals are made for example for the sale of F-16's to a country and the deal may include that the aerospace giant will assist in the promotion and sale of specific items from the customer country. In one particular case, certain



commercial aircraft were sold and as part of the offset deal a number of tonnage of 'spam' literally, had to be dumped to the local market and thus it was more cost efficient for the aerospace giant to simply deliver and distribute the 'spam' and 'cheese' as part of Christmas good will to its thousands of employees. Many techniques are used and are there and will provide the Sales Team with all the necessary tools to get the job done with a smile, and increase Earned Value. If the place is of certain business it may come with 'bouncers' to keep the people from misbehaving. In the case of the corporate world the 'security' private police takes the place of the bouncers. They are very busy during layoff times and yes, as business shrinks programs get cut and program managers also do get laid off. They are not immune to the sickness. Those of you who aspire to become program managers will do well to understand that the restaurant people were working many hours in the night to prepare the place before the doors open for business. In the same way, as a captain because of necessity must know everything about the ship and the crew in order to have 'smooth sailing', the program manager must know everything. In the same way you will spend many hours at night reviewing and preparing for reviews. The reviews may be required at specified intervals, or they may happen unannounced. You will spend many hours past mid night talking to your customers on the phone. If you run your own small business you will do exactly the same. If you are a small business owner you are also the building manager, and the police will call you at three in the morning if the alarm goes off in the office.

The program review is a financial review and the business statement of the program. Therefore you will need to be close to your friendly Procurement and Financial person(s). You need to have updated reviews with them at regular intervals; do not wait until program review period. They also get swamped from other programs. In very clear terms your program review states the Customer, the Contract Value, the Estimated Final Value, the Contract Type (Fixed Firm Price or Time and Material), the PoP (Period of Performance), the Work Scope, the Financial Overview (typically supported by Detail Analyses showing the progress), the Earned Value, the Master Schedule showing Critical Path Items, Stoplight Items (Chart(s) of green, yellow or red items), Risk and Opportunities Identification, and Forecast. Many times programs are 're-baselined'. What this means is that, a program was bid for a certain dollar amount but if it is for example a high risk new technologies program then the costs are usually higher and at some point in time the program cost and the EV are all 're-baselined' from the prior EAC (Estimate at Completion) assuming that the original estimate is no longer valid. This can happen in any program such as for example the new high technology F-35 aircraft, I consider as being a good high technology system. It was a high- risk program since many new technologies were to be developed and incorporated in the system for the very first time. The program has now reached a maturity level. As a program manager of new high-risk high payoff products you will run into schedule and budget cost overruns. However, how you manage them and how you can bring a successful product into the production pipeline is the great challenge and task. The following



charts illustrate a 'snap shot' of the F-35 aircraft system. The Lockheed Martin Team was able to bring the F-35 program back on track.

I want to emphasize that you should look at all programs as Organic Systems! This may be a machine, but the bottom line is that Humans designed, built, test, fix and re-fix, manufacture, fly, support in the field, and when the time comes Humans will retire and recycle the system to its elemental components to reuse and formulate new systems. Even intelligent self-teaching replicating robots using 'fuzzy logic' techniques borrowed from Humans can be considered Organic Systems due to their functions.

As you run programs, you will get accustomed to the Master Schedule, which has behind it all the supporting data. This data comes from a number of schedules, from

the team members and subcontractors.

The F-35 presentation was made by Lockheed Martin’s F-35 program manager Lorraine Martin and was presented at this year’s Air Force Association Air & Space Conference, held just outside Washington. When I served at the Board of Directors for NASA's SATS (Small Aircraft Transportation System) South East Lab, Consortium program, a Master Schedule was maintained up to date laboriously showing all the subcontractors and work performed etc. As you grow as a manager, you will keep a keen eye on the CPI (Cost Performance Index) and you will work to make it stay 'normal' and 'positive'. There are many more items I could write about the EV or otherwise known as BCWP (Budgeted Cost of Work Performed) but I will not get into details here. As a program manager you should be prepared to answer all questions in a succinct clear and concise manner. The Vice Presidents, customers, the government etc, use all the data you provide, along with all the other programs to formulate a snap shot in time of all programs, meaning in its totality the status of the 'corporation', or of the 'state' or the 'country' so that they can devise the overall 'business' strategy. Your program, every



program plays a role in the total business, financial and strategic strength valuation. I have interviewed many young people for potential positions either at prior places of my employment where I was part of a hiring process, or for my own small firm. I found out that many wanted to be project managers from the get go. And so I asked. How do you know how long a certain project or program should take to complete and what the cost of the whole operation should be. What are the risks for failure? How can these risks be mitigated? What is the probability of success? Are there any follow on program spin off technologies or benefits from this program or is it a single shot program? What are the operational requirements for sustainability thereafter? What it the front capital investment that I have to make and what is the ROI (Return On Investment?) Is this program a 'filler' program in the books or a moneymaker? Yes, some programs are there to sustain a business even though they operate at a loss. If you are given a program to manage such as this, you should know it so that there are no misunderstandings later on during evaluation process with your upper management. Find out how large is the customer base? Is it a single external customer or are there multiple customers? Is there a reserve-funding amount allocated for the program? Your job, should you decide to accept it, is to not touch the reserve funds, because alas from these funds may come your year-end bonus! I ask many prospective first timers, how much did it cost for them to finish the college education, and how long did it take? Is there anything that they could have done differently to make their education project more successful?

