Team Project - Concept of Operations

Project Description:Teams will develop a Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for a health care organization.The CONOPS will be created in Units 1-7 and presented to the instructor using the "Big Blue Button" in Canvas during Unit 7.

The CONOPS creation starts with a template, which the team will create in Unit 1.This template will be updated and populated with content in Units 2-7.There is not a standard template for a CONOPS, rather it depends on the organization's mission and operating environment.The team may come up with its own CONOPS template, and it will be updated as the CONOPS is created.The team will be graded on the final CONOPS submitted in Unit 8, so interim draft copies starting with the template can be modified as needed to achieve the final version.

A CONOPS states how operations will be conducted by an organization, and provides guidance to the staff for various aspects of operations.As mentioned above, a CONOPS depends on the organization's mission and operating environment.For example, take two walk-in urgent care clinics, one located in a large urban hospital and the other in a rural area where the closest hospital is miles away.Both have the same mission, i.e. to provide urgent care health care services, but their operating environments are much different.For the urgent care clinic inside the urban hospital it is possible to for the clinic staff to obtain hospital resources, utilize hospital staff, and transfer critical patients to the ER, surgery, etc.Whereas the clinic in the rural environment needs staff to be prepared to stabilize and transport patients a greater distance and they must have everything needed on site.

The following example CONOPS is provided so teams can get some idea of what a CONOPS looks like.

CONOPS Example

Of course, the CONOPS for the HA612 team project will not be as large as the example.However, it needs to contain the content described below for Units 1 - 7 and the team has freedom to define operations as they see fit.In other words, there is no set CONOPS for the project, rather the team will define the CONOPS from their understanding of the organization's mission, goals, and objectives.No two teams will end up with the same CONOPS.The CONOPS needs to have a separate section for each item required in Units 2-7.

As the team creates the CONOPS it will build a list of assumptions and constraints.Assumptions are circumstances and events that need to occur for the project to be successful, but are outside the total control of the project team. Assumptions are accepted as true and are often without proof or demonstration.Constraints are things that might restrict, limit, or regulate the project. Generally constraints are outside the total control of the project team.

Good luck on the project and let your instructor know if you have questions!

Unit 1- Development of CONOPS Template:

Create a Concept of Operations (CONOPS) template for the surgery unit in the BCMH mini case (page 18 in textbook).

The CONOPS template needs to state the mission and goals of the BCMH surgical unit, along with the following: 1) defined operational objectives for the surgery unit; 2) assumptions, barriers, and constraints for operations management of the surgery unit based on the textbook scenario and additional information provided by the instructor; and 3) how the operational objectives will be measured.

Unit 2- Concept of Operations Data Collection:

Add a data collection plan section to the CONOPS template created in Unit 1.The plan must include: 1) data items to be collected, and how they are used in operational management of BCMH's surgical unit; 2) the descriptive statistics required to analyze the data; and 3) a list of charts and graphs needed to brief leadership on operational effectiveness of the surgical unit.The team needs to justify why each chart and graph is required to measure operational effectiveness.

Assumptions, barriers, and constraints for your data collection plan need to be added to those already in the CONOPS.

Unit 3- Concept of Operations, Decision Making:

Labor cost has gotten the attention of BMCH Leadership, and they want your team to come up with options addressing nurse staffing.The team must come up with at least three options for nurse staffing to include outsourcing 100% of the nurses, and formulate a decision-making framework for selecting the best option.

Assumptions, barriers, and constraints for your decision-making framework need to be added to those already in the CONOPS.

Unit 4- Concept of Operations, Process Improvement and Risk Management:

Add a process improvement plan section to the CONOPS.The plan needs to address how the operational staff will review data and a process for continuous improvement.Risks to the surgical unit's operations need to be listed as well, along with how each risk will be mitigated.

Assumptions, barriers, and constraints for your risk management plan need to be added to those already in the CONOPS.

Lastly, the team will start preparation for a PowerPoint briefing that will be used to brief BMCH leadership on the final CONOPS.This briefing will be delivered in Unit8 via the "Big Blue Button" in Canvas.

Unit 5- Concept of Operations, Quality Improvement:

Add a quality improvement plan section to the CONOPS.The plan needs to list all quality metrics the team feels are important, to include patients, staff, and other stakeholders of BMCH.In addition, describe how each quality metric supports the operational objectives.Include a cost for implementing and measuring each quality metric.

Assumptions, barriers, and constraints for your quality improvement plan need to be added to those already in the CONOPS.

The Unit8 briefing should be edited to include the quality improvement plan.

