Program Management and Systems Engineering

Program Management and Systems Engineering

Program management optimizes efficiencies of existing skill sets as they relate to the goals of a program while system engineering looks at how to engineer a program from scratch and manage it over its life cycle for greatest efficiency.

Of course, not everyone sees the roles of these fields exactly the same. However, in the larger context, program management may be applied to programs where systems engineering does not apply. Yet, it’s universally accepted that systems engineering management is accomplished along with program management in a concurrent fashion.

Systems engineers and program managers bring unique skills and experiences to the programs on which they work. Those unique capabilities are essential for the successful execution of the program, as are the skills and capabilities of team members from other disciplines (such as cost accounting, legal services, and procurement).

However, there is also a “shared space” where program managers and systems engineers collaborate to drive the program team’s performance and success. That shared space includes, but may not be limited to, such capabilities as these:

• Leadership
• Negotiation
• Communications
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Sustained focus on mission
• Risk management
• Configuration management

The three basic metrics of program management are, cost metrics, schedule metrics and technical metrics. For these program management metrics to be useful in program evaluation and control they must be able to be compared and evaluated.

• The cost metric is additive, linear and continuous
• The schedule metric is additive, linear and continuous
• The technical metric is nonlinear, discontinuous and asymmetric.

For the technical metric to be useful to program management there must be a “transform operation” that takes the “raw” technical metrics and creates a new technical metric that is additive, linear and continuous. The degree to which this transform is unsuccessful is sometimes called technical risk.

The transformation operation is usually performed by a subject matter expert under the guidance of a systems engineering management plan.

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and the Project Management Institute (PMI) believe that program management and systems engineering share vital objectives.

These include:

• Delivering value and benefit to customers and end users
• Integrating the required experience, knowledge, and roles to successfully achieve objectives and complete initiatives
• Functioning effectively in a more complex environment where program requirements and outcomes are not clearly defined or have numerous components to manage.

INCOSE and PMI believe that through strong collaboration, the two organizations can help their practitioner communities achieve their shared objectives.

Program Management and Systems Engineering Course by Tonex

Program Management and Systems Engineering Training course is designed for project practitioners and systems engineers interested in learning the fundamentals of systems engineering and project management. Systems Engineering and Project Management Training course evaluates options for bridging the gaps between Program/Project Management and Systems Engineering practices and frameworks.

This three-day Program Management and Systems Engineering training course is intended to enhance knowledge and skills in applying PM and SE processes, techniques, frameworks, and practices over the project life cycle. The course focuses on defining, planning, and implementing system projects and provides insight for leading and managing project and technical teams.

Historically, program/project managers and systems engineers have viewed the stakeholder problem entirely from within their own disciplinary perspectives with little or no interaction and collaboration. They each manage project/system planning and implementation, defining the components and their interactions, building the components, and integrating the components.

Systems engineers’ and program managers’ unique knowledge, skills, experiences, and unique capabilities are essential for the successful execution of the program/project.

Project management and systems engineering Integration concepts will be addressed to describe practices, approaches, and issues. The participants will compare, differentiate, and discuss similarities, differences, and applications to draw conclusions on how to apply these concepts in their organization.

This course will leverage the unique roles and responsibilities of the project managers and the systems engineers during the workshops and exercises.

TONEX’s Project Management and Systems Engineering Competency Framework is introduced including:

• Project Conceptualization
• Resource Management
• Project Implementation
• Project Closeout
• Program Control and Evaluation
• System Analysis and Design
• System/Product Realization
• Technical Management Strategies
• Technical Management Processes
• Technical Processes for designing systems
• Technical Processes for product realization
• Agile Systems Engineering
• Test and Evaluation
• Integrating SE and T&E into Agile

Who Should Attend

• Systems engineers
• T&E professionals
• Project managers
• Design engineers
• Engineering managers
• Hardware engineers
• Product managers
• Project advisers
• Project directors
• Project engineers
• Software engineers
• Software systems engineers
• Systems analyst
• Systems engineers

