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By: FEDweek StaffOMB and OPM have started efforts to implement the Program Management Improvement Accountability Act of 2016 but much remains to be done, especially in the area of addressing programs on GAO’s high-risk list, GAO has said.
A report credited OPM with developing competencies for program and project managers and updating the program management job series, working to develop a career path for program and project managers, and working to create a unique job identifier code in 2020 so that agencies can more completely identify their program management workforce. Similarly, it credited OMB for issuing a five–year strategic plan for the PMIAA, developing program management standards, creating the Program Management Policy Council to oversee implementation, and conducting ten reviews of agency program portfolios—organized groupings of programs whose coordination in implementation enables agencies to achieve their objectives.
However, the report said that the OMB standards “are not detailed compared with accepted program and project management standards, and OMB’s governance structure is insufficient for developing and maintaining these standards over time.” The new council “has neither addressed GAO high-risk areas nor advised OMB on how to address high-risk areas” as required by the law and OMB’s portfolio reviews touched on only five of the 35 areas with that designation.
GAO recommended that OMB develop the standards to include more detail, create a governance structure for program management standards, hold meetings on all high-risk list areas, and establish measures to track agencies’ progress in program management. “OMB neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendations and stated that it would consider them when making future updates to its program management policies and guidance,” the report said.
