Systematic processes resolve complex tasks much more rapidly and reliably.
LeanRnD provides those in
3 + 1 Phases.
Each LeanRnD phase provides simple "Best Practices" that avoid most delays, roadblocks and pivots in research projects - that also experienced teams suffer from.
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They are based on years of consulting for research organizations of various scales and developmental stages and enable you to skip over many expensive lessons learned.
See below what will happen during each phase. You can go through these phases as far as you see fit, but each later phase requires the earlier phases.
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Here is an SOW draft.
Phase 1: Roadmapping
Systematic processes allow breaking down your vision into a roadmap and de-risk each task - No matter how complex the project.
The work this phase requires:
- 5-10 hours of joint work to apply the systematic Roadmapping process
- convert your existing or future project into a roadmap of all individual tasks that are "mutually exclusive and collectively comprehensive"
- avoids weeks and months of delays by identifying hidden problems and finding solutions upfront
- will enable you and your team to apply this process to other projects autonomously
Phase 2: Pre-Feasibility
Pre-Feasibility validates upfront each individual roadmap task to be realistic.
The work this phase requires:
- 10-20 hours of joint work to build a robust, realistic, and convincing approach for each individual tasks on the roadmap from Phase 1
​- avoids months of future delays from pivoting and roadblocks caused by unexpectedly difficult of impossible tasks
- will enable you and your team to apply this process to other projects autonomously
Phase 3: Task Execution
Systematic execution processes minimize execute delays. And LeanRnD makes many of those "the new default".
The work this phase requires:
- 1-4 hours of joint work per task execution plan
- will provide a detailed task execution plan that also is fully comprehensible documentation
- - avoids days and weeks of delays by repetitions due to simple preventable mistakes
- speeds up onboarding of new team members by providing comprehensible documentation
- will enable you and your team to apply this process to other projects autonomously
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The diagram below shows one aspect of the task planning process, called "Pre-Peer-Review": Often the first iteration of an experiment fails due to small mistakes that are uncovered during an "Improvement Cycle", resolved and the second iteration succeeds. Experience shows that making the improvement cycle mandatory as a "Pre-Peer-Review" to be done BEFORE work starts eliminates most repetition - thus, a few hours of Pre-Peer-Review save days and weeks of time for avoidable repetitions.
Phase 4: Building a Framework that is Actionable and Permanent
"Due process" is key to quality work and avoided delays - on the long run. But at the very moment, "due process" is extra upfront work without immediate and obvious benefits.
Overcoming this requires decisive action and everyone to change their practiced "way of doing things" for it to stick.
Ask yourself: How likely is that ...
1. ... the typical "We will look into this when we have time (But we are busy right now)!"-approach will bring lasting improvement?
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2. ... a typical "verbally only" defined "culture" is actionable enough to:
- justify extra upfront work, even when everyone's calendar is full?
- avoid many different interpretations of the NEW "how-to"?
- to enable anyone else than "the boss" to call out lack of adherence, when a clear definition is missing?
A verbal-only culture is very unlikely to achieve team-wide alignment and will require permanent hands-on effort from the most senior R&D management to personally push adherence.
But this can be overcome on a one-time effort, phase 4 applies a coordinated "Change Management Playbook" to overcome this limitation. It coordinates a 30 day project to build a LeanRnD framework customized to your company's setting: The result is a culture that is written, scalable, actionable, and provides light weight measures to ensure long-term adherence.
The work this phase requires:
- 30 days of joint work with both team and leadership on an ongoing project
- defining general standards for work, processes that enable it, and an overall structure that allows adherence
- advantages among many others:
- reduces timelines to half or less
- makes work more rewarding and increases employee retention
- communicates difficult realities without friction: from detail-team to leadership to investors
- this phase anchors the processes from Phases 1-3 as a robust culture that persists over time and team scaling
Leadership defines Quality Standards and allocates the time for the team to build the processes to achieve those standards.
The team builds the processes to achieve or surpass the Quality Standards defined by the leadership.
Team and leadership try out the processes and framework that drives them on an ongoing development project, and apply the finishing touches to make it permanent.