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Category: Project Management

Case Study: Policy into Action

Implementation of the Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) Policy

Client: National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of the Director, Office of Extramural Research (OER)

Project Duration: July – December 2007

Ripple Effect Contact: Janelle Jobe, jjobe@rippleeffect.com

Challenge

The process of policy implementation is multi-directional, disjointed, frequently interrupted, and unpredictable.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) developed the Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) Policy, which calls for NIH funded researchers to submit genetic data into a centralized repository.  The purpose of the policy is to facilitate broad and consistent access to GWAS data in order to speed the translation of basic genetic research into new therapies, technologies and procedures that benefit the public health.  Turning such policy into action can be a daunting task, considering the internal and external complexities involved.

NIH had approximately six months to prepare for implementation with the policy effective date slated for 2008.  Office of Extramural Research (OER) leadership sought the assistance of Ripple Effect to provide project management support of the policy development, public comment process, policy finalization, implementation and the transition of activities to governance.

Solution

An Implementation Committee was established comprised of members from the NIH Office of the Director and the 27 Institutes and Centers. Ripple Effect developed a project plan that identified key objectives, timeline, audiences and resources.  The project plan removed the critical unknowns of implementation: the order of actions, whom to include, what to pay attention to, the needs and role of each audience; which can vary over the life of the policy implementation process.  The key objectives of the implementation plan were to have sufficient training resources available to prepare the NIH staff and materials to educate the scientific community and general public about the policy.

NIH staff internal operational processes were reviewed to determine the various resources and materials needed to institutionalize the GWAS Policy.   Ripple Effect developed and facilitated the creation of 50+ products, including materials tailored specifically to the general public, researchers and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), covering:

  • Policy guidance (e.g., frequently asked questions, case studies, templates)
  • Communications and outreach (e.g., controlled correspondence, presentations, brochures, and web content)
  • Electronic systems (e.g., SharePoint site, QVR reporting)
  • Training plans and instructional materials (i.e., for NIH staff, researchers and IRBs)

Ripple Effect facilitated some 40 meetings of the Implementation Committee to coordinate activities, convene with subgroups discuss policy related issues, review products and monitor project progress.  We orchestrated the simultaneous activities undertaken by the Committee and subgroups to ensure that they contributed to the successful implementation.

Achievements

  • Enabled NIH OER to conduct training, and provide instructional materials to the NIH staff and the public on the GWAS policy.
  • Crafted clear and consistent communications that were frequently transmitted to the NIH staff, the scientific community and the public.
  • Developed a Microsoft SharePoint site which fostered information sharing among committee members and archived key deliverables for future reference.
17 January 2011 Written by Amy Bielski 0 Comments

Think You CAN’T Do a GANTT?

Why do people find Gantt charts intimidating?

Because they are used to intimidate.

Most people only experience Gantt charts as finished products. Someone has created a timetable projecting work  a year or more into the future. It combines:

  • Activities by multiple staff members
  • Tasks and subtasks of a project that go on for many pages
  • Expectations for productivity by the month or the week
  • Interdependence among team members
  • Vehicles (or barriers) to achieving goals
  • Projections of staffing gaps and crunch periods
  • Several iterations, each of which reveals a different time period, level of detail, or task owner
  • A legend (the creator knows you will not be able to navigate the Gantt chart without one)

The person walking you through it (very likely its creator) talks as though this 50,000-foot view with countless moving parts can be instantly absorbed into your consciousness.

But that is not really her goal. She is the project manager. Sure, she wants you to comprehend the big picture.Yes, she hopes you eventually will think in a nuanced way about the details for which you are responsible. But at this moment, her primary purpose is to convince you that a plan exists, and that she is the only one who can fully grasp it.

Why does the project manager do this?

First of all, forgive her; she cannot help it. After spending several weeks anticipating how numerous variables must sing together in harmony, and safeguarding against the many, many things that may go wrong, she really is the only one who can fully grasp the implications of failing to do things in the right order, with the right people in the room.

But the “effectively intimidating” Gantt chart has two strategic purposes as well:

  • It establishes her as the ultimate authority on the project—and rightly so. Her effectiveness as a team leader depends on everyone treating this document as the only reliable roadmap, and seeing her as the navigator.
  • She needs your help. No matter how careful she has been, she will not have anticipated everything. You and your colleagues are the subject matter experts who will make this plan happen; once you get past the initial intimidation, you will study your roles and raise red flags about anything that may interfere with your ability to deliver. Now everyone on the team has her back.

Three keys to the effectively intimidating Gantt chart

  1. Let the Milestones Chart the Path. For each task in the project, there are milestone achievements. These are not necessarily big flashy events; a milestone is the completion of a step (big or small) that enables other tasks to move forward, or directly triggers them. Milestones reveal the inter-dependencies across tasks and among subtasks, and they show where the teams will need to work in deliberate coordination. If individuals do not understand the cross-project milestones, they will innocently (but lethally) sabotage them.
  2. Do Your Homework. If you are guessing about resource needs or time lines (instead of making educated estimates) then your Gantt chart will be a work of fiction. Your team will see right through your ignorance, and you will lose their confidence.  Instead, seek firm numbers from the members of your team who have the experience to provide them. Not only will your plan be more realistic, your team will have shared ownership for both the plan and the outcome.
  3. Use Software, but Don’t be a Lackey. There are very cool tools that can help take some of the toil out of the mechanical creation of a Gantt chart. But do not be fooled; they are neither necessary nor sufficient. Not necessary: you can do what you need in a spreadsheet just as effectively. Not sufficient: You need to think through the timetable and resource needs of each task, not just punch in uninformed dates. I would even argue that the first time you make a Gantt chart, you will learn much more by doing it the slow way, perhaps in a spreadsheet program, than you will using something that spits out answers based on algorithms you did not create yourself.
05 January 2011 Written by Amy Bielski 0 Comments

Timesheets: Using the Force

Are timesheets due today at your organization? What do you do to get your timesheet in ontime? Here is what one creative organization did to make sure employees turned in their timesheets ontime.

01 December 2010 Written by Amy Bielski 0 Comments

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