The life sciences ecosystem is extraordinarily complex, which makes consulting projects in this area a special challenge. We overcome them by leveraging our many years of experience with the diverse issues in this field, from strategy development to brand planning.

What is it fundamentally about?



The life science sector, like others, is shaped by organizations; therefore, what applies to other industries and ecosystems also applies here. If you want to successfully develop new strategies and business models, keep an eye on the market and customers, and ensure cooperation and collaboration within your own organization and beyond, you would do well to start by analyzing and shaping the circumstances! If you need support on this, you can count on us!

Beyond that, especially when relationships are complex and even confusing at first glance, a deep understanding of the interrelationships is needed. This is the case in the life sciences ecosystem. We have acquired precisely this deep understanding over the years and are therefore in a position to work at very different levels in this area, from overall strategic orientation to divisional or product strategies; from fundamental realignment in new or rapidly changing market environments, to optimization of internal structures. Everywhere, the tools of our consultancy, backed by organizational science, combined with many years of broad professional experience in the life sciences ecosystem, come into play.

In concrete terms this means:

• We know the logic of health-care markets.
• We understand the requirements and processes of development, production and supply chain management as well as regulatory affairs and health care technology assessment.
• We work in almost all therapeutic areas (oncology, hematology, CV, gene therapy, ophthalmology, immunology, CNS, respiratory …).
• We know what makes organizations tick, work in the division of labor in life-science organizations, specialize in compliance, and understand the possibilities and limitations of evidence generation, disease awareness, and marketing.
• We engage in scientific discussions, but also understand the organizational and economic conditions in which health-care providers work in health-care systems.

For which specific questions is our expertise particularly useful?

Our expertise is particularly valuable for specific concerns within the life-sciences sector related to promoting the uptake of products into clinical care settings.

We do this by ensuring discourse with key stakeholders to create a solid foundation for medically and commercially successful management of products and processes.

What advantages are there to working with Metaplan?

Productive interaction

With our expertise and experience in the health sector, we ensure that contributions from the most important stakeholders lead to effective interactions, so that arguments and opinions can be exchanged, discussed and visualized. This delivers the insights that form the foundation for further work.

Immediate results

We leverage our long experience in the facilitation of interactions between experts and deliver results very quickly. We think ahead to necessary interactions, present complex inputs in a way that is transparent to everyone, and take up points of tension so that they become the subject of productive discourses between experts.

Comprehensive insights

We think in terms of the organization, not individual interests. While doing so, we always keep an eye on the diverse interests and perspectives of stakeholders. This enables us to generate insights for our clients that go far beyond purely medical analyses – and thereby help assure the success of products.

How do we support our clients?

We facilitate the discourses that are necessary and meaningful in the respective situation – from HCPs to the relevant stakeholders within your company. We know from experience what matters when dealing with stakeholders at all levels.

We know that different stakeholders naturally think and act differently. We make sure that these differences become comprehensible and understandable.

We deliberately do not avoid differences of opinion; we use them to gain important insights and knowledge precisely from the tensions that become apparent as a result.

We stage exchange formats in such a way that the different perspectives of the relevant stakeholders become comprehensible to others. This gives those involved in the process the chance to reassess their own attitudes.

Enable people in interactions to unfold their full potential: empowerment through education, empowerment for action.

Alignment

Does your company have more opinions than direction? We’ll show you how to ensure a shared orientation for your organization.

A new strategy has been announced, but there is disagreement about how to implement it. Changes in one place require changes elsewhere in your organization. Processes are running, but create too much friction. We show you what to do in such cases.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of alignment:

• We identify the recurring goal conflicts that make alignment difficult. 
• We get to the bottom of existing conflict goals: what are the good reasons behind them? 
• We provide understanding: Room for maneuver expands. 
• We ensure communication: A common path is agreed upon. 
• This results in commitment to shared goals.

Leadership

Do you want better leadership in your organization? We will show you which structures you need and how to provide effective inspiration.

