Many companies struggle to achieve speed and efficiency due to an ineffective product development process and the lack of will to re-engineer their processes, understand the impact of risk assessment and modifying other factors that can improve speed-to-market
For innovative businesses, Research and Development (R&D) is a major investment area for the organisation seeking to offer better solutions and differentiate itself with superior features and performance of its products.
This includes Consumer Packaged Goods, pharmaceutical firms, computer software and the like. In fact most businesses need effective and efficient R&D including those in engineering, functional design and service industries.
These businesses need to attract customers with superior products. This in turn requires innovative thinking, creativity, and most importantly a disciplined approach to R&D
For those who work in R&D, strategic planning, or marketing realises that even a small improvement in time-to-market can realise substantial financial reward. This is because shorter product development cycle times not only produce tangible benefits, such as earlier payback on R&D investments, but also intangible benefits such as product positioning and brand image in the marketplace. Thus, it makes sense to optimise the new product development process to accomplish better results with fewer resources in a shorter timeframe.
You can improve the organisational and human resource factors that affect the performance of new product teams and project managers. Many of these factors have been identified through research on technical teams. They include:
Project Manager’s competencies – For example, project managers need to manage across boundaries, create teamwork, influence without authority, motivate people who don’t report to them, resolve conflicts, and empower others through delegation.
Role clarity – Project and functional roles of each participant in the new product process need to be clearly defined and consistent with effective project functioning, especially in matrix organizations
Communication flow – Team members need specific kinds of information at critical points in the project. This information may come from within or outside of the organization.
Team functioning and problem solving – Team members must work together productively, develop creative solutions to technical problems, and resolve conflicts in a timely manner
A review of processes, procedures and systems to identify and improve ways of working to improve efficiency and quality of output
The goal of a highly productive R&D team is to efficiently translate inputs into the most desired and valuable outputs.Identify ways to accelerate delivery of new products: faster development cycles; decrease costs; mitigate risks; use of platforms
Improving these human factors is challenging, not just because the factors seem “soft and fuzzy” to most technical people, but because there is no single template that fits all situations. The impact of each factor can vary, depending upon many things, such as the size and complexity of the project, the degree of innovation required, where the project fits along a continuum between basic research versus technology development, and the nature of the firm’s culture and project management system
Conducting an organisational review to examine the fit of roles, structure, culture, and communication with the mission and objectives of project teams and the functional disciplines that support these teams
Performing individual assessments, preparing developmental plans, and providing coaching for key participants in the new product process, such as project managers and functional leaders
Supporting teambuilding within new product teams or functional departments. This may include designing and facilitating meetings to build consensus on goals, roles, and strategies; or leading idea generation and creative problem solving sessions
Supporting inter-group team building between product teams or functional departments to connect silos, increase collaboration, and improve matrix organization functioning
Conducting project post mortems and “best practice” studies to recommend process improvements
In providing the above services, an external consultant brings behavioural skills to bear in helping the R&D organization, its managers, and technical people accomplish their mission. The presence of the consultant also conveys a message that the company wants to achieve results, but in a way that maximises individual effectiveness and satisfaction
