Pharmaceutical Industry

Whether you are a spin-out, growing Biotech or established pharma we have a breadth and depth of scientific and operational experience that can support you.

Having managed over 100 research projects, we have expertise in assay development and screening; sample management and outsourcing, so we can help you to:

• Build your research organisation – helping with scientific interviews, organisational design, skills development & culture
• Diagnose and resolve issues - evaluate working practices holistically (culture, skills, attitudes, processes and systems) and work in a variety of ways to identify & resolve root causes of issues.
• Identify and manage CROs - develop connections; assess capabilities; develop collaborative partnership skills
• Optimise processes - using a variety of continuous improvement approaches, driven by data, create effective processes that eliminate redundant activities and streamline handovers.

For examples of our impact on team effectiveness and processes, see our case studies.

For examples of complex R&D challenges we have handled, see our case studies.

Change Management

Specialising in the human side of change, we can make a real difference to how successful your transformation is by:

• Building engagement through tailored communications, workshops and interactive sessions
• Managing expectations through reporting of relevant KPIs and metrics
• Establishing relationships - creating a safe environment for debate and facilitating challenging difficult conversations
• Creating Focus - developing change strategy, plans and working groups with outcomes at the core

See our case studies.

We help you achieve your aspirations and ambitions in the ways that work best for you, so call us for a bespoke quote.

Individual Coaching and Team Effectiveness​

Combining 20+ years in executive leadership with strong creativity and facilitation skills, we can design and deliver workshops that support you to:

• Build trust and high performing teams
• Develop vision/mission statements, strategic imperatives and action plans
• Create awareness and develop capability in critical team and leadership skills

Unlike many other coaches, we have direct experience of scientific leadership in the Pharmaceutical industry which enables us to constructively challenge, generate credibility and build coaching relationships that go beyond interpersonal skills. This is supported by 70% of clients scoring 9/10 or 10/10 in terms of recommending our services.

See our case studies

MBTI^® Coaching​

Using the MBTI^® platform, we can :​

• Help create self-awareness to grow and develop individuals
• Build understanding of communication styles, approaches to decision making and influencing
• Sessions can be delivered to individuals or in groups of up to 16 people and are tailored to your needs and budget. Please contact us directly to find the solution that works for you.

Five Behaviors^® Facilitation

Developed with Patrick Lencioni, the easy to understand and yet impactful Five Behaviors^® approach can :

• Build a culture of team work across your organisation- generating awareness of the critical behaviours that foster high performing teams OR
• Generate greater cohesiveness in teams- focusing teams that are working together to deliver results on the changes needed to take them to the next level of performance AND
• Create understanding and build relationships between team members that find it challenging to reconcile their differences

Please contact us directly to find out more and discuss the options that might work best for you.

 

 

Structure to Re-Structuring

The Pharma client was embarking on a significant re-structuring exercise, with impact on employees across several countries. The sensitivities required that only senior leaders were aware of the project and, to support them in executing the desired outcome, we were enrolled to bring structure to the project management.

The Business Challenge(s):

• Leadership team members were unclear of the rationale for the change that had been directed to them from senior executives within the company, especially as it was a deviation from the previous strategy.

• The team were engaged in thinking about the requirements, but were not looking at the alignment between their activities or the holistic aspects of the change project.

• There was an expectation that the project would deliver within 3 months, but no dates had been set for the milestones or the final communication.

Outcomes and Benefits:

• With strong relationship building skills and the introduction of formal change team meetings, we were able to bring together the diversity of team members from across the globe (including HR, finance, legal and scientific leaders) to focus on the project plan and deliver on time.

• Through active listening to the concerns and thoughts of the stakeholders and change team, we were able to navigate the challenges of the communication planning, resulting in a set of messages that explained the change without criticising the colleagues that were leaving or the previous strategy.

• Generating an environment of cooperation and trust, along with effective management of the project and core team meetings, we were able to help the team manage the complex interdependencies, resolve incorrect assumptions that were being made and agree how to overcome unexpected issues.

Change Team Training

A Pharma company was embarked on a major transformation programme that had been carefully mapped out and discussed over the course of the previous 18 months. Change roles and responsibilities had been discussed and a change team established. However, execution of the plan was not going well and we were recruited to support the change team in delivery.

The Business Challenge(s):

• A well-defined plan for the changes was in place and some teams were embroiled in making them happen. Other teams had not started. Therefore, valid concern regarding the interdependencies was being raised.

• It was unclear as to why some teams were not delivering, when they had been engaged in the planning and were supportive of the proposed changes.

• Several change team members were encountering resistance that they could not overcome.

Outcomes and Benefits:

• With a specialism in the people side of change management, we were rapidly able to identify that the change team did not have the knowledge to engage their organisations in the change or understand how change would impact their teams.

• Specific training sessions were conducted in conjunction with external trainers to introduce the change curve and how to support people through it. The realisation that, as a team, the change leaders were further along this curve was a powerful learning that explained the building disconnect and frustration between these leaders and their teams.