Leadership and hierarchy are no longer the same thing. In successful organizations, leadership is no longer tied to a role in the organizational chart – leadership is about finding solutions to problems.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of leadership:

• If leadership is solely a task for managers, it quickly becomes overwhelming. We will show you how leadership can be defined more precisely. 
• Leadership and structure are closely associated. We will show you how managers can focus on key critical moments, and when it is better to create structures. 
• Leadership means providing orientation. We will show you why this should also come from other people, not just managers. 
• We show you how managers can create and secure spaces in which others can then also take the lead. 
• Leadership is needed in specific individual cases because not everything can be put into rules.

Culture

Do you want to shape your organization’s culture? We support you to identify the cultural aspects you should take on or leave alone!

Culture can be a success factor or a hindrance. In any case, it plays a decisive role in every organization. Consequently, it is important to understand how organizational cultures can be analyzed, reflected upon and changed.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of culture:

• We help you to locate culture in the structures of the organization and to distinguish culture from values and formal rules. 
• We work with you to envision appropriate structural changes that can help you influence directions. 
• We provide you with a pragmatic working concept of culture that you can activate. 
• We help you to plan suitable measures, ensure target-oriented participation of the necessary players, and accompany you during the implementation. 
• We show you how informality can be used as “searchlight” to increase your understanding of organizational culture.

Mindset Change

Do you want your employees to change their mindset? We show you how you can facilitate this kind of change!

Many change initiatives meet with resistance. This is often attributed to the mindset of employees. Accordingly, management then focuses their efforts on changing this mindset. Which experiences help when trying out a different way of thinking – and which conditions will enable a change in behavior?

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of mindset change:

• People’s mindset usually functions in the circumstances in which they find themselves. We help you to understand how this came about in your specific case. 
• Methods and formats such as Learning Journeys, Digital Labs, and Action Learning Settings help to create such experiences. We’ll put our heads together and think about which would be suitable for you. 
• People do not change on demand and by instruction. We show you where to start instead. 
• Structures are needed to transform experiences into change. We work with you on the question of which specific structures you should create. 
• People change through experience and going through something specific. Together with you, we consider which experiences need to be made possible.

Moderation

Do you want to bring teams and project groups forward by means of productive exchanges? We ensure successful communication processes and commitment!

Jointly developed approaches to solutions are more productive than mere instructions. Discourses, however, must be cleverly thought out and competently moderated. More complex projects require a well-thought-out discourse strategy.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of moderation:

• Understanding in organizations requires successful interaction. We have developed a moderation method that ensures this interaction. 
• Thinking is trial and error, and discourses create the necessary space for this trial and error. 
• Advancements of work methods require advancements of moderation methods – and we have decades of experience with this. 
• Successful moderation keeps an eye on the relationships within the organization. Which actors pursue which interests, who has which power resources, and where do relationships of trust or mistrust prevail? 
• Moderation ranges from the design of individual conversations to the creation of extensive workshop series and complex processes of understanding. We help you determine what exactly you need.

Purpose & Values

You want to orient your organization to meaningful values? We will help you create cohesion and avoid mere lip service!

The times when it was enough to just pay employees a decent wage are over. What helps when searching for cohesion and common orientation are jointly shared goals and well-designed processes for crafting objectives.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of purpose and values:

• When you talk about purpose, you talk about values. We show you what role values can play in an organization. 
• Cynicism is never far behind when value statements and everyday organizational life diverge too far from one another. We help you to avoid the pitfalls of unrealistic purpose statements. 
• Purpose is the result of internal development processes. We support you in conducting the right discourses in the right arenas. 
• Purpose should create meaning for employees. We show you where the limits of the concept lie. 
• How does purpose relate to the other structures of an organization? We relate it to strategic issues and implementation topics.

Organizational Agility

Do you want to become faster and more agile with your organization? We show you all the places you can start!

How do you organize the requisite agility when external requirements are constantly changing? The answer is not one of the common agility concepts. The right approach depends on the problem you want to solve with more agility.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of agile organizations:

• It is seldom quite clear what exactly agility is supposed to mean. We show you how to get specific. 
• Do you need new organizational models to be agile? We reflect with you on what will become easier with agility – and what you might bring onto yourself. 
• In agility discourses, we look at what should become more agile, yet we also examine together with you what should remain stable. 
• Does it make sense to start at the level of the overall organization? We will help you to determine the right approach for your transformation project. 
• Agility is often linked to agile methods, tools, and approaches. Together with you we work out which of these elements can have a positive effect in your organization.