Many times, when you are handed a project to manage you may be given a rudimentary Project Plan. Ask. Is there a rudimentary project plan format that the corporation uses that you will receive and fix, adjust and manipulate it to have a successful program or will you create one from nothing? Find out who are they key players in the Vice President positions directly or indirectly affecting your program. Find out who are the key players in the Purchasing and Materials, Operations, Customer Relations, Human Resources departments? Get to know the Engineering Manager and the Engineering staff. Get to know the Manufacturing Manager and staff and technicians. You will buy a lot of pizzas and spend many nights with many people to see high technology high-risk high payoff programs pushed through. You will learn a lot in the process. Get to know who are the key customers and make sure you allocate some money for travel expenses even in this information age. Get an understanding of who is who, and treat everyone involved in your program professionally. In all relationships stay respectful and 'clean'. Be the trustworthy, you be the person that both the external as well as the internal customers will come for solutions. Be prepared to provide solutions very quickly and redirect funds, people, manufacturing, whatever it takes to get the program successful. Always remember, you need the support of upper management to prioritize your program because your program as important as it may be to you, it will experience delays if another program has been delayed in execution, thus impeding the success of the project you are entrusted. Understand the concept of FIFO (First In First Out). If a manufacturing machine is working on a 'blisk' (bladed disk) that takes



several weeks to complete and there is an issue with that item, then your part will also be delayed. Trust, but verify what Purchasing or Engineering or manufacturing is telling you. Allocate funds to visit personally subcontractors to examine personally the quality, speed of execution and delivery of critical and non-critical components. Remember, if the number of threads in the bolt provided by a sub-supplier are different than the number of threads in the hole in the part you cannot and will not complete assemblies and suddenly the Critical Path in the Schedule changes because of small item such as 'bolts' and the whole program may be at risk of timely completion, and time is money- Literally. Check for materials specifications. If for example the bolts specified on the drawings must be made out of Titanium alloy, is there another substitution material that can be made? Check how long does it take to cure a composite part utilizing a clean room facility? After all, you would not want to burn the cookies you bake in a dirty oven at home. Use statistical methodology.

How do you, as a program manager personally insure Quality? The answer is simple. The answer is straightforward. By asking and ensure that the QA (Quality Assurance) exists in the work of all others in the organization working on your program. Check and visit the sub-contractors facilities to insure quality even if they are certified to the latest ISO Standard. Do a top down and

bottoms up review at the program start, and in frequent intervals. Understand who is working on your program and why you are the one who is doing the hiring, it is within your power and capacity as a manager to question all charges. Take nothing for granted. Look at everything from an Organic System Standpoint. It does not matter if the project you are managing is a coffee pot or a turbine engine. You should look at them as systems that will perform a certain function. A Coffee pot is less complex than a turbine Engine but is has its peculiarities if it has to operate under FAA Rules and regulations inside an Aircraft! Get to know all rules and regulations that affect your program. Many times, I dealt with international customers and they have their own set of rules and regulations. Get to know the software that the company uses for its program management system. Nowadays, the software is interlinked with software at the corporate structure. For example, if you are overseas the capability exists to download at specific intervals coded progress made to the home corporate structure. Do not micromanage but stay close 'keep your ears to the ground'. Do not be afraid to make changes to ensure the success of your programs. Be careful too many changes means that the continuity is lost, cost and program delays may be incurred and trust on your ability to manage may also be lost. Empower people but not all people. I do not bring this issue lightly. Some want to be 'empowered' for the 'glorification' but they bring nothing exceptional to the table. Therefore, identify the ones who really know and contribute to your program, place them in key



positions as leaders to lead the rest to get the job done.