• Bespoke documentation was generated and active support provided to help the change leaders in their communication planning, enabling them to engage their audience and provide support to their teams in implementing what was being asked of them.

• Through a change team forum, different methodologies for incentivising their teams to change were discussed, creating more cross-departmental support and alignment of changes being made.

• The introduction of ‘on the ground’ change agents helped alleviate resistance in key areas, especially when perceptions were that the leaders were too disconnected from the day-to-day.

Culture Change

R&D Leadership within a mid-sized Pharma had been working with their internal communications team to develop the R&D brand. Delivery of an external R&D brochure was underway, but internal awareness of the new branding was low. We were engaged to help drive awareness and bring the concept alive, to change the culture within the R&D organisation.

The Business Challenge(s):

• The R&D brochure for external use was delayed and no specific plans had been identified for implementation of the brand internally.

• R&D spanned multiple sites across the globe and there was no consistency in the branding of the buildings, especially as several were occupied by more than R&D colleagues.

• There were limited discussions about how the new branding could be used to support the internal cultural changes needed to deliver against R&D’s aspirations.

Outcomes and Benefits:

• By working closely with the R&D leadership team and senior leaders to develop communications that reflected the new branding, we were able to energise the organisation about the concepts and mindset behind the branding and ensure that they were echoed across all levels of the organisation, in day-to-day communications and behaviours.

• The design and implementation of icons enabled the company to develop posters and incorporate the messages in to their building design in subtle ways, to reinforce the message and yet be consistent with the overall company branding.

• The design and implementation of workshops on several sites enabled colleagues at all levels to engage in what these concepts meant to them and how they could bring them to life, creating a self-driven desire to deliver against them and encourage others to do the same.

Speed Check

An R&D team had embarked on a complex change programme, with over 100 deliverables across multiple departments and encompassing initiatives ranging from adoption of new IT tools to implementation of a full departmental re-structure. Senior leaders were under scrutiny regarding delivery from executive teams and internal R&D colleagues. We were recruited to aid in the management of expectations of key stakeholders.

The Business Challenge(s):

• Given the complexity of the changes the planning and implementation had been taking place over several years and was perceived as being slow to impact by executives.

• Many of the R&D colleagues were ‘fatigued’ by the change or of low morale due to the perceived lack of progress.

• Other functions across the organisation indicated that they did not understand or were not aware of changes that could impact them.

Outcomes and Benefits:

• Recognising that communication is a key factor during change implementation, we were able to create structure and bring audience focus to the communications, enhancing the impact of the information exchanged.

• We generated specific and benefit-focused leading and lagging KPIs for the core elements behind the change. These acted as a reminder of the drivers behind the transformation, reinforcing the need to change, as well as providing an indicator of tangible progress to senior stakeholders.

• Our awareness of stakeholder mapping and relationship management facilitated a strengthening of support for the transformation across the organisation. Through the establishment of a company wide transformation team synergies and inter-dependencies could be actively discussed.

Fast Focus

Following a re-organisation at a large Pharma company, the client needed to align his new leadership team and create a new vision and mission for the wider group. Questae were recruited to design and facilitate a workshop that could rapidly align the team on what needed to be done and accelerate relationship building across the team members.

The Business Challenge(s):

• The new team had some historical members, some new members and one individual that would be present but was leaving the organisation.

• The core activities within the group had not changed but the alignment and emphasis of the team was different and would require a different mindset.

• The change had already been made so there was an urgent need for alignment across the leadership team in terms of key messages.

Outcomes and Benefits:

• Our knowledge of the industry, combined with effective use of open questions and active listening, ensured that everyone contributed to the discussions, which enhanced the output delivered from the sessions and increased buy-in to the statements and actions being defined.

• The workshop identified a new vision statement (aligned with the wider organisation and new identity of the team) which emphasised the mindset and desired impact, making messaging with the wider group clear and concise.

• Our use of MBTI principles in the team building session enabled the leader of this team to fully appreciate how he might have to work to ensure he captured all of the contributions from his team based in the US. It also helped the team members appreciate each other’s preferences and helped in building trust.

• A set of agreed strategic imperatives were developed, along with some of the key elements supporting them, that could be utilised in additional activities to engage the wider team in the change.

Right First Time

The Pharma client had a documented process for delivery of approved artwork for its global products and packaging. Stock levels in several countries were becoming a concern due to delayed delivery - a result of the cycle times and multiple review steps required to generate approval. Questae were requested to run a workshop with the key colleagues involved, to review issues in the process and identify solutions.

The Business Challenge(s):

• Multiple departments were involved in the delivery of the service and some outsourced activities were involved. There was a mixture of very senior and junior colleagues, as well as new members to be involved in the discussion.

• Statistics had highlighted issues with lead in time, turnaround time and multiple review cycles, but the causes for these observations were not clearly understood.

• Clear impact and recommended actions were to be demonstrated from a single workshop of 2 days, to enable alignment with a wider, internal, end-to-end mapping exercise for interdependent processes.

