Fortune 100 Pharmaceutical Corporation
THE CHALLENGE:
Drug development projects can run fifteen to twenty years until all clinical trials and safety checks are completed and filings are approved; or, they can be shut down at any time due to adverse clinical findings. These strategically significant projects are conducted across many functional areas, countries, and outsourced facilities, resulting in project teams consisting of over 300 resources. Effective communications and consistent project planning, execution and control is critical to project success, whether that be bringing the drug successfully to filing or finding contradictions and making quick decisions to cease development. Speed to market is a critical success factor and the lack of a consistent approach to project and program management across the drug development division was contributing to the excessively long product development lifecycle. Our client was looking for a project and program management methodology and supporting training program that would effectively ensure improved project performance and communications across the enterprise, enhance leadership development and improve speed to market. This initiative required an organizational culture change in that many of the corporation’s professionals perceived project and program management as a barrier to their creativity and a hinderance to project progress.
THE SOLUTION:
PMLG provided our knowledge and experiential-based turn-key transformation solution led by an experienced PMLG turnkey consultant. We conducted an Enterprise Program Management Maturity Assessment to determine which tools and processes existed, consistency of usage, and their effectiveness. The maturity assessment provided a detailed road map for the transformation as well as “quick wins” that were immediately implemented. To speed up the implementation of a consistent approach across the organization, the client purchased PMLG’s PMeXecute, a web-based project, program and portfolio knowledge management system. Our consultant facilitated a team of client professionals in quickly tailoring PMeXecute and developing additional tools and processes. These were rapidly deployed as the standard across the drug development organization. To effect immediate change in behavior, PMLG delivered the Certified Project Manager (CPM) Leadership Boot Camps world-wide to over 1600 leaders. These experiential-based training programs completely immersed attendees into a realistic and challenging project environment where they rapidly learned through the application, success and failure. To help ensure the transformation was successful, PMLG provided experiential-based training was provided to executives and managers of project managers. Scheduling tool training was also provided, helping ensure that project managers were more efficient and effective in controlling their projects, communicating and in making decisions.
THE RESULTS:
The project, program and portfolio maturity of the organization improved significantly during the first year of implementation. The duration of drug development lifecycle have been reduced by as much as a third as the boot camps significantly improved teamwork, communications, project success globally. As a result of positive changes other areas of the corporation have seen in the drug development projects, the use of PM, Inc.’s tools and processes including PMeXecute™ and the CPM™ Boot Camp has expanded into the clinical, regulatory, IT, manufacturing, facilities, Six Sigma, and Learning & Development teams. Participants have “bonded” and cooperation has increased significantly. Project and program managers have also received training from PMLG in Microsoft Project® to increase their efficiency and accuracy in project planning and tracking.
In addition, the Program and Project Managers have returned to their organizations with a discipline and consistent approach to project management that has helped to change the culture and the project management maturity of the organization. The CPM™ Boot Camp program is considered a premiere training and development program by the Corporation. Individuals outside of the project management group are nominated to attend the program as a key leadership competency development opportunity. The use of the program was a key activity in recent strategic initiatives such as emerging market development and the merger of the with another pharmaceutical.