State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) Project Management Process Improvement

Abstract

State of Alaska DHSS provides support to Alaska’s healthcare industry and a wide variety of services to the residents of Alaska. Much of this support is borne out of Information Technology (IT) initiatives that would turn into projects. At the time this research was conducted, there was no consistent project management methodology applied across the department. The role of a project manager would be typically assigned to a department employee with no formal project management education and experience, who still had their regular role to fill. According to the leadership, projects were rarely completed on time and often shelved indefinitely. This project was initiated to add value to the DHSS Project Management Office (PMO) through analysis and improvement recommendations for its project management process. The intended outcomes were to 1) deliver a process that would aid in completing projects in a timelier manner with the current resources and 2) provide the necessary project status clarity to the department leadership. The original project scope could not be completed due to lack of support at the governance level and employees’ unwillingness to participate in the research. Instead, a report was produced on the observed challenges of project management in the public sector.