Center for Better Health

Environment

The VCBH Innovation Center provides a comprehensive method that involves a cross- functional facilitation team, a specialized work environment, and patented processes that accelerate group learning and Design-Build-Use [DBU] planning. Our connection to VMC provides proven methods for leading organizational change and easy access to thought leadership that cuts across the health care spectrum.

Process

A VCBH DesignShop® is a process designed to help organizations innovate and create strategic solutions and actions plans to solve complex problems. By enabling participants to bring full attention to key issues for intense periods of time – fusing planning, design, decision-making, and action – DesignShops allow for teams to accomplish results in a few days that usually take months to achieve in a typical organization setting.

Design Philosophy

Essential aspects of the DesignShop method include:

Sponsored Work: The sponsor team’s work before the DesignShop is the first iteration of the Design-Build-Use process. The planning will occur through face-to-face meetings or through conference calls over a period of four to six weeks. The purpose of this planning work is to develop consensus on the specific information to refine the design. Participation of the sponsor team is crucial to the success of the event.

Multiple Iterations: Sponsor teams push through iterations of design to clarify, connect and drive to details. Feedback on design, assignments and deliverables is reintroduced in the design to ensure each sponsor team member actively participates and validates the design. During DesignShops, course directions or roadblocks in design, allowed for real time correction to ensure maximum productivity and work output.

Direct Feedback: Various forms of feedback are used throughout the DesignShops to accelerate individual learning, develop participant understanding on how various options would likely play out, and reach agreement where possible without compromising decisions or solutions. This opportunity to receive instant feedback generates dialogue and collaboration amongst the participants.

Modularizing Work: The DesignShop design is comprised of modules of work. Modules can range from individual exercises, breakouts, to large group work and require the Facilitation team to know when to break necessary work into modules. Work with the sponsor team drives the selection and design of each module. The facilitation team manages the design progress and alters the design and modules of work selected as necessary.

Time-Boxed Activities: Instead of organizing work around a perfect answer or a complete solution, time-boxed activities are organized to fit a given span of time. This time compressed module of work (ninety minutes) accomplishes the goal of establishing context as broadly as possible at a high level. Participants are asked to visually depict what is in and out of scope, and to identify where the out of scope items will be considered.

Leveraging Knowledge: At key points in the process, subject matter experts (SME) are brought in to stimulate thinking and discussion. The SMEs provided different experiences and knowledge base to draw from throughout the DesignShop.

Synchronized Collaboration: Collaboration evolves in many forms during the DesignShop. Asynchronous work allows participants to work on their own project goals, while synchronized collaboration forces teams to synchronize efforts at points in the process. Synchronized collaboration creates momentum for the decisions, solutions, and plans developed during the DesignShop to carry the ideas into immediate action.

Concentrated Efforts: DesignShops occur over one to three days at the VCBH Innovation Center. Participants spend 8-24+ hours in each DesignShop driving to real results that are immediately applicable, including making key decisions, designing new solutions, agreeing to specific actions and plans, and beginning implementation of ideas and decisions. At the conclusion of each DesignShop, VCBH creates multimedia “webjournals” to document every knowledge object and artifact created by the participants, as well as video footage of group discussions, SME interviews, vendor panels and team presentations.

Direct Observation: The facilitation team observes participant actions to understand if module objectives and session goals are progressing. Feedback is built into the design to provide opportunities for course corrections.

Surveys: Participants complete surveys on the design, objectives and process after each DesignShop. The sponsor team receives this feedback and incorporates it into the design of the next session, driving change and integrating participant needs into the process.