NIFA launched the Project CAFÉ (Collaboratively Achieving Functional Excellence) Initiative to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of NIFA’s service delivery while improving its ability to provide excellent customer service.
Project CAFÉ Dashboard
updated September 1, 2021
OVERALL STATUS |
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PREVIOUS PHASES:
Implementation Phase 1 Quick Actions Phase Gather, Analyze & Recommend Phase |
CURRENT PHASE:
IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 2 ⬇ See Status Below |
IMPLEMENTATION FUTURE PHASES
Dec 2021 - Forward |
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IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 2 STATUS |
| Action Areas | Current Focus | Status |
| Grants Portfolio Review Leadership, Strategic Planning & Governance |
Expand user base and testing | On Schedule |
| NIFA Website Communications & Documentation |
Migrate platform and set-up continuous improvement process | Completed |
| Re-engineer RFAs Communications & Documentation |
Investigate the potential to implement identified RFA improvements into NIFA RFAs | On Schedule |
| External Stakeholder Feedback Outreach & Customer Service |
Develop and begin scheduling identified webinars | On Schedule |
| Honoraria Payment Process Process |
Implement and measure process improvements | On Schedule |
| Schedule for Program Implementation from RFA to Award (SPIRA) (RFA Timelines) Process |
Track actual vs. planned performance on issuing RFAs | On Schedule |
| NIFA New Hire Training Talent Management |
Develop, update & centralize training material | On Schedule |
| Panel Manager Hiring Process Talent Management |
Streamline panel manager hiring process | On Schedule |
Recent major CAFÉ accomplishments:
- The Re-engineering RFA team has completed a full report of its findings and submitted a recommendation to the NIFA Executive Council team. The team is currently working on identifying an implementation plan and timeline to support the recommendation.
- The NIFA website improvement team has completed all deliverables for this project effort. A new NIFA website is in development and once launched, will continue to be supported by a new governance team to ensure content is kept up to date and continuous improvements are implemented.
- The SPIRA team is nearing completion of the FY22 Request for Application publication schedule. The first bundle of RFAs targeted for August/September publication have been posted to the RFA Calendar.
IMPLEMENTATION PHASE 1 RESULTS |
| Theme | Action Area | Major Accomplishments |
| Leadership, Strategic Planning & Governance | Grants Portfolio Review | Completed a successful pilot of a new analytics tool that will allow for rapid analysis of grants. The result of this effort will be expediting our ability to answer complex questions regarding NIFA’s portfolio |
| Communications & Documentation | NIFA Website | Published new NIFA website content, including: NIFA’s organizational structures, NPL points of contact information, our RFA calendar and a new, easy-to-use layout of our Program page |
| Re-engineer RFAs | Completed research and analysis phase, which included interviewing external stakeholders and other grants-making federal agencies as well as conducting comprehensive analyses of RFAs issued by other granting agencies/organizations | |
| Outreach & Customer Service | External Stakeholder Feedback | Identified eight new standardized webinars to help inform stakeholders about funding opportunities as well as NIFA’s application and funding processes |
| Process | Panelist Payments | Identified process improvements which will reduce average payment cycle times to 20-30 days |
| Grant Program Timelines | Developed a planning tool that defines target dates for each step of the granting process. Began tracking actual vs. planned performance | |
| Talent Management | NIFA New Hire Training | Completed the curation and creation of new hire training materials for three key positions within NIFA |
| Panel Manager Hiring Process | Identified, clarified and streamlined the roles and responsibilities throughout the panel manager hiring and extension process. The results will improve the experience and timelines to onboard or retain NIFA panel managers |
QUICK ACTIONS PHASE RESULTS |
Project CAFÉ’s Quick Actions Phase concluded in November 2020 and was focused on implementing quick action improvements
NIFA task order teams successfully completed the following 5 quick action improvements:
- New hire training for Grant Management Specialists, Program Specialist and National Program Leaders
- Reinforcing quality comments from panels
- Standardizing application deadlines
- Technology to support virtual panels
- Mitigating delays from notification to award
Key results:
- Established internal training resources site for NIFA new hires to access consistent training materials for three key positions
- Developed best practices reference guide for panel managers to use when drafting their comments/ feedback on applications
- Completed an evaluation of technical and logistical requirements to standardize RFA deadlines to 5pm local time for all applicants
- Defined technology best practices guide for conducting virtual panels
- Developed flowchart to illustrate the Competitive Grants process. Published flowchart on NIFA’s website and incorporated it into award letter packages
GATHER, ANALYZE AND RECOMMEND PHASE RESULTS |
Project CAFÉ’s initial phase concluded in August 2020 and was focused on gathering and analyzing stakeholder feedback as well as developing improvement recommendations
Key outcomes:
- NIFA received feedback from 40 sources, comprised of 36 external stakeholder groups and 4 sources of internal feedback (e.g., listening sessions and surveys of NIFA employees)
- In total, these sources provided approximately 900 comments that directly responded to the four questions posed by NIFA
- The CAFÉ Board reviewed and analyzed the stakeholder comments. On August 5, 2020, the Board submitted the CAFÉ recommendation report to NIFA’s Executive Council based on its analysis of the comments
- In its report, the CAFE Board identified 8 quick action opportunities and 40 longer-term improvement opportunities