In our study, “Decoding R&D Performance,” we examined how companies differ in terms of their R&D performance and what the key levers are for achieving high R&D performance. Fifty-six companies from various industries participated in the survey. Forty-five percent of the respondents were vice presidents or directors, and 20% were at the CxO level.
However, experience shows:
In the volatile day-to-day reality of R&D, complex control mechanisms are only of limited help. We therefore specifically asked our interviewees about “practical” control mechanisms suitable for everyday use. We have synthesized this experiential knowledge and derived a few simple principles. To make them easy to remember, we have formulated them as “rules of thumb.”
Our R&D Rules of Thumb:
1. If you don’t plan from the big picture down to the details, things will get incredibly chaotic.
To achieve goals even in the face of high uncertainty, it’s important to have a solid overall plan and guidelines—right from the start! And even if there are still gaps in them. An R&D Lead (Aerospace) reports: “Over the past few years, we’ve learned that taking a holistic view of a large R&D organization is more effective than a bottom-up, detailed approach. A few years ago, things were different.”
As the project progresses, it helps to remain flexible so that you can respond to deviations in short iterations.
2. Is it a complicated issue? Don’t waste time cursing! It’s better to seek out specific help!
It is rare that complex issues can be resolved solely within one’s own sphere of expertise.
Anyone responsible for a complex issue should seek appropriate support early on—thereby ensuring the quality of the outcome. A Vice President of Research & Development in the automotive OEM sector puts it plainly: “If you don’t seek support or a sounding board early enough when dealing with a complex issue, there’s a high probability that it won’t work out.”
3. To ensure optimal flow, a lean WIP (work in progress) is essential.
To optimize time and workflow in a project, you should identify as few focus areas as possible. This applies to the entire portfolio, but also to each individual employee. Individual topics should be carried out and completed at short intervals to prevent a “backlog” from forming. “Don’t set up your project landscape like construction sites on German highways—inefficient and disruptive to the flow of traffic,” sums up a CTO (Utility Vehicles).
4. If a goal lacks meaning and clarity, it’s pointless—that’s the truth.
Unclear goals and framework conditions come at a cost. One of our interviewees (CTO, Utility Vehicles) put it this way: “If I don’t consistently clarify the goals at the start of a project, it will come back to haunt me later.” To successfully address challenges as the project progresses, it’s important to establish a clear and binding consensus on the goals, the framework, and the necessary resources right from the start. This requires open communication and the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. It may be time-consuming to consistently—and even persistently—clarify and define these parameters, but it’s an investment that pays off.
5. If you completely wear out the team, you’ll rarely get anything out of them on defense.
Allocate 80% of resources and use the remaining 20% to leave some breathing room and flexibility. That’s the theory, anyway. But let’s be honest: Who actually does that? Isn’t it more likely that we almost routinely plan for full capacity? Using up buffers in no time and refilling them far too rarely? Against this backdrop, a Vice President of Engineering for Electric & Electronics reformulated the approach: “Ensure realistic planning and don’t schedule all employees at 110%.” So if you want to remain resilient in the face of challenges as a project progresses, you should build in buffers—or, to put it another way: plan for the unexpected.
6. The best employees make the most sense right from the start.
Assigning the best employees at the start of a project sets the stage for a smooth project process. As early as this initial phase, about 80% of the factors that determine whether a product can later be manufactured and maintained are already decided!
A well-thought-out product concept and a stable, solid architecture from the very beginning help minimize changes in the medium and long term. This reduces costs, saves time, and—above all—saves you a lot of stress. A Senior Vice President of Technology for Medical Technology is convinced: “At the beginning, you need the most experienced and the best. That’s when so many critical decisions for the product are made.”
7. If you’re close to the people around you, it helps you identify problems early on.
Day-to-day project work usually gives a project team an in-depth and “unvarnished” insight into the project’s context and developments. This close involvement with the project and the practical knowledge of their colleagues make project teams potential early-warning systems for any undesirable developments. It’s therefore worthwhile to stay close to the project team to identify moods and sentiments early on and to incorporate their valuable concerns and insights into decision-making. A CTO from the Machinery and Plant Engineering division put it this way: “You have to stay close to the people to really understand where the problems lie.”
8. If you want to see something new grow, you have to stand there and protect it.
It is important to establish a safe space for future-oriented topics and to secure the necessary resources from day-to-day operations. This fosters a culture of trust, openness, and collaboration, allowing innovative ideas to flourish and ultimately leading to successful solutions and products.
A Vice President of Research & Development (Chemicals) put it very clearly: “If you get bogged down in day-to-day operations, you can’t drive innovation over the long term. That’s why you shouldn’t just live off your existing assets—you need to invest in the future with dedicated resources and funding!”
9. If the customer’s needs aren’t clear, the project can quickly go off the rails.
Many of these control mechanisms, which are suitable for everyday use, focus on the customer. Why?
Because (latent) needs and requirements often cannot be easily articulated.
Because early feedback from customers saves enormous development costs.
Because engineers often fall in love with their own solutions, and in the end, it is (still) the customer who determines success.
The focus must be clearly on customer needs. An R&D Lead (Chemicals) put it unequivocally: “No development project should begin without direct contact between the developer and the customer.”
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”13888″]
