Forensic Studies to Understand Project Performance

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a summary of studies being conducted by the Independent Program Assessment Office (IPAO) to understand overall trends in project performance so the results of the studies provide information on any needed improvements to agency policies, training, or capabilities. The IPAO is responsible for the independent review and assessment of NASA programs and projects at designated stages in the lifecycle with the results of these assessments provided to the project management governing boards and used in support of approval decisions at key decision points in the development and operations lifecycle. The forensics studies described in this paper look across the findings and recommendations reported by the individual review teams looking for systemic trends in project performance that may provide indications of areas where projects are doing well and areas where projects are finding difficulties. The paper describes the methodology implemented, the status of the study, some of the preliminary results and lessons learned, and a description of the way forward.