Military Operational Planner or Civilian

Military Operational Planner or Civilian Project Manager – are they the same person? The Service Leaver’s dilemma.

Jules Tilley | Principal Consultant | September, 2023

“Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude” – Michelle Obama, July 2018.

At the operational level, the methodology for military planning is formal and available in doctrine publications that reflect the processes in use for an organisation or country. However, the systems in both military and civilian domains follow the same logic, even if the doctrinal language differs between them.

Individuals leaving the military are often concerned that they have no formally recognised qualifications, particularly if they wish to move into the Project Management world. Should we be so fixated on post nominals, or should we look at the experience and see how it can be adapted from the military way of thinking to the civilian equivalent?

Successful leaders, both in and out of the military, need to know how to plan and manage projects, which includes adjusting plans dynamically to ensure success. In both military and civilian organisations, there are numerous approaches to management and planning, but all projects/operations have a system and the same essential components.

In a civilian organisation there must be recognised standards by which to deliver a project on time, in a logical sequence, on budget and with minimal risk. In the UK Project Management world, the current standard is based on BS 6079:2019 Project Management - Principles and Guidance. ‘The standard does this by supplying comprehensive principles and guidance on how to sponsor, direct and manage projects. Written by experts, it covers planning and executing projects, as well as applying project management techniques, project management vocabulary and business-related project risk’ .

Meanwhile, in the UK military, Allied Joint Publication 5 (AJP-5) is routinely the document that is used at the operational level. AJP-5 is the UK and NATO's authoritative doctrine publication for planning joint operations. ‘AJP-5 presents an overarching framework of the key planning principles, considerations and processes that are followed in planning. It describes how planning activities and processes are integrated and coordinated to support decision-making and producing plans, orders, and directives for all types of operations.’

What does this look like pictorially?

Figure 1: The five phases of civilian Project Management

Figure 2: Military Planning stages as per AJP-5

How do the systems compare?

Initiation – This is a core part of both processes, understanding the environment and the reasons for the delivery of a project or the deployment of forces to a region is paramount. Why are we about to do what we think we need to do?

Planning - In both environments, planning is a process of analysing the mission or requirements, determining a commander’s or Delivery Team leads intent, identifying specified tasks, and deconstructing those tasks into manageable packages. The process is designed to ascertain conflicts between tasks and resources, timing of events, and the desired end state. There is also an assessment component, which will measure the mission’s success. It is a collaborative process engaging stakeholders to identify all the activities that must be delivered. The military process has more ‘stages’ but is essentially the same as that in the Project Manager (PM) world.

Executing – This element is where the real work begins, the execution and delivery of your plan. This is the longest phase within the process and where the bulk of the effort and resources are placed. Executing the plan will consume resources and demand synchronisation to meet the defined objectives leading towards the end state. As conditions and work packages are met and delivered, additional risks may be identified, and the plan adjusted accordingly, ideally in line with pre-planned considerations. No plan survives first contact is a fair reflection of both environments.

Monitoring/Assessment - Through feedback and pre-determined methods of assessment and measurement of what is perceived as success, progress and quality of execution is monitored and evaluated. Reports are made and plans can be adjusted as necessary; in extremis a detailed re-plan may have to take place. It is in this phase that the commander or the PM coordinates the main effort and its supporting elements to ensure mission or project success.

Closing/Transition - In the last phase the project is closed when the mission is complete, however it is never really that simple as there may need to be a slow transition to another organisation. Success is judged in terms of meeting a timeline, completeness, and cost goals and whether the end state has been met. Often there will have been a dynamic balancing of scare resources, time, and quality requirements to meet the desired output. The plan you started with is rarely the plan that you delivered at the end.

Conclusion

As a service leaver, you may not have much technical knowledge in the civilian space, but you do have leadership experience. The decisive project management challenge is getting the team to work together, understanding the requirements, and most importantly, effectively communicating the tasks to the stakeholders. Your ability to listen, collaborate, assess risks, problem solve, and lead are traits that industry is looking for. Our challenge is to translate these qualities into the industry-specific language for our next career and to be confident in the knowledge that we have.

Project Management is the bedrock for Whitetree’s Management Services team. If you or your organisation needs first-class project management support, then do please get in touch. For other services offered by Whitetree, get in touch!