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Case Study
Establishing a Tailored PMO for a Biotech Pioneer
Industry: Mid-Sized Biotechnology Company
Company Size: Approximately 100 Employees
Our client for this PMOaaS project was a mid-sized biotechnology company, widely lauded for their innovative in vitro models showcasing how diseases and medicines can affect human health.
Challenges
As the client experienced rapid growth and expansion, they struggled to maintain consistency and alignment across projects without a centralized project management framework. They sought to sustainably grow their portfolio of projects and approached MustardSeed to build their first-ever PMO. The project sponsors aimed to reduce non-core product tasks for their teams while accelerating the time to market for new products. The key challenges included:
1.
Inconsistent project management practices
2.
Lack of Coordination Across Teams
3.
Difficulty balancing resources and timelines in fast-paced, innovation-driven environments
The Objectives Were Simple:
Create a Project Management Office (PMO) that supported and integrated the three main functions of the company. The goal was to move the Integrated Planning and Scheduling from functional silos into a comprehensive integrated PMO that supported decision making.
Solution
Technical Project Management:
MustardSeed offers expert project management services, including:
- Project planning
- Risk management
- Development of integrated project schedules and reporting capabilities
Program and Portfolio Management:
Standardizes project management activities, providing executive leadership with insights into performance across multiple projects.
Program and Portfolio Management:
Standardizes project management activities, providing executive leadership with insights into performance across multiple projects.
Enterprise PMO Services:
Customized solutions for project, program, and portfolio management to meet unique strategic goals. MustardSeed can build an effective, customized PMO in just 90 days, allowing organizations to fully outsource day-to-day leadership and operations through our PMO-as-a-Service (PMOaaS) model.
Client Specific Actions:
MustardSeed facilitated change management across all teams, quickly establishing buy-in for PMO rollout. With a dedicated MustardSeed project manager (PM) for every internal and client-facing project, MustardSeed developed integrated master schedules (IMS) for each program, complete with baselines and variance tracking. The MustardSeed team oversaw resource management for physical assets, human resource planning, revamped budgeting, financial management practices, and implemented Monte Carlo schedule risk analysis (SRA) for critical programs to establish realistic launch goals and manage key stakeholder expectations.
Results
- Enhanced Focus on Core Activities:
Enabled engineering and science teams to concentrate on product research and development instead of schedules and resource management. - Improved Resource Management:
Delivered clarity in balancing organizational resources and rigor in setting timelines. - Increased Efficiency and Responsiveness:
Offered flexible and responsive project management approaches tailored to various divisions and projects. - Reduced Staff Burnout:
Efficient resource management and elimination of cross-functional duplication of effort led to decreased staff burnout and increased PMO buy-in. - Cultural Transformation:
Established a culture where functional leads, technical leads, and product managers work seamlessly with PMs to deliver value and efficiency across the client’s project portfolio.
Lessons Learned
Adaptability:
Flexible project management approaches can significantly improve efficiency and team focus.
Custom Solutions:
Tailored project management solutions are essential for addressing the unique needs of each client.
Cross-Departmental Collaboration is Critical:
Actively seeking opportunities to collaborate across departments can help break down silos and lead to more innovative and effective project solutions.
Breaking Down Silos:
New best practices for connecting disparate teams, reducing duplication of effort, and fostering collaboration.
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Expert project management tailored to your unique needs, ensuring every project is delivered on time, within scope, and aligned with your strategic goals.
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