BSS027-2: Dunstable Hospice Operations and Project Management Report

This report examines the operations and project management challenges faced by Dunstable Hospice (DH), a property company, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The analysis focuses on data sharing, digital collaboration, and the impact of data silos on communication and teamwork. The report details the issues arising from remote work, including inadequate communication technologies and the need for improved platforms. It explores the business case for implementing new communication channels and a customized software solution to enhance collaboration and data accessibility. The report also addresses the need for employee training and development to adapt to new communication methods. Furthermore, the report includes a business case template, outlining executive summaries, reasons for change, business options, expected benefits, and dis-benefits, providing recommendations for DH to optimize its business processes and improve employee performance.

Operation and Project
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.................................................................................................................................................3
Analysing Data Sharing and Digital Collaboration in DH – Focus on Data Silos........................................3
Business case template...........................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Operations and project management are continual company activities that carry out
procedures for manufacturing goods and delivering assistance. In a firm, operations management
is in charge of organizing, executing, and coordinating duties, as well as ensuring that all
business activities are efficient and meet the requirements of all stakeholders. The current study
is conducted on Dunstable Hospice (DH), a Property Company with the goal of supplying
acceptable adequate housing for the surrounding area, with a specific focus on giving aide and
assistance to persons at risk. Company maintains and owns a large number of separate apartment
buildings that are divided into General Purpose Housing and Assisted Accommodation (Jewell,
Jewell and Kaufman, 2022). The Covid-19 epidemic has had a negative influence on the firm's day-
to-day activities. The organisation is having communication issues and teamwork between
supervisors and employees. In this report consist of data sharing and data collaboration in DH
and prepare business case.
MAIN BODY
Analysing Data Sharing and Digital Collaboration in DH – Focus on Data Silos
The Covid-19 epidemic caused severe interruption to Dunstable Hospice's day-to-day
activities. As soon as it was announced that a nationwide lockdown was imminent and the risk to
worker security from the corona virus was going to escalate, the General Manager of DH
directed that all staff who could work from homes do so, with the exception of those who needed
to be on-site to ensure the citizens' protection and reliability. As the Covid-19 epidemic
continued to strike the UK, it's become evident that Dunstable Hospice's communication and
teamwork technologies were not fit for long durations of telecommuting.
Several employees, especially those in the General Administration Staff, were dissatisfied
with the requirement to be reachable by email at all times and the continual connectivity of
working remotely. Many employees from all teams believed that email overloading, which was
an issue even prior to the epidemic, had gotten out of control. The Finance Team believed that
emailing workers other than the Finance Team typically resulted in either no reaction or a
message that required days to develop, slowing it down their own internal management
operations. Numerous employees said that Zoom Conferences were time-consuming, exhausting,

and frequently ineffective in resolving communications and cooperation problems (Chakraborty
and Biswas, 2019).
Instead of utilising email for official, casual, and strategic reasons, most team members
decided that they needed a more efficient communication medium for both unofficial and
planning will lead. The new communication platform was sought by the finance team so that
particular requests or conversations might be flagged as essential if it was feasible. To keep from
having to duplicating material and demands on two distinct platforms, the Buildings
Maintenance People demanded that their software, OfficeAmp, be sufficiently integrated through
into unified collaboration and communications system. The Personalised Trainers recommended
that Office365 be partially integrated into the new communications and collaboration tool.
Communication issues were being experienced by certain employees, but it wasn't because of the
routes; rather, individuals were having trouble communicating since of their houses' inadequate
networks, slow internet connections, etc. Elevated broadband connections have to be purchased
on the expenditure of certain staff employees. The reason for this was that their current web
connectivity did not allow them to attend the video conferences. Additionally, some staff haven't
been ready to provide the task on time due to the current bad internet access. The staff workers
had to purchase a superior broadband bundle in order to avoid interruptions in operation and
interact with some other teammates (Lu, Papagiannidis and Alamanos, 2018).
DH faces A data silo is a collection of data kept by one group inside an organisation that is not
readily or completely visible through other organizations. For their respective jobs, the
administrative, HR, marketing teams, and budgeting process require different kinds of data.
Similar to how wheat and grasses in a field silo are sealed off from the outdoors, a data silo is a
store of data that is managed by one division or sales department and segregated from the rest of
a company. Siloed data is frequently inconsistent with those other large datasets and is generally
kept on a separate platform. Before to the Covid-19 epidemic, the Personal Coaches—who were
already using Office 365—raised questions about a change to work satisfaction surveillance.
Another Individual Coach said that LTR was not presently proactively utilising the Office 365
Measurement System, but she would like that administration indicate that they wouldn't are
using this, and other similar devices, in the foreseeable to observe and track work of employees.

