Project Management in a Post-Conflict Environment 1

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1 1 Introduction By Project Management is a difficult process in the best of situations. In a post-conflict environment such as Iraq, there are additional concerns that need to be addressed by the project manager. For the purpose of this paper, a post-conflict environment is one in which main hostilities between armed forces has ceased. This type of environment is not typically peaceful and low intensity conflict remains. Often, the rule of law has not been established and the need for physical security remains high. The PMBOK (Project Management Book of Knowledge) lists 12 specific knowledge areas that are required for every project manager. This paper addresses three knowledge areas that require additional scrutiny and planning when working in a postconflict environment. These three areas are Project Human Resource Management, Project Communication Management and Project Risk Management. Despite significant obstacles, several USG (U.S. Government) entities were able to develop Information Technology projects in Iraq. The paper will briefly cover a few of these projects. The author was assigned to the Embassy in 2009 and was able to interview several of these project teams. Iraq in Significant security gains had been achieved after the Sunni Awakening of However, violence continued in the form of IED s (Improvised Explosive Devices), kidnappings, bombings and indirect fire from rockets and mortars. Shia al Maliki was the prime minister but the government was sharply divided among the traditional fault lines of Shia, Sunni and Kurd. President Obama had been elected in 2008 partly on the promise of withdrawing forces from Iraq. As a result of the British and Australian withdrawals, General Odierno s staff changed names from Multi-National Forces Iraq (MNFI) to US Forces Iraq (USFI) in The decline in violence and formation of the Iraq government permitted the reconstruction operations described in this paper. 1 Second Editions are previously published papers that have continued relevance in today s project management world, or which were originally published in conference proceedings or in a language other than English. Original publication acknowledged; authors retain copyright. This paper was originally presented at the 6th Annual UT Dallas Project Management Symposium in Richardson, Texas, USA in August It is republished here with the permission of the author and UT Dallas Page 1 of 9

2 Challenges to Project Management IT (Information Technology) project management is challenging under ideal conditions. In a post-conflict environment, the risks are multiplied and the environmental dangers are significant. The PMBOK (Project Management Book of Knowledge) is generally regarded as the definitive guide to project management. The PMBOK lists 12 knowledge areas which are necessary for effective project management. While all of these areas are important, three deserve particular attention. The three areas discussed in this paper are Project Communication Management, Project Human Resource Management and Project Risk Management. Project Communication Management Communication difficulties were magnified in Iraq. Communication problems began with the English and Arabic language barrier. Translators are an essential and required part of any project team. Cultural differences between US personnel and Iraq government officials heightened communication difficulties. Americans typically approach a business meeting with a specific agenda and outcome in mind. In Iraq, a meeting is more of a social occasion involving several cups of tea and Turkish coffee. A decision would be eventually be reached, but not until several meetings had occurred. Most of the USG officials were on a strict timetable that was established by the Obama and Bush administrations. Additionally, most US personnel were typically in Iraq for one year. Iraq is one of humanity s first cultures so time has a different context. In addition to the language and cultural barriers, communication media was often an issue. The lack of a strong IT infrastructure limited organizational servers. Commercial telecommunications was limited to voice cell phone providers. Cell phones are ubiquitous in Iraq and are the preferred communication medium. However, there was a lack of any centralized databases that contained contact information. Cell phone contact lists were highly prized in Iraq. Ironically, many communication breakdowns occurred between the numerous US Government (USG) agencies. The largest of these agencies were the Department of State (DoS) and the Department of Defense (DoD). Even though these agencies shared a common language, the culture of these two agencies could not be further apart. For example, Power Point is the preferred medium for all presentations in the DoD. However, DoS often did not permit Power Point presentations for their meetings. This seemingly trivial difference underscores the wide gulf that existed between State and Defense at all levels in Iraq. Effective communication in Iraq required careful consideration of the audience. The DoD and DoS were following two very different agendas in 2009 and The State Department was planning for a permanent presence in Iraq while the Department of Defense was looking to withdraw its forces Page 2 of 9

