Developing a Project Management Plan for New Principal Investigators

By SRAI News posted 08-07-2024 08:49 PM

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Developing a Project Management Plan for New Principal Investigators

When it comes to post-award and project management, there is a question that newly-minted principal investigators (PIs) may be thinking about (if not asking) when it comes to award and project management– I just got my PhD, so why are you trying to make me an accountant?

Unless of course their PhD is in accounting or project management, this can be a common sentiment with many investigators, especially when they are new PIs or new to agency accounting practices, systems and/or reporting.

PIs should not be expected to be accountants or even project managers, in large part thanks to project coordinators or project management staff. However, there are some project management basics that research administrators (RAs) can, and in many cases must, impart to the PIs they work with. This is most important when the PIs are faced with their first grant and are new to grants management. This article will summarize some key project start up basics that RAs should share in their practice. These suggestions should make starting and managing a project easier for your PIs and will make you an RA rock star at your institution!

Accounting Practices
Research administrators are the resident experts in accounting practices and systems and are in the best position to impart knowledge to new PIs. As good practice, RAs should meet with the new PIs and share with them basic knowledge about budget pools and fund accounting, what cost categories they have as part of their award budget, and how to expend funds from those categories.
A guiding question RAs should ask is: What basics should PIs know about our institutional accounting systems and practices? RAs should inform PIs of essential vocabulary terms, acronyms, and other need-to-know concepts such as allowability, allocability, and whether the costs are reasonable given the scope of work and approved award conditions. Research administrators need to show their PIs where to access institutional systems and reports (HR, accounting, procurement, effort, etc.) and, most importantly, how to read and interpret the information. Another best practice is to meet with new PIs (virtually or face-to-face) and demonstrate how to access the systems and reports they will need most often.

Communicating Roles and Responsibilities
Research administrators are usually well equipped with the institutional knowledge to effectively communicate the resources available to the PIs, which includes details of where responsibilities are housed within a department, school, or institution. This includes what systems to use, points of contact for various HR, procurement, and budget processes, and where to go for answers within these areas. While larger organizations and institutions might have a formal matrix of roles and responsibilities, smaller schools and departments may also benefit from a written reference document to share with PIs and faculty. These best practices will go a long way towards making project management less of a challenge for everyone involved.

Effective project management does take clear communication. And it takes a village. Starting up a new project may be an intimidating task for new PIs, but not when rockstar RAs are in the house to hit the right management notes!