Being associated with AACE has increased my skills and knowledge. I have benefited professionally by being active in AACE, writing and contributing to recommended practices. I have learned new technologies, processes, and procedures by writing, reviewing, and helping to edit recommended practices. (In addition, my salary has increased because of my activity with AACE and writing RPs.) I use AACE recommended practices every day – for instance, in producing a basis of estimate to document my estimates.
Recommended practices go through a two-step peer review process. The first review is a subcommittee review followed by a public review. At each step, review comments are tracked, adjudicated, and edits made. Writing a recommended practice is not as hard as you think. Pick a topic that you are interested in, see how it aligns with the AACE Total Cost Management Framework. Write a scoping document that outlines the topic elements (and excluded subject) to be covered in the RP. As you develop the RP, you may seek the help and guidance of subject matter experts at AACE. You will be responsible for tracking the comments, adjudicating the comments, and updating the RP for the subcommittee and public reviews. I will personally coach and mentor any author that wants to volunteer for writing a recommended practice.