3 Determining the stakeholders is an essential initial task in any project. In Iraq, this task was especially problematic. The chart below illustrates the confusing and bewildering organization/command structure in 2009 Iraq. Figure 1 SIGIR Report: Applying Iraq s Hard Lessons to the Reform of Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations, Feb The inability to identify stakeholders resulted in several duplicate projects since each sponsoring agency would initiate projects without knowledge of another agency s initiatives. Project Human Resource Management Staffing project teams was extremely challenging in Iraq. The arduous duty and lengthy contract/tour lengths made an assignment to Iraq unattractive. Each USG agency handled this need in a different manner. The DoD had the easiest means of staffing HR requirements. However, programs such as Stop-Loss and multiple tours have taken their toll on service members and their families. The State Department provided pay incentives and preferential assignments to those who accepted a posting in Iraq. In general, staffing in Iraq appeared to skew on either side of the career spectrum. Most USG employees were either starting a career or had come out of retirement. A number of ex-patriots had built careers on accepting DoS contracts and had substantial experience in providing technical assistance to developing nations Page 3 of 9

4 In addition to the difficulty of finding qualified personnel, a project manager needs to be concerned with the lead time to transfer resources into Iraq. Many positions required a security clearance and security training before entering Iraq. Travel directly to Iraq from the United States was not possible in 2009 and Most flights required a layover in Jordan or Kuwait. Additionally, travel to the International Zone (IZ) from Baghdad International airport required the use of a special convoy. Logistical delays need to be a consideration of any project schedule. An essential part of any project team is the translators. These personnel were essential to the success of any initiative. During 2009, the Iraq parliament was engaged in building the legal infrastructure of their country. The ground rules could change drastically. These laws had significant impact on all facets of life in Iraq. Several translators were engaged in the translations of these laws. A translator s personality and demeanor should be carefully considered. Translators were in constant demand and their workloads were immense. Project Risk Management The most significant challenge to project management in Iraq was risk management. Many project managers are accustomed to schedule, scope and schedule risks in IT projects. In Iraq, risk management includes the physical risk to life and limb as well. The project manager needs to carefully consider the team s housing location, medical facilities, communication needs and most importantly security services. The quality of private security firms varied significantly throughout Iraq. Transportation is typically handled by the contracted security firm. However, the State Department and Department of Defense provided transportation to some of its contractors based on the negotiated contract. In , the greatest threats were IED s (Improvised Explosive Devices), rockets, mortars and kidnapping. Careful planning should be given to each of those security risks. There were two additional chronic risks for IT projects in Iraq; electricity and telecommunications. Iraq was subject to numerous blackouts and internet connectivity was limited and sporadic. Traditional data centers with backup generators, environmental controls and fire suppression were non-existent in Iraq. The lack of reliable power and internet connectivity had significant impact on traditional Internet application development that is common in the developed world. Client server applications that were built to run on laptops and local servers had the most success in Iraq. The portability of these applications allowed Government of Iraq (GoI) employees to rapidly shift locations. Several GoI ministries were high value targets to the insurgents and were forced to change locations as a consequence of the ongoing violence. Some GoI ministries had intermittent internet connectivity, but many times the connectivity was not sufficiently reliable in order to support an Internet based application Page 4 of 9