Outcomes and Benefits:

• Utilising our wealth of experience in running workshops, we developed a well-balanced agenda that covered the need to share the current situation and openly discuss issues and potential solutions, thereby maximising engagement.

• Having well developed facilitation skills and a focused agenda enabled us to ensure that all participants had a voice, regardless of their role, grade or natural communication style, ensuring we maximised understanding of the root cause for issues, as well as contribution to solutions.

• Our knowledge of the industry and focus on desired outcomes, combined with strong active listening, ensured the workshop identified key improvements in the quality management of the process. Through constructive challenge, we ensured that the process was modified to increase the probability of gaining approval first time, rather than just improve the control in each QC step.

Solving Puzzles

Providing a variety of development services as part of a large outsourcing project for a mid-sized Pharma company, the CRO client observed quality issues from several of its sub-contractors. Given the complexity of the situation and tight deadlines to address the concerns, Questae were recruited for 6 months to diagnose the problem, provide a recommended course of action and subsequently to design and project manage a transition plan.

The Business Challenge(s):

• Several layers of sub-contracting were in place and it was not clear where the sources of the issues were arising.

• Service provision was on-going for a pipeline of projects with deadlines out of the control of the client or Pharma company, meaning the client had 4 weeks to make a recommendation and a window of 6 weeks to establish the solution.

• Improvement to alliance and quality management of on-going and future delivery was necessary to minimise negative impact with the Pharma company and authorities.

Outcomes and Benefits:

• With strong knowledge of the Pharma industry we were able to enter the client’s organisation and rapidly develop an understanding of what was required, enabling delivery of timely recommendations.

• Levering our change management and project management skills, we were able to develop a robust transition plan that included the provision of all communications materials across the client and pharma organisations - critical for managing stakeholders with high levels of frustration and concern.

• Utilising our facilitation and meeting management skills, several workshops were successfully delivered to agree the new processes; ways of working and expectations of the new provider, as well as generate understanding and alignment with the key stakeholders (including the definition of agreed KPIs).

• The coaching we provided, along with our direct experience of vendor and partnership management, were essential in providing key client colleagues with the necessary knowledge to ensure the quality and timely delivery of this service going forwards.

Tailored Solutions

A mid-sized Pharma company had made the decision to increase capacity in in vitro screening via an outsourcing model. As this type of activity had not been conducted previously, we were required to provide expertise on managing the vendor selection process.

The Business Challenge(s):

• The company had two in vitro screening teams operating out of two locations and with two very different screening needs, due to therapy area focus.

• Team leaders had no experience of outsourcing and limited knowledge of different vendors or vendor management.

• The team managing the exercise had no prior experience of the selection process and their purchasing contact was new to the organisation.

Outcomes and Benefits:

• By engaging early with the two in vitro teams and with strong knowledge of the biological screening world, we were able to rapidly identify the different needs of the two teams and build this in to the list of vendors and the selection questionnaire or Request for Information and Request for Proposal (RFI / RFP) documents used by purchasing.

• Given the lack of experience of the team leaders involved, a final selection process involving site visits was developed. This specifically enabled the team members to meet the providers face to face (building trust) and also see directly the facility their assays would be prosecuted in (giving a true sense of capability). In addition, this method became critical to differentiating vendors that ‘on paper’ appeared equivalent.

• The final result was a selection of two preferred providers, that enabled effective screening provision for all of the needs of the two teams- one vendor that could be trusted to deliver effectively a wide range of robust assays at a competitive price and one that provided a very bespoke service for the optimisation and prosecution of challenging cell-based assays (with emphasis on solving complex biological issues and strong data analysis).

• By working with the team to transfer the first assay to these vendors we were able to help them understand the importance of setting clear expectations on data quality and transfer, communication and relationship management and joint problem solving in this outsourced model, helping their first outsourced assay run smoothly.

Chris has over 20 years of project / portfolio management and transformational change leadership experience, gained in the pharmaceutical industry and NHS, combined with formal certification as an MBTI^® and Five Behaviors^® practitioner.

She brings her emotional intelligence, energy and technical expertise to engage minds and inspire change in individuals, teams and organisations.

She has a track record of enhancing performance and transforming delivery - whether it be through leading change initiatives; design and facilitation of team effectiveness or strategy definition workshops, or the application of her scientific expertise to optimise processes.

Having held senior positions (e.g. R&D Chief of Staff) in complex, global and matrix organisations, Chris has demonstrated that her authentic leadership style enables her to develop trusting relationships at all levels.

In addition, her diversity of experience makes her a valuable partner in developing holistic and bespoke solutions that are right for the needs of any client, to maximise success.

As well as being Managing Director of her own company, Chris is an affiliated Consultant at Leading Change UK Ltd and Phetairos Ltd. She has held paid Scientific Advisory Board positions (e.g. Charnwood Molecular) and also actively participates in volunteer Board roles (British Pharmacological Society, ELRIG UK and BPS Assessment Ltd).

Questae Coaching & Consulting Ltd

Based in Penn, Buckinghamshire, UK

T: +44 (0)7785 387 570
E: office@questae.com
E: chris@questae.com

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