Unit 6- Concept of Operations, Forecasting:

Add a forecasting plan section to the CONOPS for managing the surgery unit.The team needs to develop a physical layout for the unit, establish an operational day in hours, and estimate the number of surgical procedures needed to meet demand.

Assumptions, barriers, and constraints for your forecasting plan need to be added to those already in the CONOPS.

The forecasting plan needs to be added to the Unit8 briefing.

Unit 7- Concept of Operations, Scheduling and Capacity Planning:

Your team will present a PowerPoint presentation on the CONOPS to your professor, who roleplay the Chief of Staff at BCMH.

1. Presentation length is 20-30 minutes, and the quality of slides should be appropriate for briefing a senior leader.
2. The presentation needs to be equally divided amongst the team members.
3. Team should prepare for a 5-10 minute question period at the end of their presentation.

Note: avoid using videos and sound in the presentation because they will not work on the "Big Blue Button" in Canvas.

Add a scheduling and capacity management plan section to the CONOPS for managing the surgery unit.The team needs to develop a schedule for the surgery rooms, surgery staff, and disinfection/sterilization staff.

Assumptions, barriers, and constraints for your plan need to be clearly stated.

The scheduling and capacity management plan needs to be added to the Unit8 briefing.

Unit 8- CONOPS Deliverable:

The team willsubmit the CONOPS document.

Team Project Guidelines

Team Formation (0 points)

The instructor will assemble project work teams, which will consist of a Project Manager (PM) and team members. The assigned PM will be the team leader and will be responsible for planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and coordinating the effort of the team to ensure that the assigned project and its' deliverables are successfully completed by the established deadline.Team sizes may vary based on courses enrollment and the nature and scope of the projects to be completed; however, the total team will have no fewer than three (3) and no more than four (4). The goal is to keep the team sizes small enough that each member will have an equal opportunity to make a substantive contribution to the overall success of the team in terms of meeting its goals and objectives.

Important Notice:It is at the sole discretion of the instructor to change team members with or without advance notice for cause or for no reason at all. In addition, the instructor has the right to change the parameters of the team projects, including, but not limited to: moving up or pushing back due dates, changing deliverable expectations, or request progress reports.

Team Meetings - Units 2-7 (0 points Units 2-6, 42 points Unit 7)

Online Students:Each team will utilize Zoom to conduct and record their team meeting. Failure to record any of these mandatory meetings will adversely affect the both PM and team members' grade, which will be assigned by the faculty at the end of unit 7. The meeting MUST be conducted at some point during the unit, which runs from Monday through Sunday. This will allow ample flexibility to accommodate work schedules and the geographic location of the participants (domestic or international). It is expected that a typical meeting will last 45 minutes to an hour depending on the level of group and individual preparation; however, there is no artificial limitations on the length of time the team can participate in the meeting. Zoom facilitates the sharing of one's computer screen, which makes it possible to use these meetings as actual work session. There is no long distance charge associated with using Zoom.

Blended Students:There will be dedicated time during each class session for each team to meet. The time allotted to this activity may vary based on the lesson plan. It IS NOT expected that these in-class meetings will be adequate to ensure the successful completion of the assignment project. In fact, it is more likely that additional meetings outside of class will be required. Assuming this is the case, each team will be permitted to meet using Zoom. These out-of-class meetings WILL NOT need to be recorded; however, they may be recorded should the PM find this helpful. Zoom facilitates the sharing of one's computer screen, which makes it possible to use these meetings as actual work session. There is no long distance charge associated with using Zoom.

• Team participants are responsible for viewing the tutorials on how to access and function within Zoom.SeeUsing Zoom: Students(Links to an external site.)
• .

Team Project Descriptions

Team Project:Concept of Operations (CONOPS)

Unit Learning Outcomes:

Unit 1:

ULO #1: Formulate operational objectives for a health care organization that support the organization's mission statement and strategic objectives.(CLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7)

ULO #2: Prepare a template for a concept of operations whose goal is to achieve the operational objectives in ULO #1. (CLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7)

ULO #3: Formulate the measurement criteria needed determine when operational objectives in ULO #1 are achieved.

