CASE STUDY

PERFORMANCE SUPPORT CASE STUDY

Client: US Army’s Combat Readiness/Safety Center
Area of Focus: Performance Support Solutions
Contract Vehicle: Sub-Contract through QinetiQ North America

Abstract

The US Army’s Combat Readiness/Safety Center works to keep soldiers safe by providing commanders in the field with a tool that helps them analyze and mitigate risks.  Called “Composite Risk Management” (CRM), the tool helps commanders plan missions and receive clearance from the appropriate level of command.  As a sub-contractor to QinetiQ North America, Carney was engaged to help create a new interface for commanders that folded advanced functionality into the existing CRM tool.

Background

The US Army’s Combat Readiness/Safety Center provides training and materials to help keep US soldiers safe, both in combat theaters and beyond them.  One of the ways they achieve their mission is by training commanders to use a process called Composite Risk Management (CRM) which helps commanders analyze and mitigate risks.  CRM asks commanders to think through a course of action—anything from a combat mission to a Hawaiian vacation—and assign a likelihood of risk and the severity of any adverse outcomes.  After looking at all the information, a commander can then revise the course of action in a way that diminishes both the likelihood and severity of any possible risks.

Because the US Army’s Combat Readiness/Safety Center has worked with Carney as a part of the QinetiQ Team on an ongoing basis, they asked Carney to design a computer application that would help commanders in the field incorporate CRM practices into every mission and extend the tool’s capabilities by automating many of the tasks commanders previously had to do manually.

Challenge

The US Army’s Combat Readiness/Safety Center had a need, but lacked a clear vision of how to fulfill that need.  Carney was encouraged to develop a solution based not on a set of requirements, but rather based only on a desire by the Center to improve its CRM tool and automate the CRM function for commanders in the field.

Carney Solution

Carney delivered a solution that included the following components:

  • A single software interface that resided on the commander’s local computer, recording all previous CRM situations, so commanders could make the best use of their past challenges and decisions
  • Automated analysis of risk likelihood and severity
  • Prompts for commanders to request clearance from the appropriate level of command based on the risks associated with the planned course of action
  • History of all actions planned by the command, including previous commander’s actions, so successive commanders would have the benefit of their predecessors’ planning

Results

Carney was able to launch the new solution quickly. The CRM tool continually updates as it receives feedback from soldiers in the field.

Delivering Remarkable Client Experience

Because Carney had worked extensively with the US Army’s Combat Readiness/Safety Center through their partnership with QinetiQ, a rapport had developed that allowed the Center to approach the Team with their need. Carney was encouraged to develop a solution based not on a set of requirements, but rather based only on a desire by the Center to make its CRM tool easier to use, more feature-rich, and automate the CRM function for commanders in the field.

Admittedly, the Center had lacked a clear vision of how to fulfill their need, but they knew they could trust the QinetiQ Carney Team to clarify that vision and develop a performance acceleration solution to fulfill their need.

Carney – A trusted partner

Carney, founded in 1994, provides government and military clients with innovative knowledge management solutions that accelerate workforce performance.  Carney’s products and services help agencies accomplish mission-critical objectives and improve readiness.

Through best practices and a thorough examination of the challenges facing military and government leaders, Team Carney identifies new ways to capture, control, and transform knowledge through competency analyses, knowledge transfer strategies, and assessment evaluations.

Carney strives to provide remarkable client experiences by delivering quality performance solutions at the speed of need.