PMI Pharma So Cal Local Interest Group Meeting
The rescheduled November meeting was held at the University of California
Learning Center in Orange County on November 17, 2006. Participants
represented the following organizations; University of California, Irvine;
ZeroBoundary Corporation; Beckman Coulter; PacifiCare; PMC; Allergan;
MDSPS; PPS; S6X Pharmaceuticals and Radiant.
Our host, Brian Breen from the University of California, Irvine Extension
presented current educational and training offerings in the Life Sciences field.
Specifically, Brian discussed the Bio-Tech Engineering courses, Project
Management and Business Analyst programs. He also touched upon the ability
of students to enroll in undergraduate and graduate science courses through the
concurrent enrollment program. Further discussion centered upon the UCI plan
to create a Life Science Project Management curriculum supporting the
community with an emphasis on:
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Medical Devices and Electronics
Pharmaceuticals
Health Care Delivery
Others as Appropriate
Several participants volunteered to assist and become part of an industry
advisory group for this program.
Our substitute speaker was Martin Wartenberg, representing the ZeroBoundary
Corporation (ZB). ZB is an educational, development and consulting firm working
in close collaboration with several of the University of California campuses as
well as many organizations in the private sector. Marty’s keynote topic addressed
the use of Communities of Practice (COP’s) in the Bio-Tech and Pharma
industries.
While Communities of Practice have long been known as a way to transfer
knowledge within formal disciplines such as biology, engineering, chemistry, etc.,
it has begun to take shape in several organizations as a way with which to
transfer knowledge at an organizational cultural level. In essence, the model
which Marty conveyed, involves the creation of small teams at the midmanagement tier of the organization. These teams (often cross-functional in
make-up) take on initiatives that are believed to enhance, remedy or innovate
one or more of the following areas that once achieved, will better organizational
performance:
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Projects and Processes
Smarter Leadership of People
Organizational Direction and Positioning
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Though applicable in other industries, mid-level management Community of
Practice initiatives have achieved a high degree of acceptance in the Bio-Tech
and Pharma communities. This is partially due to the collegial and peer defaulting
nature of these industries, but more importantly, is attributed to the high velocity
of speed that characterizes these organizations.
The “speed factor” requires that knowledge be transferred rapidly and succinctly
by people across functional lines. Not only is knowledge transferred, but
innovation is often sparked by tackling live projects. Mid-level managers are
groomed to take on ever increasing roles and responsibilities within the
organization. It’s real world leadership development and innovative project
execution all rolled into 90 days, 7 determined people and 1 project pre-nup.
As researched and developed by ZeroBoundary Inc., the Community of Practice
initiatives adhere to the following stages:
Stage 1:
Identify Project
Provided by Senior Management or self selected by team
Comprised of cross-functional teams of 5-7
Project charters used to bind the initiatives
Stage 2:
Review with Senior Management
For championship and conceptual approval
Stage 3:
Execute Pilot within 1 Business Quarter
Bite-sized project vs. tackling the whole organization
Stage 4:
Present Findings & Recommendations for Implementation
Project team “passes the baton” to organizational
stakeholders for next stage investigation, implementation
and expansion
Stage 5:
Debrief and Capture Knowledge Artifacts
If found to be of merit, the results of the COP initiative are
carried across the organization
The teams use an in-depth project charter to help define scope, assumptions,
constraints and other key aspects of the initiation phase of a project.
Marty provided some examples from recent Community of Practice initiatives as
used by Bio-Tech and Pharma companies working with the findings of
ZeroBoundary Inc., and in programs affiliated with UCSD and UCI.
Organizations included in the examples were: Merck, Amylin, Edwards Life
Sciences, Advanced Medical Optics and Beckman-Coulter.
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Some of the project examples included:
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Alliance Management
Business Partnership Relations
Inter-Lab Prioritization
Lab Equipment Utilization Improvements
Scientific Recruitment and Retention
Creating a More Innovative Culture in Order to Develop a Wider Range of
Products.
The last few minutes of the meeting were spent on LIG business and a review of
up-coming events and associated schedule. Brian Breen will send copies of the
UCI presentation to attendees and the ZeroBoundary presentation on COP’s will
be posted on the www.zeroboundary.com web site.
The next meeting is scheduled for December 15 at LMR in Carlsbad. The
speaker will be Aileen Morgan from Allergan who will be discussing Risk in BioTech/Pharma Projects.
Martin Wartenberg
November, 2006
PMI So Cal Pharma LIG
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