4 Practical uses for a Wiki in Pharma

You’ve lived and experienced the nightmares associated with document management and collaboration in an enterprise environment. E-mails follow multi-branched and reply all paths. Spreadsheets and Word documents get passed around and everyone asks – “do I have the latest version?” Or what about the times when you need a new job posting on your corporate site or to perform an urgent update to content. Do these problems sound like your organizations? Even worse do you have a over burdened process that governs what you need to do to make simple changes?

Enter the wiki: collaboration software that solves all these problems yet, unlike many traditional content management systems, remains simple enough for non-technical employees to use.
Although wikis have been around for a decade, they're just starting to take off in business. Like the Web did when it first caught hold in the corporate world, wikis will likely go through a period of wild growth, fierce competition, and inappropriate usage. Proceed with caution. Any “crazy” technology will cause undue distress amongst your management team. Baby steps are usually best for “crazy” technologies. Likewise as you all know making the business case is just as important. That said, I’ve outlined 4 practical (or crazy) uses for Wiki’s below that will help align a powerful collaboration tool with emerging business needs for the pharmaceutical industry.

• Create an internal communication portal: Prior to wikis, an expensive enterprise application would have been required for sophisticated information management. But because most wikis are based on open-source code, they're free for companies who opt for an open-source distribution, or relatively cheap for companies willing to pay for their implementation and support. That said portals are implemented very often in pharma companies. For example marketing teams are asked to develop a communication website specific to a particular brand that will help align all internal messages regarding one or multiple indications. Typically when marketing types are asked to create web sites, they have to rely on the chance that someone in a group knows how to make a web site, or that some sort of training is available or even worse spend several thousand dollars to get a static website from an interactive agency. The wiki eliminates all three obstacles, because it provides a ready to use site with a simple user interface, ability to easily add pages, and simple navigation structure. Imagine a wiki that would allow the marketing people to concentrate more on strategy and content development, instead of trying to learn how to put font tags around a section of text. The simplicity of the wiki syntax, or language for formatting text, inserting images and creating links, means your employees spend less time trying to figure out how to make the site do what they want. Easy and empowering
  
• Develop a peer reviewed paper: Publish or perish. That’s the tenant that many researchers live by. Publishing is the main vehicle to advertise the positive (and negative) effects of a particular drug, however often times the peer review process is tainted with inefficiencies and lack of a true peer review. A wiki makes it easy for researchers to write, revise and submit a manuscript, since all three activities can take place in the wiki. Imagine a researcher that is provided access to a wiki page to develop an outline. First the researcher will begin by tracking their background research and bibliography. This allows the fellow researchers, to see what they’re using, help them if they’re off track, suggest other resources/searches, or even get ideas based on what others find useful. Next, the researcher can draft the paper in the wiki, taking advantage of the wiki’s automatic revision history that saves a before & after version of the document each time s/he makes changes (sound like EDMS). This allows the peers to see the evolution of the paper over time, and continually comment on it providing transparency. When the researcher completes the final draft, admins and/or agencies can ready all elements of the manuscript for submission to a journal and/or congress. Efficient and transparent.
  
• Simplify the maintenance of processes: Just about every pharma/biotech company I’ve worked with has an emphasis on process, however they face 2 challenges in their change management efforts of a process: a) getting buy-in from all who use the process and b) effectively implementing changes and distributing a consistent communication stream to all involved. Imagine a wiki where processes are published for the entire organization. Say the process for reporting expenses is slightly inaccurate and Judy from accounting makes a recommended correction. The process excellence folks see the error and republish the change. Now the challenge, disseminating the change effectively. Imagine then all users who have been trained on the process are distributed an alert and notified to refresh themselves on the revision. This collaboration happens automatically without any human intervention. Impactful and lean.
  
• Track emerging regulatory trends: The need to track emerging pharmaceutical trends, especially regulatory ones is a need that pharma companies pay millions for in subscription based services every year, while their most important resource – their people – already have this information in small doses. Built together in a collaborative workspace such as a wiki, a pharma company can be nimble in addressing emerging trends. For example in the news as of late was a re-hash of the PHRMA ethical guidelines. Imagine an internal wiki where a researcher places a notice about the amendment that he/she read on a blog. A medical writer who recently attended a conference posts a slide kit that was posted by a leading opinion leader in the regulatory space. All this in a centralized location where users can sign of real time alerts to get the data. Powerful communication without having to pay for it.
  
  Stay tuned for my next post – Why a Wiki wouldn’t work for you…
  
  About the author –Hassan Mahmud is a Principal of WEKGroup, LLC a project and management consultancy specializing in forward thinking and technology adoption within the pharmaceutical industry. He is an early adopter of lean process management and has implemented Wikis at leading pharmaceutical and professional service organizations. For more information on Mahmud and WEKGroup’s services, you can visit them online.