These same people are the people that can advise you late at night if it need be of problems that 'sprang up' along with possible solutions. Get to know both the Engineering Manager and the Manufacturing Manager very well. They can help you they know the strengths and weaknesses of their respective organizations. Sometimes it may make sense to outsource work. Small companies may have very good expertise to do exactly what needs to be done and within the time and budget constrains. Check their credentials and test them. Ask and look at the resumes of the people that will or already work your program. Get to know the software and hardware used. Learn the feed rate of machines ask for statistical distributions. You should know there is a huge difference between cutting soft metal, for example Aluminum they show you at the popular manufacturing shows, and aerospace materials found in certain applications. Look at the drawings yourself ask for the calculations, ask for possible material substitutions bring in manufacturing in the process as an IPT (Integrated Product Team) early in the process. Ask for your engineers if they are 'multidiscipline' and if they have learned how to design for manufacturing. I remember one time a mechanical engineer designer designed for me a beautiful

bracket. It really was a piece of art in the computer. One could make a plastic piece of it using 3D laser deposition and put it on a table. But its functionality to the program was zero. It was not something to be manufactured easily and the 'engineer' expected the 'stress group' would tell him if it would withstand the loads! There is an old statement that a large portion of the money in engineering is spent to get the last ten percent of the answer. But, the last ten percent of the answer of a turbine blade operating at over 1700 0 F in a hostile environment is important to the integrity of the part. Your job then is to make sure that you get the ninety percent of the answer completed as fast as possible in record time. This will give you some leeway for the last ten percent. Make everyone accountable, make them understand they are members of the team. Do not waste time on endless mindless business meetings. Invite only those who are needed only for the time they are needed. They, being the key lead people can disseminate what is required to the rest of the team. This is also part of their job. Do not allow major co-mingling and elbow rubbing between the customer and the people that work in your program. This is something that I have seen in some places during reviews or if the customer establishes a local office within the corporate facility as it may be required by contracts. It is your job to know your customer. You do not want to find out from your customer over dinner that an employee 'in confidence' said something untrue and preposterous about an aspect of your program or may inadvertently expose secrets of any other program since the 'employee' may happen to work on



multiple programs, thus damaging the company. Remember know your customers external and internal.

This is also part of quality control. Quality means being respected by customers. Do not interfere with other programs but do give help when you are asked. I remember a customer of another program whom I knew, took me aside and in confidence told me to 'check a few things' that did not seem to be right on this other program, I was not managing. You, being an 'ace' of a program manager, may find yourself in this position. Many customers may request you to be the program manager by name. I promised the customer I would, but I did not overstep my bounds, nor did I run straight to the Vice President. Remember what I told you about building trustworthy relationships with other program managers? This is also where trust comes in handy. A small confidential discussion with the other project manager, and a dinner with the customer with myself and the other program manager and a vice president got everyone

comfortable and things got squared away. By the same token, be grateful to your friends, Vice Presidents and Presidents and Program Managers, and all the people who trust in you and at times of need they stood by you. I remember one occasion; I was taking the late night flight to the customer's site for presentations and program reviews. Although I had assurances from Engineering that a everything was completed, as the aircraft was landing, I turned on my cell phone and listened to a frantic message from Engineering that a certain portion was not completed it was not done! It was literally a Quality miss. After speaking personally with the persons involved, I called the customer's program manager and we had a nice discussion over 'scotch' late at night while looking at the snow that was falling on the ground. We discussed the issue and I assured him and promised him a quick recovery, and thus we rearranged the schedule on the spot together. He helped me cover this aspect of the program in front of his Vice Presidents who did pose the question on overall program impact. Rest assured, I made good on my promise and brought a smile back to my customer. I cannot overemphasize it; be Trustworthy. At times you will need to stand up and take the heat. If something goes wrong or is amiss in your program, be it Engineering, or Manufacturing, or Purchasing, or Shipping, it is your responsibility to always check the progress. I remember fondly one likeable person told me. 'Unless I call you with a problem assume that everything is alright and everything will be delivered on time.' Guess what? It was not delivered on time. He blamed his subcontractors but so what? It is your program, not his program that suffers a schedule and



cost impact! Therefore, make the phone call or better yet if you get a bad feeling, get on the plane and show up at your subcontractor's facility unannounced. Thus, examine the subcontractors. Sometimes, it pays to actually use smaller but high capable firms with a niche when you need to do a very specific job, for example a 'Level 3' inspection. Small but highly specialized companies such as L3I (Level 3 Inspections), are ISO Certified and they will welcome the business and meet your schedule at a lower cost. Understand that there are experts in all fields of technology that you can seek advise for a reasonable fee. It is your job to find them. Here is a small advice. Always 'test drive, check before you buy'. At other times, I witnessed other program managers scrambling to get engineering design and support by outsourcing part or all of the Engineering. Although there are some reputable engineering outsource companies, the bottom line is that outsource companies for the most part are not responsible for any of the engineering work. Therefore, many engineering hours were spent on documentation reviews with many heated arguments on both sides. Many times I had to wear another 'hat' and have been asked to step in to design reviews to critique correct or 'throw darts' at a design. We do this all the time. We invite other program managers and VP's to certain reviews on major programs. Sometimes we look at each other and smile knowingly as we see that the KISS principle was not followed. You know the 'Keep It Simple Stupid' principle. I learned this principle on my first day at McDonnell Douglas (now The Boeing Co.) from an old timer. There, I saw the pride of a young designer engineer who thought(!) he used the 'Bruhn Aircraft Structures' book correctly. I saw his ego crushed,

