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Come Together: Bridging the Gap Between the Pre-Award Office and the Department

Come Together: Bridging the Gap Between the Pre-Award Office and the Department. Patrick Fitzgerald. Elizabeth Foote. Denise Moody. Harvard University. Today’s Session. Problems that can occur when pre-award and departments don’t work well together Root causes of these problems

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Come Together: Bridging the Gap Between the Pre-Award Office and the Department

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  1. Come Together: Bridging the Gap Between the Pre-Award Office and the Department Patrick Fitzgerald Elizabeth Foote Denise Moody Harvard University

  2. Today’s Session • Problems that can occur when pre-award and departments don’t work well together • Root causes of these problems • Advice and techniques for avoiding problems and fostering relationships

  3. A Sampling of the Problems that Can Occur • Poor communication • Ineffective or adversarial relationships • Ambiguity or disagreement about roles and responsibilities • Lack of commitment or participation • Mistakes, inconsistencies, costly “rework” • Poorly developed policies, systems, & procedures • Lost opportunities (e.g., not-submitted or rejected proposals) • Compliance, audit, reputational risks

  4. Root Causes of Problems • Lack of effective communication between pre-award and department administrators • Poor relationships which impede collaboration (“blame game”) • No advice or buy-in sought from departments for major changes in policies, systems, procedures • Inability to comply to poorly-written policies (audit risk) • Constant staff turnover or reorganization

  5. Root Causes of Problems (cont.) • Inadequate or ineffective training • Courses may not be adequate or sufficiently offered to meet the needs. • Individuals may be unwilling or unable to take training. • Lack of understanding of individual or office roles or responsibilities • Unwillingness to participate or contribute

  6. What Can We Do to Avoid Problems? • Policies and procedures development • Develop policies which incorporate the user’s perspective; get advice and buy-in from departments. • Listen to your users before implementation to avoid unintended consequences; users should provide honest feedback. • Effective communication • Email is one-dimensional and can be deadly!! • Telephone is better → face-to-face is best!!

  7. Sample Email “Mis”Interpretation Sample 1: Don’t “shout” WHAT DO YOU MEAN??????? Sample 2: Don’t “react” Of course I know the rules!!!!!! Sample 3: Work as a team Dept to Preaward: Can you assist us in reaching out to the PI? Preaward: No, this is your responsibility. Sample 4: Provide guidance, not accusation From Preaward to Dept: Your budget justification is wrong, and you didn’t follow the policies.

  8. What Can We Do to Avoid Problems? (cont.) • Clearly defined roles and responsibilities (R&R) • R&R matrix (i.e., table) should clearly delineate the responsibilities and functions performed by pre-award office, department, PI, etc. • Responsibilities should relate to specific tasks (e.g., who is responsible for transferring expenses off a grant at closeout). • Development of R&R matrix should be a collaborative process with everyone affected. • R&R matrix should be a living document which is periodically reviewed and updated.

  9. What Can We Do to Avoid Problems? • Effective working relationships • Get together frequently; get to know each other • Familiarity doesn’t have to breed contempt! • Relationship building should happen within your own office (i.e., central pre and post-award) and between offices (i.e., pre-award and departments). • Relationship building takes time, patience, and perseverance. • Be cautious about changing the assignments of pre-award staff ↔ department staff.

  10. What Can We Do to Avoid Problems? • Effective training programs • Do we have the training we need? • Is the training offered frequently enough or accessible (e.g., web-based) to “onboard” new employees? • Is the training effective? How do you measure? • Do the staff that need the training take the training? • Are staff required to take training before they are given responsibilities involving grants?

  11. What Can We Do to Avoid Problems? • Other things we can do: • We need to change the culture from “us vs. them” to “we”. • Responsiveness is the key to providing exceptional service; being non-responsive breeds contempt. • Make the point-of-contact for pre-award and department simple; ideally we will have one person to go to, which helps foster relationships. • Be consistent (within office staff and between offices) - e.g., pre-award office shouldn’t have different practices for different departments

  12. What have we missed?

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