Work Breakdown Structure and Linear Responsibility Chart for project management
The Final Veto: When the System Votes Last
The moment of decision is not the moment of victory. As systems engineering executive Jack Clemons warned, “The system votes last”. Successfully implementing a chosen solution is arguably the most difficult and frustrating phase of the Systems Decision Process (SDP), demanding detailed discipline and planning. Even the most superior design, rigorously validated and cost-optimized in the Decision Making phase, will fail if poorly implemented.
The Solution Implementation phase focuses on converting the client’s expectations into reality, necessitating that this action be treated as a formally managed project. Planning for this phase must begin early, ideally during Problem Definition, ensuring that implementation requirements are considered throughout the design life cycle. The SDP emphasizes this connection, integrating implementation tasks across the planning, execution, and monitoring of all systems life cycle stages.
Conceptualizing Implementation as a Project
To manage the Solution Implementation phase effectively, the systems engineer adopts the framework of Project Management. A project is defined as a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. This endeavor is structured through five core processes: Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring/Controlling, and Closing.
The Initiating Process defines and authorizes the project by creating a Project Charter and a detailed Project Scope Statement. This statement outlines project objectives, assumptions, requirements, deliverables, cost estimates, and initial risks, establishing the foundational scope for all subsequent work. An updated cost estimate, covering new elements specific to implementation, becomes part of this initial statement.
The Analytical Core: Structuring Work and Control
Planning: The Work Breakdown Structure and Responsibility
Inadequate planning is the primary cause of failures in meeting project schedule, cost, and performance objectives. The Planning Process transforms the Project Scope Statement into a comprehensive Project Management Plan, which integrates subordinate plans covering scope, schedule, cost, quality, and risk management.
The cornerstone of scope management is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), a hierarchical representation of all tasks required to complete the project successfully. The WBS uses specific rules: every decomposed task must have at least two subtasks, and the time needed for any task must equal the sum of the time for its subordinate tasks. The WBS accurately identifies and structures tasks, providing the foundation for assigning responsibilities.
The WBS is complemented by the Linear Responsibility Chart (LRC), a tool that maps specific WBS tasks against organizational personnel or teams. The LRC clarifies interfaces and defines the required relationships for each task, such as mandatory consultation (3), necessary notification (5), or formal approval (6). The LRC is critical for integrating the multidisciplinary effort required across complex systems.
Executing: Orchestrating Integration
The Executing Process involves performing the activities and spending the funds necessary to accomplish the project objectives defined in the management plan. This requires orchestrating the integration and sequencing of all subordinate plans, tracking deliverables (both tangible products and intangible services like training), and ensuring timely resource allocation.
Effective execution also depends on managing stakeholder expectations, ensuring that information conveyed about inevitable schedule and budget variations avoids triggering over-reaction. The PM must ensure information affecting the plan is updated quickly so that corrective action can be implemented in a timely manner.
Monitoring and Controlling: Earned Value and Corrective Action
The Monitoring and Controlling Process is the feedback loop, continuously tracking progress against planned performance, time, and cost metrics. The PM establishes clear boundaries for acceptable variation in these three categories, requiring corrective action if current estimates indicate the project state has drifted outside the planned limits. Corrective actions, such as “crashing the schedule” (injecting resources to reduce duration) or adjusting costs, are essential to restoring project health.
A vital tool for this control is Earned Value (EV) analysis, which measures the actual work accomplished against the projected budget and actual expenditures. EV analysis effectively links cost, schedule, and system value (performance) in a single measurement, highlighting when money spent exceeds the value accumulated by the system for the work performed. Continuous monitoring is necessary because system implementation often exhibits unpredictable, non-linear dynamics, requiring the PM to adjust the plan frequently.
The project concludes with the Closing Process, which includes necessary administrative and contractual procedures, such as final acceptance of the product and documentation archiving. Proper documentation control is critical, especially for future legal or contractual inquiries, reinforcing the ultimate discipline required for project success.
Implementation Across the Life Cycle
The Solution Implementation phase of the SDP is utilized throughout the system life cycle, adapting its focus based on the stage. During the Produce the System stage, implementation planning ensures that design changes and quality validation occur efficiently, minimizing risk through meticulous resource planning. During Deploy the System, implementation involves detailed planning for geographic distribution, logistical support, and comprehensive training to achieve full operational capability. Finally, in the Operate the System stage, implementation shifts focus to sustained maintenance, continuous performance measurement (using procedures from simple data sheets to automated sensors), and system audits to identify necessary improvements or eventual system retirement. Process discipline, extending from the initial WBS to final earned value reporting, is the ultimate requirement for successful system realization.