Breakout Discussions

Interactive Breakout Discussion Groups

Concurrent breakout discussion groups are interactive, guided discussions hosted by a facilitator or set of co-facilitators to discuss some of the key issues presented earlier in the day’s sessions. Delegates will join a table of interest and become an active part of the discussion at hand. To get the most out of this interactive session and format, please come prepared to share examples from your work, vet some ideas with your peers, be a part of group interrogation and problem solving, and, most importantly, participate in active idea sharing.

Wednesday, November 16 | 3:55 PM - 4:55 PM

Table 1: Change Management Skills for Driving Change in Portfolio Decision Making

• How do you identify sources of the organizations pain points?
• How to say “no” or “not now” to all of the great ideas and proposed projects
• What are the differences between project management and change management, and how do you integrate them to deliver positive outcome to the organization?

Moderators:
Michael Myers, PhD, Associate Vice President, LRL Project Management – Due Diligence, Eli Lilly & Co.

TABLE 2: Governance Body and Corporate Structure to Enable Agile Decision Making

• Centralized vs. Decentralized approach?
• What level of decision granularity is needed for senior leaders? (financial, scientific, operational, commercial)
• Strategies to empower decision makers in your organization​

Moderators:
Samantha Fairbairn, Executive Director, Business Performance – Integrated Portfolio Advancement, Amgen
Gregory Wayne, PhD, Senior Director, Decision Sciences Group, AbbVie, Inc.

TABLE 3: Developing Models for Pipeline Flow and Resource Forecasting What-If Scenarios

• Why is modeling the project pipeline important?
• What questions can be answered and how can such a model be used?
• How do you conduct these types of analyses today?
• What inputs and tools are utilized?
• What are the challenges in developing the model and/or getting buy-in?

Moderators:
Benoit Schmitt, PhD, Senior Portfolio & Alliance Manager, Galapagos
Geoff Kremer, Director, Portfolio Resourcing, Merck

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17 | 2:40 PM - 3:40 PM

TABLE 4: Achieving More Effective and Real-Time Portfolio Management and Resource Allocation

• What is real-time portfolio management and resource allocation?
• Have you achieved this at your company?
• What are some approaches you have tried?

Moderators:
Benoit Schmitt, PhD, Senior Portfolio & Alliance Manager, Galapagos

TABLE 5: Balancing Internal R&D Investments and Resources with External Collaborations

• What analysis do you use to evaluate investments and resource planning?
• How do you prioritize resources when evaluating both internal and external projects against each other?

Moderators:
Michael Myers, PhD, Associate Vice President, LRL Project Management – Due Diligence, Eli Lilly & Co.

TABLE 6: Right-Sizing Your Resource Dataset for Real-Time Capacity Planning

• Is data-driven capacity planning a success story or a cautionary tale at your firm?
• What is the right level (function, franchise, TA, whole-company) for capacity planning?
• Is it realistic to think data is updated frequently enough to enable real-time capacity planning?
• What are the impacts of real-time capacity planning from a business process perspective, communication, start/stop confusion with staff, etc.?

Moderators
Stuart Fort, Advisor, Resource Modeling and Forecasting, Eli Lilly & Co.
Brigitte Healion, Associate Director, Solution Designer, Janssen​