Business Models

Do you want to rethink and refine/transform your business model? We help you optimize your go-to-market strategy.

Changes in the environment threaten existing business models and simultaneously create new opportunities. Markets are consolidating, digitization is presenting you with new challenges. With which go-to-market strategies do you plan to respond to these changes?

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of business models:

• Do you want to start with individual elements or rethink the entire business model? We work with you to find a good starting point. 
• Which markets are you competing in today and which ones do you want to tap into? We help sort and prioritize. 
• Who are your customers today and who do you want to reach in the future? We support you in thinking through the different scenarios. 
• How does value creation work in your business today? We help to decide what can remain stable and what needs change to continue to be valuable.

Collaboration

Are important topics stalling because cross-unit collaboration is not working well? We support you to create collaboration and cooperation anyway!

The company’s goals are clear, but no progress is being made in implementing them. There are tensions, and decisions are delayed or escalated upwards again and again. We show you how to deal with these stalemates.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of collaboration:

• Tensions exist inherently. We help you understand how to overcome the tensions. 
• We identify and involve the right people in discourses whose alignment and collaboration is needed. 
• We show you why it is particularly difficult to organize (inter-unit) collaboration (functions, business units, countries). 
• We analyze and anticipate the decisions that will be necessary to avoid unproductive tensions. 
• We help you understand the rationalities of each stakeholder.

Innovation

Do you want to spark innovation in your organization? We show you how to bring novel ideas into your organization.

What is innovation and how is it created? We help you sort out what kind of innovations your organization needs. Is it about innovative products, new processes or new business models?

The answers to these questions are irritatingly diverse. That’s why you should take a closer look: What problem do you want to solve? Is it about innovative products or the further development of structures and processes? The following always applies: the work only begins with innovative ideas, because it is also necessary to implement them permanently within the organization.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of innovation:

• No one openly stands in the way of the desire to be innovative; at the same time, there are good reasons to maintain the status quo. We show you how to deal with the tension. 
• Can innovation be created on the fly, or do you need specialized places for innovation, such as hubs or labs? We show you which organizational structure suits which innovation. 
• Innovation is often associated with something completely new; however, it is often already there as an informal solution to existing problems. We help you track down these innovative approaches. 
• If you want to innovate, you have to get started. We show you how to get going and then make sure that people follow you. 
• Innovation requires hierarchy. We show you how to use hierarchy to turn an idea into an innovation.

Organizational Design

Do your organizational structures no longer fit your challenges? We will help you to redevelop the dynamics of your organization!

Organizations develop their power by sharing work. Whoever wants to shape organizations must first confront central questions: Which principles do you want to apply to divide up the work? How do you reunite them later? And how do you deal with the pain that regularly arises in the process? Harmony remains an illusion. Tensions are structurally inherent. Dealing with them productively determines success. Shaping organizations means deciding what to argue about – and where unity must prevail.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of organizational design:

• We provide you with organizational science terminology to help you better understand your organization. 
• We think through the consequences of your decisions with you. 
• We ask you: What problem would you like to solve by changing your structure? 
• Who do you involve in the design process and when – and how do you set up this process in the first place? 
• We analyze with you which structures should be changed to solve the problem.

Strategy

Do you want to redefine the courses of action for your organization for the future? We help you design a strategy process that fits the challenges of your organization!

Strategy should be the engine for innovation and transformation. But how do you determine strategic directions? And how is strategy related to mission and purpose? And how does it develop binding power for the organization’s members? If you want to move your company forward, it helps to start with a seemingly simple question: Which way is forward?

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of strategy:

• There is more than one path to strategy. We show you how to set up a process that works for you. 
• Strategy processes often pretend to be linear. We guide you through the inevitable micropolitical negotiation process. 
• We offer assistance in involving the right actors and bringing them into discourse on the appropriate issues. 
• Strategy and the structures of your organization interact with each other. We support you in keeping this tension productive. 
• Strategies change the structures of your organization. We help you to think through the necessary decisions in advance. 

Business Planning

The strategic directions are fixed, but is the implementation on the market is still open? We show you and your team how to plan without falling into the routine trap of auto-pilot planning!

