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There is nowhere for the political animals to hide – if gate meetings are effective.
There is nowhere for the political animals to hide – if gate meetings are effective.
Last week we discussed how the NPD process manager, or whatever their job title is, should have a core responsibility of coaching teams and providing training/IT support.
This week we are going to move onto the next best practice which is that the NPD process manager should facilitate gate meetings.
In a few weeks time we will discuss a number of best practices around gate keeping. But this post is about the simple best practice of the NPD process manager facilitating gate meetings.
But is it simple?
For those who are not aware, gate meetings are key meetings within the stage gate process where key go / no go decisions should be made to ensure that only suitable product launches proceed to the next stage of development, and all key tasks that are required to be completed have been completed.
There are a number of challenges which complicate the effectiveness of gate meetings:
- Key deliverables required prior to the gate meeting not completed.
- Challenges getting all stakeholders to attend meetings.
- Directors & senior managers who are often more senior to the NPD process managers not following the agreed process or respecting decisions.
- Gatekeepers not attending meetings.
- Gatekeepers not making meaningful contributions to the process.
- Lack of deputy gatekeepers who can step in for absent gatekeepers.
In the context of these challenges it is clear that the best practice of facilitating gate meetings is a massive challenge and can be wrapped up in a whole host of political challenges.
Is one of your NPD process managers core responsibilities ensuring that your stage gate process works.
Is one of your NPD process managers core responsibilities ensuring that your stage gate process works.
This week we are moving on to discuss best practice ideas around the role of the NPD Process Manager.
Some of you may ask who?
The NPD process manager, as defined by these best practice ideas, often has different job descriptions, such as:
- Project Manager
- NPD / Innovation Coordinator
- NPD / Innovation Manager
- Process Manager
In our experience the person doing this role is often running around in a constant state of stress, nagging, chasing, threatening, to get colleagues to complete tasks and sometimes end up completing tasks themselves to keep the project moving. This person also tries to organise and chair frequent progress review meetings which struggle to deliver clear outcomes.
This is not best practice in our opinion.
This week’s best practice is:
NPD Process Managers Ensure The Process Works
What we mean by this is, the process manager, regardless of actual title, should be responsible for reviewing the process carefully and ensuring it works.
If you have implemented the previous 5 best practices outlined in these blog posts you will have a stage gate process that:
- Is visible and documented at an operational level
- Is really used
- Enables project teams to access the resources they need to succeed
- Incorporates compliance checks to ensure the process is followed
- Is adaptable and scalable
Now your NPD process manager can review the compliance checks to ensure the process is followed, this will identify areas of poor compliance. Areas of poor compliance can be taken through a corrective action and preventive action (CAPA) cycle resulting in process improvements, user retraining, or sanctions against users who are repeat offenders.
The process manager will be actively involved in the post launch reviews and implementing improvements identified.
This is a fundamentally different responsibility than is often currently the case.