YORK, Pa. –
The Defense Contract Management Agency is committed to communicating and collaborating with its customers to provide the best support to America’s warfighters. The DCMA Land Systems BAE York team regularly engage the agency’s military customers and others involved with the acquisition process, also known as stakeholders, to see how the agency can continue to enhance provided support.
“For our team, effective stakeholder engagement isn’t simply a best practice, it’s the critical mechanism for proactive risk mitigation, informed decision-making, and ultimately, delivering on the Department of Defense’s mission,” said Army Lt. Col. Jacob Olszewski, BAE York commander.
As the primary agency responsible for administering DOD contracts, DCMA engages with various stakeholders to ensure programs execute efficiently, effectively and in accordance with contractual requirements. The York office stakeholder engagements include monthly, quarterly and bi-annual meetings. The contract management office manages a variety of ground combat systems, including the M109 Paladin and the Marine Corps’ Amphibious Combat Vehicle.
“DCMA plays a critical role in DOD’s acquisition process by ensuring contractors deliver high-quality products and services on time and within budget,” said Damian Morrison, Quality Assurance supervisor. “To achieve this, we often engage with contractors, program managers, buying commands and other government agencies.”
In today’s complex and dynamic project environments, effective stakeholder engagement is crucial for program success. A well-planned stakeholder engagement strategy builds trust, resolves issues and ensures all parties work toward common goals. Effective engagement and communication enable DCMA employees to identify and mitigate risks, optimize program performance, and inform and influence acquisition decisions.”
Developing a stakeholder engagement plan
York employees understand that a stakeholder engagement plan is useful because it outlines the approach and strategies for engaging stakeholders throughout the program lifecycle. These plans help teams identify and categorize stakeholders, understand their needs and expectations, develop effective communication plans, and build trust and credibility.
The first step in the plan involves identifying and categorizing all potential stakeholders. It is a comprehensive and systematic approach to recognize individuals and groups who can impact the program. The process often generates a long list, but this is critical for subsequent steps. Once completed, the team gathers and analyzes stakeholders’ needs, concerns, and expectations. Understanding their perspective allows the team to assess their interests, motivations and anticipate potential project impacts more accurately.
Next, the team assesses the interest stakeholders have in a project. The team then develops an effective engagement and communication strategy. The team can utilize five engagement approaches: advocacy, collaboration, consulting, messaging and monitoring.
These approaches build communication channels that cater to the diverse needs of the CMO’s stakeholders by ensuring they receive timely and relevant information. The communication with stakeholders must be transparent, accurate and based on the stakeholder engagement strategy.
Benefits of a plan
According to Terrence Kerr, Engineering and Manufacturing supervisor, a plan builds strong relationships, manages expectations, and ensures stakeholders are informed, involved, and supportive of organizational goals. For DCMA, a well-crafted plan directly supports its mission as “the independent eyes and ears of DOD and its partners,” yielding several key benefits.
First, the plan improves communication at all levels. A detailed plan ensures all stakeholders receive consistent updates on program status, including cost, schedule and performance. This information prevents misunderstandings, minimizes conflicts and empowers program managers to make informed acquisition decisions.
Second, it enables better risk management. Continuous stakeholder engagement allows DCMA to help program managers identify and mitigate risks, resolve potential conflicts, and capitalize on opportunities, which can reduce program disruptions.
“This shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive risk mitigation results from frequent and open dialogue and enables earlier detection of issues before they escalate,” noted Kerr. “Overall, a comprehensive plan fosters collaboration across teams and organizations, leading to better decision-making, improved outcomes and increased innovation.”
Monthly dashboard meetings
York conducts internal, monthly dashboard meetings to prepare for all stakeholder engagements. These data-driven meetings provide a comprehensive overview of program performance — connecting cost, schedule, quality and contract compliance — and are critical for proactive risk mitigation. The office forecasts potential issues and provides relevant information to the appropriate stakeholder. The monthly meetings ensure common understanding within the CMO and its mission partners and serves as the basis for nearly every scheduled engagement.
Monthly engagements with program managers and BAE
In addition to consistent program support team engagements, DCMA Land Systems BAE York fosters stakeholder engagement through monthly meetings with program managers, buying commands, mission partners, and BAE. These engagements also allow DCMA leaders and employees to communicate potential risks, including technical challenges, quality concerns, and supply chain disruptions by ensuring program managers receive timely assessments of potential scheduling impacts and facilitating collaborative mitigation. With BAE, these monthly meetings focus on contract management by emphasizing potential early issues and collaborative problem-solving to ensure accountability and successful outcomes for the customer.
Quarterly engagements with key DOD leaders
York and others throughout DCMA maintain a strong working relationship with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment and the Program Executive Office Ground Combat Systems through quarterly engagements. These sessions provide a forum for DCMA to deliver a comprehensive overview and in-depth review of BAE Systems’ program performance by offering visibility into key metrics and potential impacts.
“At these meetings, DCMA presents a detailed assessment encompassing corporate performance and contracting compliance, quality and technical execution, and proactive identification of risks to on-time deliveries, alongside proposed mitigation strategies,” Olszewski stated. “We want to ensure that we are in sustained alignment with the broader DOD objectives for ground combat systems.”
Bi-annual Inter-Service Combat Vehicle Platform Summit
The bi-annual Inter-Service Combat Vehicle Platform Summit is another important stakeholder event. It serves as a critical forum for agency employees and stakeholders to listen to BAE representatives present a comprehensive review of its vehicle portfolio and enterprise-wide initiatives. This event brings together representatives from DCMA, the program executive office, program management offices, Army Contracting Command in Detroit, and the Defense Contract Audit Agency.
During the summit, BAE provides an overview of key vehicle programs, including the M88A2 Hercules Armored Recovery Vehicle, Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, Bradley Fighting Vehicle, M109 Paladin, and the Amphibious Combat Vehicle. To further enhance collaboration, the summit incorporates breakout sessions, which allow smaller teams to delve deeper into challenges raised during the main sessions, develop actionable plans and establish clear ownership for follow-on activities.
“The summit’s open communication facilitates proactive issue resolution and strengthens the alignment among stakeholders,” said Kerr. “This level of collaboration is enabled by a proactive and detailed stakeholder engagement plan, which ensures consistent communication and a shared understanding of program goals throughout the year.”
The way ahead
The York team is proud to support America’s warfighters and using stakeholder plans has helped the CMO maintain strong relationships with the military services and contractors.
“A detailed stakeholder engagement plan is not merely a procedural requirement, but a foundational element for effective program management,” said Olszewski. “We want to maintain transparent communication with our stakeholders. By prioritizing consistent communication and collaborative problem-solving, DCMA ensures programs not only meet contractual requirements, but also contribute to the broader objectives of DOD.”