Organization: HEOMD

Safety and mission success risks must be adequately managed.

Define these clearly, early, and redefine them when management changes are made. When roles and responsibilities are different that what we’ve done in the past, ensure that external stakeholders are in agreement.

It’s not practical to follow all of the NASA NPRs and Standards. Understand what is there and tailor them to your project’s needs.

Even in fast track projects, spend significant time up front to establish a strong project baseline before engaging in full scale engineering.

Flatter is better because it increases the efficiency of communication.

Include the ground operations personnel into design activities on Day 1, and continuing throughout the process, to ensure effective operations later on.

If you are going to share facilities, personnel, and other resources, you have to function as one integrated team.

When implementing new or heritage IT systems, ensure that they have been tested in the environment in which they will be used, and that the team is adequately trained in their use.

It is important that managers and employees are aware of the personal toll that a mission critical program can take on the individual and their families.