Improving Team Agility
We redesigned the regulatory and advertising review process to deliver 30% greater efficiency – helping teams move faster from insight to market.
The Business Opportunity
The PMO of a large R&D Global Development organization launched a multi-year initiative to transform its Project & Portfolio Management (PPM) capabilities across therapeutic areas. As part of the next phase of their operating model redesign, the focus shifted to enhancing PPM systems and tools to better align with evolving business needs. The key goals were: 1) to improve the accuracy and agility of portfolio planning and decision-making, and 2) to introduce new technologies using a design thinking approach – testing concepts through pilots and proof of concepts before full rollout. This ensured the solutions delivered were truly aligned with user needs.
Inspired Consulting
We created tailored change management strategies at both the program and project levels, along with stakeholder engagement plans specific to each project. Taking an agile approach, we delivered communications and training in a just-in-time manner – ensuring users received the right information when they needed it. This approach proved highly effective, earning positive feedback from both Therapeutic Area (TA) Leaders and end users.
Meaningful Results
Over the course of the multi-year program, we saw several key successes and gained valuable insights:
– While the PMO and Therapeutic Areas (TAs) had strong awareness of the program’s vision and mission, functional partners were less engaged. To address this, we began tailoring communications to highlight the specific downstream benefits functional partners would gain through their project managers, which helped build stronger alignment.
– Our initial monthly newsletter was too long and wasn’t getting the engagement we hoped for. In response, we revamped the format – making it shorter, more focused, and sending it twice a month. This new approach was much better received and significantly improved readership.
– Many of the program’s project leaders needed clearer guidance on their role in driving change. We supported them by providing targeted training on stakeholder management, defining adoption metrics, and recognizing wins – empowering them to lead change more effectively.
Why We Loved This Project
We led the technology adoption strategy and execution at the program level across 20+ projects, many of which impacted the same PMO stakeholders across various Therapeutic Areas (TAs). To prevent change fatigue as new tools were introduced, we developed an integrated and consistent change management approach that aligned messaging and timing across projects.
Regular program-level change discussions created space for project leads to share insights – highlighting what was resonating with stakeholders in one TA versus another – allowing for continuous improvement. Feedback was actively captured and shared across multiple channels, including a streamlined monthly newsletter that reached the entire R&D organization, helping to spotlight successes and drive alignment on areas for improvement.
