Defining the Optimum Department

For many academic departments, centers, and units with a research mission, focusing on their core objective can be frustrating, messy, and exhausting. Research administrators often deal with complicated email threads discussing changes in project effort, managing reporting requirements, questions about purchasing necessary equipment or hiring consultants, and initiating and monitoring subcontract scopes of work. The list of day-to-day tasks required to administer and implement sponsored research projects seems never-ending, and the workload often feels unmanageable. The department goes through staff turnover, hiring and training new employees, a process that can take 12-24 months before they're adequately prepared, and sometimes, they end up leaving. Clear operating procedures are lacking, resulting in the reinvention of the wheel multiple times. There's difficulty in locating files on the network drive due to the absence of version control and extensive digital hoarding. Budgets are unclear, and basic questions such as "can project X afford another necessary research assistant?" remain unanswered. Does any of this sound familiar?

In my 15-year career in Research Administration, I can attest that department management hasn't changed significantly. We still heavily rely on Excel spreadsheets for complex budget and effort management tasks. Most departments lack an effective onboarding, training, and knowledge transfer process for new hires, leading to repeated reinvention of procedures. Additionally, they lack up-to-date written policies and procedures that can adapt to department, university, or sponsor changes. Why? Because crafting these resources from scratch seems impossible when dealing with urgent issues and strict deadlines. Many of us don't have the luxury of time to step back and ask fundamental questions about what an ideal research department should look like in terms of operations and workload and how to achieve this.

A well-run department possesses three key attributes, serving as the foundations of operational excellence: Accountability, Collaboration, and Effectiveness. What do these three principles mean in practice?

An optimal department holds individuals accountable. This means that all members in the unit understand their roles and take ownership of their responsibilities, avoiding passing the buck and expecting others to clean up messes. It's built on respect and trust that everyone, individually and as part of organizational teams, will fulfill their duties to the best of their ability, serving the whole.

An optimal department fosters collaboration that goes beyond mere cooperation and teamwork, ensuring that the appropriate individuals and teams are informed. It means intentionally creating a culture where processes and systems naturally break down silos. High-level collaboration involves a commitment to process improvement and feedback at all organizational levels, promoting easy knowledge transfer among the entire group.

An optimal department is effective, producing outcomes in the most high-quality and efficient manner. This is achieved by reviewing current systems and processes, utilizing tools, technologies, and strategies to eliminate waste, confusion, and drama. Optimal departments cultivate a culture of continuous improvement and reject the "we've always done it this way" mindset, always asking, "How can we achieve the best outcome in the simplest, most straightforward manner?"

At The Optimum Department, these three attributes form our core pillars, integrated into all our practices, with the goal of helping research departments operate effortlessly.