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You have a program that matters to the business, a customer who expects it to run like a major prime's program, and a structure that was never built for it. A program management office closes that gap. At Set Boundaries it is our preferred way to work: Holly Dekle, PMP, serves as your Program Manager, and Set Boundaries Project Engineers execute against her plan alongside your team until the program is delivering.
When a program needs a program office
Most of the companies we work with are good at engineering and good at building hardware. What they often lack is the infrastructure to run a large, contractually demanding program: an integrated schedule the team trusts, a disciplined way of handling customer requests, a clear view of cost at completion, and a rhythm of communication that keeps the customer and leadership informed without anyone being surprised. The signs usually look like this:
- A major program has just been won and nobody is sure where to start
- The team is responding to every request from the customer's technical organization without knowing whether it is a contractual requirement
- Milestone dates keep moving and each new date feels as uncertain as the last
- Milestone payments are late because the milestones behind them are late
- Status reports describe activity rather than progress, and leadership learns about problems from the customer
- Good people are doing 30 percent of everything and finishing very little
How the Set Boundaries program office works
The model is simple on purpose. Holly serves as the Program Manager. She owns time, money, strategy and major stakeholder communication: the schedule and critical path, the budget and estimate at completion, the program strategy among competing priorities, and the relationship with your customer and your leadership. Depending on the complexity of the program, she may recommend one or more Set Boundaries Project Engineers. They execute against her plan and provide the technical and tactical support that keeps the interdisciplinary project team, or IPT, moving: chasing actions, resolving roadblocks, coordinating engineering, manufacturing, quality and supply chain, and making sure commitments made in a meeting are delivered.
This is an execution model, not an advisory one. The program office sits inside your program, works in your systems and is accountable for results. It follows the same six phases described in how we work: establish the boundary, align the team, execute the plan, monitor and intervene, communicate, and close or transition.
Who this is built for
Two kinds of organization get the most from a Set Boundaries program office.
A growing aerospace, defense or maritime company with a major new program
Typically a company of that scale that has won a major program but does not yet have the program management infrastructure or experience to execute it. Some call right after the win, because they do not know where to start. Others call after trying to run the program without a program office and realizing they cannot meet the customer's expectations, with their reputation at risk.
A large, established organization with a program that needs recovery
Here the trigger is often serious: a customer threatening contractual penalties, cancellation, or both. The organization has plenty of process. What it needs is someone to take ownership of one program, find out what is really happening, and run it back to predictable delivery. Our program recovery page covers that situation in more depth.
The people who usually bring us in are presidents and vice presidents, general managers, directors of program management and directors of engineering. They are the ones who carry the outcome and who can give a program office the decision-making room it needs.
What the program office produces
A program office is only as good as the tools it leaves the team working with. These are the core outputs, built in your systems so they remain yours.
| Output | What it does for the program |
|---|---|
| Project Charter | Sets the boundaries: requirements, definition of success, scope, schedule, major and payment milestones, assumptions, risks and opportunities, budget, roles, and communication and escalation. Typically signed within one to two weeks. |
| Integrated schedule | Built in Microsoft Project with input from the people doing the work, so the team can see where the program is, where it is going and what has to happen next. The critical path is real, not assumed. |
| Risk and opportunity register, integrated into the schedule | Risks and opportunities are reviewed formally each month, and mitigation work is scheduled like any other task, so it happens. |
| Estimate at completion | A current view of what the program will really cost, so leadership sees budget pressure early. Earned value techniques are applied where the contract or the program calls for them. |
| Weekly customer updates | Customers typically receive at least a weekly update on status, changes and the actions they owe the program. |
| Monthly leadership reviews | A formal program status for senior leadership at least monthly, more often when the program is critical, with decisions requested clearly. |
| Milestone and payment planning | An executable path to each major milestone and payment milestone, so cash follows progress. |
Two further outputs matter as much as any document. The first is a controlled path for customer requests, so a new ask is assessed for scope, cost and schedule before anyone starts work on it. The second is a team that can answer three questions at any time: where are we, where are we going, and what has to happen next to get there.
How the program office runs week to week
When a program is critical, the IPT holds short daily stand-ups and a weekly two-week look-ahead. The look-ahead covers critical-path work, upcoming tasks, resource availability, roadblocks, risks, customer actions and leadership decisions that are needed. When an activity with no schedule slack threatens the completion date or a major milestone, Holly calls a "Critical Path Red" discussion so leadership can decide whether to provide help, change priorities, accept the impact, or pursue another solution.
Holly's approach is direct, calm and technically engaged. She is an engineer, so she can understand a technical problem, challenge assumptions and help develop practical alternatives, then weigh them against schedule, budget, risk and requirements. When something goes wrong, it is treated as a "plot twist": identify what changed, determine the impact, develop options and move forward. Engineers keep their autonomy over how they work. The program office makes the what, the when and the boundaries clear.
The program office also looks for smarter options than working harder. We treat every dollar as though it were our own, which on one program meant modifying existing test equipment from a completed product line rather than building a new rig. We know how to sell time, which on another program meant solving a customer's immediate software need first so qualification testing could move several months later, when the team was ready.
Proof: rebuilding the program office at a defense display manufacturer
Set Boundaries was brought in by a defense display manufacturer after another consulting organization had been providing program management support. Programs were struggling, customers were frustrated, contractual commitments had been missed, and existing business was at risk.
