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But Will it Sell in Poughkeepsie?
Richard Elhardt
Northern States Power Company
414 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
Richard Elhardt
Northern States Power Company
414 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401
Introduction
A Changing Energy Environment
Northern States Power Company (NSP), headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a major U.S. utility with growing domestic and international nonregulated operations. NSP and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Northern States Power Company—Wisconsin, operate generation, transmission, and distribution facilities providing electricity to millions of customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, and Michigan. The two companies also distribute natural gas to customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Michigan, and provide a variety of energy-related services throughout their service areas. NSP serves economically strong and diverse communities that require reliable, competitively priced, and environmentally sound energy.
Deregulation in the energy industry is increasing competition among providers across the country. The restructuring of the industry is sending all of the players scrambling to maintain their market share and competitive edge in their service territories. At NSP, much of this effort has come in the form of streamlined work processes, aided by the development of updated information technology. To provide better customer service, NSP has produced a new Customer Service System, a Work Management System, and a Geographic Information System (GIS).
GIS - Winning With Technology
The process of developing GIS at NSP began in 1991, and system development and data conversion will continue through the first half of 1999. By November of 1997, GIS has been implemented for about 30 users. Data conversion is complete for an area of over 870 square miles (encompassing nearly 5,000 map sheets), mostly in the area north and east of St. Paul. When the current phase is complete, GIS will span 43 counties in Minnesota, covering over 5,200 square miles and over 31,200 maps. It will serve approximately 340 users. 1.5 million customer addresses will be listed, and more than 40 million features will be mapped. NSP’S GIS will standardize and computerize the thousands of paper maps and other pieces of information used every day by designer, engineers, work crew chiefs, facility locators, and others. NSP expects that it’s new GIS will provide several competitive advantages:
Developing a cutting-edge technology is not enough, however. GIS represents a significant paradigm shift on the part of potential users and managers. For NSP to receive the performance required to justify the cost of developing GIS, it must ensure that the new system will achieve acceptance by the people who use it.
Obtaining user acceptance is often made more difficult when a new system requires substantial changes to existing operating procedures. Users often expect implementation of new systems to be fraught with difficulty, including little or poor training, little support, little application to their every day work, little input into the system’s development, and little time to adjust to the new work paradigm. In addition, challenges such as the user’s indifference, morale, and machine anxiety may act as roadblocks to the successful implementation of the new application. This paper will describe how an organization can not only manage to gain the acceptance of GIS by the users, but even their enthusiastic support for this new technology.
What is GIS?
Building User Knowledge of a New Technology
A Geographic Information System is a process combining users, data, hardware, software, and procedures. It starts with collecting information about the real world such as gas mains, gas regulators, electric cables and transformers. Most of this information is gathered from existing maps. Some of the information, like city streets and building footprints, are purchased from other sources. The information is compiled and edited (scrubbed) and then sent to a conversion vendor. The conversion vendor converts the maps to an electronic format before sending it back to NSP, where it is translated and added to our production database. The data, once translated to the production database, becomes a formidable asset in its own right, and can be used in many other applications. Additionally, tools built into the application, such as an address locator tool, eliminate much of the paperwork and file shuffling inherent in a modern organization.
Many NSP employees use maps every day. Maps are used for decision making, design and construction projects, and critical emergency operating procedures. The work that employees do affects the real world, which requires changes to the maps, changes to the associated data, and therefore, the cycle begins again. The change from paper maps to a GIS has huge implications to many employees throughout the corporation. Management acknowledges the competitive advantage that GIS technology will contribute; and their leadership is necessary to initiate a GIS project. However, the success of GIS is dependent upon user acceptance and employee ownership of the data.
But Will it Sell in Poughkeepsie?
Yes, if the Residents Help You Build IT!
