Project from APG Senior
Leadership Cohort offers community-based tool for organization efficiency
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – There is a wealth of subject matter
experts, resources and assets across the Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) installation
that spark innovative research efforts and perform sound testing capabilities to
accomplish mission critical objectives for the U.S. Army.
Tapping into these areas across
APG organizations has become even easier thanks to a new digital bulletin board
tool available to government employees. Seeking Help through Available Resource
Exchanges (SHARE) is a community-based project developed from this year’s APG
Senior Leadership Cohort. In February ECBC’s Steve Norman, Peter Emanuel and
Ron Pojunas, graduated from the program, which was created to build a
self-sustaining leadership community among high potential GS-14/15 and
equivalent level managers at APG. SHARE was one of the capstone projects that resulted
from the cohort. It is a web-enabled milBook product that
facilitates the exchange of goods and services in a collaborative effort to accomplish
our missions.
“There’s a lot of talent on APG
that we really aren’t taking advantage of,
this board came about as an electronic media where you can advertise
resources,” said Norman, chief of the Environmental Monitoring Laboratory
branch for the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s (ECBC) Chemical
Biological Application and Risk Reduction (CBARR) Business Unit.
“For example, if you are in need
of two chemists to work on a certain project, you would put the duration and
specifications of this detail on the web-based bulletin board. Someone who may
have two chemists that are available can respond to the request, exchange
contact information and begin the process to execute the detail. That requirement then comes off the board,”
Norman explained.
Similarly, an organization can advertise
resources they may have available in order to attract potential customers across
APG and make visible their assets that have traditionally remained hidden on a
grassroots level. SHARE’s digital
platform turns available resources into highly visible prospects for
organizations to capitalize on, whether it is reducing costs, cutting down the
time needed to generate contracts or completing a project in a more efficient
manner.
“In this time of sequestration, we’re trying to do more with
less,” Norman said. “If you have folks that are available who aren’t fully engaged,
you now have an opportunity to advertise their core competencies with the hope
that they may be needed to support other organizations. This also prevents the organization receiving
the support from the laborious process of generating contract vehicles to
accomplish a task or procure a resource. ”
As the largest employer in Harford County with more than
21,000 civilian, military and contractor employees, the U.S. Army garrison
supports military intelligence, medical research, engineering and computer
technology achievements. Home to 11
major commands that support more than 80 tenants, 20 satellite and 17 private
activities, utilizing existing capital enables organizations to work more
collaboratively, effectively manage the ebbs and flows of a given workload and
raises awareness of the “buyer” and “seller” existence.
Using the digital interface, users
can create blogs to start discussions and receive notifications of new posts.
Information can be tailored and formatted in ways that facilitate advertisements
and solicitations. Attachments can also be added to posts, which can be tagged
with key words to target specific audiences and make searches more efficient.
The SHARE program has been active
for the past three months and encourages collaboration not only within ECBC but
installation-wide. Engaging APG’s workforce in the digital space can also lead
to creative problem solving in real time. The unique, yet simple, concept of
the SHARE project fosters a resource-sharing environment where APG tenants can
reach out to the local Army workforce for support. As a result, it equips the
installation with better buying power capabilities during a challenging
Department of Defense climate of sequestration, war time drawdown, contract
reform and reduction in force.
“If we let some other folks know
what our skill sets are and what talents we have here at ECBC that are
available, that may also help generate funding opportunities. A majority of the
work we do is customer-funded so we have to get out there and find new ways to
capture the work ourselves. This is almost an avenue to advertise what we can
do for folks who need our capabilities,” Norman said.
For more information, visit: https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/apg-share
