Session Notes: Portfolio Re-Prioritization Under Shifting Constraints: Making the Tough Calls in Public

Apr 22, 2026
Portfolio Re-Prioritization Under Shifting Constraints: Making the Tough Calls in Public - Transcript
00:00:00
 
 : for your church. Take a seat. Welcome. Uh topic is making the tough calls in public about portfolio rep prioritizations under shifting constraints. So that you will have seen us in small parts and in big parts. So what would you see as key aspects in communicating the decisions? Everyone who wants to start. Yeah. Uh the key aspects I just after that great talk I thought it would be good if we had an agent here to answer that question. Unfortunately not. Um you know my experience has been you know we do live in a very volatile world in that sense that we get results that are coming out from different companies different competitors the key questions that you know senior leaders even what does this mean for the project what does it mean for the portfolio so I think you know teams project team portfolio teams need to be proactive ahead of this just understanding what key data key events are coming out what if scenario is there's nothing worse than you know I just saw for example yesterday northern northeast came out with some brilliant results in sickle cell disease and I can imagine there's a lot of people teams and other companies they're asking this question what does that mean for our sickle cell disease program and you know teams are scrambling to get to this answer so you need to be
 
 
00:02:00
 
 : prepared you need to have done your what if scenarios I don't believe also in just the short-term rep prioritization I think you need to understand what does it impact into just say my project strategy the TA strategy the enterprise strategy which are to have that line aside ahead of time and to be able to communicate maybe I move forward to Martina so what since you're working in this area when you communicate the decisions what do you see as key in bringing out the message to the different levels yeah I think it's really important to understand to whom are you talking are you talking or are you addressing the external world which is maybe um certain decisions being you are stopping certain programs and that's maybe programs you have already developed at a stage where you need to communicate that you are stopping that invest investing into that then normally um then you in in in general you have people from communications at your side and also from investor relations and then it's important that they understand that you are able to communicate the level of science to help them to translate that into how into the words they can use for public because I personally I'm a big believer that we all have our strengths and if I have a strength in in project management I have not my not necessarily a strength in communication and also communication is is really different uh am I and depending to wh I'm talking so therefore try to see to get experts on your side who know how to phrase that.
 
 
00:03:40
 
 : So that's at least for external complication but maybe someone else would like to comment on for in communication needs. Well, I I can build on and I I believe communication is key and need to have the right time and right level to the right or so especially internally you have that moment of reflection the data you need proactive portfolio management where you are analyzing this really something changing and then gather the data ahead of the moment where we work with executives uh team to to the decisions on what path to follow how we shift strategy change and then have very um intentional communication internally the stakeholders stakeholders that need to know exactly where to go where to go and what to say exactly this information others that need just to be uh assured that everything is under control uh and all of this happened even before all these become publicly available. And if you follow these steps when we get to that point, I think that all representative exercise that have to happen sometimes that will go and do you have some good examples of what went well and how to do it well and what maybe was missed and then exploded.
 
 
00:05:17
 
 : Well, on the doing well, uh I'm not farmer by the way. have med device. Um but I come to these types of conferences because we have way more in common than we think we do. Um on the best example I have is um of all the examples they're indicating is very consistent leadership style. Um I have many examples where we might have had extremely difficult a difficult issue during the clinical trial and the conversation with our leadership begins in a way that can be very difficult and the way that they respond to us internally is exactly the type of person that I see when I see them at a congress reporting out to all of our constituents. Even when seeing our CEO, even like on the news, sometimes I will listen listen to them and realize that is exactly how they speak to us in the meetings that we have with them. And you simply cannot build better trust than seeing leadership actually represent the information that's been discussed internally. putting on my PPL hat. I guess that's why I'm here.
 
 
00:06:39
 
 : Um I think a great role that we personally plays when we have what we call our communication plan. You know, it's not a plan just for the sake of having a plan is how you you've got within the team, the extended team, you've got dozens up to hundred people involved in sign. So you want to make sure that you understand how the information how the story is being communicated by whom and to when and especially you know something that we had introduced we call it events of special interests. This isn't pharmco vigilance who for example when news would have broken ears about this phase three trial for one failed you could be guaranteed you know it could be relative to investor relations it could be relative to other people but your governance or your stakeholders who coming back what does this mean for us and so we would always have tried to anticipate if we didn't have you know our story ready we were committing to a certain time and managing that communication flow the last thing you know um for some companies, you know, releasing phase three results or phase two results that can actually be, you know, required importance to the market.
 
