effective project war rooms - aacei-hgcs · • the project manager is the commander; who is the...

Effective Project War Rooms

Robert J. White

Agenda

• Bio

• Picture of a War Room

• US Army Tactical Operations Center 101

• Project War Room – What we do well

• Project War Room – What we do poorly

• One Last Major Difference – Should we even have

project war rooms?

• Conclusion

2

BIO of Robert J. White

• Graduated from West Point in 2001 with a degree in Chemistry and

Nuclear Engineering; served as an Army Finance Officer for 6 years

• Earned master’s degrees in Finance and Project Management

• Joined Shell in 2007 as a Finance Analyst at a Refinery in Louisiana

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• In 2009 joined Crude Expansion Project in Port

Arthur, Texas

• Transferred to Upstream Project Services in

2012 as the Project Services Manager for New

Orleans focused mainly on Deepwater

• Moved to Houston in June 2016 to be the

Project Services Manager for a Deepwater,

Greenfield development in the Gulf of Mexico

• Happily married with 5 children

13(b),10(g),7(g),6(g),1(b)

PICTURE OF A WAR ROOM

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

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Old War Rooms

5

Good

Better

Best

Project War Room

6

Good

Better

Best

Modern US Army Tactical Operations Center (TOC)

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US ARMY TACTICAL OPERATIONS CENTER

101

8

Why do Battalions Need a TOC?

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Battalion

Commander

S1 S2 S3 S4 S6Company

Commanders

Command

Sergeant Major

Command Post Survivability

• CP survivability depends mostly on concealment and

mobility

• Location reverse slope with cover and concealment

– Ensure LOS comms with higher, lower, and adjacent

units

– Should be centered in Area of Operations whenever

possible

– Shelter from weather and elements

• Displacement

– CPs may displace as a whole or, more often, by echelon.

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Maps

11

Sand Table

Communication

• Means of communications

– Wire

– Courier

– Sound and Visual

– Telephone Lines

– Radio

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Communication

• Command posts monitor communications nets, receive reports, and

process information to satisfy commander needs or CCIR

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BATTLE CAPTAIN- CCIR SCREENING

- DECISION ON ACTION

- ASSIGN MESSAGE #

- FOLLOW UP ACTION DISTRIBUTE

- CDR

- XO/S3

- S2

- FSO/TGTing

CELL

- AVN LNO

- ETC.

ACTION

MESSAGE

ROUTINE CCIR

SHIFT NCOIC

SITMAP

LOGSTATUS CHARTS

The Battle Captain

• The battle captain's role is to plan, coordinate, supervise, and maintain communication flow throughout the CP to ensure the successful accomplishment of all assigned missions.

• The battle captain is NOT the commander

• Responsibilities:

– Maintaining continuous operations of the CP while static and mobile.

– Battle-tracking the current situation.

– Ensuring communications are maintained with and between all stations and that all messages and reports are routed and logged per SOP.

– Processing essential data from the incoming flow of information to ensure all tactical and logistical information is gathered and provided to the CP staff, S3, and XO on a regular basis.

– Providing security for the CP, including its physical security and maintenance of noise and light discipline.

– Conducting CP battle drills and enforcing CP SOP.

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PROJECT WAR ROOMS

WHAT WE DO WELL

15

War Room Survivability

16

• BP Texas City – 15 people dead in trailers, 180 wounded

• Shell Process Safety Basic Requirements (1 of 11) Safe

Siting of occupied portable buildings

Maps

• Level 1 Gantt Charts

• Cost and Schedule S

Curves

• Resource Curves

• Earned Value

Management Report

• Contingency Draw down

curves

• Leading versus Lagging

Indicators17

Maps



Curves

• Resource Curves

• Earned Value

Management Report


curves


Indicators18

Maps



Curves

• Resource Curves

• Earned Value

Management Report


curves


Indicators19

Maps



Curves

• Resource Curves

• Earned Value

Management Report


curves


Indicators20

Maps



Curves

• Resource Curves

• Earned Value

Management Report


curves


Indicators21

Maps



Curves

• Resource Curves

• Earned Value

Management Report


curves


Indicators22

PROJECT WAR ROOMS

WHAT WE DO POORLY

23

Communications

24

Good

Better

Best

Battle Captain

• The Project manager is the Commander; Who is the Battle Captain?

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– Maintaining continuous operations of

the CP while static and mobile.

– Battle-tracking the current situation.

– Ensuring communications are

maintained with and between all

stations and that all messages and

reports are routed and logged per SOP.

– Processing essential data from the

incoming flow of information to ensure

all tactical and logistical information is

gathered and provided to the CP staff,

S3, and XO on a regular basis.

– Providing security for the CP, including

its physical security and maintenance

of noise and light discipline.

– Conducting CP battle drills and

enforcing CP SOP.

– Who is in charge?

– Updates the Charts?

– Document Control?

– Analyzes incoming data to look for

decisions going to right place?

– Ensures compliance to the project

control plan?

– Thinks about the future and plans for

next crisis?

Assessing War Room Effectiveness

6 TOC Functions Effective Improving Needs work

1. Receive Information

2. Analyze Information

3. Submit Recommendations

4. Distribute Information

5. Integrate Resources

6. Synchronize Resources

ONE LAST MAJOR DIFFERENCE

SHOULD WE EVEN HAVE PROJECT WAR

ROOMS?

THE LAST COMPONENT OF EVERY US

ARMY TOC WE HAVE NOT DISCUSSED

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Why do Battalions Need a TOC?

28

Battalion

Commander

S1 S2 S3 S4 S6Company

Commanders

Command

Sergeant Major

Do Projects Need a War Room?

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24 hour operations

30

CONCLUSION

31

Conclusion

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• To apply the lessons learned from the most effective

and powerful fighting force in history, projects must

create war rooms that have:

– Survivability

– Maps

– Communications

– Battle Captain

Conclusion

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• To apply the lessons learned from the most effective

and powerful fighting force in history, projects must

create war rooms that have:

– Survivability

– Maps

– Communications

– Battle Captain

– & Coffee

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS?

(PLEASE USE MICROPHONE)

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effective project war rooms - aacei-hgcs · • the project manager is the commander; who is the...

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