Taking action at the right time

A challenge we all face in our careers is finding balance between getting our work product up to the quality level it needs, while at the same time avoiding the downsides of spending too much time on any one work product. For research development, guidance is usually skewed towards producing a high-quality product and, as a rule of thumb, the more dollars one is asking for, the more polished and otherwise strong the product should be. 

But a problem occurs when PIs see anything funding-related in terms of deadlines only, which are unavoidably impersonal, and not directed at solving problems for sponsors. PIs should never lose sight of funders’ needs and priorities. This is particularly important in the steps that lead up to the submission of a proposal.

For perspective, consider your own workweeks: Throughout the year, your priorities and therefore what you focus on change day-to-day and week-to-week. If you are preparing to teach a new course, the week before it starts you are likely absorbed in preparation. If a critical instrument is down in your lab, getting it up and running will be a major priority, bumping other tasks down on your list. Almost inevitably, with a proposal deadline looming, attention shifts there.

While sponsors have different responsibilities from yours, they also have their own priorities and calendar cycles for budgets, deliverables, and performance reviews for self and staff. Consequently, there are specific time windows – be they days or weeks – when that contact needs to address their own priorities. If you can present even partial solutions at such times, the chances of higher engagement with that organization escalate significantly.

Consider these illustrations:

Scenario 1

You are exploring opportunities with a potential new funder, and you believe that serving as an evaluator for them would help familiarize you with the organization. You could choose either of these two options:

• Option A: Email a program officer there at an arbitrary time of the year and ask to be put on a list of potential proposal evaluators; or

• Option B: About a week after a major proposal deadline of theirs has passed, email the technical point of contact offering to serve as an evaluator.  

While I would never discourage anyone from pursuing Option A, your offer (B) is more likely to draw the attention and appreciation of the funder, who may be struggling to find evaluators for the proposals that just came in. Your chances of getting a positive response and starting a relationship with the organization are much higher in Option B, which is my choice.

Scenario 2

You have been encouraged to submit a proposal and there is no hard deadline. The program officer tells you she would like to have it by the ‘end of February,’ but also says ‘If you need additional time, that’s okay.’ Your options:

• Option A: Assume it’s not really a big deal when you submit it because she said it’s 'okay’ if it comes in later than February, so you rough out a schedule and plan to submit in mid-March; or

• Option B: Start working on the proposal immediately and email the program officer with an update in mid-February advising that you are on track for the target date. You do that, and then send the program officer an email letting her know it’s been submitted.

If it’s not possible to produce a high-quality proposal by a suggested date, request a phone call to learn more about how important that target date is. You might be able to do this through email instead but the why of her reply may be nuanced and therefore less revealing than one delivered  person-to-person (i.e., the phone call). If she assures you that a later date will not affect the proposal’s chances, then extending a few weeks could be okay if you really need to. My choice: Option B.

Scenario 3

You have been funded and are working on a project. You can either:

• Option A: Do the research as planned, submit progress reports as required, and let your program officer know if you have run into any problems along the way; or

• Option B: Do the research but also send regular emails with updates that include manuscript submissions, papers published, conference abstracts, news stories or photos from outreach events, etc. -- possibly every 2-3 months.

Option B is my winner. While you are not targeting your program officer’s specific crunch periods, you are still keeping them informed. When someone in their office requests program officers provide examples of funded research to feature, your work comes to mind. Thus, you increase the likelihood that one of your updates will arrive at the ‘right’ time. And do not worry if you don’t get responses to your updates. I believe from experience they are still being seen and appreciated.

Bottom Line

Opportunities are dynamic. ‘Strike while the iron is hot’ applies in, not all, but many situations. Priorities change from week to week for nearly everybody. When appropriate, exercise your initiative and move quickly because otherwise the opportunity will be lost. Do everything you can to be in the right place at the right time. Don’t let opportunities slip by carelessly. Strike!

Communicating Research Impact

Are you doing enough to communicate the impact of the research you propose to do or that you have already done? Check out this video where I break down how three NSF-funded PIs communicated (or didn’t) the research impact across the lifecycle of the research effort.

When you are ready, here’s how we can help

Need to get your research funded, this year? Check out our 10-week program to get you there.

Ready to book a call to discuss our program or to have Dr. Barzyk provide training at your institution? Let’s chat!