One Solution Stakeholder Conference Call Introduction and Agenda

One Solution seeks to improve the quality of accountability data and reduce the burden of data collection and reporting for CSREES and its partners through a series of business process improvements and the development of the new CSREES Information System (CIS).

CIS is intended to be a data entry and reporting system that will leverage data from existing systems. While One Solution focuses on the needs of federal reporting by the agency, it will also benefit CSREES' partners and external users. Through this series of conference calls, CSREES seeks to gather input on how CIS should work, from the stakeholders who will use it.

Your input is needed to help us identify improvements, prioritize tasks, validate the milestones of the One Solution implementation, and identify the associated risks and communication and training needs. These conference calls are hosted by the consulting firm Accenture, which is assisting CSREES on the One Solution project. They will last approximately 2 hours, and consist of the following:

Agenda

2:00 p.m. — Introduction and Brief Roll Call

2:10 p.m. — Overview of One Solution Project Planning

2:20 p.m. — General Discussion Topics

• Discussion Topic #1: Reporting/Data
  
  How can CIS improve the ways you are using and providing reporting information/data?
  
  One Solution's primary goals are to improve the quality of accountability data and reduce the burden of data collection and reporting for agency staff and partners. Based on the feedback we received from a stakeholder survey taken during the Business Case, an overwhelming majority of those responding described significant burden that CSREES-related reporting places upon their institution. Please consider any issues your institution experiences surrounding the quality of reporting data and the burdens associated with reporting for CSREES and comment on whether these issues have been adequately addressed in the proposed Project Plan.
  
  
• Discussion Topic #2: Workflow
  
  How can CIS improve your productivity and workflow?
  
  This includes any manual processes that CIS could replace or automate and redundancies in CSREES’ reporting processes. Among the reasons cited for reporting burdens were excessive and redundant forms. Through the use of a web-based standard report, One Solution seeks to eliminate redundant data entry, collections and submissions. Discuss any specific items to be considered in the Project Plan regarding manual or redundant processes which would help increase your productivity or streamline your workflow.
  
  
• Discussion Topic #3: Prioritization
  
  From your perspective, what milestones are the most critical to the success of One Solution?
  
  The draft Project Plan prioritizes the order of the milestones based on needs, as identified by the business sponsors. Please identify any conflicts or limitations that would prevent or delay a successful implementation based on this order. Additionally, consider any items that would bring the greatest business value or "quick wins" that could bring early successes to the effort.
  
  If time permits, the following agenda items will be discussed:
  
  
• Discussion Topic #4: Risks
  
  What milestones carry the greatest degree of risk?
  
  Identify the risk factors that could affect the implementation. For instance, several universities utilize their financial systems to complete SF-269s, while others use a generic web-based reporting system to collect impacts and results from faculty members. If any systems such as these are used at your institution, describe those that you feel would be beneficial to be interfaced with One Solution. Also, if any systems are currently used to create outbound reports that CSREES collects, any planned or anticipated system changes will affect the outputs. Any policies at your institution that would inhibit your ability to provide reporting data in a standard report format based on the Office of Science and Technology's Research Business Model are risks, as well. Other risks may include anticipated legislation, availability of resources, or stakeholder buy-in.
  
  The One Solution Project Plan also proposes more user-friendly design to forms, electronic submission, streamlining of data entry across various submissions, better search-ability of data, and a reporting storefront through which all forms, reports and reporting schedules could be accessed. Consider anything that may impede our ability to accomplish these tasks. A few examples include unreliable data, system limitations, or conflicting business processes.
  
  
• Discussion Topic #5: Communication
  
  What are the characteristics of previous, successful communications with CSREES?
  
  This includes any actions that could make communications more effective, as well as the timing, delivery vehicle, and the key stakeholders involved in the communications. Stakeholders could work with CSREES on an ongoing basis to continually refine and improve reporting processes on an ad hoc basis or through action teams or committee which routinely meet to share ideas, experiences, and suggested improvements.
  
  
• Discussion Topic #6: Training
  
  What would be the most effective types of training for this initiative for CSREES partners?
  
  Identify the audiences that will need to be trained, when training should be scheduled, and the most appropriate training methods for each audience. Based on prior surveys, one of the reasons cited for reporting burdens was poor guidance and instructions provided for completing reporting forms. Identify the factors that made this unsuccessful and what could prevent such problems in the future. Examples include Web-based Help tools, printable manuals, or online training.

4:00 p.m. — Next Steps and Adjornment

• The One Solution Project Plan will be completed on June 23rd, but a draft version is currently available on the One Solution Web site. Please review this draft document to familiarize yourself with the milestones for implementation.
  
  After reviewing the draft Project Plan for One Solution, please provide any additional feedback beyond what was expressed in the conference call to Greg Crosby by Friday June 9, 2006.
  
  Thanks in advance for your participation in the One Solution Project Plan Stakeholder conference calls. The information you share with us will be incredibly helpful as our team moves forward in formulating a Project Plan for One Solution. Thank you for your assistance in creating a better reporting process for us all. We hope you have also benefited from your participation in this process.

For questions, contact Greg Crosby, One Solution Director, at 202-401-6050.

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