Business Operations Manual – Preface
NOAA’S MISSION:
SCIENCE, SERVICE, AND STEWARDSHIP
To understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts
To share that knowledge and information with others, and
To conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources
NOAA’S VISION:
RESILIENT ECOSYSTEMS, COMMUNITIES, AND ECONOMIES
Healthy ecosystems, communities, and economies
that are resilient in the face of change
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) relies on its personnel to deliver high-quality products and services to achieve its vision and meet its mission. The Business Operations Manual (BOM) will familiarize employees with the fundamental aspects of NOAA – its brand-new organizational structure, enduring business operations, the Next-Generation Strategic Plan (NGSP), and Strategic Execution and Evaluation (SEE) process.
The BOM describes NOAA’s organizational structure, providing information about the operating branches, corporate functions, strategic and executing organization, and Regional Collaboration effort, as well as intersections among these entities and functions. The BOM explains how NOAA functions provide products and services that fulfill its mission and how these functions relate to each other through the agency’s strategic framework and management practices. The BOM provides an overview of the NGSP, including the agency’s long-term goals and seven-year implementation plans. The BOM also explains the framework for SEE, the agency’s streamlined budgeting and decision making system.
WHAT THE BOM IS It is a single reference document with basic information on fundamental aspects of the agency. The manual helps NOAA personnel deliver high-quality products and services through uniform operations.
WHAT THE BOM ISN’T It is not a comprehensive reference document that is all-inclusive of every aspect of this complex agency. Web links direct the reader to additional information where available.
RECENT CHANGES Since the last hard copy of the BOM was published in February 2011, a number of big changes have been made.
First and foremost, the BOM has evolved from a print version to an online public version. Using various types of informational links and multimedia, the new online version expands the information content of the BOM exponentially, which will benefit both new and existing employees – as well as the public. New online features include: the interactive multimedia image bar at the top of all BOM pages, which when scrolled over, provides NOAA related links pertaining to the image being shown; various NOAA created videos that are embedded throughout the BOM; a multitude of informational links; and a new search tool for finding specific content within the BOM. The last appendix of the BOM consolidates NOAA’s multimedia assets for easy one-stop access.
From a long-term efficiency and cost savings perspective, the new online version of the BOM allows for changes to be incorporated into the various BOM sections in a much more rapid and frequent manner, as compared to the old print version. This new “at will” BOM updating system, uses Google Docs and a system of designated “Content Owners” who update their content as appropriate (at least annually), and best of all, eliminates the cost of re-publishing a hard copy of the BOM every year.
Using this new BOM updating system, Content Owners have updated every section, in every Chapter, of the BOM. So, the specific content changes in the new online version of the BOM are far too numerous to list in this space.
The result of this major BOM overhaul is a new and improved online version of the BOM that is the greatest single streamlined source of up-to-date information on the business operations of NOAA.
Let us hear from you
PPI updates the BOM annually or more often as necessary. Please let us know what additions and changes to the BOM would help you accomplish your work in support of NOAA’s vision and mission. Please email your suggestions to strategic.planning@noaa.gov
