The Value of DHC’s Project Management Toolbox

The Ask

The initial project request for this client wasn’t specifically for project management—it was instead for remediation, to address and identify a suitable validated/compendial analytical method for final product testing. The client’s request to DHC included managing the third-party vendor: the lab that was executing this work on behalf of the client. DHC discovered that overall cohesiveness and communication between the CRO and client was impeding project momentum, and recommended streamlining communication and formalizing the reporting mechanism between the two groups to strengthen collaboration and speed up the process. The client opted to add DHC’s project management services to ensure an industry-savvy point person who could provide overall project goverance.

The Impact

The client received the benefit of a steady voice keeping continuous (and tracked) lines of communication open between the client and their contract lab, providing timeline tracking and visibility into the status of the project. The project achieved its goal timeline, which was at risk at the time when the DHC PM entered the picture. The relationship between the client and the vendor was significantly strengthened.

DHC’S Approach

Once the DHC PM had been identified and introduced themselves to the client-side contact and the vendor-side contact, it was time to set expectations. Consistency and accountability are two of the reasons a single point of project management contact is useful, and if that individual isn’t affiliated with either of the two original parties, then they also bring with them an often-needed sense of neutrality.
A PM can be necessary to track the moving pieces in a multi-part project…or to add urgency to drive a project forward…or both. In this case, the client needed a driver to act as an extension of the client: someone to keep the pressure on to ensure that the project would build sustainable momentum to achieve the desired timeline.
The project manager introduced the items from within the P&PM “toolbox” that they recommended for use for this project. The typical toolbox set may include agenda templates, planning documents/templates, risk registers, a project charter, timeline, meeting minutes, meeting agendas, supply chain and/or lot tracking, and/or a project dashboard.
Communications expectations were set, including how and when to provide updates, tracking, and any other reports to the client.
DHC’s PM selected software tools that were an appropriate match to the office software preferred by both the client and the vendor.
Whenever any element of the project was delayed, jeopardized the overall therapy timeline, or was otherwise problematic, the DHC PM escalated the issue through the vendor, to ensure that the final products remained on schedule and at the highest level of performance.
The DHC PM was responsible for the overall project governance, taking ownership to ensure that deliverables remained on schedule.