The most important step in gaining user acceptance is to involve the users in as many GIS development teams as possible. Most employees have experienced growing pains during the implementation of a new technology or a new application within their organization. The “lessons learned” during the transition to a new technology have forced users to think that “this could have been done better.” Common criticisms have included:“... researchers have pointed out that the success rate of IS projects and, subsequently, their most effective use could still be substantially improved (e.g., Hornby, Clegg, Robson, MacLaren, Richardson & O’Brien, 1992). In part, the unsatisfactory level of effectiveness sometimes found has been shown to be linked to limited training of end- users rather than the technology itself (Martocchio & Webster, 1992). Also, the lack or low quality of user-friendly documentation of the information system or the software program used, as well as lack of user help offered by IS specialists to organizational employees (e.g., Nelson, 1991 ) and limited user involvement (e.g., Leonard-Barton & Sinha, 1993) are found to contribute to low effectiveness.” (Gattiker, et. aL, 1995)
Users know how NOT to implement a new technological system. NSP used employee “lessons learned” to take a proactive approach to each phase of GIS development (database, conversion, implementation, etc.). NSP used resources from both the gas and electric utilities for the GIS project. Front-line employees, such as electric designers and gas planners, became GIS team members.
Frequently, employees who voice the strongest criticism tend to become the strongest GIS advocates. The best way to “convert” reluctant users is to involve them in the decision-making process. Those who help build the application and define its business processes develop a strong GIS alliance between information technology groups and business units. User’s peers tend to have more credibility than managers when delivering a new system. Front-line employees joined with GIS project team members to:
Spreading the Word About GIS
NSP’S GIS project has been under construction for approximately six years. Converting existing maps to usable data is a fastidious and time-consuming effort. One substantial benefit of the long transition period is that it grants NSP time to build GIS user acceptance. In every instance, business team members used their unique perspective to build user knowledge of what GIS is and how it will affect them. They used corporate communication tools and special reports from the GIS project to provide the users with a “real-world” flavor of the project. The mechanisms used to do this include:
Building The User Interface
NSP performed exhaustive reviews of existing GIS software packages. It was determined by the GIS project team that the requirements for the tool were too specific to allow strictly “off the shelf’ technology to be used. As a result, Miner and Miner’s MMPower Tool applications were customized to N-SP’S specific needs.
The GIS project team realized that any new GIS technology would require a significant learning curve. The goal of the team was to minimize the shock to technologically unsophisticated users by modifying the graphical user interface (GUI).
There were two goals in modifying the GIS GUI.
NSP users determined that by breaking up the major types of features into categories (i.e., Overhead, Underground, Main, Service, etc.), and presenting those categories via icons on the main toolbar and unique attribute tool menus, the user would have significantly fewer choices. The GIS Edit Electric Feature Toolbar icons were organized to reflect the organization NSP Construction and Design Manual. The Gas Feature Toolbar icons were organized to reflect their priority of use by the Gas Designers. The User Interface exercise has proven to be very effective in user acceptance in addressing the following issues:
The program has shown that users’ reactions to technology are influenced by its usability, the extent to which it meets their own very specific working needs, and by its impact on their organization, most particularly in terms of job demands and opportunities for skill use. These latter factors are rarely considered during system development (Clegg, et. al., 1993).
Preparing the Way — Training GIS Users
Approximately 300 employees company-wide will require training. They are being trained on a “just-in-time” basis over a two-year period, as the data for their area is converted. This ensures that newly acquired skills are put to immediate use. A training team was created, consisting of GIS Implementation Team members and the business site-experts/ trainers. Training for the GIS Project is managed by the Training Team Lead, who is responsible for assessing the learning needs of the users.
NSP used an instructional design cycle for courseware development, in which we applied principles of adult learning, and took measures to recognize the different learning styles we would face.
The training, which usually comprises one to three six-hour days, uses a variety of instructional, presentation, and application methods and media. We distribute hand-outs, hard-copy quick references, and on-line help to support the training. We conduct GIS training in an environment conducive to learning, at the user’s location.
