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IDEA HUB PROJECTS

Project Origination

The IDEA Hub has a large variety of projects that come to us through different avenues. These include:

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  1. Projects submitted through the MyIT "I Have an Idea" portal;

  2. Requestor sees or hears about possibilities through outreach and community involvement, including demonstrations at various events, and contacts the Radlab;

  3. Projects initiated by the Radlab staff to test the viability and value of new technologies to the University.

Ideas

Types of Work

The types of work that the IDEA Hub does can be roughly divided into two categories. These include:

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  1. "True" projects that require a longer-term commitment, are entered into Asana, and often have a collaborating partner. These type of projects require prioritization.

  2. Assistance projects that are shorter-term, sometimes require an immediate response and may include immediate help for faculty/staff/students. These projects are not entered into Asana, but are individually tracked These projects should be of significant value to the University.

Prioritization Matrix

As projects come into the IDEA Hub, it is necessary to prioritize them. The prioritization matrix used by the IDEA Hub includes the following.

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  1. Value: What is the value to the customer: students, faculty/staff, community? This includes the number of users and level of positive impact. (1-10 times 2)

  2. Strategic Alignment: To what extent is the project aligned with the University’s strategic plans? (1-10 times 2)

  3. Required Service or Product: Is this project required to meet legal, compliance, or regulatory mandates? Is it required for a Creighton service or product to fix a known issue or improve a needed service? (1-10 times 2)

  4. Performance Goal: Is this a performance goal for long-term research, find & fix, or revenue-generating/cost savings project? (1-10 time 2)

  5. New Technology: Does this project include testing of a new technology? (1-10)

  6. Cost: Will this project have an initial cost (other than staff/intern time) paid for by the IDEA Hub? Are there any implementation fees and/or recurring costs? (1-10)

  7. Personnel Requirements: Does the project require multiple staff members and/or student interns? Do IDEA Hub staff/interns have the required skill levels or ability to attain those skills to successfully complete the project? (1-10)

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Ratings are entered for each criterion in an Excel spreadsheet with a maximum number of points possible at 110. The spreadsheet does the calculations and provides the color-coded priority based on the following scale.

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Project Process Documents

In order to better communicate with the sponsors of Radlab projects, we have created project process documents. Each project needs to include documentation for project acceptance, research agreement, project scope, and change management requests for and by the sponsor to clarify the expectations on both sides as well as to determine the criteria to identify project completion. The following documents have been created for this purpose.

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Knowledge Base Article: IDEA Hub Project Protocol

This short document outlines the process involved with project descriptions, acceptance, and change management.

 
Research Agreement & Project Scope

The purpose of this document is to:

  • provide an overview of the Radlab, how projects are handled, and the involvement of interns in those projects;

  • give a project background and description;

  • define the project scope;

  • outline the resources required;

  • describe the deliverables;

  • identify the affected parties;

  • create the timeline and projected end date;

  • include specific exclusions from the scope;

  • develop an implementation plan;

  • describe the project completion plan and service/product design package;

  • gain approvals/agreements in order to proceed.

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Change Management Document

Changes to the Research Agreement & Project Scope require a Change Management document. Many projects experience scope creep. This can result in improvements to the project. However, a method of handling changes is essential.

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