Do you measure what matters?

Do you measure what matters? OKRs or KPIs?

Do you measure what matters? 

Does your organisation? 

Do you even know what matters?

Sometimes it feels like we are stuck in a loop having the same conversations over and over:

• Medical Affairs are struggling to demonstrate their impact

• Medical Affairs aren’t clear on how to measure impact

• The rest of the organisation don’t see the value Medical Affairs brings

One of the conversations I have over and over in workshops and coaching sessions and my Medical Impact Membership is - how can I demonstrate my value, and how can I communicate this with the rest of the organisation?

Medical Advisors, Medical Managers and MSLs are frustrated because they aren’t being seen.

I remember working in-house and the frustration of metrics looking at the number of interactions which in absolutely no way demonstrated 

• The working being done

• The impact being made in the field

• Took into account the size of the territory/number of HCPs/other team members in-field

This led me to look at other ways of demonstrating the value of the work that Medical Affairs did. 

It was one of the sparks that led Aoife O’Dwyer of MSL Consultant and myself to write the white paper Metrics that Matter where we outline the use of Objective Key Results (OKRs) as an alternative way to getting clear on what you are trying to achieve and showing the impact of what you do achieve.

I know some Pharma companies have embraced the OKR model for a while now and that has to be applauded.   Yet despite embracing OKRs these companies are still looking at the number of interactions for Medical Teams.  

It’s like putting wooden wagon wheels on your brand new electric car - it just doesn’t make sense.  

When I started in Pharma I remember the General Manager saying that they were moving away from HCP interactions as a metric for the sales teams as it measured the wrong behaviour, it drives activity but not quality activity.  Sales have grasped this so why haven’t Medical?

So how can you measure value?
Look at what you are trying to achieve, not free-floating KPIs that aren’t tethered to specific outcomes, that don’t accurately describe the work that you do.  That’s not to say there isn’t a place for KPIs, but they need to be measuring something of value.

So instead of asking:

• How many KOL interactions did you have in the last month?

Ask:

• How many meaningful conversations did you have in the last month? (The number of interactions doesn’t give a clear picture of how valuable the interaction was!)

• Whether valuable insights were received

• If a project has been moved forward

• If your relationship is stronger because you delivered value

If you are holding your Medical Affairs team account to unrealistic expectations you’ll drive 

• the wrong behaviours - box ticking instead of delivering impact

• focus on the wrong activities - wasting time and resource 

• burnout - from focusing on the wrong things

• disengagement

But, I hear you say, it’s not that easy, we need to show impact.  I agree, you do, but measuring interactions is not showing impact.  Leadership Teams need to emphasise quality over quantity!

If you keep focusing on the wrong piece you’ll miss the bigger picture.

“But this is how we have always done it” - isn’t a reasonable narrative anymore either.

“We need to measure something” doesn’t wash either - rubbish data in gives rubbish data out.  

Move away from “push” metrics that don’t give you any real information and move towards “pull” metrics, ones that teams want to strive towards.

Make it easier rather than harder.  Stop making excuses, if you want to create the change you need to do it from the top down.

Think about the impact you want your Medical Teams to create and use that as a starting point. 

So today - take a step away from measuring noise and driving the wrong behaviours and start measuring what really matters.  

At Wolf Medical we support you to master Medical Affairs impact - here are some of our resources:

Find our white paper Metrics that Matter here.

To catch the replay of our webinar Unlocking Medical Affairs Impact: Measure what Matters register here.

Mastering Medical Affairs Strategy

If you are a Medical Affairs lead responsible for local, regional or global Medical Strategy and want to learn how to Master Medical Affairs Impact then our Mastering Medical Affairs Strategy course is for you. Click here to register your interest.