Skunkworks Approach to Project Management

Three new product development programs attempting to meet challenging targets for time-to-market, quality, and cost were in urgent need of space and facilities. A decision was made to reengineer a light commercial building 50 miles from the main research and development and manufacturing facility. This satellite facility that housed a supplier of electroformed parts to another original equipment manufacturer would need to be entirely retrofitted to accommodate the research and development and manufacturing requirements of the four groups. The existing corporate facilities engineering group was unable to deliver the array of requests generated by the product development programs. This included 31 different projects, ranging from clean rooms and labs to air handling systems and offices. A project management team was spun off with the directive to meet customer requirements on time and within budget—even if it meant breaking rules. The project had many of the earmarks of a “skunkworks,” the concept originally developed by Lockheed Martin, as a way to quickly develop solutions by bypassing some of the time-consuming bureaucracy and allowing the team to make ad hoc decisions. The skunkworks project management team was able to deliver the projects on time and within budget by: (1) adhering to a clear focus on their mission; (2) including extensive up-front planning efforts; (3) critically analyzing customer needs; (4) leveraging project overlaps; (5) involving suppliers early; (6) empowering the team; and (7) breaking rules. Many of the lessons learned from this project are being treated as organizational learning and are currently being incorporated into other facilities engineering groups to improve their operations.