5 Another consideration was that many software vendors would not enter Iraq to support purchased applications. Software vendor support is critical for requirements gathering, system design, training and operational support. Many of these functions could be accomplished via the internet but the lack of telecommunications infrastructure made this strategy infeasible. Small, specific, simple and locally applications should be used to alleviate some of the risks discussed above. A Survey of IT Applications in Iraq The following list of IT applications was the result of the IT Working Group which was sponsored by the Public Finance Management Action Group (PFMAG). PFMAG was a unique and groundbreaking concept. The team was composed of civilians and military personnel. Most inter-agency teams would be composed of members from a sponsoring USG agency with liaisons from other USG entities. The daily work and decision making was essentially controlled by the sponsoring agency with input and advisement from the liaisons. While this approach facilitated communications, it did not reduce the interagency rivalries or promote compromise between competing philosophies. USG agencies typically have a narrow functional focus and are not able to explore holistic solutions. PFMAG was different from other inter-agency teams in that the PFMAG team members were actually part of the team instead of being liaisons and representatives. The Department of Defense assigned Army, Navy and Air Force officers to the program. The IRS, State Department and Treasury Department provided personnel as well. The group was under the direction of the Treasury Department. The focus of the group was to create a clearing house concerning USG financial initiatives in Iraq. As part of this initiative, two members of PFMAG formed a working group in an attempt to coordinate financial management IT systems being implemented in Iraq. This working group had no authority to enforce findings on existing USG technologies. Tough decisions regarding redundant applications and integration standards were not realistic goals of the PFMAG IT Working Group. However, coordination and cooperation among contractors was encouraged. Thus, a communication channel was created for agencies and vendors to collaborate and share ideas regarding Financial IT projects. An additional goal of this working group was to educate senior bureaucrats and officers as to the necessity of information technology. From the author s perspective as an IT professional, USG entities in Iraq had virtually no organic IT capability. To explain further, USG entities did not deploy IT project managers, database administrators, programmers or systems analysts that is typical of most private sector entities. Most USG IT resources in Iraq provided help desk, system administration and infrastructure support. The applications typically used by the USG were vendor modified COTS (Commercially Available Off-the-Shelf) applications. As a result, IT knowledge and expertise was in the domain of the contractors. The lack of IT knowledge and expertise resulted in IT projects without significant oversight or governance. The PFMAG IT Working Group was a very small step in filling this void. The following applications were discovered by the PFMAG IT Working Group in Page 5 of 9

6 IFMIS (Iraqi Financial Management Information System): This application was to provide the Ministry of Finance (MoF) a General Ledger and Budgeting system. The system was purchased from FreeBalance of Canada. The application was selected because it is easy to maintain and runs on a local MoF SQL Server database. It has been deployed in several developing nations such as Afghanistan, Mongolia and Sudan. Governorates Accounting and Project Tracking Information System (GAPTIS): This Access 2003 based system was designed to track capital project budgets and project status. It was never intended to be a permanent solution but a replacement for the provinces was not available as of Each province had its own local copy of GAPTIS and used the application in varying degrees. The provincial GAPTIS applications were not linked or connected. Instead, paper and electronic reports on USB drives would be sent to the Ministry of Planning and Development (MoPDC) in Baghdad. This project was sponsored by USAID. Capital Budget Request and Tracking System (CBRT): This application tracked capital projects and expenditures and duplicates much of the functionality of GAPTIS. However, this application was intended to primarily be used by the MoPDC, GPATIS was an application focused on the provinces with data exported to MoPDC. CBRT was to be used by MoPDC with data provided by the provinces. An interface between GAPTIS and CBRT would have provided significant value to the GoI. However, CBRT and GAPTIS were sponsored by the DoS (USAID) and DoD respectively. The communication difficulties between the two agencies have been mentioned in this paper. There was no USG agency to resolve these differences and an interface was not possible. With coordination, this system could become be an effective evolution of the GAPTIS application. Without a governing IT organization to consolidate and integrate the two systems, provinces would be required to enter information into both CBRT and GAPTIS. This application was built using an Oracle 10g database and Java and is Internet enabled. In 2010, the project team moved to Erbil due to heightened interest in CBRT from the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government). Government/Donor Assistance Database (GAD/DAD): GAD/DAD was an application to aid the MoPDC in tracking donor funds and projects. This application was intended to be used for national planning and analysis. It was sponsored by USAID. There were no plans to integrate this application with either CBRT or GAPTIS. The technology used to develop the application was Oracle 10g and Oracle Forms and Reports. Oracle Applications 11i: Oracle Applications 11i was in the planning stages for the MoI (Ministry of Interior) and MoD (Ministry of Defense). The primary purpose of implementing Oracle 11i was to install a HCM (Human Capital Management) system capable of tracking the large number of personnel associated within the MoI and MoD Page 6 of 9

