When R&D Is the Task, A Military Approach May Be Best

Published: May 01, 2002, By Dr. Richard M. Podhajny, Ph.D.

Like many others, I served in the US Army. Although I did not see any live action during the Viet Nam era, I did learn many useful procedures in the Army and Army Officer’s School that I have used in research and development over the years.

Perhaps the most useful tool I found in the Army was the “Task Force.” Task Force can be defined as an assembly of individuals with specific skills who have been brought together to deal with a specific task or assignment.

The concept essentially allows the use of “specialists” that are not necessarily part of the unit but can be assigned from other military units. In the Task Force formation, they become a special unit that lasts until the task is accomplished.

So, it is a unit that is created from the troops that are available, with the selection of specialists to accomplish the task, and with an assigned leader who now is independent of the chain of command to which these individuals report.

The leader usually reports to the Company or Battalion Commander until the mission is accomplished. He can be of any rank, but in the Army he was usually a lieutenant.

What does all this have to do with R&D? Well, quite a bit! For instance, whenever a new project comes into the laboratory, some senior-level chemist usually is assigned the project, either because he has the experience that makes him a natural selection or because he is next in line for a project assignment.

Too often, other resources in a company are not put into action with this approach. The individual working on the project may feel awkward if he seeks help from others in another department. Besides, everyone is too busy to spend the time to get involved in any depth.

The use of a Task Force should be limited to those unusual situations in which inter-department skills can probably do the job better than the individual department alone. If often takes some higher intervention to make the decision that a Task Force is needed.

A good starting point is the laboratory director or manager, who can discuss the scope of the project with other members in the organization, for instance, manufacturing, engineering, and quality control. The Task Force “lieutenant” should be given the assignment and offered the necessary support from the management.

The Task Force is an interdisciplinary force composed of people who have different skills but are in a special relationship. The formation of the Task Force brings down the arbitrary departmental walls that often can be found in R&D.

The lieutenant identifies the necessary personnel and resources needed from all of the different departments, forming the actual Task Force. He then develops a plan with the cooperation of Task Force members and implements the plan.

The Task Force should be small, probably four–six people. They identify what has to be done, and the project is closely monitored by the lieutenant, who is also a participant. Once the task is completed, a report is issued and the Task Force is disbanded.

This approach works extremely well in many lab projects requiring different skills. The rewards are many, but probably the two most important reasons to consider the Task Force are: The process is efficient, and everyone gets a better feeling about working together within the organization.

Dr. Richard M Podhajny has been in the packaging and printing industry for more than 30 years. Contact him at 215/616-6314; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..