CHANGING CULTURE
To be truly effective, the PMR program needs reformation—one that embraces open-mindedness and eschews traditional, rigid processes.
by error or didn’t belong to the command in the first place. Double work distracts the review team and fractures the trust imperative to the process. Te ACC-APG review team leads work diligently to ensure reviews are selected carefully and correctly before starting. Team leads study the full list of awarded files over a period of time and use simple random sampling to deter- mine which files must be inspected.
Understand the question. Consistent interpretation and verifi- cation methods pay dividends. Ensure your teams know what the questions mean, what documents they typically appear in and how to verify what right looks like. Active coordination between teammates can minimize response variation, expedite the process and eliminate rework and response correction. ACC- APG developed verification methods for each PMR question to ensure consistent understanding and answers, significantly reduc- ing the time it takes to conduct a file review.
IMPROVEMENT
In a large organization with high stakes, accountability matters. By drilling down to the root cause, corrective actions can be deployed to resolve future weaknesses, making accountability possible without overlooking what people do correctly. ACC- APG looks for what is right more than what is wrong, lifting morale year-over-year because a commendation goes much further than a finding and people want to repeat what works. Detailed review comments expedite root cause analysis and make for meaningful trend analysis. Future pre-award mitiga- tion efforts are reviewed more favorably when not shrouded in negativity. As a result, ACC-APG has gathered 70 best practices over five years, all proven successful in driving risk, in various areas, to an acceptable level.
ITERATION
Iteration enables accurate and near-real-time trend analysis. Before variables diminish and degrade the reliability of the data, a team can truly see if their efforts are impactful. A corrective action plan (CAP) should do more than just track the implemen- tation of the fix—it must also determine if anything improved.
64 Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2025
By using the same measurement tool, with the same scale, within a close proximity, the quantified data can speak to the action’s success or failure. Overlapping file reviews and corrective action tracking facilitate an ongoing assessment process, producing near-real-time data that leaders learn from. Monthly or quarterly checkpoints can be established to give more frequent indica- tions of success. Tese are predictive methods that go beyond the more typical year-over-year analysis. Additionally, a correc- tive action can be modified if a trend indicates a negative turn. Proven practices can be extracted from this analysis since there is now quantifiable data to support sustained success. Future pre-award mitigation efforts are more trustworthy when based on data-driven internal controls and proven statistics. In 2024, these concepts gave ACC-APG enough confidence to remove procurement analysts from the peer review and document review processes, freeing up over 15 full-time employees to concentrate on other priorities.
INTEGRATION
As the PMR program matures, it can be integrated into and with other internal controls across the organization, such as audit readiness, Risk Management Internal Control (RMIC) Program, talent management, resource planning, training, etc. Te program will increase in speed and agility as this occurs and can even spin off customized processes, such as targeted reviews. Tese special reviews enable a surge capability because they include evaluation of areas not covered by the PMR ques- tions. Basic rules can be predetermined, such as a severity of deficiency scale and how individual results are added to over- all results. Ultimately, all of this connects back to creating value for the command. All risks can be integrated proactively into pre-award processes so they may be infused with measures of accountability. As data is generated, validated and verified, deci- sions can be made based on trends, thus increasing the return on investment. ACC-APG was able to eliminate 33% of its RMIC effort by determining synergy between PMR and RMIC criteria.
THE 5-I MODEL IN ACTION Over the course of five years, ACC-APG used the 5-I Model to build a PMR program that reviewed more files, built a more
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