Project Structures: Overview and establishing with Planview, Planisware, and Project Online

From a pharmaceutical R&D context, project structures can be seen as a reliable process to organize, track, and deliver the tasks while keeping the stakeholders informed.

If you don’t have a well-planned project structure:

• Portfolio decisions usually suffer from low visibility

• Teams start losing alignment

• Missing critical deadlines become normal

With a strong project structure, key decision-makers can:

• Have a clear view throughout the entire pipeline

• Easily prioritize high-value portfolio assets

• Manage risks more efficiently

Project portfolio management tools like Planisware, MS Project Online, and Planview help establish organized structures that accelerate pharma projects, ensure compliance and success. That said, let’s dive into what project structures mean in pharmaceutical context, and how these tools help establish them seamlessly.

Types of project structures in pharmaceutical R&D

Selecting the right structure is your first step to ensure on-time project delivery with the right resources, without bleeding budgets. Here are three types of project structures to consider:

1. Functional structure

As the name suggests, functional structure involves grouping all teams as per specialized functions – be it clinical, manufacturing, regulatory etc. In this model, the departmental head usually manages the team members, while coordinating the projects within functional silos.

Functional structures are best for:

• Small-scale pharma companies

• Limited cross-functional project needs

What to look out for?

On the flipside, these models are also known to create communication gaps and slow down decision-making in accelerated R&D settings.

2. Projectized structure

In this model, the project manager has 100% authority over the research team and key resources, unlike the former. The PMOs assign their teams to specific projects, often outside their everyday functional roles.

Projectized structures are best for:

• Large-scale pharmaceutical project management needs

• time-sensitive, high-priority, high flexibility research initiatives

What to look out for?

Unfortunately, this model can also cause resource duplication and higher costs, particularly when multiple projects are running at the same time.

3. Matrix structure (Best suited for Pharma)

Last, but most importantly, the matrix structure brings the best of both functional and projectized structures under one umbrella. Here, teams report to both functional and project managers. This way, resources can be shared across different projects without compromising on functional supervision.

Matrix structures are best for:

• Mid-to-large organizations juggling between numerous programs

• High operational continuity & innovation-led settings

What to look out for?

Despite being the most common project structure in pharma R&D, it calls for strong communication and higher role clarity, to avoid conflicts or confusion.

How to establish Pharma-specific structures using Planisware, Project Online and Planview?

Designing and implementing project structures that suit the complex requirements of pharmaceutical R&D become easier with PPM tools. Users can configure project hierarchies, governance models, allocate resources efficiently and support decision-making at every phase.

Here are your options and steps to do it:

Tool #1: Planview

First on our list, Planview is a major contender in terms of portfolio management and resource optimization. With a little upfront tailoring, its project templates can align well with pharma workflows.

How to set up a project structure in Planview?

• Configure project types: label templates (for example, “Phase I asset”, “Platform”)

• Define swimlanes as per function (clinical, regulatory, manufacturing)

• Set up a clear stage-gate workflow in roadmap view with well-defined gates

• Attach gate checklists and deliverables to each stage

• Enable demand/capacity views for cross-functional resource alignment

Tool #2: Planisware

The Planisware project management tool is purpose-built for life sciences projects, and mirrors pharma R&D workflows like none other in this list. For example, it embeds stage gate logic at every level.

The platform natively supports clinical/CMC deliverables, molecule hierarchies, as well as regulatory milestones. Here, teams can easily set up projects that map exactly to asset phases, while having total control over gates and finances.

How to set up a project structure in Planisware?

• Create a project template with WBS (discovery, preclinical, phase 1/2/3)

• Embed gates after every single phase, linking back to the decision criteria and business case scorecards

• Add key deliverables (for example: IND, CMC dossiers, clinical trial authorizations)

• Link back the financial/resource modules to WBS for seamless budget/version tracking

• Roll up to portfolio to maintain proper visibility across molecules and indications

Tool #3: Project Online

Lastly, Project Online is a great choice for schedule-level planning; it’s not entirely built around pharmaceutical project management structures in focus. Here, teams need to build everything from ground up.

The good part, however? Integrating with Power BI, Teams, and Power Automate.

How to set up a project structure in Project Online?

• Start by designing your custom project template

• Define tasks for regulatory deliverables and project milestones

• Trigger notifications at gate milestones by integrating Power Automate

• Integrate Power BI to access customized dashboards aligned to R&D phases’ progress

• Manage resources via PWA to assign functional roles

How to choose the right tool for your project structure needs?

More than chasing latest features, choose project portfolio management tools that fit your team’s needs the best. This means judging the tool by how well it aligns with your project structure, people, and strategic goals.

Choose Planisware if you would:

• Manage a mid-to-large pharma/biotech firm with a complex R&D asset portfolio

• Require built-in stage-gate models, modifiable for drug development lifecycles

• Need strong portfolio governance & what-if scenario planning at scale

Use Project Online if you would:

• Require a quick, at-budget tool for basic-level project scheduling/ tracking

• Focus on daily task management, instead of strong portfolio governance

• Need hassle-free, end-to-end automation integration (Teams, Power BI, Outlook)

Go for Planview if you would:

• Be transitioning from project-level to portfolio-level strategy while scaling up

• Want to have strong resource demand vs. capacity modelling

• Need visualized roadmaps, high financial visibility, cross-functional planning etc.

Key takeaways at a glance

• Project structure informs smart portfolio decisions, points out risks early and surfaces resource conflicts

• Matrix project structure is the best-suited for pharma/biotech teams, as it comes with a mix of agility, governance, and resource efficiency

• More features don’t ensure success; choose your tool that best fits your team’s maturity level, complexity of portfolio assets, and other key indicators.

• Planisware project management tool is best for enterprise players with deep pipelines; Project Online suits mid-sized teams focused on scheduling; Planview is the go-to option for strategy-driven PMOs

Need help getting started? Let’s talk about how we can help.

i2e Consulting brings 15+ years of PPM expertise. We’ve partnered with leading pharma organizations to establish fit-for-purpose project structures that drive clarity, speed, and smarter portfolio decisions.

Connect with us – let’s build a project structure that accelerates your portfolio growth.