When it comes to contract management, there are significant differences between being a prime and being a sub. This article will identify and explore some of those differences as well as break down the various PMO roles and what they do to ensure a successful program.
Subcontract Management
Let’s start with the easier of the two, Subcontract Program Management. As a sub PM, I have a few things that I keep track of.
Period of Performance or PoP. This refers to the amount of time remaining on the contract. This has become something that changes as often as every few weeks. Believe it or not, years ago, your period of performance would be as much as 12 months into the future. Now, because of incremental funding, your PoP and funding will be updated with constant contract modifications.
Funding. This is how much money is left on the contract. Funding may also be expressed in hours of performance.
Staffing. Tracking the positions that are open on the contract and identifying, interviewing and submitting candidates that meet identified qualifications and experience needs.
Reporting. Not required on every contract, but some subcontracts require monthly status reports or MSRs. These reports are aggregated by the prime and provided to the government on a regular basis.
Staff Management. Taking care of the employees, ensuring profitability, reviews, bonuses, PTO approvals, timecard reviews/approvals, and so on.
Invoicing. Every program has a different way to present invoices. Typically, the sub will provide a spreadsheet that details labor categories and hours worked over the previous month. This is typically handled by the finance department – if you have one! Larger companies have Program Assistants (PA’s) who help finance by recording, tracking and reporting on hours worked.
Contracts. This includes program subcontracts, Teaming Agreements, contract modifications (Mods) and Non-disclosure agreements (NDA’s). If you have a contracts department, they will handle these things.
Multiply the above by several programs and that is how you keep a subcontract program manager busy.
Prime Contract Management
The Program Manager of a prime contract is a whole other matter. I once described being a PM of a large prime program with multiple delivery orders (DO’s) as similar to standing at the end of a very wide conveyor belt with important as well as mundane matters coming at you non-stop. You have to take each item, deal with it, handle it appropriately, and process or file it in a way that makes sense. Don’t let anything hit the floor. This is your life. Learn to delegate what you can, be as efficient with your time as you can be, put processes into place that make things run more smoothly…but whatever happens, it’s on you to ensure the success of the program, the staffing levels, customer engagement, reports and other Contractor Requirements Data List (CDRL) items, security, deliverables, invoices, and on and on.
Managing a prime contract is a LOT of work and typically takes a group of professionals working together to get everything done and to keep the program running smoothly. This group is called the Program Management Office/Organization or PMO. I suspect that the term “PMO” is borrowed from project management. In its most basic sense, the PMO for our purposes consists of the PM, a member from finance, a member from contracts (sometimes two…one who specializes in direct contracts with the government and another who specializes and manages subcontracts with your team members), a designated Security POC, and perhaps a program staffing manager. Larger programs may need additional members in the PMO such as a deputy PM, a dedicated program analyst to help with the financial load, a transition manager, a Contractor Senior Site Representative (CSSR), a staffing team, a security team, and so on.
By working together in their areas of specialty, the above individuals keep the program running smoothly. The PM leads the organization and is the customer interface. He or she is ultimately responsible for the success of the program, for meeting and exceeding customer expectations, maintaining and growing the work, identifying and resolving problems with the program – both operational and PMO-related, and making sure that nothing falls off the end of that conveyor belt! The best PMs I have known are those who can see and understand both the big picture and every aspect that makes up the big picture. They are intuitive, meaning that they can easily recognize and resolve issues that have the potential to impact the big picture. As a PM, you cannot wait until a problem is glaringly obvious to everyone (including the customer!) Your job as PM is to identify those things early, even before they happen, and resolve them. It is a very complicated and extremely busy job, but it is also both challenging (which can be fun/interesting) and rewarding.
Once a problem starts within a program, it can be difficult to correct quickly. Think of how long it takes an aircraft carrier to change direction. One of the biggest factors in prime program problems is a PMO that is not adequately staffed. Here subcontracts and finance matter a great deal. A PMO cannot allow problems here. You cannot get behind and absolutely must stay on top of things for the program to run smoothly. I have been a part of some great PMOs as both PM and TTO lead and can, without any hesitation, point to the other PMO members as being the reason for the success of the program, just as much as the PM. The entire PMO is critical to program success and this must be emphasized.
From a business perspective, there is a lot riding on the success of a program. You have to make sure that your program facilitates the accomplishment of your customer’s mission objectives. You need to grow your program if the opportunity is there, and you have to make certain that your relationship with the customer and success of the program is such that:
- The customer would be willing to give your company the program again at the next recompete.
- The customer would be willing to give your company additional contracts.
If you thrive on pressure, are personable, understand the big and small pictures, are process-oriented, and enjoy being in charge so that you can ensure that things run smoothly, then being a PM is something that you should consider. Remember that your PMO will make or break you, and do not let anything drop off the end of that conveyor belt.