 
00:07:42
 
 : So again, you know, that communication, I think it's always communication against the strategy. What are you trying the message that you're trying to get across to whom I think that's very very important point to make sure that everybody knows their role inside that that they're singing from the same sheet that we list these and to be aware of the implications that this could have in the external market. So that is one of the things that is taught in PMBB the importance of your communications. Coming back to where this kind of started with Michael mentioning the new results coming out. So what's needed in the team for quick assessments? I have been there when suddenly the emails from the upper management comes in and said so what does it mean can you give an assessment tomorrow so what do we need internally for that yesterday but yeah the very first thing is to feel anyone everyone at least listen to this we gather the data where we are so the most important thing and ad life I think is you need to be work on proactive reporting if you you do not adop analysis last minute right so you need to be prepared so you need to start looking and monitoring okay at these potentially the indicators that parliament is changing take out all the noise so that when
 
 
00:09:22
 
 : uh this breakfast come um you can focus on on actually you know exactly where to go and where to calculate the data and another important thing is you need to stay in very restricted fair circle of stakeholders that are focused on analyzing the data and really put the context into analyze before even spreading all the information across the company. So that's been very controlled the way how the analysis is done leading to the region. Again you need to give the informations that the data that allow decision making to happen the executive you need to give this um data is showing how the the strategy may shift the signals so that we give scenarios different solutions and this is a very how to distribute the definition do you want to add more yeah The experience that we've had is assessing the difference between risk and the noise. And the reason we've said that is a lot of people have a lot of opinions. And we trust everybody at the level that we're actually being asked to provide these opinions, right? In response to okay, now what?
 
 
00:10:52
 
 : But sometimes people's opinions are not that valid for what the real impacts are. And so it's remarkably important to make the determination of who the decision makers are in response to any new concern and ensure you're getting their assessment of what are the impacts and asking those key questions before you actually start moving into decision decision-making territory. because otherwise you're just inviting everybody's opinions and it just becomes noise. So I can only echo that um with personal experience it's important that you and and I think that's also normal you try ahead of the before you get any results to know what could be the the outcome and then um do these scenarios for before and communicate that up to the decision makers that it's really clear what has to happen and then you can also be fast if you have to communicate and train people and educate people what that could mean just and you have data you are too late. So you need to do this first. Um the complicated is more getting more complicated if you're facing things that you cannot plan.
 
 
00:12:10
 
 : You know we are talking about expect talking about results that you normally know when they come and it's maybe a day or a week or so that they are waiting that you're waiting for them. um what how do we do that if something happens in between that's I think is the more complex way to do and here um I think it's important that you have a kind of constant monitoring to also be fast uh in reacting and I think there's a presentation um tomorrow about something how to do this within six hours so I'm curious to reduce that because I think it depends on the company and the company structure but having an impact analyzed within six hours and communicate and align on a decision. I think that's that would be a dream for me. But I think that really depends on the size of the organization. Yeah. So kind of interesting. So I'm I have my background in data science. When I was a project statistician, we had to report the key efficacy results within 24 hours to higher management.
 
 
00:13:13
 
 : And there's no time to think about them. They just need to go out. So you need to do to do all the thinking. what to communicate and how to decide before and while we started together and statistics for ages ago Michael and while you're talking any questions from the audience so I agree with everything that's been said here and one of the challenge perplexities as I have a lot of this seems to be done in I say very archaic ways we're still using Excel we're still doing PowerPoint and all this I'm looking forward to this I've seen a lot of capabil Now with AI agents, it'll be so quick to be able to generate insights that you can rely on. Okay, so results are it's not just results, okay? Something has come in that we need to examine and understand the implications. Hopefully we've done the work before and if not we can do it very very quickly. So this is really a matter of ours to get this. But then the other challenge that's taking place, if we're looking at our governance decision, okay, that's still built.
 
 
00:14:13
 
 : Okay, we're meeting monthly, we're meeting quarterly. So you can have all these great tools and I keep using that analogy. You're putting the engine of a Ferrari into a family sedan. You know the whole process needs to adapt as well. So we need to understand how to generate the insights, the options but how to move that communication pathway as well at the same speed. even goes a bit beyond governance should be straight and it normally only works if you do all your stakeholder management and coffee drinking questions questions to the panel. Yes, thanks. I want to go back to uh what you mentioned about them um and said for external communications you found a expert and what about intern like and the whole idea will be interesting and yeah yeah I I think it's the same here but Um and here you know you also have different different levels. You have people who worked on a project who might be affected because they might lose their job or they might need to change departments or or whatever.
 
