Grant Management & Financial Oversight
Closing Time: Project Management
It's the end of the road, the money is spent, the work is complete, and now it's time to walk the PI and your grant project across the finish line. Time to close it up.
Congratulations, you have worked hard on your grant project and now it’s coming to an end. Up to now as the research administrator (RA) in charge of the grant project, you have managed to keep everything in order and have communicated with key process stakeholders all along the way. Key stakeholders include the principal investigator (PI) of course, but also peers at your institution, central sponsored programs and grant accounting offices, vendors, compliance folks, and program officers just to name a few.
Communication at Close Out
While communication is vital for project management, the types of communication needed at the beginning of a project may be different from the communication practices required to manage the project itself or what is needed at the end of the project. As projects conclude, RAs need to be on their game in their communication with PIs and other stakeholders. On their game means, all final transactions have been processed and have been charged to the project accounts. If there are pending transactions, RAs have to be proactive to get errors cleared, journal entries entered, retro actions completed, and all encumbrances expensed or cleared. Are all the subaward invoices processed? Have all deliverables been prepared and been submitted or shared?
Proactive Communication
RAs must anticipate, plan for, and complete the closing process according to the institutional and sponsor policies. RAs should familiarize themselves with the close out procedures well in advance of the actual due date and final reports. Some institutions may have close out checklists, system reminders, and grant specific reports that can help with this process. However, RAs should be proactive in anticipating these procedures well in advance. For example, RAs could start working on the close out checklist several weeks prior to the 120 days out notice. This proactive nature can help RAs work effectively with PIs to plan ahead and deal with any last-minute conflicts or schedule challenges. Is the PI even aware that the project is closing soon? Does the PI know of their closeout responsibilities?
Adaptive Communication
Once again communication is key during the close out process. RAs should practice adaptive communication in all facets of the grant cycle by knowing the audience and tailoring communication to match the recipient's preferred communication style. If RAs work with a new PI or your seasoned staff member, the coordination and communication for close out will differ depending on the situation. Nevertheless, actions to close the project need to be completed in a timely manner. It is up to the RAs to facilitate the process and communication among the different stakeholders.
Project management takes a team approach at all stages of the process. To be the most efficient and effective during the close out process you are building on all the work and relationships that were developed during the beginning and middle stages of the grant, to now walk the PI and grant projects across the finish line.
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