The need to supplement your employees with external resources is very common in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, particularly within the Quality and Regulatory Compliance space.
On a project by project basis, you must assess required skills for each particular case, which can become challenging. The skill sets needed for one project can be quite different than those necessary for another.
Are you looking for higher level consulting in the form of strategic thinkers who can assume the lead role in the overall direction and oversight of the project? Or, are you looking to augment your existing teams with individuals who will dive into the details, acting as additional arms and legs in the day-to-day execution of the project?
Here are five factors to consider in your assessment:
You can’t determine what kind of external supplementation you need without first assessing the talent of your internal team, their strengths and weaknesses, and evaluating resources from other departments that may be available to you.
If you’ve recently conducted a 360-degree talent assessment, you can certainly leverage those observations. Those insights will give you a clear understanding of your employees’ capabilities, and visibility into gaps in skill sets, experience, and expertise. In the process, meet with your team to confirm and clarify each members’ knowledge base, background, and consider reviewing the resumes of your employees so you can remind yourself of their experiences before joining your team.
Who has experience being a project manager Who has CAPA experience? Who has addressed 483s? These are just a few questions that you may find helpful.
Depending on the specifics of your project, you have the option of engaging a traditional consulting firm -- one who will run the entire project, provide vision and expertise, supervise and review the day-to-day work, and provide you with defined deliverables. Sure, you can have some of your internal employees assisting with the project, but the project belongs to this outside firm. This approach takes you and your team out of the daily grind of the project where instead you receive regular updates on progress.
On the contrary, perhaps relinquishing so much control of the day-to-day execution of the project is not what you need. This project belongs to you. The executive leadership team and the Board of Directors are looking to you and your team to ensure its success, so you want to be the one managing it.
This scenario points you in the direction of using individual consultants to augment your current staff.
The funds allocated to your project can certainly be a critical factor when determining the type of resources to bring in. Concerning #2 above, be aware that the traditional consulting firm that runs the entire project will undoubtedly be more expensive than staff augmentation. Further, you may want to bring in an additional 30 people for the project, but if the budget can only accommodate 15, you need to prioritize effectively.
What are the “must haves" and what are the “nice to haves”? It goes without saying that the more experienced resource who can assume leadership, or a consultative role in the project will typically carry a higher price tag. So, would a few of these individuals be more advantageous as compared to a higher volume of lower level staff who are there to augment your team? What’s the ideal combination of both?
There’s no clear-cut right or wrong, but understanding how it will fit into your allocated budget is crucial.
You have a high priority project that will require a substantial amount of your employees’ time and effort. This project, of course, presents demands beyond their usual day-to-day responsibilities. The decision as to whether you can backfill all, or at least some, of your internal positions will go a long way in determining what type of assistance you need to bring in from the outside.
If you have employees who have the expertise and experience to provide value-added consulting and leadership for your project, and you are willing to backfill, that would give you a much clearer picture of how to move forward.Now you can focus on bringing in external resources with skill sets aligned with the day-to-day responsibilities of those employees, and let your internal team run your project.
On the other hand, if you can backfill employees who can provide more of the basic blocking and tackling for your project, now you need to bring in higher-level consultants to lead the project.
Making yourself familiar with the available talent pool can have a significant impact on your resourcing conclusions. If you’re like most managers, your project has tight deadlines and therefore you need to get external resources in the door quickly. Talk to your staffing agency and have an open dialogue to educate yourself on the market. What are the types of skill sets more readily available, and what are the corresponding rates? Will you need to go outside your local market to find certain skills, and if so, will you need to consider offering an expense package?
Your ultimate decision as to how to appropriately resource your project is critical. Even with the right plan and the right work ethic and commitment, your project could be headed for failure without the right types of resources. All you can do is to put yourself in the best possible position to make a well-informed and confident decision by carefully considering all relevant factors and then trusting your judgment.