Unit 2:

ULO #2: Formulate a data collection plan to measure effectiveness of an organization's operations.(CLO 3, 4, and 5)

ULO #3: Formulate recommendations to strategic managers for optimizing operational effectiveness using data. (CLO 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7)

Unit 3:

ULO #1: Determine the barriers, constraints, and problems the operational manager is likely to encounter in a health care organization. (CLO 2, 3, 4, and 5)

ULO #2: Design strategies intended to garner personnel support for the concept of operations. (CLO 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7)

ULO #3: Analyze data and formulate a decision-making process for selecting potential courses of action.(CLO 2, 3, 4, and 5)

Unit 4:

ULO #1: Prepare a process improvement plan for a health care organization. (CLO 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7)

ULO #2: Identify risks to a health care organization resulting from a poorly designed process flow. (CLO 2, 6, and 7)

ULO #3: Identify considerations for optimizing facility layout of a health care organization. (CLO 2, 6, and 7)

Unit 5:

ULO #1: Formulate a plan to manage quality in a health care organization's products and services, and incorporate quality improvement.(CLO 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)

ULO #3: Identify whether quality management metrics are adequate to protect the healthcare organization.(CLO 1, 4 and 7)Unit 6:

Unit 6:

ULO #1: Develop a plan for forecasting impacts to a healthcare organization's bottom line if an industry changing event occurs, e.g. passage of Affordable Care Act. (CLO 1, 2, 4, and 7)

Unit 7:

ULO #2: Evaluate the capacity of a health care organization based on forecasting and adjust planning, scheduling and capacity management to accommodate the forecast. (CLO 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7)

ULO #3: Asses the risk to the organization if forecast is incorrect, brief senior management, and update risk plan in concept of operations. (CLO 4, 5, 6, and 7)Unit 8:

Unit 8:

ULO #1:Develop a concept of operations and present it to senior managers. (CLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)

ULO #2:Formulate a data collection plan to support concept of operations and measure operations performance. (CLO 3, 4, 5 and 6)

ULO #3:Identify potential barriers, constraints, and problems operations managers may encounter, and develop mitigation plans for dealing with each. (CLO 2, 3, 4 and 5)

ULO #4:Evaluate risks to operations and develop risk management plan. (CLO 4, 5, 6 and 7)

ULO #5:Design and execute a project plan for implementing a concept of operations. (CLO 6)

ULO #6:Evaluate current capacity using data and information systems, then create a plan for modifying capacity and scheduling. (CLO 3, 4, 5, and 7)

Introduction to Team Project:

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, theConcept of Operations(Links to an external site.)

is a description of how asystem(Links to an external site.)

will be used. It is non-technical, and presented from the viewpoints of the various stakeholders. This provides a bridge between the often vague needs that motivated the project to begin with and the specific technical requirements. There are several reasons for developing aConcept of Operations(Links to an external site.)

.

• Get stakeholder agreement identifying how the system is to be operated, who is responsible for what, and what the lines of communication are
• Define the high-level system concept and justify that it is superior to the other alternatives
• Define the environment in which the system will operate
• Derive high-level requirements, especially user requirements
• Provide the criteria to be used forvalidation(Links to an external site.)
• of the completed system

There are number of methodologies used in the construction of a Concept of Operations. According to Carnegie Mellon University (2008), there are some commonalities associated with the development of a CONOPS and they are:

• Statement of thegoals(Links to an external site.)
• andobjectives(Links to an external site.)
• of the system
• Strategies(Links to an external site.)
• , tactics,policies(Links to an external site.)
• , and constraints affecting the system
• Organizations(Links to an external site.)
• , activities, and interactions among participants and stakeholders
• Clear statement ofresponsibilities(Links to an external site.)
• andauthorities(Links to an external site.)
• delegated
• Specificoperational(Links to an external site.)
• processes(Links to an external site.)
• for fielding the system
• Processes for initiating, developing, maintaining, and retiring the system

It is envisioned that the development of a CONOPS provider a clearmethodology(Links to an external site.)

to realize the goals and objectives for the system, but is not expected to be used as an implementation or transition plan itself.

Sources:

Concepts of Operations. Carnegie Mellon University 2008.

IEEE Std. 1362-1998 IEEE Guide for Information TechnologySystem DefinitionConcept of Operations (ConOps) Document. IEEE Standards Association.

IEEE Std. 29148-2011 Systems and Software EngineeringLife Cycle ProcessesRequirements Engineering

Directions

The team will create a Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for the Operating Room Department depicted in the mini-case:The Bullwhip Effect in Health Care Organizations, which can be found on pages 18 and 19 of the textbook.The CONOPS needs to address, but is not limited to the following:

• Statement of thegoals(Links to an external site.)
• andobjectives(Links to an external site.)
• of the system
• Strategies(Links to an external site.)
• , tactics,policies(Links to an external site.)
• , and constraints affecting the system
• Organizations(Links to an external site.)
• , activities, and interactions among participants and stakeholders
• Clear statement ofresponsibilities(Links to an external site.)
• andauthorities(Links to an external site.)
• delegated
• Specificoperational(Links to an external site.)
• processes(Links to an external site.)
• for fielding the system
• Processes for initiating, developing, maintaining, and retiring the system