The impacts of the pandemic also have a negative aspect. Several workers believe that the
decision to enable remote work, which was made in response to the epidemic, was beneficial to
them. They chose to work remotely since it was simpler and more convenient, for them. These
workers had been sharing housing with their children. They believed that the epidemic had made
it possible for them to see their family even on workdays. It is indeed they used to have set and
rigid office hours, but when they worked from home, they didn't have to. People are delighted
with the way remote employment allows them to maintain a positive workplace balance.
It is advised that Dunstable Hospice roll up new channels for communication. Including
both formal and casual interaction inside the company, it is advised that the business employ
more efficient communication platforms than merely e-mails. This is necessary for DH to have a
route through which the demand for rapid information may be handled if emerging media
channels are to be used. The efficient and timely prioritising of messages should also be ensured
through the new communication routes. The suggested communication solution is to create a
specially designed software for DH only, where employees may cooperate, share important
information, and interact while maintaining high privacy on it. The company should create the
modern communication tools using the most advanced technologies. The workers would find
working remotely to be simpler as a result (Maheshwari, Gautam and Jaggi, 2021).
Learning and Growth: This is advised that DH set up a training and development programme for
its staff so that they can become accustomed to the new communications methods the company
will be implementing. Additionally, it is advised that they train their employees to handle Covid-
19's problems. Top leadership should also provide training courses for the personnel to help them
learn how to perform better when they work remotely.
Business case template
Executive summary: The Dunstable Hospice, often known as DH, is a property manager
that works in Luton with the goal of facilitating efficient accommodation for the surrounding
area, with a focus on providing assistance and support to those who are most in need.
Furthermore, it oversees a sizable number of unique housing complexes that are divided into
Special Purpose Housing and Supported Housing. The Covid-19 epidemic has had a negative

influence on the company's regular business activities. Issues with cooperation and partnership
between supervisors and subordinates are present in the organisation. Additionally, this has made
email-related issues for some team members worse. Some advice to DH executives for
enhancing or increasing organizational business processes and operations processes, including
managing minor difficulties, motivating employees, hiring and selecting candidates, using
efficient communication channels, etc.
Reasons: This is possible to agree that DH encountered a number of issues during the COVID-
19 pandemic crisis based upon the case study. In essence, the company is having issues
integrating its present corporate strategy with the most effective and efficient use of its
communication and cooperation technologies. So, in addition to creating this initiative, the main
motivation is to address the problems with DH's company operations that have been discovered.
As problems with teamwork and communication are resolved, the corresponding company will
be helped in efficiently increasing its productivity. As a result, DH must deal with a number of
problems that affect their daily operations throughout pandemic scenarios since they employ
antiquated communication and cooperation methods and practises. Additionally, the difficulty
that the organisation has encountered as a result of poor communication, inefficient teamwork,
private information concerns, and the use of available money for any kind of business activity.
Business options: All commercial organizations must be able to adapt their institutional culture
and operational procedures. With it now, a business, like Dunstable Hospice, can eliminate
inefficiency and boost employee performance. The following are some suggestions for Dunstable
Hospice management in order to enhance or build leadership procedures and business systems:
 Resolving minor issues: Management at Dunstable Hospice will be capable of optimizing
business operations and procedures when they consider minor staff hiccups. Larger
problems are caused by little workplace problems.
 Motivating staff: Organizational staff members serve as the eyes and ears of corporate
activities. Workers are more willing to be aware of and knowledgeable about system
weaknesses in the case studied to DH. Workers are also more prone to desire improved
methods and approaches for completing jobs. Nevertheless, whenever staff members
believe they are leading by example or in their own style, individuals are not motivated to
provide ideas.