The core issue was familiar. The organization was responding to customer requests without understanding whether they were in scope or what they meant for cost and schedule. Holly compared designs and activities against the actual requirements, brought department leaders together, determined what work remained, and developed executable plans to each major milestone and payment milestone. Project Charters, integrated schedules, risk and opportunity management, daily actions, structured customer communication and disciplined execution followed. At the start, communication with customers was almost daily.
Within weeks, customer relationships began to change. Commitments became predictable and milestone payments resumed. The company gained a technical program office able to help the team execute rather than simply report status. Their reputation as a trusted supplier was completely restored and re-established.
Program office, contractor staffing or a new hire?
Companies facing a big program usually consider three options. They solve different problems.
| Set Boundaries program office | Staffed contract program manager | Full-time hire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed to a plan | Charter and executable plan typically within one to two weeks | Depends on the individual placed | Months to recruit, then time to learn the organization |
| Accountability | Set Boundaries is accountable for the method and the result | Accountability rests with one individual; the agency supplies a person | Accountable, once hired and established |
| Depth behind the lead | Holly plus Project Engineers who execute against her plan | Usually one person | One person, who then needs a team |
| Method | A consistent method proven on aerospace, defense and maritime programs | Whatever the individual brings | Whatever the individual brings |
| What stays when it ends | Charter, schedule, registers and a repeatable process, in your systems | Often leaves with the person | Stays, if the person stays |
A full-time hire can be the right long-term answer, and part of our work can be setting up the process that person will inherit. The comparisons on a program management firm versus a staffing agency and a contract program manager versus a full-time hire go through the tradeoffs in more detail.
What the program office needs from you
Three things: appropriate decision-making autonomy to run the program day to day, an interdisciplinary team with the functions the program needs, and access to the information and systems the program depends on. We prefer to work inside your computer environment, so program information stays under your control, you always have access to status and data, and cybersecurity risk is reduced. If a resource is not available, we explain the tradeoff and show leadership the cost, schedule, performance and risk consequences of each alternative. The one boundary we do not compromise is professional respect.
How a program office engagement ends
The goal is not permanent dependence. For a development program, the work is complete when milestone payments have been achieved and production deliveries have started. Alternatively, the engagement ends when your organization has a repeatable program office process and a culture that knows how to run it. Clients have generally chosen to extend support rather than have us leave, and where it makes sense and capacity allows, we can support the transition into production.
Set Boundaries is the company you call when a program has to be recovered or delivered. If you are weighing whether a program office is the right answer for your program, schedule a call with Holly and walk through where the program stands.
Holly is able to quickly formulate and execute detailed project plans transforming chaotic programs into predictable successes. Key to Holly's triumphs is her deep project management knowledge, work ethic and clear communication style.
Holly knew how to drive her team to deliver results within a very aggressive timeline and managed change very effectively. When you work with Holly you always know the status of your project and know what will be delivered and when.
Holly was always proactive in managing the team and ensuring that we stay on schedule and meet customer needs. Holly also is good to ensure we follow process and always incorporated any lessons learned from previous programs into her own.
Related guides
- How we work: set the boundaries, then deliver
- Writing a project charter that sets real boundaries
- Scope change claims on aerospace programs
- Microsoft Project scheduling for defense programs
- Defense electronics programs
- Case studies
References
- Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide)
- SAE International and EIA, EIA-748, Earned Value Management Systems
- SAE International, AS9100, Quality Management Systems: Requirements for Aviation, Space, and Defense Organizations
Questions
Common questions
What does a program management office actually do for us?
It takes ownership of the program's time, money, strategy and major stakeholder communication. In practice that means a signed Project Charter, an integrated schedule the team trusts, a risk and opportunity register built into that schedule, a current estimate at completion, weekly customer updates, monthly leadership reviews and an executable path to each milestone and payment milestone. Set Boundaries Project Engineers then work alongside your team to execute the plan.
Is Holly personally involved, or does she hand off to junior staff?
Holly serves as the Program Manager. She owns the schedule, the budget view, the program strategy and the communication with your customer and leadership. Set Boundaries Project Engineers are added when the program's complexity warrants it, and they execute against the plan Holly develops. They extend her reach across the IPT; they do not replace her role on the program.
How big does our company or program need to be?
Our clients are typically aerospace, defense or maritime companies of that scale, either with a newly won major program they need to execute or with a program in trouble. Large, established organizations also bring us in for a single program that needs recovery. What matters most is that the program is complex, contractually demanding and important to the business.
How is this different from hiring a contract program manager through an agency?
An agency supplies an individual, and the method, depth and accountability depend on that person. A Set Boundaries program office brings a consistent method, a Program Manager plus Project Engineers who execute against her plan, and accountability for the result. The charter, schedule, registers and process are built inside your systems, so they stay with your organization when the engagement ends rather than leaving with a person.
Can you help if our customer is already unhappy?
Yes. That is a common starting point. The first step is to compare what the team is working on with what the contract actually requires, stop out-of-scope work and set a controlled path for new requests. Then we meet the customer, explain what was found, where the program stands and how it will proceed. At a defense display manufacturer, customer relationships began changing within weeks and milestone payments resumed.
Will the program office stay forever?
No. The goal is not permanent dependence. The engagement ends when commitments are being delivered, milestone payments have been achieved and production deliveries have started, or when your organization has a repeatable program office process it can run itself. Clients have often chosen to extend support past that point, and we can help with the production transition where it makes sense, but that decision is always yours.
Have a question that is not here? Ask Holly on a short call