7 Conclusion IT project management in Iraq presented significant challenges in managing risk, human resources and communication. Despite these difficulties, several IT projects focusing on capital project management and budgeting did emerge. However, these projects were not integrated and significant redundancy resulted from the lack of USG coordination. A formal IT governance agency would have been able to prevent these duplications and provide more efficient IT applications while saving precious taxpayer dollars. SIGIR (Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction) was created as an oversight organization for all reconstruction activities in Iraq. It reported to both the Department of State and Department of Defense. SIGIR s Applying Iraq s Hard Lessons to the Reform of Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations summarizes the lack of IT systems coordination by stating: An integrated management structure is necessary to ensure effective interagency reconstruction efforts. After the reconstruction program got underway in 2003, at least 62 agencies ultimately became involved in managing [reconstruction] IRRF-funded projects. There were no interagency project management and information systems that could coordinate the activities of the hundreds of firms and subcontractors performing construction work orders at thousands of sites across Iraq. An integrated management structure could have helped to ensure that programs and projects were planned and executed with effective communication, control, and cooperation. Page 25 (emphasis added) Both the DoD and DoS issued responses to the SIGIR document. The State Department s response acknowledges this need for a large robust database application to assist in capital project management. Uniform SRO (Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations) information systems should be developed. There is merit to the recommendation that all foreign affairs agencies should have compatible (and to the extent possible) similar information systems regardless of whether they are engaged in SRO or non-sro activities. Each department should be provided with the necessary funding to develop such databases. These databases, though costly to build and maintain, are an important tool in the oversight of taxpayer dollars Page 7 of 9

8 The US role is Iraq s future has diminished since 2012 but will not disappear entirely. Some would argue that stability and reconstruction operations in Iraq are a singular event. However, the chart below illustrates the role of the United States in SRO since World War 2. OPERATION DURATION TOTAL OBLIGATIONS (Millions) Iraq 2003-Present 48, Germany , Afghanistan 2001-Present 30, Japan , Bosnia 1995-Present 2, Kosvo 1999-Present 1, Dominican Republic , Panama Haiti Lebanon Somalia Grenada Cambodia Table 1: Applying Iraq s Hard Lessons to the Reform of Reconstruction and Stabilization Operations If history is any indication, the United States will continue to be engaged in reconstruction operations long after the troops have departed the field of battle. It is the opinion of this author that both the U.S. State and Defense Departments need to develop the capability to build, manage and support large local database applications for the purpose of conducting SROs. As indicated in the paper s conclusion, these applications are essential to the successful execution of SRO s. Without this necessary manpower; the DoS and DoD will have to rely on vendors and contractors to supply the critical skill sets for building, operating and managing core SRO competencies. These vendors and contractors may or may not be inclined to participate in the violent postconflict environment Page 8 of 9

9 About the Author. Author is an Information Technology Project and Program Manager for the Garland Independent School District in Garland, Texas, USA. He has been with the district for eight years and has served in a variety of roles including Project Manager, Database Administrator, Business Analyst and Business Intelligence Developer. He was a Lieutenant Commander with the United States Navy Reserve for 14 years where he served in numerous organizations including major staffs and expeditionary warfare units. He has served directly in U.S. Navy, Army and Marine Corps units. He was recalled to active duty in and served as an Action Officer (Project Manager) at the US Embassy in Baghdad. Mark specializes in IT Project Management and Business Intelligence. He takes special interest in building effective technical teams and is a strong advocate for promoting personal growth and has a deep understanding of emotional intelligence. txca@verizon.net Blog: Page 9 of 9