NASA’s Academy for Program & Project Leadership

1. NASA’s Academy for Program & Project Leadership Project Management Institute - DC November 16, 2004 Denise Lee & Therese Salmon NASA Academy for Program & Project Leadership

2. NASA Today • More projects…fewer people • Fewer experienced practitioners and potential mentors • Fewer expert project managers • Greater project complexity • Demand for speed and low cost • Added responsibility for strategies, business success and more

3. NASA’s Human Capital Challenges • External factors include: • A shrinking S&E pipeline • Increased competition for technical skills • Lack of diversity in the applicant pool • Contributing to this challenge are demographics and trends within NASA • Skills imbalances and lack of depth in critical competencies • Significant loss of knowledge due to projected retirements • The CAIB Report specifies cultural issues that must be addressed

4. Retirement Eligibility • 15-40% are currently eligible to retire. APPL is connecting with those PM’s entering retirement and developing case studies (labor and time intensive – requiring about 2 years to complete). • 20-55% will be eligible to retire by FY06. APPL will need to focus energy over the next 5 years to capture the knowledge of this workforce. • The agency has already lost a great deal of skills, knowledge, and experience in PM. APPL is slowly pulling some of that human capital back to share knowledge.

5. “Providing for Project Practitioners to Excel” The APPL Blended Learning Process The APPL Blended Learning Process allows NASA project practitioners and teams to request and acquire professional development products and services according to their: • Level of Knowledge • Phase in the Project • Amount of Time to Commit

6. APPL Strategies and Goals • Ensure development programs that build needed competencies, including more effective knowledge sharing and mentoring. • Enhance project leadership through knowledge sharing and mentoring activities, utilizing an identified set of Agency leaders and experts. • Evaluate the effectiveness of development, knowledge sharing and mentoring programs to validate that strategic needs are being met. • Continuously improve the caliber of APPL-provided support through research and exchange with universities, industry and other government agencies to ensure the professional needs of the people are served.

7. Goals of APPL Knowledge Sharing (KS) • Improve performance by: • Sharing, capturing and transferring knowledge and best practices • Providing mentoring services • Sharing project stories • Teaching • Enhancing blended learning • Aligning with Agency initiatives: • President’s Management Agenda (PMA) NASA Human Capital Plan NASA 2004 Strategic Plan

8. Expected Benefits of Knowledge Sharing • Capture tacit knowledge, convert it to explicit knowledge and disseminate across the Agency using storytelling • Develop cross Center relationships between project managers • Inspire and energize project managers to emulate successful practitioners and become leaders • Develop people to become reflective practitioners

9. Expected Benefits of Knowledge Sharing • Create mentoring opportunities between ‘best of the best’ practitioners and emerging project managers • Share best practices and capture lessons learned using storytelling • Positively impact Agency culture, e.g., enhance networking and collaboration; create a desire for knowledge

10. Knowledge Sharing • Masters Forum of Project Managers • Transfer Wisdom and Knowledge Sharing Workshops • Leaders As Teachers and Mentors • ASK Magazine • Program Manager Challenge Program • Web-based content delivery

11. Masters Forum of Project Managers • Face-to-Face Dialog • Presentations by NASA Project Managers use storytelling to share best practices and lessons learned • Small & Large Group Discussions • Presentations by Experts from other Federal Agencies, Academia, & Industry Practitioners • Opportunity to Network • Recognition • Held Twice a Year • Participants from All Centers

12. Transfer Wisdom Workshops • Face-to-Face Dialog • Stories by NASA Project Managers From ASK • Small & Large Group Discussions • Presentations by the KSI Team • Storytelling – What is your story? • Opportunity to Network • Held annually at each Center • Seek Local Champions • Kick off local Knowledge Sharing Community of Practice

13. Knowledge Sharing Workshops • Develop Community of Practice • Face-to-Face Dialog sharing experiences • Guest Storytellers - Stories From ASK sharing best practices and lessons learned • Small & Large Group Discussions • Opportunity to Network • Customized to each NASA Center

14. Leaders As Teachers & Mentors • Teach APPL Courses • Mentor through APPL Programs • Present at APPL Conferences and External Conferences such as PMI • Participate in Knowledge Sharing Workshops and Forums • Support efforts at the Centers • Participate in Performance Enhancement • Publish stories in ASK Magazine after presenting at the Masters Forum

15. ASK Magazine:Academy Sharing Knowledge • APPL’s bi-monthly journal, ASK Magazine shares knowledge with present and future project managers through storytelling. • The reader can enjoy back issues, have full search capability, receive ASK updates, as well as send in feedback through the web.

16. Knowledge Sharing Results • A Senior NASA Project Manager shared a story regarding her own experiences with Project Reviews in an issue of ASK Magazine. She was contacted by another NASA Project Manager who read the article to discuss the story. That PM applied the lessons learned from the story and saved approximately $500,000 on the project’s next review process. • A Project Manager presented a story about down-sizing and cost-cutting at an APPL Master’s Forum. A participating PM at the Forum applied the principles and strategies learned from the story to his project which resulted in less budget cuts allowing the project team to remain productive. • ASK Magazine currently reaches a distribution of approximately 6,000 people globally in print and currently averages about 2200 hits per day with the online version. In addition to NASA employees, those benefiting from the shared knowledge include various universities, other government agencies and viewers from currently 60 other countries. • The Leaders as Teachers and Mentors (LT&M) Program leverages the knowledge and experience of an identified set of current and retired Agency leaders and experts. Currently these 61 participants span APPL’s business units by teaching courses, writing papers, giving presentations, mentoring project teams, and assisting in knowledge-sharing efforts. LT&M has engaged both industry and the university community in benchmarking LT&M activities .

17. Get to Know NASA APPL For information on the products and services of APPL please visit: www.APPL.NASA.gov Dr. Edward J. Hoffman, Director of APPL Mr. Anthony J. Maturo, Deputy Director of APPL Denise LeeProject Manager, APPL Knowledge Sharing (301) 585-1030dlee@edutechltd.com APPL VISION: Providing for Project Practitioners to Excel