 
00:15:36
 
 : They could have the feeling that they are not that the work that they did was not good enough and therefore the company took the decision to somehow maybe uh get rid of this uh this um um yeah this modality. So but this is maybe just a strategic focus has nothing to do but people in in the team they see a different part of the picture. I think in a company only a few people see really the whole picture. So we all see a certain scope some a larger scope some a smaller scope. Yeah. And um I think here it's always better if you try to think about what is really this type of audience. What what is really the driver for them? What do they really need? Do they need assurance that what they did was good and it's not on them? Do they need um really a clear feedback that um or really really details on on science or you know that I think it's really situation dependent. It's maybe not from a portfolio manager to do but then you have again other people specialists you have teams you have functional Okay, Martina from your experience I think we're doing this experiment because this is what the inside is going to give us.
 
 
00:17:26
 
 : This is how it relates to TPP or if these results come from another place, this is our position. There needs to be consistency in getting the message across and of course depending where you are in the just say the chain in the core team the extender in the function it needs to understand their position. Do you have internal communication plans position trans I would say yes. Um after the latest restructuring of how we do projects at my company um so we also now go for a core project team um who are the steering committee of a project. So they are then responsible to somehow translate exactly this message to the different specialized teams or expertise and then it it trickles down. On the other hand also the program group normally is um together with the members of this project program steering committee in close contact to the functions and then the functional experts or the functional hats and it be the the leader of the clinical trial supply or to clinical management organization so I'm screwing up all the abbrevations or for statistics or for CFC so they also then can translate that from from their end.
 
 
00:18:41
 
 : Yeah. So, normally it's a two-way communication and but it depends on the team. So, yeah, they need to do it and the project managers are normally the ones ensuring that this is really there and being done. So, who of you has worked in different companies? You have you do you see a different type of communication inside and outside between kind of company cultures? Yeah, I know. No, absolutely. Look, some some places are more mature and that they understand that that communication. I don't want to say that strategic asset. I would say the importance of communication. They realize that if you're an intern company, you know, your program, it's like you're going to VC funds, okay? You're asking money to get to the next stage. people you're you're managing that message you're managing that understanding to the governance what is happening you're increasing the confidence so those companies and those teams that excel they're mastering not just the science but the communication of managing to say that stakeholder management there's some others that I would just say they believe that the science trumps all and I won't disagree with that but I say science is one thing but you need to be also trumping their domains to give people that confidence so I think I've seen very very mixed those that have been really
 
 
00:20:02
 
 : fixed sell. That's where I learned from Doors is that you need to, you know, rush up the game on this and just remember you're fighting with everybody else in the company for funding your team and I say companies, you're fighting with a larger market as well to get that investor great confidence. So, your communication matters internally and externally. Tim, well, I grew up in aerospace, so wholly different from anything you guys are talking about. And uh I I there was one company that I worked for for a very long time and it started out great and by the time I left it was absolutely toxic. And the reason for that is the same reason that my current company was so remarkable. It is beautiful and it was it's just pop down everything. If you got toxic up at the top, it's just acid dripping down on everybody else below it. And that's what it was like. Um, double speak and people complete untruths speak being spoken in public when that was the opposite of what was actually happening was just horrendous.
 
 
00:21:13
 
 : Whereas when the culture is remarkable up at the top, it's just green and rosy and pleasantries falling down on top of everybody. But it truly it guides us. I mean, I'll I'll be involved in conversations where we're fighting over something that's going to be extremely consequential, and all somebody has to do is say, "Does the patient even care about what we're talking about?" Just stops the conversation. And as long as somebody says, if somebody says no, then somebody will say, "Does the physician care?" And if the answer is no, we just kind of move on. That's and I I mean I couldn't believe it when I was involved in a meeting where they did that. I'm like, "Oh man, I love it here." I would take this with me. These two questions definitely question. Yeah, thank you. Um I work at a startup and we're pretty small, so 25 people. Communication is key but decisions also change very very quickly and there are times when you want to be inform the whole team as soon as possible but at times when decisions change so quickly it becomes very difficult to create a balance and to create a level of trust.
 
 
00:22:34
 
 : So how is this different in a startup versus a larger company? I would say there's no difference in the principle. So when you just described that that sometimes decisions are too far um need to be done fast and cannot be communicated to everyone. I think it doesn't matter if you have 25 people or 500. In essence it's also dropping and a certain communication chain. Yeah. You can also write an email to 500 people. Yeah. Again it's a question on on the message you you release. But sometimes there is just the the it it can happen that something is being decided and then you need to have trust that that this what they decided that it it's so critical that there was no time to for proper information before this act before this um was put in action. So you need to gain trust or then at least Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. But that's my my personal opinion. I'm happy to have the others comment.
 
 
00:23:41
 
 : So you know I think this is a it's a rather difficult one. I think we live in the area of decision entropy. Okay. Everybody needs to be involved. I think someone said it here. Everybody has an opinion. Who do I talk to not talk to? And look if you look at benchmark data and this for me is a sad thing. I I love Tim what you're saying does the patient care when you get you know a key piece of information benchmark data just say for phase thre

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