Lessons Learned from Technical Reviews in Systems Engineering Management - Recommendations to Practitioners

Abstract

Technical reviews play a fundamental role in any project. They are pillars in the necessary verification and validation activities. Despite their known importance, they are frequently neglected or inadequately managed. The consequences are always bad in project performance, cost and/or schedule. This paper reviews the role of the technical reviews in the systems approach to project management and identifies the major pitfalls associated with them. A number of cases from the Spanish defense sector in which the technical reviews failed to fulfill their goal are presented and the root causes are analyzed. Finally, a number of recommendations are proposed to improve the way in which the technical reviews are conducted, which should increase the likelihood of successful projects completion.