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Project Structures: How to establish with Planview, Planisware, and Project Online

From a pharmaceutical R&D context, project structures can be seen as a reliable process to organize, track, and deliver the tasks while keeping the stakeholders informed. If you don’t have a well-planned project structure: Portfolio decisions usually suffer from low visibilityTeams start losing alignmentMissing critical deadlines become normal With a strong project structure, key decision-makers can: Have a clear view throughout the entire pipelineEasily prioritize high-value portfolio assets Manage risks more efficiently Project portfolio management tools like Planisware, MS Project Online, and Planview help establish organized structures that accelerate pharma projects, ensure compliance and success. That said, let’s dive into what project structures mean in pharmaceutical context, and how these tools help establish them seamlessly. Types of project structures in pharmaceutical R&DSelecting the right structure is your first step to ensure on-time project delivery with the right resources, without bleeding budgets. Here are three types of project structures to consider: 1. Functional structure As the name suggests, functional structure involves grouping all teams as per specialized functions – be it clinical, manufacturing, regulatory etc. In this model, the departmental head usually manages the team members, while coordinating the projects within functional silos.Functional structures are best for:Small-scale pharma companiesLimited cross-functional project needsWhat to look out for?On the flipside, these models are also known to create communication gaps and slow down decision-making in accelerated R&D settings. 2. Projectized structure In this model, the project manager has 100% authority over the research team and key resources, unlike the former. The PMOs assign their teams to specific projects, often outside their everyday functional roles.Projectized structures are best for:Large-scale pharmaceutical project management needstime-sensitive, high-priority, high flexibility research initiatives What to look out for?Unfortunately, this model can also cause resource duplication and higher costs, particularly when multiple projects are running at the same time. 3. Matrix structure (Best suited for Pharma)Last, but most importantly, the matrix structure brings the best of both functional and projectized structures under one umbrella. Here, teams report to both functional and project managers. This way, resources can be shared across different projects without compromising on functional supervision.Matrix structures are best for:Mid-to-large organizations juggling between numerous programsHigh operational continuity & innovation-led settingsWhat to look out for?Despite being the most common project structure in pharma R&D, it calls for strong communication and higher role clarity, to avoid conflicts or confusion. How to establish Pharma-specific structures using Planisware, Project Online and Planview?Designing and implementing project structures that suit the complex requirements of pharmaceutical R&D become easier with PPM tools. Users can configure project hierarchies, governance models, allocate resources efficiently and support decision-making at every phase. Here are your options and steps to do it:Tool #1: PlanviewFirst on our list, Planview is a major contender in terms of portfolio management and resource optimization. With a little upfront tailoring, its project templates can align well with pharma workflows.How to set up a project structure in Planview?Configure project types: label templates (for example, “Phase I asset”, “Platform”)Define swimlanes as per function (clinical, regulatory, manufacturing)Set up a clear stage-gate workflow in roadmap view with well-defined gatesAttach gate checklists and deliverables to each stageEnable demand/capacity views for cross-functional resource alignment Tool #2: PlaniswareThe Planisware project management tool is purpose-built for life sciences projects, and mirrors pharma R&D workflows like none other in this list. For example, it embeds stage gate logic at every level. The platform natively supports clinical/CMC deliverables, molecule hierarchies, as well as regulatory milestones. Here, teams can easily set up projects that map exactly to asset phases, while having total control over gates and finances.How to set up a project structure in Planisware?Create a project template with WBS (discovery, preclinical, phase 1/2/3)Embed gates after every single phase, linking back to the decision criteria and business case scorecardsAdd key deliverables (for example: IND, CMC dossiers, clinical trial authorizations)Link back the financial/resource modules to WBS for seamless budget/version trackingRoll up to portfolio to maintain proper visibility across molecules and indications Tool #3: Project OnlineLastly, Project Online is a great choice for schedule-level planning; it’s not entirely built around pharmaceutical project management structures in focus. Here, teams need to build everything from ground up. The good part, however? Integrating with Power BI, Teams, and Power Automate.How to set up a project structure in Project Online?Start by designing your custom project template Define tasks for regulatory deliverables and project milestonesTrigger notifications at gate milestones by integrating Power Automate Integrate Power BI to access customized dashboards aligned to R&D phases’ progressManage resources via PWA to assign functional roles How to choose the right tool for your project structure needs?More than chasing latest features, choose project portfolio management tools that fit your team’s needs