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Together, the tools enable consistent implementation, improved cost estimation, clearer work packages, staff training, and reliable tracking of frequently changing requirements from DOE and other regulations.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/","Template",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/presentations/","Presentations",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/evolution-of-project-planning-tools-in-a-matrix-organization/241853/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/evolution-of-project-planning-tools-in-a-matrix-organization/241853.png","ImageObject",442,249,{"name":42,"@type":43},"8796093062539","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-11","2026-09-12",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"Why were Sandia’s construction projects facing schedule and budget difficulties?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The paper attributes issues to inadequate up-front planning and cost estimating, plus difficulties tracking numerous, constantly changing requirements from government and regulatory sources.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What role does the WBS dictionary play in the planning tools?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It breaks work into the two funding types overseen by project managers and lets managers look up tasks to place them correctly in the overall work breakdown structure and assign proper funding.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How does the matrix chart improve planning across multiple project types?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"It maps the planning guide’s 265 activities against seven major construction project types, helping ensure requirements and tasks are addressed consistently in the matrix environment.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},241853,1791715980,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,92,97,102,107,112,117,122],{"id":84,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},11,90,"presentations",{"id":88,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":93,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":98,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":103,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":108,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":113,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":118,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":123,"doc_module":22,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":125},158,"General","general-158",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":127},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":128,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":11,"doc_module":22,"category_id":84,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":129,"file_id":130,"file_url":131,"file_type":132,"file_size":133,"view_count":134,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":135,"language":136,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":137,"faqs":138,"seo_title":139,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":140,"read_time":26},8796093062539,"Evolution of Project Planning Tools in a Matrix Organization  \nJames P. Furaus, PMP, P.E. , Sandia National Laboratories; Cynthia Figueroa-McInteer, PMP, Sandia National Laboratories; Pamela S. McKeever, PMP, P. E. , Sandia National Laboratories; D. Brad Wisler, PMP, P. E. , Sandia National Laboratories; John T. Zavadil, Infomatrix  \nKeywords: Multi-Project Planning, Work Breakdown Structure, Tools  \nIntroduction  \nDo you have a multi-project, matrix management environment? Do your teams continue to make the same mistakes? Is there a lack of consistency regarding how projects are established that prevents easy comparative analysis or benchmarking? Do you need documentation or training that allows new project managers to quickly come up to speed on your processes? Are these problems giving you ulcers? Would you like an example of some tools that would prevent these problems to help ensure success on all your projects? If the answer to any or all of these questions is yes, read on.  \nThe Corporate Construction Program at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, manages a variety of new construction and renovation projects. The budget authority for these projects is currently greater than $100 million, consisting of projects ranging from $150,000 to $56 million. In recent years, some of these projects have experienced difficulties; inadequate up-front planning and cost estimating left a legacy of schedule and budget problems. Projects also have to meet numerous, constantly changing requirements from avariety of sources: State and Federal environment, safety, and health regulations; Department of Energy (DOE) orders; and other government regulations. No one person could keep track of these requirements, yet failure to meet even one of these could result in significant project delays. Project cycles for federally funded projects were averaging 8 to 10 years, and personnel rarely stayed on a project team for the duration of the project, which only increased the chances that critical activities might be missed. In addition, project managers set up and managed projectsin different ways. The program needed comprehensive project planning tools to ensure that projects were implemented consistently throughout a matrix organization and that no requirements were overlooked.  \nObserving that many projects were experiencing similar problems, the facilities director chartered a “ProblemSolving Council” comprised entirely of staff-level personnel to identify problems and recommend solutions for some of these problems. The Problem-Solving Council  \nwas a multi-disciplinary functional team that included people skilled in project management, engineering design, construction management, and operations and maintenance, as well as consultants who were experts in environment, safety, and health issues. The council developed an integrated project planning guide that exceeded the expectations of the director and will allow future teams todo a much better job of planning.  \nBy itself, though, the project planning guide is incomplete. It is life-cycle-based and doesn’t show how tasks fall into the overall work breakdown structure (WBS) or how project costs should be allocated. For this the Corporate Construction Program needed aWBS dictionary. At a high level, the dictionary breaks all work down into the two types of funding that Sandia project managers oversee—Congressionally approved capital funds and annual operating funds. Project managers can look up each task in the WBS dictionary to determine where to place it in the overall work structure and how to fund it.  \nAnother major outcome of using these planning tools was the development of a matrix chart that maps all of the 265 activities in the planning guide against the seven major types of construction projects that are accomplished at Sandia National Laboratories  \nThe project planning guide, the WBS dictionary, and the matrix chart have evolved into valuable tools that allow Sandia","cbCainh78KTHgKUF","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainh78KTHgKUF","pdf",58557,8,6,"English","# Introduction\n## Need for consistent multi-project planning\n## Organizational context and challenges\n# Problem-Solving Council and tool development\n## Integrated project planning guide\n## WBS dictionary for structure and funding allocation\n## Matrix chart for activity mapping\n# Project Planning Guide\n## Description and standard Microsoft Project template\n## Benefits of preventing missed requirements","[{\"question\":\"Why were Sandia’s construction projects facing schedule and budget difficulties?\",\"answer\":\"The paper attributes issues to inadequate up-front planning and cost estimating, plus difficulties tracking numerous, constantly changing requirements from government and regulatory sources.\"},{\"question\":\"What role does the WBS dictionary play in the planning tools?\",\"answer\":\"It breaks work into the two funding types overseen by project managers and lets managers look up tasks to place them correctly in the overall work breakdown structure and assign proper funding.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the matrix chart improve planning across multiple project types?\",\"answer\":\"It maps the planning guide’s 265 activities against seven major construction project types, helping ensure requirements and tasks are addressed consistently in the matrix environment.\"}]","Evolution of Project Planning Tools in a Matrix Organization | PDF",1789182032]