when the lead design engineer took this person's hard but worthless work, ripped it apart in front of everyone, and through it in the 'for destruction' proprietary trash bin. The young designer came to me to complain but the Lead Design engineer was correct not to mention the fact that a week's worth of work of forty hours was wasted designing a 'longeron' with loads on the 'shear panels' all wrong. I explained it to the young designer that, had he followed process and quality this would not have happened and he should learn quickly and he would get paid at least this time since he was 'salaried employee'. Mistakes are costly at every level. They may also cost peoples lives.

I will not give elaborate business plans or teach you here how to create program/project plans. I remember I was asked to provide a complete project plan as part of a new business opportunity where my small business was to be a subcontractor to the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). I was told by the hiring business that it was a formality and the job 'was mine'. Then, I found out that my program plans were used thereafter for internal consumption and the work never came. And why should it come? They now had a complete system of how to execute the project, where to buy from 'nuts and bolts' to specialty materials and costs, even 'toilet paper'. Thus, as a program



manager it is your responsibility to safeguard and keep ownership of the program planning and control.

Sometimes project plans are provided to the customer only after contractual agreements. Usually they are stripped of vital information. The government most often requests and gets every single detail down to the last dime spent. Always stay in contact with the Contracts Department because contracts also get updated. Execute to the Contract. Understand costs and the EVM method. Here's an example you can visualize. Suppose you are a project manager for a certain part in aerospace, perhaps a rocket nozzle component that has to withstand high temperatures. By now everyone should be familiar with a typical EVM X-Y curve that shows cost in Y -Axis and Progress on the X -Axis. Thus, as the money is spent progress is made. At some point the curves intersect. When the money allocated draws to zero the project should be one hundred percent complete. If the curves do not intersect early on, then the program is in jeopardy. Thus, a third axes may be also introduced, a Z-axis which represents Complexity. Alternatively the complexity factor is built in as a parameter in the 2D EV curves. More

complex systems or new research and development on things that have never been done before, have a high 'C' complexity factor or parameter in the 2D equation. In my line of business, in aerospace, I have spent a good portion in both the airframe and the engine world. From an engineer have grown to a 'Discipline Chief' positions, managed people, as well as a Program Manager of multi million dollar programs in certain organizations and I have run a small business, Proton Aerospace, concentrating in the research and development aspects of new products. I have been lucky in this sense that nothing surprises me technologically in any high technology field. From nanno-technologies, to gargantuan structures to shape memory systems, to adverse environment technologies, advanced materials, fluidics, electronics bioengineering and robotics. I have learned very well that: Today's high technology is tomorrow's obsolescence.

Therefore, I advise you to always learn, learning never ends and it is fun! While you manage, you will create a symphony of people and products that you will direct. They are the employees of the company you work. They are the team



members, the companies and the subcontractors that you chose and can bring to the table if the purchasing department gets overwhelmed and needs help. It is your job to step in and bring solutions to the table, to execute your programs. By now you understand that not everyone is cut out to be a program manager. It takes time, patience, and tenacity to see things done right. Train your self to be nice but to be firm; train your self to study and get to know your craft; You are the 'Program Manager'. They will love you and respect you. A few may mumble but it does not matter. You are the backbone of every organization. You are an entrepreneur. You exercise your entrepreneurship within the corporation. Increase business volume, execute programs, and create new opportunities. Be flexible. If programs get cancelled and you are affected, be prepared for new programs. You serve a purpose. You create programs. It is within your ability to do so and thus with new programs you create jobs you create wealth. Develop the cradle to grave aptitude but be prepared to jump to other programs. Your valuable skills are needed to quench 'fires' and you will work with smart people making up 'tiger teams' to make within budget and time constrains the unimaginable possible. Your skills will be recognized and perhaps you will move on to higher management or Vice President positions or start your own successful start up company. You may even jump into your antigravity transport vehicle and go meet the other program managers who manage the other planets of our solar system and delve into the musical 'harmony of the spheres world'. If you can manage, if you can accomplish this,

then surely you earned your value, your place in a celestial world.

Remember though, that in the Kingdom of the Heavens, there is no such thing as a fictitious money concept, and therefore a different set of 'Gold Standard' Rules apply. You know them, and thus, I will let you figure them out for yourself. Moreover, the valuable skills you have learned as a Program Manager here on this little planet of ours Earth, will help you to serve here and now as well as in the future with renewed vigor and purpose.

chris yiannas program management 101

Leadership & Management