مدیریت انتظارات پروژه در پیاده سازی سیستم های اطلاعات خدمات انسانی: در مورد سیستم های اطلاعاتی مدیریت بی خانمان ها

Complex information management implementation projects develop cyclical downturn patterns that, if not managed effectively, can throw them off course. These cycles are intrinsically related to contradictions that are normally embedded in the project’s goals and expectations. The position presented in this article is that managing these cycles is more effective than attempting to eradicate them. Human services information systems are examples of systems that embed enormous contradictions. This paper uses the context provided by homeless management information systems to present a model of project management evolution. It explains how the cyclical pattern presented here can be used as a learning model that recognizes the limitations of deterministic project management thinking and the value of deferral planning, experimentation and balancing. The paper proposes a strategy to deal with this.

Human Services Information Systems (HSIS) are a category of information management resources with the following characteristics: they address issues and populations that are normally associated with poverty or disadvantage; they involve large numbers of stakeholders for their development; there are considerable numbers of privacy laws that apply to their deployment and use; the economic equation for these systems is normally based on government or philanthropic sources of funding versus outcome assessment; the providers of human services rarely support information management initiatives; and they are normally run and operated by a social sector with very scarce resources. Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS), a subset of HSIS, expose all these characteristics in a form that accentuates the challenges. For example, most human services organizations address technical system operation through conventional training programs. However, emergency homeless shelters have tremendous staff turnover rates that make conventional training programs outmoded. Homeless Management Information Systems are highly distributed client and case management applications that support the provision of housing and other services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness; they address the data management needs of human services agencies that attend to this population and are often used for reporting purposes to government and other funding agencies. Comprehensive use of HMIS in the United States has been in place since the early 1990s by a handful of communities. Most notably are the states of Massachusetts and Wisconsin, and the Cities of Spokane, Washington, St. Louis, Missouri and Columbus, Ohio. In 2000, the US Congress passed a directive [1] to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requiring the submission of an Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). This report, the first version of which is due in 2005, is expected to provide an objective assessment on the number of homeless individuals and families and the status of homelessness in America. The HUD mandate has given considerable impetus for communities normally referred to as Continua of Care (CoC) around the United States to plan and begin implementation of HMIS. The country’s CoCs have approached HMIS implementation in a variety of ways. While some have conducted their own implementation plans, the majority of CoCs have joined a regional or state-wide initiative. With equal impetus there have been developments in HMIS applications by communities and by commercial software applications development organizations. The HUD directive has had an impact on the speed with which communities are moving forward on HMIS implementation. As of 2002, 74% of CoCs reported to HUD that they were in a planning phase and had no HMIS in place; by 2003, nearly two-thirds (61%) reported that they had moved into a full-scale HMIS implementation phase. This paper is organized in three parts. The first part describes specific and typical challenges found in HMIS project management. The second part explains the cyclical patterns of HMIS projects. This research indicates that these types of projects undergo a predictable series of ups and downs on their paths to full implementation. This section explores this project management cycle and provides explanations to some of the causes for the ups and downs, utilizing two illustrative case studies of HMIS implementations in the United States. The first is a state-wide implementation in Massachusetts and the second is the implementation in the city of Seattle and King County. The third part of the paper describes tactics that successful project managers have employed in dealing with contradictory project goals. These tactics are combined here into a proposed strategy for dealing with project contradictions.

This paper has elaborated on some key factors that contribute to the successful management of complex HSIS projects, grounded in learnings from HMIS implementations taking place across the United States. The paper elaborated on the subtle and profound issues confronting this country’s human services multi-agency system implementation projects. These environments are challenging in many ways. Project participants experience inherent contradictions and uncertainties that if not recognized, may generate enormous turbulence and difficulty to carry out the deployment. The paper explains how such projects oscillate between phases of high energy and enthusiasm and phases of enormous challenge. Tactics and a strategy to deal with these conditions were presented.