If I asked you to make a list of all of the skills one would expect to develop as a soldier from the perspective of an outsider, it would probably be a list of the hard skills and look something like this:
Physically fit
Good with weapons
Knowledgeable about fighting tactics
Can follow orders
Focusses on the mission
Leadership skills
Determined
Team player
Dedicated
Expert at (fill in which ever specialist corps fits: engineering, signals, etc...)
Soft skills such as good communicator, good planning skills, good listener, and good at getting along with others, would not immediately come to mind yet these are essential skills required by many organisations. These implicit soft skills are often overlooked.
For this blog, I am more interested in the problem solving and planning skills that are immediately transferable.
Project management (PM) is the process of supervising the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. Projects are unique, one-off tasks that have a specific lifetime. They are NOT business as usual tasks. They require the formation of a team of specialists, brought together under the leadership of a project manager, to deliver something new.
Many tasks in the military are considered as standard operating procedures or SOPs. These, one could argue, are business as usual.
How does PM relate to Military Operations?
In military parlance, one could describe a section (8 soldiers) as a project team, some of which have a specialist medic, gunner or signals skills, with the corporal (junior leader) being the team leader.
A platoon (or troop depending on your corps) would have three teams, a platoon leadership team lead by a lieutenant, a 2Ic second lieutenant, and a platoon sergeant. The lieutenant would be the project manager as he/she will allocate the different sections to specific tasks and has the authority to move team members between sections for specific jobs. This is when business as usual become a project.
When a team is created to carry out a specialized task, soldiers from different areas may be brought together to form a one-off mission. This is now project management. As we move up the hierarchy of unit formations, a Company/Squadron, lead by a Major and/or a Captain and a Company Sergeant Major, has three platoons/troops. The Company Commander has even greater flexibility to move specialists between sections and platoons/troops in order to complete one-off missions. Furthermore, he/she has the capability to draw upon outside resources (men and materiel) to supplement his/her capability. Once the mission is completed, all team members and resources return from whence they came. This perfectly describes project management. Not only because of the uniqueness of the team and the task, but also because it requires skillful planning, briefing, coordination through formal communication channels, reporting processes, and formal recording of lessons learned, all within a specified timeframe.
Project Management principles (as per PRINCE2) are:
Continued Business Justification (set by the board)
Learn from Experience
Understand Roles and Responsibilities
Manage by Stages
Manage by Exception
Focus on Products
Tailor to the Environment
The estimate process used for planning military operations, and the orders processes for recording and delivering said plans, utilize every step described in PMBOK/PRINCE2 processes. Indeed, any senior NCO or Officer will immediately recognise all seven principles as part of their formal education as a leader.
Conclusion
Project Management is alive and well in military leadership training and application. Business organisations should not underestimate the transferable skills and experiences that ex-military personnel bring (or could bring) to their organisations. The one thing that is missing from the list yet is implied by the stage-by-stage processes named above is the attention to detail that is burned into the psyche of all military leaders at all levels.
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