 Recruitment and selection: At the moment, Dunstable Hospice staff struggle with a heavy
email inbox, work to family, and many other issues. In this regard, it is advised that
Dunstable Hospice managers pick employees from a sizable group who possess the
necessary abilities and skills for controlling and finishing tasks on time.
 Utilize proper communication channels: It order to lighten the load and stress on staff
throughout COVID-19, it had been proposed to Dunstable Hospice's senior management
that they use efficient methods of communication instead of email and letters. Workers
can efficiently connect with one another when working from their homes if they design a
customised app that includes microphone and talking functions. Companies have also
organised online live sessions for staff workers to participate in training and development
opportunities for using their own mobile application, helping them to advance their
technological abilities.
The management of Dunstable Hospice may greatly enhance operations and business
processes by following the aforementioned advice. This allows the business to effectively
navigate, regulate, and oversee its employees and operations. This has a greater possibility of
facilitating the judgment procedure, streamlining the delivery of essential knowledge including
the ability to make quick judgments to answer consumer inquiries or assist staff in efficiently
utilizing the new messaging service. Dunstable Hospice may increase the value of the
organisation by improving business processes and systems. Additionally, it may strengthen the
architecture and competences of the organisation, perhaps improving customer service and
maintaining competitive advantages over rivals.
Expected benefits
Following are some of the anticipated advantages:
 Fast accessibility: The creation of personal apps, the organisation of online live meetings,
and other cutting-edge solutions for staff cooperation and communication. Additionally,
this could be advantageous for time and money savings. The personnel would also not
have to monitor the overwhelming volume of emails, and the flaws would be under
management. Additionally, emails take longer to complete and go through the process
than other information-gathering methods.

 Increases productivity: DH's people who are strong is maximized by the engagement in
online tools for collaboration and communication. Furthermore, the mechanization and
advanced technology make work operations simple and keep staff up to date on daily
rituals.
 Remotes are easy to use: The effect of the epidemic emergency and the subsequent
lockdown creates a number of problems for DH's commercial activities. Furthermore,
employees who operate from remote locations have a variety of problems, primarily
communication-related. The new technologies would make it easier for staff to interact
from faraway locations.
Expected dis-benefits
These are some expected negative effects:
 Feeling estranged: In average, the teammates get dissatisfied and discontented as a result
of the digital cooperation. Utilizing computerized and computerized solutions also
frequently creates a psychological barrier inside the group, impeding job progress and
increased employee.
 Project management: Issues arise as a result of the ineffective deployment of project
management or collaborative tools. Furthermore, choosing efficient tools according to the
type of the task is very important to the project.
 Insufficient training prevents team members from learning how to effectively use a new
communication and teamwork technology. Additionally, using technologies effectively to
produce successful results can lead to a number of issues, particularly amongst remote
personnel.
Timescale: The DH would choose new approaches to implement into corporate activities in
order to tackle the problems identified by the use of communication together with
communications and cooperation technologies. Various techniques that are interdependent for
achieving the project's goals will be added in order to understand the big venture. Additionally,
the entire project would be completed in 60 days from the date of beginning, plus an additional
40 days for the benefits to be realized. Additionally, the timeframe allotted to continue
operations in light of new approaches and processing the rewards term has been determined.

Furthermore, to determine the fulfillment of utilization advantages, the skills assessment is
evaluated from a variety of practices. If a particular company can benefit from new ways after
resolving its issues, it will be beneficial to a great amount.
Costs: The costs incurred during the financing of the entire project. Furthermore, depending on
budgeting process, this cost comprises everything from project initiation through
implementation. Additionally, these expenses are established for completing the DH
responsibilities that must be completed within the given time frames.
Operational and upkeep expenses: Those DH costs are achieved with keeping the requirement
for adhering to the proper workflow. Taxes, fees, and other costs are incurred for this.
Business financing Budget management planning can help for the anticipation of the
financial resources required for project completion. Additionally, essential project expenditures
include those for anticipating the project and outcomes of its actions and management. This aids
the projection of costs and the amount of time it takes to carry out the expenditure necessary for
the particular company.
CONCLUSION
According to the aforementioned research, operation and project management are crucial to
an organisation. Activities management is responsible for the management, executing, and
regulating activities and guarantees that all activities of the company are efficient and satisfy the
requirements of all stakeholders. Although project management is characterized as a transient
endeavor carried out for the manufacturing of distinctive goods or results. Such companies
involve with methodically tackling strategically and tactical challenges as well as planning,
organizing, motivating, and operations and financial in order to achieve certain objectives.

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