The Project Management Institute (PMI) recently went before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security to testify on how the government can improve efficiency in the large, complex department.
PMI, a nonprofit professional group for project managers, does research on successful management practices across different organizations. Craig Killough, vice president of organization markets for PMI, told the committee that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could benefit greatly by following certain best practices.
Some of the suggestions included: creating a job classification for all program managers, expanding the career paths for current IT project and program managers and developing standard practices and processes for program management.
Killough acknowledged the “unique challenges” the department faces, such as the high-risk nature of its work and the high-profile ramifications its actions might draw. Still, he added in his testimony, “Improving the execution of its programs can help DHS reduce errors; mitigate waste, fraud and abuse; and ensure greater efficiency in its ongoing mission to protect American citizens from foreign and domestic security threats.”
PMI’s research highlights the waste and risk that organizations often suffer when they fail to manage projects effectively. The 2013 Pulse of the Profession found fewer than two-thirds of business projects actually meet all their goals, and that 17 percent fail outright. As Killough cited in his testimony, organizations that don’t adopt project management best practices risk losing 14 times more money than those that do.
Professional project managers work in organizations to initiate, schedule and control projects and programs, and demand for these professionals is high. A frequently cited study from Anderson Economic Group reports that an average of 1.2 million project management positions will need to be filled every year between now and 2016. PMI’s 2011 career guide notes that project managers work in a variety of settings, like health care, financial services, environmental management and aerospace and defense, among many others. Bachelor’s degrees in project management are increasingly common, although the report says a Master’s degree is the most common degree specific to the practice.
In government, Killough notes several areas where some agencies in the Department of Homeland Security were already improving project management practices, such as the Program Accountability and Risk Management (PARM) office, which had initiated improvements to the department. But the entire government, he says, could stand to benefit from broad adoption of project management standards.
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