To help the training team deal more effectively with the human side of training, we managed the following concerns:
Machine Anxiety
Many people are new to and uncomfortable with computer technology
Indifference
Trainees may have feelings of indifference until experiencing the benefits and seeing the potential of GIS. Training helps to reinforce the issue of data “ownership”.
Enhancing Employee Morale
An enjoyable and fun training experience will result in good morale. Peers assisting with the training reinforce how application skills are improved with time and practice. Peers also help to focus on areas of difficulty and share their ideas for “best methods” to overcome obstacles.
Site experts in the user’s business areas are the local experts in all GIS applications, and will provide on-going local GIS support. They are the first contact for GIS help, and participate in training application users. Site experts also were given “train-the-trainer” instruction.
Several assumptions are critical to the success of training:
The GIS site experts are the first line of help to the users. GIS Project members were pleasantly surprised at response to the request for site-expert volunteers. Users were enthusiastic about attaining the “higher” skill level necessary to become a site-expert.
NSP must be able to use all of the functionality of GIS to operate in a consistent and efficient manner. While we assume GIS training needs will change over time and that occasional retraining or training updates will be required, the GIS Help-Line is “just a phone call away.” The help-line tracks user problems and records them to gauge whether the assistance needed is due to training, application problems, or network problems. Users who have helped with the development of GIS, are used as a resource for providing assistance to users on the Help-Line.
A large amount of time and effort was taken to build a GIS On-line-Help system. The help system, composed of six separate files, each fully cross-linked and illustrated, provides instructions for using the GIS applications. Questions can be answered regarding “how-to,” placement rules, business rules, and best methods. The GIS On-line Help system was built with the users in mind, and avoids using technical computer jargon. It has been especially well received by new users, who run the help system concurrently with the GIS applications.
NSP performs ongoing training evaluations to determine specific follow-up session content. Follow-up training has consisted of one-on-one, small groups, and larger groups when new application versions have been released. These sessions are conducted by the GIS Training team with assistance from the users.
We are Building it... Hear They Come!
The key to developing any information technology solution is careful attention to the end-user’s requirements and the underlying business rationale for designing the solution in the first place. Providing a thoroughly analyzed set of requirements that can be tested by the users will go a long way to ensuring that they will be happy with the final product.
Potential GIS users can be a terrific resource to the development of your GIS tool. Deploy users within the development of your GIS. Use the skills and experience they have to help with GIS communication, the application user interface, training, and user support. The “lessons learned” from employees pertain not only to the implementation of new systems, but also includes data about operating results, business plans, competitive conditions, new technologies and work methods, and ideas for organizational improvement. Employees who have had a personal investment in developing NSP’S GIS system provide the necessary credibility and supporl its implementation. User acceptance will be achieved by employees seeing co-workers gaining improved communication, improved motivation, and improved application skills through ownership of a GIS.
Clegg, Chris. Psychological and Organizational Aspects of the Development and Use of Computer-Based -Systems http://www.shef.ac.uk/uni/academic/I-M/iwp/resprogs/dev_comp.html
Cummings, Thomas G., Wodey, Christopher G, (1993), Organization Development and Change St. Paul: West Publishing Company
Gattiker, U.E., Kelley, 1-1.,Paulson, D., and Bathnager, D., 1995, Information Svstems and End User Attitudes: A Comparison of Emplovees From Three Countries The University of Lethbridge, Working Paper http://home.uleth.ca/man-ct.s/att7.htm
A Changing Energy Environment
Northern States Power Company (NSP), headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a major U.S. utility with growing domestic and international nonregulated operations. NSP and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Northern States Power Company—Wisconsin, operate generation, transmission, and distribution facilities providing electricity to millions of customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, and Michigan. The two companies also distribute natural gas to customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Michigan, and provide a variety of energy-related services throughout their service areas. NSP serves economically strong and diverse communities that require reliable, competitively priced, and environmentally sound energy.