the best. This means judging the tool by how well it aligns with your project structure, people, and strategic goals. Choose Planisware if you would:Manage a mid-to-large pharma/biotech firm with a complex R&D asset portfolioRequire built-in stage-gate models, modifiable for drug development lifecyclesNeed strong portfolio governance & what-if scenario planning at scaleUse Project Online if you would:Require a quick, at-budget tool for basic-level project scheduling/ trackingFocus on daily task management, instead of strong portfolio governanceNeed hassle-free, end-to-end automation integration (Teams, Power BI, Outlook) Go for Planview if you would:Be transitioning from project-level to portfolio-level strategy while scaling upWant to have strong resource demand vs. capacity modelling Need visualized roadmaps, high financial visibility, cross-functional planning etc. Key takeaways at a glanceProject structure informs smart portfolio decisions, points out risks early and surfaces resource conflicts Matrix project structure is the best-suited for pharma/biotech teams, as it comes with a mix of agility, governance, and resource efficiencyMore features don’t ensure success; choose your tool that best fits your team’s maturity level, complexity of portfolio assets, and other key indicators.Planisware project management tool is best for enterprise players with deep pipelines; Project Online suits mid-sized teams focused on scheduling; Planview is the go-to option for strategy-driven PMOsNeed help getting started? Let’s talk about how we can help. i2e Consulting brings 15+ years of PPM expertise. We’ve partnered with leading pharma organizations to establish fit-for-purpose project structures that drive clarity, speed, and smarter portfolio decisions. Connect with us – let’s build a project structure that accelerates your portfolio growth.

Change management- What is it? and why should project managers understand and own it

Change management is a critical component for organizations and projects undergoing transformations be it process or technological. Not addressing changes can lead to disengagement, decreased productivity, wasted resources, ultimately leading to project delays. A well-structured change management plan enables organizations to navigate change smoothly, minimizing disruptions and increasing the likelihood of achieving desired outcomes. In this blog we will present a change management guide and explain why it is important for project managers to also become change managers with a realistic example. Before knowing how to master change management, lets know more about it. According to the Harvard Business School, “Change Management refers broadly to the actions a business takes to change or adjust a significant component of its organization. This may include company culture, internal processes, underlying technology or infrastructure, corporate hierarchy, or another critical aspect.” (1) If you are a project manager, you may need to play a dual role of the project manager and a change manager. As change management deals with people’s adoption towards the new process or technology, there is no better person a team trusts than the project manager. So, first let’s understand how different change management and project management are, as this will help you to effectively shift gears whenever necessary. Are Project Management and Change Management the Same Thing? Though there are overlaps between project management and change management, they are two different processes as the former deals with what people are doing and the latter is how the people are doing it – and each of them requires separate approaches. So, how different are change management and project management? Let's find out. By treating change management and project management as separate but complementary disciplines, companies can effectively address both the human and technical aspects of organizational initiatives. Change management is often associated with challenges such as resistance to change, unforeseen risks, data standardization, change fatigue etc., So, how can project managers navigate through these challenges and achieve successful change management? Read the next section as we illustrate change management with the help of a real-time example.Change Management Example: Migrating and Adopting Planisware A global organization recognized the necessity of transitioning its fragmented Project management systems, including Microsoft Project, Smartsheet and Excel, to a unified platform such as Planisware. This is a huge change that the company planned to go with a big-bang approach rather than opting for a pilot project first. Navigating such a change to new technology presents challenges. A robust plan and effective change management by the project managers is required to ensure a smooth transition. Let's begin by looking at the organization’s key objectives the company was looking to achieve with this change. Achieve one tool approach: Different project groups were using both MS Project and Smartsheet. These users loved their tools; however, each project manager utilized them in their own way, with their own tricks and without harmonization in how the data was being collected, structured, and shared. Reports were ad-hoc and as-needed. The MS Project users didn't coordinate with the Smartsheet users, even though some of the same takes and milestones were represented in each. The company aimed to bring all the projects under Planisware and achieve data synergy between teams.Increase data timeliness: Organization wanted to streamline data collection and reporting processes with the help of advanced capabilities of Planisware. They also aimed to reduce the time required to gather and analyze data, ensuring