I’m a native Northeast guy, but I spent 7 years in the South (Tennessee). I enjoy visiting there when I can. But there’s one time when you really don’t want to head in that direction, and that’s when the training project you’re working on with a vendor goes south!
It happens. More often than anyone likes to talk about (hey, it’s embarrassing for both client and vendor, you know?). Not only in pharmaceutical training, but in other industries, stuff goes wrong and reputations get hurt.
There are three main reasons why project failure happens:
- Poor choice of a vendor/provider, dooming the project from the get-go;
- Inadequate definition of the project itself;
- Lack of sound and agreed-upon project management processes.
It grieves me to see the money, time, and good-will squandered because some fairly straightforward practices are not employed.
You don’t have to settle for these failures, however. At the upcoming Society of Biotech and Trainers Conference (SPBT), I’ll be co-facilitating a workshop on project management (Hey – I Didn’t Sign up to Manage Projects!). This session will take place on Wednesday morning at 9:15 am (Session 3). My co-leader Bob Holliday from Boehringer-Ingelheim and I will try to equip you and your colleagues on the basics of good vendor selection, project definition, and project management. Variations of this workshop have been delivered in a number of client departments over the past year and the content is always very relevant and practical.
Don’t let your projects turn to the downward side of the compass! Come and learn the foundational principles and best practices that lead to success.
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