3.5 Navigating Diverse Administrative Practices
Due to the potential for vastly different administrative procedures between coordinating agencies, it is important for agencies to discuss their procedures for deliberation, decision-making, and financial management early in the coordination process. If differences are discovered, there are several strategies that agencies can implement to help their coordination efforts succeed.
Specifically, it may be helpful for coordinating agencies to jointly develop a list of regulations and legislation that affect each party, and clearly outline the actions that will be required of one or all parties based on these requirements. If not already included in this list, agencies should discuss their processes for scheduling and holding meetings to ensure that their deliberation and decision-making timelines are compatible. Details to discuss include agenda procedures, methods for disseminating meeting materials, and plans for note taking. Discussing each agency’s financial management procedures is also important, especially as these procedures relate to project budgeting, approval processes, and spending rules. If these administrative processes are found to be compatible, or if they can be reasonably modified for the purpose of coordination, agencies may benefit from assigning specific roles to each agency to increase the efficiency of their coordination efforts. Overall, navigating different administrative procedures can be complex and challenging, but effective planning and communication can reduce these obstacles and allow larger goals to be achieved through successful collaboration.