At the corporate or company level, the goals have been fixed; now it’s time to decide how to proceed at the level of specific products and markets. We show you how to deal productively with the tensions that regularly arise from this transition.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of business planning:

• If you don’t leverage experience, you give away potential; if you do what you always do, you fall into the routine trap. We help you navigate safely between both extremes. 
• Brand planning requires the perspectives of different roles and organizational levels. We help you to bring them in line with each other. 
• In large companies, there are usually global goals that are necessarily general. We work with you to find out where tensions arise with your specific goals and how you can master them. 
• For implementation, you need a coherent narrative that provides orientation for everyone. We develop this narrative together with you. 
• Success or failure proves itself in concrete markets or submarkets. We support you in planning your specific goals and approaches.

Customer Centricity

You want to put the customer at the center of your business activities, but internal orientation dominates? We help you to realign your organization with the customer!

You want to think from the customer’s point of view and have agreed on this as an overarching goal, but within your organization, you’re still more focused on products, prices and internal processes. We show you which structural measures and initiatives can anchor customer centricity in your organization.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of customer centricity:

• If you value customer centricity, then you need structures to support it. We work with you to analyze the extent to which your structures already focus on customers or not. 
• Whoever has access to customers has relevant information. We help you to make customers heard in the organization. 
• Every strategy is based on assumptions about customers. We help you to clearly identify and question these assumptions. 
• Sometimes internal and external customer images no longer fit together. We show you how to react to this. 
• Understanding customers is only the task of a few in the organization, but everyone should be aligned with the customer. We work with you to infuse customer-orientation throughout the organization.

Creating Scenarios

Are you unsure which option you should choose to compete in the market? We will help you evaluate the options so you can choose the best one for you and your organization!

You know which products and services you want to market, but you‘re unsure which market strategy best suits them? We play through possible scenarios with you and help you make the best possible decision!

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of creating scenarios:

• All players in the market operate under conditions of uncertainty. We show you why this is usual and what opportunities it offers. 
• Planning also requires a data foundation. Together with you, we work out what data is important, what questions need to be asked, and what answers can be derived therefrom. 
• There is no certain knowledge about how customers, markets or competitors will behave. We ask the questions that help you think through possible future scenarios. 
• Developing scenarios means making assumptions. We put these scenarios to the test for you and help you decide between different options.
•  You cannot extrapolate the future from the past. We help you to include likely changes in your considerations of the future.

Ecosystem Design

Do you want to take your business to the next level? We show you how you can better understand and help shape the ecosystems!

Are you thinking about new strategies and business models? Do you want to break free from an increasingly problematic market environment or test new value-added offerings? We help you think through all of the questions involved.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of ecosystem design:

• We support you in a precise assessment of your current position and how you can make changes to how you operate within the ecosystem. 
• Together, we analyze the existing framework conditions that a new business model would encounter. 
• We think through how you can take your existing business model beyond your current customers and walk through completely new business models with you. 
• We think about, which regulations are particularly relevant and how you can influence them. 
• We help you to determine where exactly you should start fresh – and which existing experiences you can use.

Generating Market Insights

Do you want to understand your customers’ challenges more precisely in order to be able to assess future market developments and trends? We can help you to engage in the necessary discourse!

Do you want to develop market strategies that work and are geared to the wishes and needs of your customers? If so, asking your customers directly what they want may not get you what you really need. We’ll show you where you can start getting good answers anyway.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of Generating Market Insights:

• Market actors are subject to their own rationalities. We help you tap into them. 
• General questions generate general answers. Therefore, we will sit down with you and analyze your customers’ specific behaviors. 
• To be able to act, you have to make assumptions about markets and customers. We examine which myths, dogmas and fictions exist in your organization. 
• There is no certain knowledge about the future. That is why we work with you on well-founded hypotheses about future developments. 
• No company can absorb and process all the information in its environment. We work with you to analyze which information you have systematically ignored thus far.

Peer-Group Debates

You want to form a clear opinion and make decisions, but customers and experts have very different views? We show you how to clarify your options!

Each of our customers has an opinion, though all different. And even expert discussions do not provide a clear picture? We help you to understand why this is natural, yet still enable you to find guidance.

