BioEdge Consulting

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a relatively new management paradigm that can be effectively applied to many different types of management and is especially popular in project management.  TOC was introduced by Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his 1984 book titled The Goal1, which described how the method can be used for continuous performance improvement and accomplishment of goals in any type of organization. Goldratt then adapted the concept to project management with his book Critical Chain2, published 1997; the concept is currently referred to as Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM).

The use of buffers (aka: safety) in project planning has been around since humans first conceived the idea of uncertainty.  Risk plays into every detail of our lives and we as humans have found many, sometimes clever, ways of mitigating this uncertainty to our benefit.  In no place is risk more at the forefront than project management; in fact, risk management is one of the main academic subsections of project management.  Uncertainty is the only thing certain in project management and it exists in many forms, from customer-requested changes to vendor unreliability to unplanned global events.  The majority of project management models and heuristics encompass methods for dealing with risk in one fashion or another.  Although cost risk and quality risk are of concern to most project managers, risk arguably has the biggest impact on scheduling and time management.

The critical chain method was first described by Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his business novel Critical Chain, published in 1997. Although it is nearly 15 years old, the method’s simplicity makes it a valuable tool in modern project management. It was elucidated using the Theory of Constraints (TOC) thinking process, which is also detailed in the book Critical Chain. TOC identifies problems as a conflict between two conditions and provides a 5-step process to solve the problem.

The basis of technical writing is presenting factual information to the reader in a clear and concise manner, typically for the purpose of instruction.  Examples of technical writing include operation manuals, engineering textbooks, and guides for computer programming. Scientific journal-style writing is a subset of technical writing in that it also aims to present factual information, but the information is typically presented in a style and format unique to science disciplines. Scientific writing incorporates the identification of a problem or a gap in the scientific body of knowledge, experimental evaluation, and the drawing of a conclusion, whether the conclusion take the form of a proposed solution or simply the recommendation for more research. Scientific writing follows its own methodology and is a skill that takes practice to master.

Scientific Writing Breakdown

Scientific writing is typically geared towards academia, but can also include scientific communications within organizations such as pharmaceutical or chemical companies.  Scientific journal-style writing follows the formula of 1) presenting a hypothesis, 2) performing an experiment, and 3) drawing conclusions from the results.  This is the bread and butter of every scientific journal article.  Most papers are fleshed out with additional information for the benefit of the reader, including an abstract, an introduction or background, discussions, detailed figure legends, literature references, etc., but every piece of scientific writing should incorporate the three core components.

Within the discipline of professional project management, a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a visual tool that assists in identifying all the tasks within a specific project.  To accomplish this, a WBS displays a hierarchy of work components with each subsequent layer further breaking down the work elements until they cannot be further divided.  These final components are the individual tasks, which are defined as the smallest units of work, typically requiring a few hours to complete, but rarely more than a single work shift.

Taking away the fancy terminology, a WBS is simply a chart that helps the project manager think through and organize all of the tasks that are required for project completion.  Then WBS then becomes the key input for the Network Diagram and, ultimately, the Gantt Chart, which is the lifeblood of most complex projects.

How to create a Work Breakdown Structure

In the bioscience sector, the words “resume” and “curriculum vitae” are now used almost interchangeably. In the past, a resume was a one-page document summarizing an applicant’s skills and experience, while a CV was a multi-page synopsis of education, experience, publications, leadership roles, etc.  Unless you have a PhD with numerous publications under your belt or have been in the industry for 10 years or more, a one-page resume should be submitted for a job application.  For the purposes of this article, the word “resume” will be used, but the following tips are applicable to both documents. 

The primary take-home message for effective resume writing is to make the document concise, yet keyword dense.  Increasing numbers of companies are scanning resumes into electronic databases, which pull them for particular job openings based on keyword matches.  These keywords can vary from action verbs (e.g. managed, developed), to experience (e.g. GMP, manufacturing), to equipment names (e.g. fermenter, Braun); therefore, it is best to describe your experience and skills using as many different keywords as possible.  Before beginning your resume, brainstorm and create an exhaustive list of keywords relating to the type of position you are targeting.  Narrow these down into “must-haves” and “nice-to-haves” and check them off the list as you create your resume.

Scientific journal review articles summarize the findings of a large number of peer-reviewed articles, as well as provide opinions on the validity of the information, the design of the experiments, and predictions for the future direction of the field.  These review articles are typically authored by subject-matter experts (e.g. graduate students, professors, industry experts), either voluntarily or by invitation from a specific scientific journal.  Their purpose is to give an overview of either a field (e.g. vaccines) or a specific sub-topic of a field (e.g. recombinant influenza vaccines with needle-free delivery methods), making a large amount of information quickly accessible to readers.

Review articles differ from a typical scientific journal article in that they do not follow the format of “generate a theory, gather data, and draw a conclusion”.  A review article author may look at many existing scientific papers, select the strongest and most relevant data, and summarize it in a high-level format along with opinions of its validity and suggestions for future work.  A review article may also look at new technologies in a field and summarize those that are most relevant and promising.  Either way, the idea is to provide maximum information in a relatively short amount of space and refer the reader to the original articles in case they want to delve further into any topic.

Mission, Vision, and Values Statements are the most fundamental elements of strategic planning for a business or organization.  Managers of these organizations recognize the need to articulate their organization’s purpose and the methods for achieving their goals. These simple, yet powerful, statements should capture the very essence of the organization and summarize its high-level goals.  They should guide every management decision. They are especially critical for project management, as every project’s goals must align with the organizations vision, mission, and values.  If the project does not align with all three statements, then the team should rethink the necessity of the project.

A Gantt chart is the creation of engineer and management consultant Henry Gantt, who needed a visual tool to plan projects and subsequently monitor their progress.  Although the exact look and feel of a Gantt chart can vary, they all contain two essential components.  The first is a set of data fields that contain all of the task information for the project and the second is a display window that gives a visual representation, typically a bar chart, of the tasks and their relationship to each other. A Gantt chart can vary in size from just a few tasks, such as for a bathroom renovation in your home, to the tens of thousands of tasks that would make up an interstate freeway construction project.  It is the primary tool used in modern project management and is essential for complex projects.

Academic scientists used to rely strictly on government grants to fund their research, while biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies would go the route of private venture capital funding.  This division is disappearing with both sides soliciting funding from any available source.  It is becoming more and more common to see small academic groups receiving startup funding to build a biotech company based on a single innovative patent.  There is also an increase in public-private partnerships between government agencies and large pharmaceutical companies to research and implement solutions for global health crises.  An example of this is the specialized grant program Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) administered by the Department of Defense, which has provided a significant amount of funding since 2001 to identify and advance novel technologies for preventing and mitigating biological attacks.  A large amount of this funding goes to biotechnology companies to assist in rapid technology development.