Integrating Program Management and Systems Engineering

8PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND SYSTEMS ENGINEERING INTEGRATION PROCESSES, PRACTICES, AND TOOLS

8.1 Introduction

All aspects of integration are about individuals and how they coordinate the application of their collective knowledge, expertise, and capabilities to deliver results. Effective integration efforts are accomplished through the application of processes, practices, and tools that help to enable several important abilities:

• Enable communication and common understanding related to the key objectives and activities to accomplish those objectives.
• Provide frameworks for defining specific work activities.
• Establish expectations of each person's contribution.
• Document approaches for coordinating and tracking work efforts.
• Identify critical points where individual and group work efforts must come together.
• Facilitate problem identification and resolution.
• Apply generally accepted approaches that have demonstrated effective results under similar circumstances in the past.
• Support and accelerate the accomplishment of specific work activities.

Some processes, practices, and tools are designed for individual use while others may be structured for group activities. Both uses have appropriate application within complex programs. It is incumbent on the user or users to apply them in a way that facilitates integration across disciplines within a team. If users apply the processes, practices, and tools in ways that focus on their respective functions at the expense of collaboration with other ...