DOD seeks guidance to navigate constant change

Defense officials, feeling the pressure of continual financial and organizational transformations, are reaching out to the private sector for help in studying the ways the department can adjust to the new realities.

The Defense Department’s directorate for organizational and management planning is looking for support and assistance in its role in studying and analyzing all different types of management, including program and knowledge management, according to a solicitation released initially Aug. 10.

The directorate wants help as it develops procedures and information products and tools for tracking and implementing strategic-level actions for the Office of Secretary of Defense or DOD overall. It also wants support in figuring out how to manage activities related to leaders’ deliberations, decision-making, and office processes using effective IT tools.

The directorate plays a key role in implementing changes to missions and roles of organizations across DOD. It’s an adviser on organizational, management and administration matters for the heads of DOD components, commanders of Combatant Commands, the secretary and deputy secretary of defense, and others.

In a time when sequestration is only months away and the government is searching relentlessly for savings in all nooks and crannies, officials are wrestling with reforms from the executive and legislative branches, as well as departmental leadership and their direction. To make the reforms realities, the directorate’s staff has to figure out how to best put them into action. Its leaders plan to award a five-year, $60 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract through the new solicitation.

“The Department of Defense is in a state of constant and perpetual change,” officials wrote. “It is essential that the DOD have the resources and the means to meet the threats and challenges of a rapidly changing future.”

So far, the reforms have affected the missions and responsibilities of the DOD, as well as its attempts to become more efficient. In addition, officials have had to increase the attention given to decisions about allocating resources, joint processes, and enterprise-level governance. They have even had to realign how they manage their operations and measure performance, according to the solicitation.

The directorate is focusing on organizational management “honest broker” analysis for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and department-wide. It's working on a range of issues, such as supporting the secretary’s priorities and total force manpower management.