Deregulation in the energy industry is increasing competition among providers across the country. The restructuring of the industry is sending all of the players scrambling to maintain their market share and competitive edge in their service territories. At NSP, much of this effort has come in the form of streamlined work processes, aided by the development of updated information technology. To provide better customer service, NSP has produced a new Customer Service System, a Work Management System, and a Geographic Information System (GIS).
GIS - Winning With Technology
The process of developing GIS at NSP began in 1991, and system development and data conversion will continue through the first half of 1999. By November of 1997, GIS has been implemented for about 30 users. Data conversion is complete for an area of over 870 square miles (encompassing nearly 5,000 map sheets), mostly in the area north and east of St. Paul. When the current phase is complete, GIS will span 43 counties in Minnesota, covering over 5,200 square miles and over 31,200 maps. It will serve approximately 340 users. 1.5 million customer addresses will be listed, and more than 40 million features will be mapped. NSP’S GIS will standardize and computerize the thousands of paper maps and other pieces of information used every day by designer, engineers, work crew chiefs, facility locators, and others. NSP expects that it’s new GIS will provide several competitive advantages:
- Improved customer service
- Increased productivity
- Faster, more accurate map updates
- Improved access to information about NSP’S facilities in the field
Developing a cutting-edge technology is not enough, however. GIS represents a significant paradigm shift on the part of potential users and managers. For NSP to receive the performance required to justify the cost of developing GIS, it must ensure that the new system will achieve acceptance by the people who use it.
Obtaining user acceptance is often made more difficult when a new system requires substantial changes to existing operating procedures. Users often expect implementation of new systems to be fraught with difficulty, including little or poor training, little support, little application to their every day work, little input into the system’s development, and little time to adjust to the new work paradigm. In addition, challenges such as the user’s indifference, morale, and machine anxiety may act as roadblocks to the successful implementation of the new application. This paper will describe how an organization can not only manage to gain the acceptance of GIS by the users, but even their enthusiastic support for this new technology.
What is GIS?
Building User Knowledge of a New Technology
A Geographic Information System is a process combining users, data, hardware, software, and procedures. It starts with collecting information about the real world such as gas mains, gas regulators, electric cables and transformers. Most of this information is gathered from existing maps. Some of the information, like city streets and building footprints, are purchased from other sources. The information is compiled and edited (scrubbed) and then sent to a conversion vendor. The conversion vendor converts the maps to an electronic format before sending it back to NSP, where it is translated and added to our production database. The data, once translated to the production database, becomes a formidable asset in its own right, and can be used in many other applications. Additionally, tools built into the application, such as an address locator tool, eliminate much of the paperwork and file shuffling inherent in a modern organization.
Many NSP employees use maps every day. Maps are used for decision making, design and construction projects, and critical emergency operating procedures. The work that employees do affects the real world, which requires changes to the maps, changes to the associated data, and therefore, the cycle begins again. The change from paper maps to a GIS has huge implications to many employees throughout the corporation. Management acknowledges the competitive advantage that GIS technology will contribute; and their leadership is necessary to initiate a GIS project. However, the success of GIS is dependent upon user acceptance and employee ownership of the data.
But Will it Sell in Poughkeepsie?
Yes, if the Residents Help You Build IT!
The most important step in gaining user acceptance is to involve the users in as many GIS development teams as possible. Most employees have experienced growing pains during the implementation of a new technology or a new application within their organization. The “lessons learned” during the transition to a new technology have forced users to think that “this could have been done better.” Common criticisms have included:
- An application which is not user-friendly
- Training which is too far in advance and/or not applicable to job
- Support which was not available.
