Case Studies

Creating a New Grants Management Division

Challenge

The FEMA Grant Management Division (GMD) was formally created in accordance with the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act in order to consolidate the operations of all grants programs within a single organization.  This new division was formed from two legacy organizations—both with similar missions and functions for their assigned programs.  To create the new division it was critical that the leaders of both legacy organizations work together to combine functions and determine the appropriate organization structure to allow them to streamline operations while maintaining a high level of customer service.  This transition was complicated by the fact that both organizations were staffed with individuals who were highly skilled grants managers, but were new to management and strategic planning.

Solution

Hassett Wills and Company worked with both organizations to determine the optimum structure for the new organization based on the mission-critical functions to be performed.  Building off of the outlined functions, HWC facilitated five Integrated Project Teams to examine and describe each function in detail.  Once the central functions were determined, HWC staff leveraged the company’s core business competencies to fully develop and strengthen the new Grant Programs Directorate.  This included providing services for business strategy, organizational effectiveness, workforce effectiveness, program and project management, and communications strategy and stakeholder outreach. 

Results

As a result of our efforts, the organization moved from a state of undefined roles and responsibilities with an unclear direction to an organization with clear roles, responsibilities and strategic direction.  The clear definition of functions and roles allowed for increased collaboration and communication across the organization as each component understood their individual role in the mission of the organization.  Though the organization originally lacked staff with significant management experience, the coaching and management training provided by HWC facilitated a cadre of managers who were able to successfully grow and manage their respective teams.  In addition, the clear documentation of the newly formed division allowed leaders to communicate their role to the rest of the organization, fully establishing the new division within the existing framework of the Agency.

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• Overview
• Creating a New Grants Management Division
• Leadership Transition
• Long Range Planning: Climate Change Adaptation at DHS
• Process Documentation and Standardization
• Improved Decision Support Through Information Management
• Strategic Foresight Initiative for the Emergency Management Community