The 1:1 i-Collaboration^™ Approach ...

. . . combines process and technology with motivational psychology and effective communications in an ongoing business process that drives continual performance improvement.  This systematic approach:

• Focuses the frontline staff on a high performance model and garners the most needed improvements

• Employs Internet-based interviews that enable staff to quickly construct complete recommendations

• Uses software to aggregate, score and sort out the most desired actions in real time

• Facilitates timely action, keeping the staff informed, and recognizing their contributions

• Is repeated quarterly to keep everyone focused on improvement and to monitor prior action impact

The hosted i-Collaboration solution employs innovative software that quickly garners high impact recommendations from a broad spectrum of frontline staff and then sorts out and reports those opportunities with the best risk / reward ratio. Being a hosted solution, you can be up and ready in no time. There’s no software or hardware to install and all we need are the staff email addresses, so there’s no long wait.

The 1:1 Performance Model Database^™

At the heart of i-Collaboration is the Performance Model Database, a four-level tree-structure that includes:

1. Factors -- usually 6 to 9 areas that shape performance

2. Components -- sub-divisions of each Factor that narrow the focus

3. Elements -- actionable parts of each Component with no further drill-down research required

4. Desired Actions -- those steps that can be taken to improve the specified Element’s performance

The Performance Model Database is tailored to each organization’s unique environment to efficiently drive the i-Interview™.  This model and the work that goes into adopting and tuning it will:

• Develop a comprehensive view of all that impacts performance

• Avoid performance issues via better planned actions

• Anticipate potential problems better and then pre-empt them

• Quickly and cost-effectively explore the attractiveness of various solutions

The 1:1 i-Interview^™

The i-Interview provides staff with menus from the Performance Model Database including Factors, Components, Elements and Desired Actions.  Staff is invited to the interview via an email which includes an embedded URL. Clicking on the URL takes participants to a 1:1 server, which displays the top-level performance Factors.  Participants click on the Factor they feel most needs improvement, which takes them to selectable Components and then selectable Elements. Once they drill-down to the actionable Element, participants are presented with a menu of various Desired Actions and are asked to select the most attractive.

Participants are then asked a series of questions relevant to justification that complete the 1:1 Micro Business Case™.  The Micro Business Case is a comprehensive dataset that can be rapidly assessed by 1:1 Impact Analytics™.  The dataset includes the actionable area needing change, desired actions and justification.

The i-Interview is well-received, which is borne out via a comprehensive set of experiential metrics integrated into the process and presented to management with the performance improvement recommendations.

1:1 Impact Analytics^™

When the i-Interviews are closed, the data is fed into the 1:1 Impact Analytics software that:

• Aggregates all Micro Business Cases addressing the same Element

• Scores aggregated Micro Business Cases based on impact value

• Displays complete Micro Business Case information, including

• Ranking number

• Descriptor: Factor, Component and Element

• Mindshare Statistics: Number and %

• Average Importance & Performance: 1-10 ratings

• Average Benefit Potential: 1 -10 ratings

• Desired Actions and # votes

• Hot links to text details and the ‘others’ inputs

With automated 1:1 Impact Analytics, there are no omissions, no errors and no delays; the analysis is done in rapid fashion and is complete and right the first time.

Value-Add Consultants

The 1:1 consultants objectively sort out the highest impact, most critical Micro Business Cases, consolidate them with related Micro Business Cases, prepare a short list, and present the short list with relevant staff text inputs and interview cycle statistics to management within a few days of completing the i-Interviews.

Collaborative Business Process

The 1:1 i-Collaboration solution is designed as an end-to-end business process for driving continuous performance improvement. Interviews can be run quarterly in sync with the quarterly business review process.

The 1:1 process casts a wide net to pick up high impact / critical recommendations, which are then aggregated by common Factor-Component-Element combinations. The aggregated Micro Business Cases are then scored and ranked based on impact and criticality. The 1:1 consultants consolidate related Micro Business Cases and present the top 10 to 20 to all those who had participated in the interview process for their individual assessment in:

1. Importance and criticality

2. Confidence in the organization’s ability to affect near-term change

From this staff assessment process a short list is developed and presented to management for timely action.

The 1:1 i-Collaboration Advantage

Information Advantage

The i-Interview differs from traditional surveys in both the information it gathers as well as the experience it provides the participants.  The primary informational differences include:

• Pinpoint problem areas, desired actions and justification

• Opt-in for corrective action team

• i-Interview assessment

Participant Experience Advantage

The most dramatic difference for participants however is the feel.  The i-Interview is personal to each participant with each participant free to address only what he / she feels is most important to them.  In addition participants are impressed with the completeness of the drill-down menus and the fact they are being asked all the right questions.  Per the participants, these are the i-Interview’s best aspects:

• Comprehensive and complete

• Fast process they control

• Participative decision-making process -- feel empowered; part of solution

Here are the i-Interview metrics we report:

• Average time: 10-12 minutes

• Average # recommendations: 3+

• Content service level: 92%+ (have what participants want 92%+ of time)

• I-Interview comfort rating: 8+ on 10-scale

Immediately Actionable Recommendation Advantage

Management likes the 1:1 recommendations because they are:

• Participant-driven / objective

• Complete with no additional research required

• Aggregated, scored & ranked

• Error-free with no omissions

• Segmented any way management prefers

• Current within a few days

Benefit Magnitude Advantage

The 1:1 solution yields far greater benefits than traditional methods such as surveys, roundtables and focus groups when the purpose is to act quickly on things that significantly impact care quality, safety, productivity, costs, retention and recruitment.  This advantage derives from 1:1’s superior data actionability and currency.

For data to be immediately actionable it must be complete, including a pinpoint description of the area at issue, general and detailed desired actions, and a justification statement.  The data must also have critical mass, which means that a significant number of participants are behind it.

The 1:1 i-Collaboration solution provides “complete data” and only recommendations with critical mass are presented to management. The latter is decided by 1:1 Impact Analytics software so there are no errors or omissions.

When end-to-end process time is considered, including instrument design, event, analysis and report preparation time, the 1:1 solution takes far less time than traditional methods.  With minimal instrument design / redesign time and labor and no text comment analysis time and labor, the 1:1 solution also has a significant advantage in total cost versus traditional approaches.  In addition, the data emanating from traditional anecdotal comments typically lacks critical mass, thereby reducing its reliability and often rendering the data useless.

The most significant financial advantage however is the reduction in lost economic benefits resulting from delayed or no decisions.  With 1:1 actions are taken much sooner thereby yielding greater benefits. The high cost of lost benefits and end-to-end labor is often overlooked when “low priced” methods are cited.

Immediately actionable data delivered in several days versus scattered data delivered months later is without question a compelling economic benefit.

The i-Collaboration Business Process Advantage

The i-Collaboration business process aligns well with management objectives because it is:

• Well-proven in complex scenarios

• Hosted with no software or hardware to install

• Easy to implement with results in a few weeks

• Intuitive requiring no staff training time

• Easy on staff time; one “coffee break” every 90 days

• Fast to deliver a short list for timely action and benefits

• An ever-improving systematic process