R&D Missing The Mark? This May Be The Culprit

by Lisa Bodell for ForbesWomen

The global pandemic has forced companies to rethink how their products are developed — from design and manufacturing to supply-chain resiliency. Unlike business units that can smoothly transition to remote work, product development isn’t an individual activity. And because it’s a group effort, product teams must interact daily, working through ideas and collaborating on methods and materials.

If your product development or R&D team was allergic to complexity before COVID-19 hit, your company was well-positioned for survival. But if you’re among the countless companies that have delayed or cancelled product launches since 2020, now is the time to strategically simplify.

As a leader and author who’s helped thousands of organizations get simple (and stay that way), I recommend starting with a diagnostic that reveals how complicated R&D has become. Any size organization can use it, from start-ups to global corporations, but it should be completed by at least one person in a leadership role. From there, you and your teams will discuss the results and decide on solutions.

Start by answering the following seven statements with either “Consistently,” “Sometimes,” “Rarely” or “Never.” Answer individually and be truly candid in your assessments.

1.    Our product development or R&D department takes a simple approach to daily work.

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Planning to Simplify At Work? Do This First