MIL-HDBK-502 - Barringer and Associates, Inc.

MIL-HDBK-502: ACQUISITIONALOGISTICS9.2.1 The Functional Area Experts’ RoleIn addition to being fully productive and active members of the team,functional area experts have a few special responsibilities because theybring special knowledge and a special point of view to the effort. Thedegree to which these experts are willing to share their knowledge andpoint of view will determine their value to the team effort. In essence,experts play an important training role on the team by freely providing theirinsights into the various aspects of the program. That is, by sharing theirexpertise, they educate their fellow team members to the not-so-obviousimplications of programmatic decisions and actions that they, the experts,see.Here are a few responsibilities that functional area experts have to the IPT:Actively participate.Not surprisingly, we all tend to avoid long, drawn-out meetings wheresome other experts are droning on about some particularly abstruse aspectof the program that is of interest to them. This is especially true if webelieve there is little possibility that what will be covered in the meeting willhave any impact on our own concerns. Unfortunately, if we are going tomake a positive contribution to the team we have to be there to see andhear the other team members ideas and review the team’s products (design,program plan, acquisition strategy, etc.) so that our expertise can beapplied to the effort. We usually cannot anticipate when our expertise willbe needed. Therefore all team members should have as a goal 100 percentattendance at all meetings.Communicate point of view.The value of IPTs is that conflicting, multi-disciplinary issues are resolvedon the team as they arise and before they have solidified into bureaucraticpositions. This resolution cannot occur if the points of view of the variousdisciplines on the IPT are not voiced. All team members should identify andexplain the implications of an issue as they see it.Challenge requirements.The functional area experts must not only be willing to voice opinions butalso must challenge those things that don’t make sense. In their frame ofreference the experts might see that what makes sense to some teammembers, and in some other programs, might not make sense in thisparticular program.Pay attention to detail.The devil is in the details. While some potential problems with a programmay jump out at even the most casual observer, more often these problems9-5