Every year over the last decade pharmaceutical companies have contracted for hundreds of thousands of medical meetings every year to introduce, and update physicians with their products. To effectively launch a new product the best need to be in place, to ensure flawless meetings. These teams need training and careful managing, considering the unforeseen issues with new products, and new clients.

The skills needed to launch a new pharmaceutical product, and I have successfully launched many for several major clients over the years, require a special skill set, strong in understanding the restrictions and ethical considerations. The personnel who negotiate and spend weeks, even months talking with the client MUST be there at the launch, and thereafter until the project is handed over to the permanent team. Major failure can often be traced to personnel who come in at the end of this incubation phase without the subtle understandings that developed over the previous weeks. If you are told you are building a Camel, and the client has been promised a Horse months ago, you have a problem.

That sounds like a contradiction but a client does not see the change in people, and the loss of essential knowledge, they see the company failing in it's promises. The fact that the new team hasn't heard what was promised does not enter into their complaints. Support companies in the pharmaceutical industry make good case studies, in the Good, Bad and the Ugly.

Special launch teams are the normal in most industries. I have managed them in pharmaceuticals, automobile, airline, tourism and of course politics. The very best are good at finding out what the clients really want, what the sales force needs, and what can be realistically delivered. One phrase I keep coming back to is "Unrealistic Expectations", where initial contacts promised a client the Moon, and left some other mug to find a way to deliver.

The launch team needs to be handpicked, both for their abilities to analyze and complete the task, but also for the ability to train and pass on their skills and knowledge to the permanent team. I find the best people for launch teams quickly get bored doing the same repetitive functions when a product becomes matured. They want to move on to the next challenge.

Conversely the frequent changes, non standard procedures and close scrutiny by the client drive many meeting planners crazy, especially if they are used to a structured format, such as in the Hotel and Travel industries.

So embrace Launch Teams and let them sort out the client, write the procedure manuals and ground rules, and then take over their fine work and run with it. It's that simple. One skill is managing change, the other is managing routine.