In response to the organization’s pressing need for greater management oversight, Hassett Willis & Company’s PMP-certified staff assisted the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Grants & Training in establishing an Executive Governance infrastructure and a program management office (PMO). As part of this project, we:

• Obtained executive sponsorship and commitment to build and maintain the PMO and governance structure
• Conducted an inventory of all active projects within the organization through a written survey and face-to-face interviews
• Defined the program management and governance structures including the integration of the organization’s strategic goals with the program management structure and practices, establishing organizational roles and responsibilities, and producing a guidance document of best practices.
• Conducted a pilot program for a limited set of projects to test the viability and effectiveness of the structures, processes, and protocols.
• Initiated training specific to the G&T PMO and more general project management training.
• Coordinated and collated monthly project management reports from across the organization.
• Organized and facilitated quarterly and annual project reviews. Produced project review reports following each review.
• Provided change management support for the implementation of the PMO that included communications strategy, plan and documents; training strategy and plan; decision-making frameworks, documents and meeting protocols; and instructional booklets outlining PMO processes, procedures and support.

Hassett Willis & Company developed a multi-faceted professional development program for the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Grants and Training. As part of this effort, Hassett Willis & Company:

• Conducted a needs assessment of the organization to help to target the development of a professional development program that best met the needs of the organization.
• Developed and implemented a multifaceted, customized training strategy and approach that addressed the needs of multiple employee levels and job functions within the Office of Grants & Training.
• Designed and delivered a 1-day orientation session to establish a baseline of knowledge about the organization and its mission.
• Designed and delivered a 4 ½ day professional development training built around real-world case studies and focused on the needs of adult learners; the rapid transfer of skills back to the job, the time constraints of the participants; leveraging internal expertise for content development to ensure “real world” issues were discussed in class; employing a “cross function” learning environment to ensure participants shared knowledge and learned from one another.
• Developed an evaluation methodology and tools to measure knowledge retention of participants and overall ROI. This included course evaluations, 90-day follow-up evaluations, and satisfaction surveys.
• Researched and recommended an approach for developing a preparedness professional certification program, which included reading comprehension tests, hours required to meet certification requirements, and professional exam requirements.