that decision-makers had access to timely and relevant information.Break down silos: Planisware will also foster collaboration and alignment between teams. So, the organization sought to break down silos and promote knowledge sharing. They also wanted to have enhanced visibility into resource allocation and project milestones would facilitate cross-team synergies and alignment with global planning objectives.AI integration: They wanted to get data ready for AI use by centralizing all project data in one repository and standardizing data. Thus, enabling the organization to leverage AI generated advanced analytics for decision-making and forecasting.Resource management: They also wanted to centralize processes for resource management by replacing the offline method. The agenda behind doing this was to enhance visibility, facilitate collaboration and align with global planning objectives. Now let's see how a change management plan can be made for this scenario. Change Management Best Practices for Project Managers In the above example, the company may engage a technology partner to implement Planisware. This partner will take care of the implementation and drive change management. However, there are some crucial aspects where project managers need to switch roles and become change managers as well. Let's explore more of these aspects. Executive push to use data: It is imperative to start including Planisware in the day-to-day activities of the project management. Coach the team members to let go of the previous practices and get data from Planisware only. If there are discrepancies in the data, instruct the team on how to fix them.Practice data driven decision making: Establish data quality control mechanisms to make sure the data is of high quality. Communicate to your team with evidence of how the decision makers are using the data for decision-making, and how the data quality is getting reflected in the reports.Communicate improvements: Gather statistics which can be used to quantitatively show improvement after the change. e.g., number of hours spent on each annual operating cycle, resource utilization, number of projects' gate reviews performed per quarter.Include in the bigger picture: Communicate to the highest-level executive to include updates on the implementation project in all-hands meetings, so that end-users realize that this project is a big deal, and their annoyances are a part of a corporate improvement.Strive to provide material value to your team: Project managers should meticulously plan and work with the Planisware implementation partner to provide material value to each end-user, be it a specific report that will address a challenge or building RPA (Robotic Process Automation) to save them time. For example, building templates for roadmaps for the project managers, so that you can have a one-button operation to output their Gantts into 'pretty' views which can be shared throughout the organization.Meticulous data migration: Rather than lifting-and-shifting all pre-existing data, have the users re-created it in the new tool with the new processes (especially if there are any material changes to the processes, such as new templates, new resource structures, new levels of details expected in their planning). While this seems tedious and users will have some resistance, it is the best form of training and will ensure that they are bought in to the data that is in the new tool (instead of an automated migration process resulting in data that they own but don't trust).Build a data dictionary/glossary: Work with the implementation partner and other stake holders to ensure harmonization or alignment of terms. For instance, in the pharma world, "FPI" sometimes means first subject screened and other teams means first patient first dose. If your organization grew via acquisition, different team members may have different interpretations of the same thing and a data glossary can help establish harmonization.Define resource management terms: Make sure the crucial metrics pertaining to resource management are defined before implementing the module. For example, when the definition of FTE is not clear, then, it’s impact is seen when a report says, "2 FTE are needed for this time period" does it mean that you need 2 humans, or does it mean you need more people because of vacation and trainings and other overhead; can it mean 4 humans working halftime each is ok? etc. And how will finance monetize the estimate for their budget reporting.Identify change agents: Find and enlist change agents, these can be your biggest supporters, but it can also be those most resistant to the change. Maybe it's the admin from the old tool, who is subconsciously fearful for their job. By having them included in the implementation, they can see the value and possibility. Make sure the change agents receive more communication about the change, and be involved in some decision making, so that they are better equipped to support their teams.Setup one functionality at a time: Start implementing Planisware module by module within your team, so you can hold their hand and give them the attention that they need. Similarly, roll out project by project and not a big-bang approach.Conduct “What’s in it for me” training: As a trusted source for your team, the project managers should highlight the benefits of the new tool and process. This requires digging deep into existing ways of working and finding frustrations that people are used to. For example: MS Project has a limited number of baselines. Or double entry was required from a CTMS tool into MS Project (and triple entry then into a reporting tool). Communicate and demonstrate how Planisware can effectively solve this.Prioritize ongoing training: Make sure