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.