Frequently, employees who voice the strongest criticism tend to become the strongest GIS advocates. The best way to “convert” reluctant users is to involve them in the decision-making process. Those who help build the application and define its business processes develop a strong GIS alliance between information technology groups and business units. User’s peers tend to have more credibility than managers when delivering a new system. Front-line employees joined with GIS project team members to:
- provide GIS communication updates to the corporation
- provide user interface recommendations for the application to fit NSP’S corporate culture
- assist with training of peers
- define and implement requirements for user support
Spreading the Word About GIS
NSP’S GIS project has been under construction for approximately six years. Converting existing maps to usable data is a fastidious and time-consuming effort. One substantial benefit of the long transition period is that it grants NSP time to build GIS user acceptance. In every instance, business team members used their unique perspective to build user knowledge of what GIS is and how it will affect them. They used corporate communication tools and special reports from the GIS project to provide the users with a “real-world” flavor of the project. The mechanisms used to do this include:
- Introductory GIS demonstrations
The Implementation Team toured NSP’S Minnesota service centers to demonstrate GIS automated mapping applications using real NSP data. The team set up workstations at 13 sites, complete with hardware, software, and documentation, so that users could become familiar with the application and new symbology. - GIS Primer
In 1995, more than 300 NSP employees received the GIS Primer, a manual that broadly describes the basic theory and features of GIS. The G/S View newsletter is stored in this manual, as well. - Newsletters
NSP’S G/S View k an important part of the information and education system. Topics included:What Will NSP Gain From GIS? The G/S View newsletters are meant to be added to the GIS Primer.
Business and Placement Rules
Organizing GIS Facility Data
Defining Characteristics of Mapped Facilities
Helping You Build Your GIS Knowledge
- AM Repott
NSP’S intracompany daily newsletter is used to announce GIS milestones to all employees.
Building The User Interface
NSP performed exhaustive reviews of existing GIS software packages. It was determined by the GIS project team that the requirements for the tool were too specific to allow strictly “off the shelf’ technology to be used. As a result, Miner and Miner’s MMPower Tool applications were customized to N-SP’S specific needs.
The GIS project team realized that any new GIS technology would require a significant learning curve. The goal of the team was to minimize the shock to technologically unsophisticated users by modifying the graphical user interface (GUI).
There were two goals in modifying the GIS GUI.
- To give the new tool a “look-and-feel” that NSP users would find familiar; and
- To determine the best way to present fewer choices to the casual user in the add menus.
| Definitive Features: | Separating features by descriptive detail |
| Cosmetic: | Basic layout changes to menus and title bars |
| Cascading: | One menu field updating multiple attribute items (and vice versa) |
| Valid Value Tables: | Creation of new Valid Value Tables and creating subsets of current VVT’s for data specific conditions. |
| Defaults: | Values being filled automatically. Users reviewed which values would be most appropriate by gathering information from NSP’S Standards Department. |
NSP users determined that by breaking up the major types of features into categories (i.e., Overhead, Underground, Main, Service, etc.), and presenting those categories via icons on the main toolbar and unique attribute tool menus, the user would have significantly fewer choices. The GIS Edit Electric Feature Toolbar icons were organized to reflect the organization NSP Construction and Design Manual. The Gas Feature Toolbar icons were organized to reflect their priority of use by the Gas Designers. The User Interface exercise has proven to be very effective in user acceptance in addressing the following issues:
Approximately 300 employees company-wide will require training. They are being trained on a “just-in-time” basis over a two-year period, as the data for their area is converted. This ensures that newly acquired skills are put to immediate use. A training team was created, consisting of GIS Implementation Team members and the business site-experts/ trainers. Training for the GIS Project is managed by the Training Team Lead, who is responsible for assessing the learning needs of the users.
NSP used an instructional design cycle for courseware development, in which we applied principles of adult learning, and took measures to recognize the different learning styles we would face.
The training, which usually comprises one to three six-hour days, uses a variety of instructional, presentation, and application methods and media. We distribute hand-outs, hard-copy quick references, and on-line help to support the training. We conduct GIS training in an environment conducive to learning, at the user’s location.
