Simple.

Why is simpli­city essen­tial in funding processes?

Joëlle Pianzola: Because today, too many resour­ces are still tied up in admi­nis­tra­tion rather than in actual impact. Complex forms, redun­dant queries and media breaks in the proces­ses slow down and exhaust both funders and appli­cants. The credo is “reduce to the max”: focus on the essen­ti­als, use clear language, create strin­gent proces­ses. Simpli­city is not a nice-to-have, but an important manage­ment prin­ci­ple – it crea­tes time for assess­ment, dialo­gue and support and increa­ses the quality of decisions.

Where is this heading – what oppor­tu­ni­ties and chal­lenges are emerging? 

Effi­ci­ent digi­tal solu­ti­ons think end-to-end: from focu­sed appli­ca­tion to review and decis­ion-making to report­ing and lear­ning. The key is to take a system-wide view – stan­dards that apply to both sides, data that can be reused, work­flows that create trans­pa­rency. Good tools not only reli­eve the burden on funders, but also the over­all system. The chall­enge lies less in the tech­no­logy than in the culture: letting go of the old, redu­cing infor­ma­tion over­load, clari­fy­ing respon­si­bi­li­ties. This also requi­res courage. And yes, without a willing­ness to stan­dar­dise, any simpli­fi­ca­tion remains a frag­men­ted effort; and the power lies in scaling.

What does this mean for today’s practice? 

Prag­ma­tism is more important than perfec­tion: it is best to simplify step by step. Criti­cally review exis­ting queries: Which infor­ma­tion has actually been used in prac­tice for infor­ma­tion exch­ange and decis­ion-making? Use stan­dard fields in the system, enable reuse of infor­ma­tion (record once, use many times), intro­duce clear and simple crite­ria. Make report­ing as lean as possi­ble, but as infor­ma­tive as neces­sary. These are many small but consis­tent steps – but they will quickly bring noti­ceable effects and set the right incen­ti­ves. Sounds simple? It is not in prac­tice. It helps to take a look at one’s own performance.

Get invol­ved now

Digi­tal proces­ses in the funding sector only unfold their added value when they are not seen as stan­da­lone solu­ti­ons, but rather as a holi­stic concept: from the focu­sed search for funding to clearly struc­tu­red report­ing. This is where Sphe­ri­q’s funding and appli­ca­tion manage­ment comes in. The key point here is that it is wort­hwhile not simply digi­ti­sing proces­ses “as is”, but rather exploi­ting the full poten­tial of digi­tal trans­for­ma­tion in a prag­ma­tic and impact-orien­ted way. The “Achtung, fertig, digi­tal!” boot­camp in Decem­ber will provide prac­ti­cal impul­ses and concrete start­ing points for getting star­ted.

spheriq.ch/en/simple