Drug Development China - Pre-Conference Workshop

Pre-Conference Hands-on Workshop:*

Tuesday, September 16

Improving China Drug Development Team

Performance:
Essential Partnering Strategies, Skills and
Processes
* separate registration required

September 16: 9:00 am – 4:30 pm

Purpose
Both the cost and the likelihood of China global drug development teams encountering communications
problems are high. Project and cultural complexities make it difficult for drug development teams to perform
and communicate at optimal levels. Project team members often come from several different countries and
organizations, all with their own cultures, assumptions and methods. The purpose of this seminar is to
enable participants to improve global team management and communications in their own drug
development project teams. The program focuses in particular on strengthening partnering relationships
among pharmaceutical companies and the Contract Research Organizations (CROs). Chinese drug
development global team success depends as much on effective management and communications as it
does on excellent science and technology.

Seminar Goals
Participants acquire in-depth understanding, cutting-edge strategies and practical skills to improve
management and performance in their own China global drug development project teams. The seminar
provides a clear methodology for improving project alignment and communications, and achieving excellent
partnering performance among diverse project participants and organizations.

Seminar Format
The seminar uses multiple real case examples in a dynamic learning environment. Participants apply
seminar strategies and tools to their own projects. Participants leave the seminar with specific plans for
improving their own projects.

Participants Learn:
- Predictable team communications problems to anticipate and avoid
- Chinese multi-cultural teams’ opportunities and blind spots
- What "partnering" really means, and the difference between partnering intentions and partnering
methodology
- Partnering issues and opportunities within and between pharmaceutical companies and Contract Research
Organizations (CROs)
- Partnering strategies and methods to strengthen pharmaceutical company – CRO team performance and
communications
- Why and how to achieve full alignment among the diverse "silo" organizations working on a drug
development projects
- How to address and resolve the classic project tensions among drug development, safety, regulatory and
commercial/business development
- How to drive partnering intentions from top management throughout all project staff
- How to move beyond a reactive, problem-focused stance to more effective, proactive team management, innovation
and optimal performance

Agenda

Coffee, registration, welcomes. 9:00 – 9:30

A.M. Session: 9:30 – 12:00 pm

Planning Seminar Applications

- Clarifying participant seminar goals
- Participants’ current project issues, progress, challenges

Drug Development Team Partnering Method and Core Concepts

- Understanding the Partnering Method
- Partnering structure and agenda
- How Partnering differs from other forms of teambuilding
- Relevance of partnering for global drug development teams
- Partnering applications for pharmaceutical companies and Contract Research Organizations (CROs) ---
special challenges and opportunities
- Partnering case examples in global drug development

Developing the Project Partnering Plan

- Who participates and why
- Planning partnering meetings content
- Improving partnering outside the meeting
- Clarifying senior management roles and support
- Developing a partnering strategic plan
- Clarifying partnering outcomes at the beginning
- Establishing clear metrics for partnering success

12:00 - 1:30 Lunch on Own

P.M. Session 12:30 – 4:30

Project Taking Stock

- Identifying project strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
- Breaking down the silos - ensuring that all project participants’ understand and draw on each others’
insights and perspective

Project Building Mutual Understanding and Trust

- How different personalities participate on project teams
- The value of diversity in team project performance
- Using personality profiles to discuss differences positively
Project Clarifying Project Goals
- Achieving full agreement to project goals for all team members
- Relating project goals to each team member’s roles and responsibilities

Project Refining Project Processes and Methods

- Selecting the most important processes to focus on, e.g., study enrollment processes, agenda and content
for regular project meetings, CRO reporting to pharmaceutical
company, Information needs matrix for each project member, etc.
- Fully implementing processes, developing detailed action plans

Planning Partnering Follow-Up

- Why, when, how to plan partnering follow up meetings
- Tracking partnering progress between meetings

Improving Partnering Facilitation Skills

- Running partnering meetings so that all participants participate openly, comfortably
- No one dominates or drops out, no vocal minority
- Team works optimally at problem solving and decision making

Applying Seminar Insights

- Participants develop clear, specific action plans to implement seminar insights and tools in their own
project teams
- Troubleshooting, refining plans
- Planning ongoing learning and improvement

About Dr. William Ronco

President of Gathering Pace Consulting, (www.gatheringpace.com), Dr. William

Ronco consults on strategic planning, partnering and leadership training for some
of the world’s best-run organizations: Fortune 500 corporations, pharmaceutical
companies, research and development organizations, laboratories and think
tanks, colleges and universities, professional firms, technology companies,
hospitals, government and community organizations.

Dr. Ronco has extensive experience working with:

Partnering and teambuilding. An international expert in this area, Dr. Ronco

has led over 200 successful partnering projects resulting in improved
communications and performance among organizations and groups working
together on projects, in outsourcing, in mergers and alliances of all kinds. Dr.
Ronco’s book The Partnering Solution (Career Press, 2005) has earned strong,
positive reviews and widespread use among professionals and managers who
must partner effectively in order to succeed.
Leadership training for managers and professionals. His customized
programs for specific groups in organizations and Leaders Circle programs have
consistently enabled participants to develop key competencies, take on new
challenges and improve leadership effectiveness.

Strategic planning for mid-sized organizations and large departments. Dr.

Ronco’s strategic planning work has enables numerous organizations to resolve
current performance problems and develop new paths for success. His work
includes both empirical business and survey analysis and strategic planning
workshops that fully implement plans throughout the organization.

Custom training. Dr. Ronco’s custom training programs consistently earn 90%
Excellent ratings. His programs have helped thousands of participants improve
key management, supervision, communications, team and consulting skills.

Dr. Ronco regularly conducts management and service seminars for select
universities and associations: Harvard University, Boston University,
Northeastern University, the Boston Consortium for Higher Education, and
CORENET. Participant evaluations of his programs are consistently in the top
10% of the organizations’ programs overall.

In addition to The Partnering Solution, Dr. Ronco has written numerous articles
and several other books: Partnering Manual For Design and Construction (NY:
McGraw Hill, 1996), Food Co-ops (Boston, Beacon Press, 1974), Jobs (Boston,
Beacon Press, 1977) and, with Lisa Peattie, Making Work (NY: Plenum Press,
1980).

A former professor in the MBA program at Northeastern University, Dr. Ronco

earned his BA at Rutgers University, his Ed.M. at Harvard University and his
Ph.D. in Urban Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Ronco resides in Bedford, MA with his wife and four children. He is an avid reader, recreational sailor
and amateur runner and cyclist.