along with initial training, your team also gets ongoing launch & learn sessions for continued training. Include advanced tips and tricks beyond what is included in the standard training, quick reference guides, like FAQs, are best to support the end users effectively. Introducing a new tool or a process comes with a promise of enhancing the existing processes and eliminating challenges; however, to reap the benefits, change management should be done effectively. Engaging a technology partner for the Planisware implementation makes it smooth and 100% fool proof. At the same time, it is equally important to appoint an experienced team to help with the change management both from the perspective of the tool and the people involved. i2e Consulting has over a decade of experience in PPM and Planisware. We have successfully configured Planisware and aligned the tool to their specific requirements and workflows. Our team also worked closely with the Planisware team and the stakeholders to help with the change management aspect. References 5 critical steps in the change management process; Business Insights; Havard Business School Online

Why you should use PPM (project portfolio management) software for project collaboration

Emails are simple and convenient, but they do more harm than good to your project management. Though emails are enticing to use, you should ditch this practice as soon as possible. You may wonder why it is imperative to have a proper collaboration system in place for project management. Read on as we tell you how emails are sabotaging your project management and how you can stop it. Five ways project management tools can promote better collaboration You may be doing everything to keep tabs on all the projects, but still, if there are certain loose ends, then it could be due to inefficiencies in your collaboration process. Though email is a great tool for communication, it is not designed for collaborations. Say no to tracking lengthy email chains In the biotechnology industry, projects are lengthy and can stretch for years, such projects have endless threads of conversations. If you are using emails to track and contain such conversations, things will get messy. With several members of your team sending emails all at once, keeping track of their daily work status is impossible. On the other hand, a project management tool is designed to manage such complex and lengthy conversations. With project management software tasks like resource allocation, setting up deadlines, creating project deliverables, etc., can be completed with accuracy and on time. Streamlined task management A project is a collection of various small tasks, which need to be assigned to everyone. Doing this over emails will cause confusion and misunderstanding. Also, there will not be any provision to have a bird’s eye view at the resource allocation and daily progress of the assigned tasks. With the best project management software, you can not only assign tasks systematically but also track them daily. Additionally, these solutions provide intelligent options to perform resource forecasting, managing the vast resource pool, building teams, etc. for more details refer to our blog on resource management. Avoid manual work and increase productivity Project management involves many tasks, some of which are repetitive. If you are using emails to collaborate with your team members, then you must manually collate all their information using excel sheets. This process is not only time-consuming but also error-prone. So, whenever you need summary reports of the project, you must execute the task from scratch every time. Specialized project management collaboration tools have options to automate most of the manual tasks. You can generate reports, and convert them into visuals with just a click. Be it a hundred sheets of clinical trials data or 6 GB of drug discovery data, you can organize it with just a click. Never miss critical insights It is a widespread practice for small and medium biotech companies for a project manager to wear multiple hats. For example, in an SME project management, a manager can co-lead the project with a technical lead. In such a scenario, hands-on data becomes vital. If you are using emails for project management, then you need to go through a dozen emails just to find out the status of a task. Using project management tools, you can track tasks as per the department and keep everyone on the same page. These solutions work on AI and ML which enables you to identify and extract crucial insights from your project data without the need to perform any manual work. Real-time collaboration Another crucial area of project management is having real-time control over the project. The project manager should be aware of every minute detail of what is happening within the project. If you are using emails for collaboration, then most of your time will be invested in searching for emails in your inbox, and that information is also not real-time. Project management software will help you have a bird’s eye view of the project with just a click. You will be able to view the progress in a project in real-time, this data can also help forecast the future trends of the project based on the current progress. Project management is more than just communicating with each other, it has special needs, and a software solution can help fulfill them. Unlike popular myths investing in a PPM tool is neither expensive nor time-consuming. All these tools are said to give a greater ROI and can be implemented in 1-2 quarters. i2e Consulting has 13 years in life science project management consulting. Our team is well versed with the implementation of Project Online, Planisware, etc., for global biotechnology companies.