The purpose of the Information Technology Infrastructure Project Resource Backfill strategy was to outline guidelines that enable the university to continue to meet the needs of the campus community while implementing new integrated software applications for financial services, human resources and student information. Weber State University is committed to encouraging and supporting our employees and recognizes the value of their contribution towards achieving improved customer service through the implementation of the new integrated infrastructure.
The goals of the Resource Backfill Strategy were to:
- Relieve the project team member of the extra work involved in contributing to the project while maintaining their day-to-day job functions.
- Provide a positive experience for employees both on the project team and in the departments
- Provide an appropriate and consistent framework for resource backfill across the institution
- To achieve a high quality LYNX implementation on time and within budget
- Enable project team members to use their skills and knowledge to make positive and effective contributions to the project.
- Enable employees to develop and utilize multiple competencies leading to flexibility and personal growth.
The use of backfill resources is a valuable component of the project in order to meet customer needs while implementing the new infrastructure. All resource backfill solutions must comply with the Weber State University Policy and Procedures (PPM).
The President’s Council and Administrative Technology Advisory Council (ATAC) openly and positively considered all requests for resources to backfill project team members. We looked for flexible and creative alternatives for meeting requests without compromising the project objectives and customer service. Unfortunately, not every job lends itself to an identical resource backfill solution. Supervisors who requested resource backfill funding were responsible for designing a workable and cost effective program. A backfill plan may include a combination of the following options.
Resource Backfill options considered were:
- Internal Backfill – department/division adjust workload responsibilities to redistribute project resource’s assignments to others within department/division. This may include the Supervisor taking on some of the employees’ responsibilities. This will foster personal growth for those remaining in the department as well as those assigned to the project. This is an opportunity for the department/division to develop flexibility for the future.
- Consulting – utilize external consulting resources on ITIP project teams to supplement internal resources. This option requires less time commitment on behalf of project resources.
- Temporary – utilize temporary resources to supplement departments/division resources assigned to project. This may also work in combination with the “Internal Backfill” option.
- Stipend – provided additional compensation to project team member if unable to re-adjust day-to-day responsibilities to balance project assignments. It should be noted that this was a least desirable option because it exposes the employee to a high level of stress and ‘burnout’. Many employees cite fatigue as a “con” to this alternative. Projects relying on this type of backfill (or those with no backfill options) have the highest failure rates.
- Completion Bonus – technology implementation projects are at risk to project resource turnover. An option to minimize this risk was to offer project resources a financial incentive tied to completion of the project.
- Permanent Positions – in a select few instances it was necessary to add an additional permanent position to a department in order to accomplish the requirements of the Lynx implementation and to take advantage of added business functionality provided through the system.
GUIDELINES:
Who participated: All departments with resources committed to the project teams.
Circumstances: Were reviewed on an individual basis. Supervisors and employees must understand that this is a privilege, not a guarantee. If business needs or financial resources change then resource backfill practice may also change.
PROCESS:
A. ATAC provided a backfill framework to affected Divisions. The framework established a level of consistency, feasibility and fairness.
B. Division leadership prepared a description for resource backfill. These proposals demonstrated how the department/division would fulfill all day-to-day obligations of the project resources, as described in the position description, under the backfill arrangement. In particular, the proposals considered these questions:
- Which people in the University will be most affected by the proposed plan and how will they be affected?
- Which aspects of the job will be most negatively affected by the proposed plan?
- Which aspects of the job will be positively affected by the proposed plan?
- What are the costs of the proposed plan?
C. The Division leadership forwarded the request to ATAC for review and discussion.
D. ATAC reviewed all proposals, suggested revisions and sent the final recommendations to the President's Council for approval.
E. Changes to previously approved resource backfill plan must be proposed and approved by this same process.
FINAL ITIP PROJECT RESOURCE BACKFILL PLANS:
The approved ITIP Project Resource Plans utilized a combination of the above options, internal backfill, permanent positions and stipend for team members. The approved plans are consistent and fair across each project team.