0121. Empowering Accountability through Smartsheet: Rethinking Team Dynamics and Automation in Biopharma

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Is it possible to build a culture of accountability without slipping into micromanagement? In this episode of Lean by Design, we dig into strategies for fostering responsibility and efficiency in high-stakes environments like biopharma. Explore how tools like Smartsheet can shift team dynamics from routine updates to meaningful, strategic conversations that drive real progress.

We'll unpack practical steps for assigning tasks, setting clear expectations, and helping team members understand the broader impact of their contributions on complex projects. Automation is more than just a way to save time—it’s about empowering teams. Learn how Smartsheet’s automations can streamline workflows, cut down on manual tasks, and improve visibility across projects, making precision and timely execution the new norm in R&D.

Whether you're in middle management or at the VP level, this episode offers actionable insights to transform team communication and productivity. Tune in to see how intentionality and efficiency can reshape work culture and lead to remarkable outcomes.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening in to Lean by Design podcast.
I'm your host, oscar, againtaking this short form content
to really deliver tips andtricks to establishing that lean
workflow, being lean by design,creating efficiencies on
purpose and really beingintentful with the way that we

(00:22):
work.
Intentful with the way that wework.
In our last episode, wediscussed how, since 2017, I
have been working withSmartsheet in the biopharma
space, developing over 10,000workflows, dashboards and
solutions tailored to the uniquedemands of R&D and clinical
operations.
I could tell you firsthandimplementing and getting folks

(00:47):
on board to adopt a new softwaresuch as Smartsheet in a complex
, regulated environment likebiopharma is not easy.
It is hard, it is difficult.
However, the benefits of comingout on the other side are
incredible the change that yousee in the people you work with
in the organization, thedifference in meeting

(01:12):
discussions.
You start to lean away fromupdate after update for things
that are already available,reformatting them into multiple
PowerPoint slides forpresentation, and the
conversations change into moreof a strategic mindset.
So today we're going to talkabout building a culture of

(01:33):
accountability.
How do you execute inSmartsheet without micromanaging
?
In high-stakes environmentslike biopharma, accountability
is essential, but micromanagingcan quickly drain productivity
and morale.
Using a software likeSmartsheet is going to offer a

(01:55):
powerful tool for fosteringaccountability without the
constant need of oversight,which is crucial in complex,
regulated environments oversight, which is crucial in complex,
regulated environments.
I am sure many of you who are inthe middle management or even
in the VP SVP space probablyhave someone else that is in the
hierarchy above themconsistently asking for

(02:18):
project-specific questions.
Now, is it the job of a VP toknow every specific of a project
?
It shouldn't be, but it is inmany organizations, especially
if they're early and especiallyif they're small.
So in this episode, we're goingto discuss strategies for
building clear ownership oftasks, empowering team members

(02:42):
through automation and creatingvisibility into progress without
adding administrative strength.
I also understand and recognizethat in some avenues, there is
a reluctance to share allcomponents of a process.
You know why.
Show how everything is made,how we bake the bread, when your

(03:05):
expectation of me is that Ideliver a loaf of bread at the
end.
So I understand the challenges.
When it comes to how much canwe say?
But recognize that your teammembers are also being
confronted with the samequestions that are related to

(03:25):
your work.
Then, in order for us to haveone sound, one voice we all need
to understand, not for judgment, but for the sheer ability to
communicate the progress of theproject, not just the project
manager.

(03:55):
So let's start with settingclear expectations.
It is imperative to start youraccountability with clarity,
what you'll find in Smartsheetand in many other software
assigning tasks with due datesand specific owners is a
possibility which allowseveryone to know what's expected
from them.
For biopharma projects, there'sprecision.
Timelines in some cases arenon-negotiable, and this clarity

(04:20):
is going to ensure that theteam members understand their
role and the broader goals thatthey contribute to.
It is important to have sometransparency into when things
are going to start, the progressof those things and when you
estimate those things to becompleted.
R&d is a tricky beast becausein many cases we don't know how

(04:45):
many times we're going to haveto retest something.
The only thing that we can dois create hypotheses that we can
accomplish a new experimentalprocedure two, three, four times
and be ready to have it be partof primetime data.
Not always the situation.
So point number two we want toempower folks through

(05:12):
automations instead of oversight.
One of my favorite featuresabout Smartsheet is the
capability for automation in avariety of spaces.
You can have things move fromone sheet into another.
For example, you can get therow of data sent over to a new
sheet because that task has beencompleted.

(05:33):
There are automations withpopulating dates.
There's automations withpopulating specific names based
on an activity that was done, ora project manager's name based
on the indication of the projectthat they're running.
Just automation, throughautomation, and when you
understand the power that existsin a software like Smartsheet,

(05:58):
it gives you opportunities toremove a lot of this manual
burden, creating thisempowerment via automations to
notify people.
Hey, you have a task that's duein three days.
You have a team governancemeeting that is occurring next

(06:20):
week that you want everybody toknow, that is occurring next
week, that you want everybody toknow.
These things allow you to focuson the task at hand and the
project at hand, rather thansubmitting email after email
after email.
Now the other side of this isproviding visibility.
Provide that visibility withdashboards, reporting, for

(06:45):
example.
The transparency is going to beessential for accountability.
Setting up dashboards orportals where your team can
huddle is going to let them seehow their individual tasks
contribute to the projectmilestones, to the timelines, to
program goals, to the overallgoals of the portfolio.

(07:09):
Every time we create anexperiment, every time we get a
piece of data.
Every time and this is not justin the research space.
This could be in the operationsspace as well.
We are now learning somethingthat we did not know before.
Sharing that with your team isthe power.

(07:31):
In biopharma, cross-functionalvisibility is crucial.
Dashboards can providereal-time snapshot of project
health, helping everyone stayaligned and accountable.
A real-time snapshot point.
I often relate to PowerPoint asbeing sort of this illness in

(07:52):
the biopharma space, becausewe're choosing to prepare
outdated information time andtime and time and time again to
convey status.
Folks, I'm here to tell youthere are much easier ways to do
that that will not take 40 FTEhours across your program.

(08:13):
So I'll close with this.
Creating accountability with asoftware like Smartsheet is
about fostering independence andproviding clarity.
Independence and providingclarity when your team members

(08:36):
understand their role not theirjob title, their role and
progress is visible.
Projects can stay on trackwithout the need for
micromanagement and instead ofgoing around the circle to ask
everybody where you are in yourprocess, with your work, you get

(08:58):
to use this transparency tofocus into a certain area and
say, hey, I saw that this lookslike it's lagging.
Where can I support you?
Is there anyone that I can talkto?
Where can I support you?
Is there anyone that I can talkto?
Is there perhaps?
Is there a contract that hasn'tgone through yet on our side
that we need to get a vendor tostart working?

(09:19):
Those are the conversations wewant to have, and in our final
episode of this series, we'regoing to cover how to set up
your smart sheet for long-termsuccess, focusing again on that
scalability and continuousimprovement.
Thanks for listening and if youfound today's insights valuable
, please subscribe to ourpodcast and share it with your

(09:43):
network.
We'd love to help more teamsunlock the full potential of
their software and learn tobecome lean by design.
Take care.