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Describe guidance on project management and systems engineering processes and techniques
• Differentiate between technology and management aspects of systems engineering
• Explain the impact of project management and systems engineering challenges and decisions
• Apply systems engineering processes and system thinking concepts to specific system problems
• Evaluate the similarities, relationships, differences and interfaces between system and project elements
• Apply Lean & Agile Systems Engineering
• Overview of Agile, DevOps and DevSecOps
• Learn about Test and Evaluation (T&E), test design and planning, evaluation framework
• Describe tools and techniques related to integrating SE and T&E into Agile
• Identify how Modeling and Simulation (M&S) can be integrated to project management and systems engineering processes
  Apply leadership principles to project management and systems engineering tasks
• Differentiate approaches to PM and SE based on project scope
• Organize, plan, execute and adapt an integrated project plan, systems engineering management plan (SEMP) and other tools to balance cost, schedule, performance and risk across the lifecycle
• Manage the integration project management and systems engineering
• Direct the identification of system functional boundaries
• Manage competencies, innovation and technical areas
• Acquisition strategies and management communication and decision making

Knowledge will be transferred using lectures, group activities, exercises and case studies. Participants will work on key PM and SE processes as part of the group project.

Course Modules

Systems Engineering (SE) and Project Management (PM)

• Similarities & Differences in a Project
• Project Planning and Control
• Project Planning
• Resource Allocation
• Financial Contract Management
• Systems Engineering
• A Specialized Technical Manager
• System Architecture
• Technical Coordination
• Systems Integration
• Managerial Skills Technical Skills
• Common Responsibilities
• Task Definition
• Risk Management
• Customer Interaction
• Role of Organization Culture in PM and SE
• Lean and Agile Systems Engineering
• Overview of DevOps and  DevSecOps
• Test and Evaluation (T&E)
• Test design and planning, evaluation framework
• Tools and techniques related to integrating SE and T&E into Agile
• Role of Modeling and Simulation

Shared Capabilities between SE and PM

• Leadership
• Negotiation
• Communications
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Sustained focus on mission
• Risk management
• Configuration management

Project Management (PM)

• Project Management Institute (PMI)
• Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) guidebook
• Knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities
• Scheduling, Cost, Risk Management, WBS, Resources

Management Plans

• Statement of Work
• Cost Management
• Schedule Management
• Technical Management
• Resource Management
• Risk Management
• Subcontract Management
• Configuration and Data Management
• Quality Management

Systems Engineering as a Specialized Technical Manager

• Systems Engineering Process
• Systems Engineer’s Role
• Poor Systems Engineering Practices
• Failures and root cause
• Bad requirement
• Testing and V&V process
• Problem reporting and tracking
• The Merging of Systems Engineering (SE) & Project
• Management (PM): Similarities & Differences

Systems Engineering Process Control

• Systems Engineering Management Plan (SEMP)
• Standard Systems Engineering Process and Practices
• Reviews, Audits, and Lessons Learned
• Analysis and Change Definition
• Systems Engineering Product Control
• Configuration Management
• Data Management
• Baseline Maintenance
• Requirements and Design Loops

PM and SE Differences

• Project Management
• Communication planning
• Team building
• Procurement management
• Systems Engineering
• ConOps
• Functional Analysis
• Requirements Management
• Synthesis
• Trade Studies
• Interface Management

PM and SE Similarities

• Similarities
• Plan for producing a product or service
• Conduct stakeholder analysis
• Account for scope, time, cost, quality, risk, and the human resources to complete the project

Risk Management: PM vs. SE

• PMBOK (project management body of knowledge)
• Risk management planning
• Risk identification
• Risk analysis
• Risk response planning
• Risk monitoring and control
• INCOSE Handbook
• Risk planning
• Risk identification
• Risk assessment
• Risk analysis
• Risk handling

Configuration Management (CM)

• Control over requirements, specifications, configuration definition documentation, and design changes
• Baseline Overview
• Implementation
• Configuration Identification
• Configuration Control
• Configuration Status Accounting
• Configuration Audits

Systems Engineering and Project Management Best Practices

• Building Blocks of Project Management and Planning
• WBS to Schedule
• Resource Loading to Project Budget
• Organizing for Project Management
• Managing Stakeholder Needs and Expectations
• Management Information Systems
• Development and Management of Requirements
• Lifecycle Cost Estimating
• Budget and Budget Strategy
• Acquisition and Contract Management
• Earned Value Management (EVM)
• Technical Risk and Project Risk Management
• Leadership and Teamwork
• Decisions and Decision Making
• Building Blocks of Systems Engineering
• Defining Stakeholder Expectations & Technical Solutions
• Techniques That Promote Systems Thinking