Project Management for HMIS September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Susan Bruemmer,

Project Management for HMIS

September 13-14, 2005St. Louis, Missouri

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Susan Bruemmer, Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County, Florida

Pollyanna Pixton, Utah HMIS

Jan Marcason, Mid America Assistance Coalition

September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, MissouriSponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

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Agenda

• Issues and Challenges• Getting Users Onboard

Susan Bruemmer, Countywide Project

• Planning and TrackingPollyanna Pixton, Statewide Project

• User Best PracticesJan Marcason, Multi-State Project

• Successes• Tools and Tips


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Issues and Challenges

• Limited Resources: Money, People, Time• Various Levels of Technology• Busy Agency Staff• Need to Deal With Resistance to Change


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Tampa/Hillsborough County Single CoC Implementation

• Large county with both a large urban and rural community

• Failing implementation prior to January 2005• Changed vendors December 2003• No progress throughout 2004• Changed project sponsor March 2005• 27 agencies• 40 programs• Over 120 users currently, projected to 200


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Approach in Tampa

• HMIS is a change in business processes and a change in technology for all homeless service providers

• Consider the perspective of the stakeholder in HMIS• Understand the concept and assumptions of change• Consider the factors that affect adopting a new technology• Consider the type of adopters within your project• Assumptions of change and adopter perspective will shape

stakeholders concerns• Be aware of the levels of concern of stakeholders• Develop a tool to determine the levels of concern• Concerns must be addressed directly or resistance to

change will affect implementation


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Consider the Perspective

HMISPrevention

Perm / Supp

Mainstream

Emergency Shelter

Trans.Housing

Outreach


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Assumptions of Change

• Change is a cyclical process that takes time, and does not occur suddenly

• Changes cannot be forced• Some parts can be predicted / planned for, others are

unpredictable• Everyone is involved in change• An individual can only change his or her beliefs, but

personal changes affect everyone through interactions• Small-scale changes, on an individual level, must be made

to change an institution• In order to facilitate a change, perceptions of the change

must be realized


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Factors Affecting the DecisionTo Adopt or Reject? That Is the Question.

• The perception that HMIS has advantages over the old way

• The compatibility of HMIS with the beliefs and values held by the user

• The perceived difficulty of HMIS• The ability to use HMIS or parts of HMIS on a trial

basis• The visibility of the results


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HMIS Adopter Characteristics


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Stages of Concern

0 Awareness No concerns about HMIS, HMIS not being used

1 Informational Information about HMIS is sought

2 Personal Concerns about the personal impact of HMIS

3 Management Consideration about how HMIS can best be managed

4 Consequences Improving the impact of HMIS

5 Collaboration Focus is on coordination and cooperation with others using HMIS

6 Refocusing Major changes to HMIS result in a new HMIS


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The Level of Concern Survey:A Practical, Easy-to-use Tool

• Provide to any stakeholder at any point in implementation• First meeting• Before training• One week after training• User Group• Steering Committee

• Provide to same stakeholder over time to frame meetings

• Provide on-line, through email or on paper • Use the survey


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How to Address Concerns Determined on the Survey?

• Stakeholder must know that each concern has been heard and understood

• Project Manager must be prepared to provide answers or direction to find answers to concerns

• Some concerns are answered in partnership with agencies or other groups

• Type of concern will determine venue to address• One on one • Group (Steering / User)• Additional training required

• For example …


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Utah ExperiencePollyanna Pixton

• Statewide rollout of 54 agencies• Three year project, one year behind• No project staff onboard• New PM asked to finish one year early, on

September 1, 2005• Agencies at all sizes and technology skill sets• Two other systems in place


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Utah Approach

How to Meet Challenges?• Get the best talent• Trust the team• Use collaborative processes and leadership

concepts• Plan, review and re-plan often • Let team determine what to do and by when• Track against plan• Stand back and let team work


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Planning

• Define and agree to project goals and objectives• Identify deliverables and measurements of

success• Brainstorm to identify all the tasks• Group and prioritize based on importance• Order by time• Group into short 3-4 week intervals • Team members sign up for tasks and determine

by when• Review and reflect on interval results


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Planning Tips

• Only one person responsible for each task• Clear measurable deliverables for each task• Add contingency: 15-30%• Break long deliverables into intermediate

deliverables• Identify critical path• Perform risk analysis and develop contingencies• Do not allow for scope creep

• 80% of projects fail due to scope creep

• Make sure everyone has what they need to succeed


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Tracking and Monitoring

• Weekly status meetings with minutes including action items

• Training schedule• Agency training status• User support visits schedule• Agency participation status• Monthly status reports for Steering Committee• Open Issues Log: decisions outside team• Re-planning as needed


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Collaboration and Leadership

• Create and open environment without fear• Convene the right people• Operate with trust• Create team ownership and foster innovation• Only positive feedback and specific praise• Ask open-ended questions with positive, authentic

inquiry• Foster open dialogue• Provide transparency at all levels• Self-determined accountability• Practice deep listening


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Project Results

• Goals:• Estimated 8 plans for funding• Selected 7 month schedule with team of 9

• Implementation:• Hired talented team members, mid-Jan 05, team of 7• Completed one month early and under budget• Iterated planning three times

• Success Factors:• Flex hours and workplace determined by team• Regular status meetings• Collaborative processes and leadership


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Multi-State Experience Jan Marcason

• Legacy system in place since 1994• Wide variety of user groups• Multi city, county, state collaborative

(200 agencies, 600 users)• Four separate continuums of care• Expanding further statewide


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Developing an Inclusive Plan

• Begin with internal project plan• Invite feedback from various users before final

development• Test program at actual sites, not just in testing

environment• Standardize as much as possible but make room

for special features


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Internal Work Plan

• Get outside help developing the timetable/project template if necessary

• One person needs to be responsible for accountability for follow-through on plan

• Have regular (weekly) meetings to make sure you’re staying on track

• Prepare for delays/adjustments


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Focus Groups Test Software

• Four separate groups test features (emergency assistance, HUD-APR, case managers, shelters)


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Feedback From Users

• Select 4-5 users for each potential work group: include high-level computer users, sporadic users, and novice users

• Determine key elements to test• Prepare a worksheet to walk them through the

testing• Follow up with them to make sure they are doing

the testing• Come back together for group feedback


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Test at Actual Sites

• Software works very differently depending on hardware and connectivity at agencies

• Users assume that the software is defective when it might be their web browser, Internet connection, or pop-ups

• Help raise donations for better equipment and connections


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Accommodating the Range of Needs

• Expanding the network beyond HMIS makes services more effective

• HMIS requirements make the “one size fits all” software impossible

• Give users what they actually need to do their jobs at first

• Gradually add more features as they are requested/required


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Summary: PM Tips and Tools

• Work closely to get users onboard• User Survey Tool

• Plan early and often, track against plan• Use planning process, status reports and OIL

• Plan for what next as early as possible• Use collaboration concepts• Network with other HMIS PMs• Form focus groups

Project Management for HMIS September 13-14, 2005 St. Louis, Missouri Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Susan Bruemmer,

Documents

assumptions of change

department of housing

project assumptions

housing outreach slide

implementation slide

utah hmis

tampa hmis

compatibility of hmis