Where is Your Agency on PMIAA Implementation?
Written by: Natalie Komitsky
It’s hard to believe that it has been three years since the Program Management Improvement Accountability Act (PMIAA), was signed into law. It established standards and a future roadmap to significantly improve program and project management (P/PM) in the Federal Government.
5-Year Plan
In June of 2018, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a 5-Year Strategic Outline for Improving P/PM that consisted of three key strategies:
- Strategy 1 – Coordinated Governance
- Strategy 2 – Regular OMB/Agency Engagement and Reviews
- Strategy 3 – Strengthening Program Management Capacity to Build a Capable PM Workforce
Because the aim of PMIAA is quite extensive, OMB divided the implementation into three phases:
Phase I Focus
- Agency appointments of Program Management Improvement Officers (PMIOs) in the 24 Federal agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 except for the Department of Defense;
- Establishment of the Program Management Policy Council (PMPC)
- Publication of an initial framework that outlines general program management standards applicable to all program types;
- Establishing portfolio reviews for major acquisition programs that, for major IT acquisitions, build on the portfolio reviews conducted under the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act
- Establishment of a job series or job identifier by OPM – Interpretive Guidance for Project Manager Positions
- Scheduled to begin FY 2018 Q3 and end FY 2019 Q4
Phase II Focus
- Focused on expanding portfolio reviews of programs to include grants
- Scheduled to start FY 2020, Q1 and end FY 2021, Q4
Phase III Focus
- The issuance of a revised 5-year strategic plan with updated strategies
- Identification of additional programmatic areas for portfolio reviews
- Continued refinement of P/PM standards for other program types
- Scheduled to begin FY 2022, Q1
Proof of Progress
All of the Federal agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (except for the Department of Defense) are subject to PMIAA. While implementation is happening, much of the progress is not clear to the general public. Check out the following agencies’ links listed below for examples of policies, templates that demonstrate their efforts to meet the PMIAA guidelines:
“In the Project Management Institute’s 2016 Pulse of the Profession report, only 7% of organizations were recognized as Project Management “champions.” The Department of Energy is one of these elite few. Champions accomplish 80% or more of their projects on time and on budget while meeting the original goals and business intent.” DOE PM website
- Office of Project Management
- 3-Day Workshop – Annual Project Management Workshop (Presentations)
- Project Dashboard – Office of Project Management Oversight and Assessments Project Dashboard
- PM Success Story – Ten Years and Nearly a Billion Dollars: How Project Management Made a Massive X-Ray Light Source Possible
- Newsletter – DOE Project Management News
Department of Homeland Security
- PMIAA Progress Report – FY 2018-2020 Annual Performance Report
- Training – Acquisition Leadership Development Program at the Department of the Interior (DOI) Acquisition Institute
- Training – Acquisition Leadership Development at National Park Service (a bureau of DOI)
Office of Personnel Management
What steps has your agency taken to implement PMIAA? What kinds of training or support do you need to reach your objectives? We’d love to hear from you.
