Program Management Office September 2008  Reality's Moving Target 1  The Modern Program Management Office: New Goals, New Organization 4  Towards Best-Practices Program Management 12  Managing Multiple Information Technology Projects: Lessons Learned 21  Toolkit for Federal Information Technology Project Managers 25  Schedule Management for Complex Projects 31  Using Six Sigma in Project Forensics 37  The Case for Agile Management 44   Sigma-In Addition 30  Sigma Spotlight-Implementing the Balanced Scorecard at Noblis 52

From The Editor-In-Chief

At a recent dinner meeting, I entered into a stimulating discussion with other chief technology officers about the size of technical specifications and procurement documents. It seems that engineering companies must be ready to accommodate anything from several sheets to hundreds of pages. I listened as several participants bemoaned their encyclopedic request for proposals, while another delighted in a seven-page technical specifi cation with 10 functional requirements.

This lack of consistency refl ects the idea that change-in both available technology and required mission needs-is the essential constant in today's world. Project or program managers are caught in the dilemma of increased technology possibilities and mission potential. To address change, they turn to a bewildering array of risk allocation and management vehicles, all of which attempt to make a very dynamic environment static.

Perhaps it is time to embrace change, rather than to try to box and label it in plan-driven processes from which it escapes anyway, generally leaving schedule delays and budget overruns in its wake. In more fl exible methods, such as agile approaches, planning and structure are still vital, but both acknowledge that change is inevitable and they incorporate mechanisms that accommodate change. As underlying technologies and mission needs evolve, development moves with the change, aligning itself to the new reality.

In this issue of Sigma, guest editors Shawn Margolis and Michael Nelson explore the program management offi ce (PMO) as it is and as it needs to be to address today's highly dynamic environment of technology and mission needs. Articles examine the PMO charter to be a disciplined, yet agile, means of handling the rapid change and increasing complexity of today's large systems and programs.

At Noblis, we see an agile PMO as an effective way to manage multiple projects, coordinate communications, and appropriately control resources and program direction. Sigma authors offer strategies, tools, and techniques and provide those responsible for critical mission and technology projects with insights into this evolving management instrument.

H. Gilbert Miller, Ph.D.
Corporate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
Noblis
hgmiller@noblis.org