More than Alphabet Soup: These Certifications Can Be a Game Changer

"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” – Red Adair

There’s often some skepticism about the value of a professional certification. The uncertainty might be warranted – it’s not always clear how a certification can improve you or your teams ability to succeed. After interviewing a few individuals in the field of disaster recovery, these are the certifications that I think stand out the most.

Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM)

I am a little biased on this one. I’ve been a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) since around 2012 and think this certification has really been a difference maker in my own career. The CFM, a certification provided by the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM), is a truly unique certification. The CFM is a national certification focused on the roles and responsibilities of a floodplain manager. Studying for and passing the CFM exam elevated (no pun intended) my knowledge of floodplains, community planning, mitigation techniques, and disaster recovery generally. I highly recommend that individuals in disaster recovery – especially construction managers, engineers, or planners – learn more about the ASFPM and consider a CFM.

American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)

The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Certification is one of the most well known in the industry. AICP, a certification of the American Planning Association (APA), is an intense certification process that requires significant time and experience in the field of planning to achieve. AICP holders are recognized for their excellence in planning and adding the AICP certification can be a significant boost to your career or your team’s planning capability.

Project Management Professional (PMP)

The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is managed by the Project Management Institute. PMP is a rigorous management-oriented certification that enhances the ability to manage teams, processes, and business priorities for certificate holders. It is one of the most sought-after certifications, especially for individuals who are more often managing teams and projects and not strictly performing planning services.

These are just three of the most common certifications found in disaster recovery. Consider one, or if you’re particularly ambitious, all of these certifications if you’re looking to enhance your understanding of one of these subject matters, take a step forward in your career, or improve the skills of your team.

Relationships Matter: Get the Most Out of Your Connection with HUD

"Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” - Henry Ford

You will need to develop a healthy working relationship with your HUD team. Your relationship to your HUD team is critical to your success. A good HUD point of contact is there to support you, encourage you, and help you achieve your goals – but just like in any relationship, it takes time and commitment to get the most out of it. Here are a few things to consider when developing your rapport with HUD, and these approaches can be valuable whether you are starting a brand-new relationship or if you are an established grantee and simply want to improve your existing relationship with your grant manager.

Keep Them in the Loop

I was shocked to learn that our HUD rep was a real human being with a workload that was often far greater than just seeing to my every whim as a grantee. Many of today’s HUD representatives have a larger workload than ever, sometimes seeing to the needs of multiple grantees in multiple states and dealing with multiple emergent issues. Give your HUD representative the benefit of the doubt. They will need to be brought up to speed on new changes, reminded of current issues, and are not in the room with you every time you make a decision. It is part of your job to keep them updated and comfortable with the direction you are going with your grant. It is worth it to take some extra time every so often to keep them as updated and “in the know” as you can.

Help Them Prioritize

You are no doubt carefully balancing the many priorities on your plate at once. It is not always clear from the outside perspective what issues are critical and which ones are not as important, and this can vary from grantee to grantee, too. Help your HUD representative understand what issues are a priority for you. This might require some vulnerability – you may have to explain why something is sensitive, why there is resistance or support for certain things in your plan, and what your worried about with your grant. Honesty is important here. If you can help your HUD representative understand what is keeping you up at night, you will have a chance to gain their trust and cooperation in turn.

Help Them Understand

Each state, municipality, or other local government is different with a different dynamic. Help your HUD representative understand the conditions you are working in. Who are your strongest allies? Who is most critical of your effort? The HUD representative needs to understand your whole framework, because it almost certainly differs greatly from somewhere else in the country growing through a similar process. If there is a lack of understanding about your preexisting conditions, current conditions, and upcoming challenges, they are not going to be able to help you as deeply as they could otherwise.

Have Them Work on Your Needs

One of your primary goals is to figure out how to get your HUD representative in your corner for the things you need to succeed. That is their goal as well! Figure out what things you can and cannot do for yourself and see if your HUD representative can shoulder some of that for you. This can be as simple as asking if they will discuss an urgent matter with their lead or asking who they recommend speaking to in order to get good guidance or an important answer on a mission-critical topic. If you can get them helping you solve your problems you have added to your team’s capacity.

HUD wants to see you succeed with your grant. Your HUD representative is a gateway to the rest of the HUD organization, and you should work hard to make sure your relationship with them is positive, clear, and fruitful. Grant management is complex enough without a healthy working relationship with your grantor. Foster this relationship and you will be on the right track to success.

How to Adapt When Your Plan Goes Wrong

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." — Mike Tyson

There is no such thing as a perfect plan. That includes action plans, program designs, hiring and staff management, procurements, and countless others. Inevitably, something will go wrong and you will need to make an adjustment. Successful organizations are not successful because they don’t make mistakes – rather, it’s how they respond to mistakes that makes the difference. In disaster recovery, you’re often facing a budget, time, and trust constraint that makes implementing a solid plan even more difficult. If you’ve found yourself needing to adjust your approach, here’s some advice to help get you started.

Collect Sufficient Data

Note that this does not read “collect as much data as possible.” Sometimes there is actually very little information needed to make a completely informed decision on how you need to adjust your plan moving forward. The danger of not taking a moment to collect any data at all about the problem is the concern here. Very often the correction to the problem is outsized compared to the problem itself. This can be difficult to balance, especially if a critical stakeholder is demanding a change in your process immediately. Take a bit of time to examine the cause of the issue, what went wrong, and what solutions are actually feasible to implement.

Consider The Impacted Parties

Of course, a problem with your plan is limited to who the problem actually impacts. In my experience, a problem for you is better than a problem for your constituents. If an error has created more work for you, you might have the luxury of time to fix it. But if the problem has jeopardized the public trust or limited engagement with your programs, it’s time to evaluate implementing a fix. Also consider what groups are more elastic to a problem. Your own team might grin and bear it through a little disruption, but the public, your stakeholders, and local elected officials are not so easily going to grant you the grace needed to fix an issue.

Start With a Tweak

Almost always, unless the approach is fatally flawed, a change at the margins is better than throwing out all the hard work that lead you to your roadblock. Consider what modest and manageable changes can be implemented while keeping your vision as intact as possible. Avoid overly reactive and sweeping change if you can help it.

After Action Evaluation

Once the dust has settled and you’ve corrected the course, take a hard look at what caused the issue in the first place. Was it lack of communication? Lack of focus? Or simply lack of knowledge and expertise? It can be any one of these or something else entirely. It can be hard to hold the microscope up to yourself and your team. If you need some outside help to diagnose the issue it might be worth getting some support. This isn’t a time for blame and finger pointing. This is an opportunity to get better and avoid mistakes in the future.