Project management in life sciences, pharma and healthcare

Andrew Saunders reports on APM’s sector-focused roundtable.

Project management as a profession may have developed in the construction and infrastructure sectors, but its influence is spreading. And when it comes to the wider benefits, few sectors have delivered so much in such a short time as life sciences, pharma and healthcare. Millions of lives have been saved by vaccination projects in particular, conducted at great speed and with exemplary safety, in recent years.

Furthermore, APM’s The Golden Thread research in 2019 identified that projects in the healthcare sector were worth £17.5bn (GVA) to the UK economy and sustained almost 224,000 full‑time employees – and that, of course, was before the huge pandemic‑related acceleration in activity that has seen this arena become a stand‑out bright spot of the UK economy.

So what better time to take a look at the nature of project management in these sectors? APM recently convened a roundtable session to explore similarities, differences and specific challenges facing project professionals in life sciences, pharma and healthcare. Featuring an array of senior contributors from some of the UK’s leading companies, the session was conducted under Chatham House rules and presented a fascinating insight into the state of project management in these vital sectors. Here is a brief summary of some of the key points that emerged.

Different…        

Some fundamental differences arise from the simple fact that building a bridge or a railway is not the same as creating a new drug or vaccine. Every bridge built has to stay standing or it’s a disaster in the making, but 29 drug development projects can fail, because if the 30th is a new blockbuster treatment, it will more than compensate for the rest.

Agile project approaches, data‑driven insights and the ability to fail fast are key in this environment. But internal competition between project teams means that objective portfolio management can end up being neglected – tools and processes that provide a company‑wide overview of ongoing projects are still far less commonplace than they are in the construction industry.

A less zero‑sum view of failure may also account for reports that project management and project managers are often not regarded as key assets in these sectors. Drug, life science and healthcare firms may employ thousands of project professionals, but the brands they present – and the decisions they take – are generally built around scientific and clinical excellence rather than the mastery of project delivery.

That lack of recognition results in boards that don’t fully appreciate what project professionals can do for their organisations, or what the criteria for project success really are. It also leads to a proliferation of ‘accidental project managers’ – scientists or subject matter experts who end up administrating projects despite lacking the experience or training to do so. It’s like asking the violin soloist to conduct the orchestra – being a brilliant player doesn’t mean they will be able to lead the ensemble effectively.

The sectors are also hugely diverse in size and maturity, ranging from biotech start‑ups with a handful of employees through to pharma giants and even the NHS, the largest employer in Europe. The levels of project management proficiency represented naturally reflect that diversity, with pockets of genuine excellence but a need for systematised knowledge‑sharing to spread best practice. There might even – whisper it – simply be too much money sloshing around in some parts of life sciences in particular at present, having an adverse impact on project efficiency.

… but also the same

Many of the issues encountered will be familiar to project professionals from more traditional sectors, however. The rise of ‘accidental project managers’ is also a symptom of the industry‑wide lack of experienced project professionals on the job market, felt more acutely than ever at present.

Growing stronger in‑house project management skills and explicit rather than accidental career paths is part of the answer, but it can be difficult to secure the necessary resources without C‑suite support. There is the same catch‑22 here as in other industries – project professionals can’t fully demonstrate their value without C‑level buy in, but without demonstrating their value, they can’t secure C‑level buy‑in.

Maintaining the flow of younger people into the professions calls for organisations to recognise that today’s graduates no longer aspire to a job for life, and thus require career paths that are more flexible and less linear. They are also much less inclined to leave their social consciences at home, and increasingly demand that employers should live up to their personal values around ethics and sustainability in particular.

Unlocking project value is increasingly about collaborative working across different disciplines and organisations. Science‑based teams may possess strong collaboration skills, but also often require support to scale them up to the organisational level.

The challenges of digitalisation and data are also a universal theme. Automation of lower‑value activities may be the key to the perennial push to achieve more with fewer resources, but it calls for cutting‑edge data and analytics capacity that many organisations don’t currently possess. Data around project success or failure, if it is collected at all, may be a low priority when it comes to being analysed and generating insight in comparison to data that is more immediately commercially valuable, or required by regulators.

The panel also concluded that there is a role for APM to play in bringing these diverse sectors and organisations together with more traditionally project‑based industries to raise the profile of project professionals, share best practice and shine a light on what it takes to be a successful project manager in 2022 and beyond. It’s not simply a case of life sciences, pharma and healthcare copying more established sectors, but of how each can learn more effectively from the best work of the others.

 

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU FROM THE WINTER 2022 ISSUE OF PROJECT JOURNAL, WHICH IS FREE FOR APM MEMBERS.