Olfa Hamdi is a global expert in the strategic, construction-driven planning and execution of capital projects. She is an American-trained engineer, inventor and Silicon Valley entrepreneur who founded the Advanced Work Packaging Institute before co-founding Concord® Project Technologies in 2016 and Concord® Academy in 2020. Most recently she authored Advanced Work Packaging: Guide for Life Cycle Implementation, the industry’s first comprehensive guide to AWP
Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) for military construction is the solution that addresses U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommendations
In a critical report issued last fall, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that the Department of Defense’s $15 billion military construction program suffers from systemic failures in oversight, planning, and collaboration. Auditors found that one in four projects are delayed a year or more due to poor planning, with repeated failures to document and share lessons learned from costly mistakes.
Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) can solve these problems. I know this because I have been auditing capital projects for well over a decade, and I have worked tirelessly to understand the root cause of dysfunction and delays like these. I’ve implemented AWP in the energy, petrochemical, mining, and many other sectors. I can say, with confidence, that it works.
Change begins with courageous, forward-thinking military engineers and project managers willing to embrace a construction-driven mindset and take proactive steps to implementing AWP on their next project — along with leaders committed to empowering their people with the knowledge and tools they need to deliver on-time and on-budget.
In this article, I’m going to go point-by-point through the GAO report and explore potential applications for AWP, so you can immediately see that change is possible. But first, I’m going to provide a short, general introduction to AWP.
Change begins with courageous, forward-thinking military engineers and project managers willing to embrace a construction-driven mindset and adopt AWP for their next project.
What is Advanced Work Packaging?
Advanced Work Packaging is a disciplined, construction-driven project planning and management approach that breaks down complex projects into manageable work packages, which are then sequenced and delivered in a way that aligns with construction needs. This helps improve productivity, predictability, and safety on construction sites.
It’s important to note that we don’t use the term “advanced” because the method is more sophisticated than others (though it is). We use the word “advanced” because AWP involves creating detailed plans and work packages early in the project lifecycle, before construction begins. This “in advance” approach allows for better planning, preparation, and collaboration, leading to more efficient and predictable execution on site.
In short, AWP provides a systematic standardized protocol that integrates with existing project delivery processes and directly addresses the early planning gaps the GAO identified. It ensures that critical information is captured and shared at the right time, predictably and consistently, throughout the project life cycle.
Read the Report
Military Construction: Better Information Sharing Would Improve DOD’s Oversight, released September 16, 2024.
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GAO Recommendation 1:
Issue guidance to improve project tracking and monitoring
Solution: Standard AWP Protocol
In its first recommendation, the GAO requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to mandate more detailed project reporting in order to improve oversight of its $15 billion military construction program. The GAO recommends tracking accountabilities, planning milestones, and spending details.
Standard AWP protocol meets all of these requirements. By definition, AWP deliverables and work packages create a traceable flow of information from early planning to engineering and procurement through to installation, providing the granular visibility and financial tracking needed to identify issues before they become costly delays. It can integrate with the DOD’s existing project delivery systems to support standardized documentation of milestones, and the AWP responsibility matrix, integrated with standard project delivery RACI, creates clear accountabilities.
Linking work packages, milestones, responsibilities and costs in a fully integrated approach would give project leaders the oversight capability the GAO says is missing.
GAO Recommendations 2 and 5: Document lessons learned
Solution: Standard AWP Assurance Processes
In its second and fifth recommendations, the GAO encourages the Army Corps of Engineers and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) to develop better protocols for documenting, validating, and sharing lessons learned from military construction projects.
Again, AWP directly addresses these requirements through proactive, built-in assurance protocols ranging from review gates and constraint removal verification processes to standardized closeout documentation templates. These protocols provide robust, standardized documentation and validation; from this solid foundation, lessons can be systematically learned and shared across projects.
Importantly, these protocols can integrate with existing after-action review formats, ensuring that the Army and Navy are systematically capturing institutional knowledge that can prevent repeated mistakes and reduce change orders. Instead of relying on ad-hoc documentation, AWP’s package-based protocols make capturing lessons learned a routine part of project execution.
GAO Recommendations 3 and 6: Develop a knowledge management framework
Solution: AWP’s Master Register
GAO Recommendations three and six require the Army and Navy to implement databases and processes for sharing best practices — a built-in feature of the Advanced Work Packaging methodology.
AWP’s Master Register functions as a central repository for project intelligence, standardized documentation formats streamline efforts to capture lessons learned, and performance metrics enable meaningful comparisons across projects. Moreover, AWP’s digital knowledge infrastructure can facilitate easy retrieval and application of best practices between projects — across the country and around the world.
The AWP methodology was designed to transform isolated project experiences into documented, validated, accessible institutional knowledge. The goal is to avoid repeating costly mistakes by providing access to the information that teams need to continuously improve their construction delivery performance.
GAO Recommendation 4: Competency development for construction personnel and contractors
Solution: Concord Certified Advanced Work Packaging Professional® Training
GAO Recommendation 4 requires the Army to develop training for personnel, and to validate lessons learned and best practices for military construction projects. At heart, this recommendation is about empowering people with the knowledge, skills, and mindset needed for successful military capital project delivery.
Concord®’s Certified Advanced Work Packaging Professional® training directly addresses this need through role-specific AWP and Workface Planning certification that builds core competencies in a systematic way. We focus on capacity building and the shift to a construction-driven mindset, so that teams apply AWP principles day-in and day-out, leading to safe, predictable, on-time and on-budget project delivery. Digital observation tools that simplify field knowledge capture drive even more efficiency.
Moving Forward: From Audit to Action
The GAO’s findings and recommendations offer us a roadmap for transformation. AWP isn’t just another project management methodology, it’s a comprehensive solution that directly addresses each of the GAO’s six recommendations, while building up the institutional capabilities needs for long-term success.
With one in four projects delayed by a year or more, the cost of inaction continues to mount. Forward-thinking military engineers and project managers who champion AWP will quickly become leaders who deliver safe, predictable, on-time, on-budget results. The tools, training, and proven methodology exist — all we need is a commitment to change.
Become a Concord Certified AWP Professional®
Concord® Academy offers comprehensive, self-paced training designed to fit your busy schedule, no travel required. You’ll get a rock-solid foundation in Advanced Work Packaging and Workface Planning, and gain the skills and expertise you need to deliver predictable, on-time, on-budget capital projects.
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