TSC - T3F Retrospective Assessment

TSC Retrospective Self-Assessment Based on T3F Recommendations at Project Insight #749

• Sponsored by TSC
• Co-Sponsored by DESD, FTSD, SSD SD, and T3SD

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Project Information

• Project facilitators: Woody Beeler
• Project Need
  • Every good organization should undertake a retrospective self-assessment in order to establish its prospective plans. When the TSC was first organized, it agreed to undertake this review after its first two years of operation. The foundation for the review is the T3F recommendation for the "HL7 Technical Directorate", which was the basis for the 2007 re-organization of the TSC.
• Original Scope
  • The Technical Steering Committee (TSC) will undertake a retrospective review of itself (after three full years of operation) based upon the recommendations of the HL7 Technical Transition Task Force (T3F) to the HL7 Board in May 2007, as adopted. The assessment will include a validation of the original recommendations and objectives in light of changes in HL7; the degree to which the current TSC is adhering to those recommendations and meeting those objectives; steps to close any gaps identified; and a revised set of recommendations for the next three years. The resulting report will be provided to the HL7 Board and Working Group as the next TSC three-year plan.

Meeting Information

• No separate meetings conducted at this time for this project

Status

• Original T3F members have agreed to review the draft recommendation before TSC/Board endorsement
• Recommendations will evaluate TSC against its original success criteria and responsibilities statements

Success Criterion	Detail	Evaluation
Three core objectives -	assuring the continuity and vitality of the HL7 volunteer-based Working Group; maintaining coherent inter-operable standards while minimizing duplication of effort; providing sound consensus-based standards that meet the needs and schedule requirements of HL7's clients.
HL7 members can easily find answers to the following sorts of questions:	What is HL7 doing in the area of xxx? Where xxx is an area of interest to a member What is happening on this project? How do I know what to do at a WGM? What is the status of a particular HL7 specification or document?
Responsibilities	Detail	Evaluation
Oversees Execution of Standards Development	Participates in development of an HL7 Product and Services strategy for adoption by the HL7 Board Oversees the TSC Steering Divisions (SD) in the establishment and management of projects and project teams to accomplish the product and services strategy set by the Board. Approve, monitor, and perhaps intervene in overall product development Performs top-level review and authorizations as specified in the formal development process
Provides a Coherent Architecture and Development Process	has overall responsibility for the development and adherence to an HL7 Technical Architecture and the development, maintenance, and execution of an HL7 standards development process defines and manages international harmonization mechanism ensures that the balloting of any HL7 specification, or portion thereof, is carried out in accordance with HL7 Bylaws and ANSI rules. holds ultimate responsibility for harmonization of committee work products. Harmonization is the process whereby the various shared models of the HL7 Technical Architecture, are defined for common use by the HL7 Working Group and for use between collaborating SDOs. The harmonization process must consider the requirements of the HL7 architecture, the need for sharing and re-use, and the requirements of the various domains of use.
Oversees the Technical Operations of the Working Group	Ensures that Working Group policies and procedures and bylaws are followed Oversees continuous quality process Works through SDs to identify cross-domain and cross-function gaps, overlaps, discrepancies, potentials for collaboration, and conflicts and recommends resolution responsible for any official interpretation of the HL7 standards
Primary Communication Vehicle for the Technical Operations of HL7	serves as technical escalation point for any questions related to the technical operations of HL7 reports to the Board, the WGM, and the membership on Technical operations news, status, and issues as appropriate responsible for any official interpretation of the HL7 standards

From initial scope statement - Initial cut at "steps":

1. Establish project team responsibilities
2. Agree what are the steps
3. Establish criteria, based on the T3F Report, to be assessed here
4. Assess TSC against criteria by polling the following:
   1. TSC Membership
   2. Board Chair, CTO, CEO and Executive Director
   3. Working Group Co-chairs (optional)
5. Create Gap analysis
6. Define recommended changes for TSC
7. Define revisions to the criteria for future
8. Get TSC approval
9. Gain Board endorsement

Issues/Hot Topics

• No issues tracking repository has been established

Sample questions and metrics regarding the TSC self assessment
See Two-page_TSC_Decision_Summary for background of original recommendations

• Assessment of successful accomplishment of objectives:
  • establish Composition and Method of Formation of four Steering Divisions

    Then and Now:

    • Original recommendation: Fourth Steering Division comprised of set of Board-appointed committees that provide support to the other Committees and SIGs (such as Tooling, Publishing, Education); these will become TSC-appointed Committees
    • This was revised January 2011 to have one elected co-chair and one Board-appointed cochair for Work Groups in Technical and Support Services Steering Division
    • Additionally, a process has been established to allow for the change (or exchange) of Work Groups between one Steering Division and another
  • Composition and Method of Selection of TSC Members

    Then and now:

    • Primary and Alternate Steering Division representatives
    • Steering Division representatives are now co-chairs with alternating election years, still sharing one vote per Steering Division
    • TSC Chair will be invited to serve as an ad-hoc member for one year following the end of their term.
  • Set the Principles of Operation of Technical Steering Committee

    Then and now:

    • Original intent: The "HL7 Technical Steering Committee" document is a living document that shall be continually refined by the TSC, and represents the "contract" between the TSC and the HL7 Board
    • This has evolved into a formal process by which the TSC maintains its own mission and charter statement, Decision Making Practices, SWOT and three-year plan. They are assigned responsibility for tracking a number of objectives under the Strategic Initiatives process now in place.
  • Elect TSC
    • Provisions for TSC elections have been established and are maintained in GOM section 09.01

Additional Evaluation Questions:

• Do the Steering Divisions perform the functions they should?
  • If they were Work Groups, would they be "healthy"? Do they post minutes, achieve quorum, and keep their organizing documents and terms of reference up-to-date?
  • Is their scope of responsibility appropriate? (see background discussion at TSC Tracker # 749, Review the role of the Steering Divisions - activity folded into the overall HL7 Quality Plan, which has since been folded into the Strategic Initiatives. See also January 2010 Technical Newsletter article.

Project Documents

• See Two-page_TSC_Decision_Summary for background of original recommendations
• See Selected_Archive_of_T3F_Information