To help the training team deal more effectively with the human side of training, we managed the following concerns:
Machine Anxiety
Many people are new to and uncomfortable with computer technology
Indifference
Trainees may have feelings of indifference until experiencing the benefits and seeing the potential of GIS. Training helps to reinforce the issue of data “ownership”.
Enhancing Employee Morale
An enjoyable and fun training experience will result in good morale. Peers assisting with the training reinforce how application skills are improved with time and practice. Peers also help to focus on areas of difficulty and share their ideas for “best methods” to overcome obstacles.
Site experts in the user’s business areas are the local experts in all GIS applications, and will provide on-going local GIS support. They are the first contact for GIS help, and participate in training application users. Site experts also were given “train-the-trainer” instruction.
Several assumptions are critical to the success of training:
- Hardware is installed and GIS live data is ready for the employees to use in their area of responsibility when they complete the GIS training courses.
- Gas and Electric users generally are trained separately. Training groups are designated by similar functions such as engineers, designers, dispatchers, etc.
- Training will be hands-on, with user manuals and on-line help screens.
- Class size is limited to seven trainees.
- The trainee-to-instructor ratio is 2-3.
- The business will provide trained users to assist with training their peers.
The GIS site experts are the first line of help to the users. GIS Project members were pleasantly surprised at response to the request for site-expert volunteers. Users were enthusiastic about attaining the “higher” skill level necessary to become a site-expert.
NSP must be able to use all of the functionality of GIS to operate in a consistent and efficient manner. While we assume GIS training needs will change over time and that occasional retraining or training updates will be required, the GIS Help-Line is “just a phone call away.” The help-line tracks user problems and records them to gauge whether the assistance needed is due to training, application problems, or network problems. Users who have helped with the development of GIS, are used as a resource for providing assistance to users on the Help-Line.
A large amount of time and effort was taken to build a GIS On-line-Help system. The help system, composed of six separate files, each fully cross-linked and illustrated, provides instructions for using the GIS applications. Questions can be answered regarding “how-to,” placement rules, business rules, and best methods. The GIS On-line Help system was built with the users in mind, and avoids using technical computer jargon. It has been especially well received by new users, who run the help system concurrently with the GIS applications.
NSP performs ongoing training evaluations to determine specific follow-up session content. Follow-up training has consisted of one-on-one, small groups, and larger groups when new application versions have been released. These sessions are conducted by the GIS Training team with assistance from the users.
We are Building it... Hear They Come!
The key to developing any information technology solution is careful attention to the end-user’s requirements and the underlying business rationale for designing the solution in the first place. Providing a thoroughly analyzed set of requirements that can be tested by the users will go a long way to ensuring that they will be happy with the final product.
Potential GIS users can be a terrific resource to the development of your GIS tool. Deploy users within the development of your GIS. Use the skills and experience they have to help with GIS communication, the application user interface, training, and user support. The “lessons learned” from employees pertain not only to the implementation of new systems, but also includes data about operating results, business plans, competitive conditions, new technologies and work methods, and ideas for organizational improvement. Employees who have had a personal investment in developing NSP’S GIS system provide the necessary credibility and supporl its implementation. User acceptance will be achieved by employees seeing co-workers gaining improved communication, improved motivation, and improved application skills through ownership of a GIS.
Clegg, Chris. Psychological and Organizational Aspects of the Development and Use of Computer-Based -Systems http://www.shef.ac.uk/uni/academic/I-M/iwp/resprogs/dev_comp.html
Cummings, Thomas G., Wodey, Christopher G, (1993), Organization Development and Change St. Paul: West Publishing Company
Gattiker, U.E., Kelley, 1-1.,Paulson, D., and Bathnager, D., 1995, Information Svstems and End User Attitudes: A Comparison of Emplovees From Three Countries The University of Lethbridge, Working Paper http://home.uleth.ca/man-ct.s/att7.htm