2. How is your balance - where is your organisation now?
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- Aug 5
- 3 min read
By Dr Mike Florence PhD, MBA Series Link
The last article introduced balanced capabilities, why they are important and how they can help your organisation grow efficiently and effectively. This article will show how the capabilities are calibrated and what to watch out for during changes. Capabilities need to develop as your organisation changes through organic growth and/or through merger & acquisitions. Alternatively, changes can be forced on an organisation through external challenges, market or competitor changes.
The challenges and demands on these capabilities are different at every step of organisational
growth. Achieving the best balance across these capabilities, ensuring the right level of sophistication for the size of your organisation will give the best blend to deliver your projects successfully.
This Capability development with organisation size and complexity is shown below.
It is shown as a straight line. However, it never is. With many different gradients, sudden shifts as
the organisation changes, then the capabilities must adapt.
The Y – axis are the organisation' s capabilities, moving from simple standalone project management tools, team roles and culture through to an enterprise set of integrated projects, portfolio tools and tech. systems that are used within business and for reporting cycles to update on status, progress and risk. The diagram opposite is an indication of this gradient.
It is the dynamic interaction and interconnectivity of these
capabilities that, when brought together correctly, will create a balance that best fits the organisation at stage of development.
The x-axis is the size, number of employees/teams and complexity from single project to Multiple
projects/phases and through to Global Portfolio.
At Start Up and Growth many biotech’s start with an inventor, investor, a few scientists /Subject
Matter Experts (SME’s) in the lab and maybe a CRO for specific preclinical work. At this stage:
Research and Discovery is mostly done in-house, and the management of projects is relatively
simple with one or two projects. And everyone helps where it's needed and sharing, learning is
key. Communication and sharing can often be regular chats at coffee or in canteen and can be
enough to catch up (and make decisions!) Simple tools are often used, such as Excel or MS
OneNote, to track and report progress.
As the organisation grows with new/more projects, different therapy areas/geographies then the
people skills, team set up, leadership, communication, reporting, ways of working, IT, culture all
develop. It is these capabilities the organisation needs to match and be in balance with its stage
of development.
Capabilities can quickly become unconsciously obsolete with local teams doing their best to
update or ‘fix’ processes ending up with an exponential increase in local Excel files, charts,
duplicate work arounds and huge number of frustrations and delays. This is shown by the dotted
line below.
A common response can be to ‘put in’ a new IT system and if professionally managed this may
help. However, in many cases it can lead to a ‘state of the art’ IT system without the supporting
people skills, roles, leadership, the processes to use as part of standard ways of working, the
links to/from other IT systems or the culture to use the reports as decision making.
The key to balance is knowing when you’ve lost it. We believe that regaining this balance can be
done through an awareness of the right mix for your organisation’s size/complexity.
In the next article I will share some examples of how your balance can be understood and a new
balance/vision can emerge.
Following articles will cover what happens in tough times. When the organisation faces challenges, maybe losing people, clients, markets. How to rebalance and be best placed for
rebuilding to meet new business objectives and strategy.
For further information or questions please contact:
Dr Mike Florence PhD, MBA
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