TSAL Toolkit

Understand your team’s and institutions’ strengths and limits

"You may be working with a group of several universities, perhaps government laboratories, and companies, consultants, government agencies, and/or civic organizations.  Each of these entities has its own organizational culture, its own standard practices, and is own expectations of employees Some of your partners may be able to leverage tremendous institutional resources, while others have very limited facilities and support. Even within a single organization there can be a wide range of work styles, some of which will likely class with yours. Some issues, such as Co-PI responsiveness and administrative and budgetary support, will become apparent at the proposal stage, but rest assured, other surprises await!  You and your project manager need to be sensitive to these differences, and recognize and celebrate every team member’s unique contribution…. You also need to find respectful ways to assure everyone has the necessary administrative support (an administrative champion from your own institution can be a big help with this; communicate clear expectations, schedules and deadlines; and plan for contingencies."