What is Metaplan‘s unique perspective in the context of peer group debates:

• Wherever work is shared, actors hold different views about what is meaningful. Together with you, we analyze how these “local rationalities” emerge. 
• Peer-group debates succeed when questions and challenges are posed for discussion that are relevant to the peers. We provide you with questions that trigger discourses. 
• We work out with you how the “good reasons” of the actors for their positions and actions can be better understood. 
• Peer-group debates require preparation and support. We prepare the discourses with you and support you during the implementation. 
• Within their peer groups, actors argue from their “local rationalities.” Together with you, we set up discourses that provide answers to your questions.

The world of work and the ecosystem of organizations are changing radically. On top of running the business, executives are faced with changed and completely new challenges. Those who want to master them must understand their own organization and its dynamics in order to be able to influence them. This requires a profound knowledge of organizational structures – and the ability to anticipate changes and put them into practice. The best way to anticipate these changes is to engage in discourse with peers who are facing similar challenges!

Who is the program meant for?

If you are a responsible leader, if you want to actively shape the structures and strategies of your organization/unit/department, if you want to provide leadership guidance for your team and create real impact, then the Executive Program offers you the necessary skills, tools and concepts – and a peer forum to plan and reflect on concrete actions.

What will you learn?

An understanding, based on organizational science, of the key success drivers for current and future challenges: structures that create productive tensions, cultures that promote innovation, leadership that solves critical constellations, strategies that are sustainable and market design that addresses real customer needs. Concepts that help you better grasp leadership issues, challenges, and options for action. Discourses that translate theory into practice and achieve the buy-in of relevant stakeholder.

What will you take away?

• How can organizational structures be analyzed and shaped? 
• How do you influence cultures – even though you can’t decide about them? 
• How can leadership effectively complement your work on the structural levers? 
• How do you secure innovation in processes, structures and products? 
• How do you develop sustainable strategies? 
• How do you discover market needs and influence eco-systems?

What makes it special?



• Intensive guidance and practical relevance: We orchestrate deep dives with a maximum of 6 participants – always supervised by a Metaplanner who contributes his/her experience from concrete consulting projects.
• Concrete application: We work on actual business challenges of the participants with a strong focus on immediate implementation after the seminar, because this always leads to the planning of concrete next steps.
• Exchange and networking: In the seminars, managers from different organizations, industries, countries and cultural backgrounds discuss and learn together – even beyond the seminar through the established Metaplan (alumni?) network.

If you want to advance teams, project groups and thus the organization, you have to ensure productive exchange – both in person and online! In the facilitation program, we teach you everything you need to be able to prepare and facilitate meetings, workshops, or larger discourses in a planned manner – from the basic interaction techniques to the complete discourse strategy – always with reference to your concrete concerns and experiences.

Who is the program for?

If you want to become a moderator, or systematize and deepen existing expertise, and also want to familiarize yourself comprehensively with the tools of good moderation and their application – then we will gladly accompany you on your way to becoming a certified Metaplan moderator!

What will you learn?

At Metaplan, we have been using the moderation method in face-to-face events for five decades and online for many years. In this time, we have never stopped developing the method further and adapting and supplementing it to meet new requirements. We convey the essence of this extensive experience in the three seminars that comprise the Moderation Program.

What are the takeaways?

• What do good discourses do, and how do you create them? 
• How do you develop workshop dramaturgies and discourse strategies? 
• How do you visualize inputs, conversations during group work and workshops and secure discussion results? 
• How do you apply basic and complex interaction techniques? 
• How do you tap into the thought patterns of stakeholders and groups of stakeholders?

What does the training consist of?



• The Metaplan Moderation Program includes the three seminars “Training Moderation,” “Training Workshop Design” and “Training Discourse Strategy.”
• You can freely choose the order of the training sessions and mix face-to-face and online formats as you like!
• You won’t be alone in taking the content and applying it, because we already start doing that in the seminar. In every training session, we assign central importance to the application to specific case studies brought in by participants. You will benefit especially if you bring in your own case study and put it up for discussion – the more often the better!
• We provide individual support before, during, and after the training. We are available to you for an orientation meeting before the training starts, we give personal feedback after each session, advise you on the preparation of a specific moderation scenario, and reflect with you on your experiences and perspectives after the training is complete.
• Upon completion of the training, you will receive a certificate as a Metaplan Moderator.