Software Implementation Nirvana

I want that, I need that, why does it cost so much, why didn’t this work, who am I going to blame…

You’ve been there, you’ve heard it. Dominatrix CIO has laid down the law not once, not twice but 3 times…”failure is not an option for this initiative”. The earth shakes and everyone under her cowers. But they still fail…why? Was there lack of motivation? Did she not yell or point her finger enough? I don’t think so.

No matter how much that CIO rants and raves, sometimes people still fail, when implementing business software, web portals, and applications. But all is not lost: There are some strategies to help avoid the perils of a bad software implementation.

It’s true. After a company puts themselves through the rigor of an RFP-driven software selection process, they might think they are on the trail towards software bliss. Committees of users, executive sponsors, line managers, consultants and other miscellaneous bits and pieces have aligned to help select a system via arduous all day demonstrations and PowerPoint decks articulating the benefits and ROI of said system (aka by committee). How could this effective process not result in the right tool for the organization? It’s inconceivable, but maybe they weren’t focusing on the most important things.

When implementing a system there are 3 success factors that will ultimately determine your success or demise. 1 – The Software 2 – The Consultants 3 – You. Hold on there Tiger, did you say me. Yes I did, just keep reading.

Success Factor #1
First, the software. Most people believe the most important factor for success is the actual code and/or platform. If we could only take each of the Christmas ornaments (features) and hang them on our tree (application) then implementation nirvana will ensue. It’s true if an application has features you need, then you logically have a better chance of success, but get ready for success factor #1. Your ability to easily change the software is more important than the features.

Does the software allow you to change or customize it all? If so, how expensive is it to make the changes? Changing a process can at times be much more costly than simply changing an application. Do you own the source code? When the vendor mention’s flexibility to what extent is it flexible? What are the reports like? Regardless of how attractive your software package looks like (even if it looks like Eva Longoria), don’t purchase it if you can’t customize it within reason. You know your business will change.

Success Factor #2
Next consider the consulting firm you work with to implement the system. You might think the consultant’s knowledge of your industry is the most important factor for success and I’ll admit it can be very helpful if a consultant knows your business, but here is success factor #2 – experience in a wide variety of industries may be better than specialized experience. Yes, your industry may have some very specific needs (it’s called self-preservation), but it’s also true your industry has many things in common with other industries. A consultant with broad experience could bring to light some best practices from other industries that may apply to your business that may be overlooked by consultants working in a cookie cutter format. Tying back to success factor #1, the consulting firm should have the ability and flexibility to change the software in a cost-effective way (yes this sometimes means outsourcing). Looking at the consultant’s history should give you an idea on their philosophy and approach to such tasks. Ask for examples and case studies.

Success Factor #3
Let’s talk about you. You are the missing link, assuming you picked a good software package and consultancy. You and your team will tip the project scorecard to red or green. Ask yourself: Is your executive team fully aligned with the change? Are the users aligned with the change? Do you manage internal projects well? If you answered no to any of the later, that’s ok. You’re being honest. So how do you surpass your shortcomings? Plan A – rely heavily on the consultants. That’s expensive and often the consultants don’t have the authority to drive change within your organization. You must do something else, it’s Plan B or success factor #3.

You don’t have to alter the personalities of all your people, send them to desensitizing chamber or try to brainwash them. (Side bar: perhaps water torture would work? Maybe another post?) The key to success here is you need an internal champion A change maven that have the power and desire to make the change happen.

All those nay sayers will come along for the ride if they see real progress occurring starting from the top down. Sometimes this person comes from accounting, sometimes from client services, sometimes from marketing but always they have business savvy, computer skills, and intelligence. They should be very aggressive about learning and have the curiosity and hunger to tackle new challenges. You must find this person within the ranks or hire them. Also you must structure their job so the change maven has time to adequately focus on the new system.

This person will work with users as they are getting started with the new system and be a first line of defense of issues. This person will drive the business processes, training, change control and ultimately a sustainable plan for the solution within your organization. For a small to mid size company this individual can make or break the project. I know what you’re thinking…there are no more Jedi, but try to think creatively. Do you currently have a FTE that is itching to do something new and is well respected professionally within the organization?

So will you achieve Implementation Nirvana? That’s entirely up to you, the team you work with and the key decisions you make along the way. I know I know, that doesn’t tell you anything, but hopefully these 3 success factors will help you avoid common pitfalls.

Oh by the way when you’re done, you’ll be cursing me for not mentioning anything about “waterfall” or “agile” techniques consultants use….stay tuned.