IPG: End-to-End Program Management for Reporting
While working at IPG, I was the lead in a project aimed at introducing a formal program management structure into existing analytics operations. Prior to this project, IPG lacked standardized processes for managing vendors, ensuring completion of reporting deliverables, tracking client requests, and coordinating cross-functional collaboration. My goal was to transform these operations into a centralized, agile, and scalable framework focusing on program management best practices.
My Role
Project Manager
Team
Data and Analytics for Client Insights and Solutions
Timeline
March 2023 - Current
My Responsibilities:
Conducted audits on operation and created documentation to capture the current state. I ensured all analytic deliverables were met on time and within scope, led subject matter expert (SME) interviews, conducted risk assessments, prioritized deliverables, developed project plans, created SOPs, and implemented stakeholder alignment workflows. I also monitored project health and progress, created governance documentation, measured team workflows, and facilitated cross-functional collaboration.
Tools and Methodologies Used:
I conducted preliminary research to better understand pain points and opportunities:
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Interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) and documented the full scope of recurring analytics deliverables (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports) across 32 pharmaceutical brands.
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Collaborative working sessions with stakeholder groups involved in deliverables to create a democratic consensus in decision making.
This research helped bring clarity and visibility to current state of operations and its risks.
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Using Asana, I designed an ecosystem where each major work stream (vendor management, scheduled deliverables, and ad-hoc requests) was broken out into a separate project and added to a portfolio to leverage Asana's analytics. The analytics provided in a portfolio view gave leadership a high-level view of each vertical’s operations. I applied Agile methodologies to identify tasks that can be conducted in parallel, identifying areas where we can compress timelines, and eliminating bottlenecks. Recognizing gaps in project artifacts, I introduced tools such as RACI matrices, standardized status trackers, and automated intake forms to enforce accountability and streamline operations.
Challenges & Solutions
A key challenge was customizing Asana’s rigid enterprise project templates to support IPG’s complex, multi-brand environment. These templates relied on "traffic light" tracking (i.e. status: red, amber (yellow), or green) that were too simplistic to fully capture IPG's operational needs. Deviating from the template, I rebuilt the architecture from scratch to provide each team with tailored project views while rolling up to a strategic, portfolio-level dashboard. I also created Asana Forms to automate both client and internal ad-hoc task intake, which improved transparency and enabled the first-ever operational analysis of ad-hoc workload volume. To drive adoption, I led training sessions and reinforced the importance of each artifact by embedding links into day-to-day workflows.
Key Outcomes & Metrics:
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The new operations ecosystem brought measurable impact: IPG went from missing 2–3 reporting deliverables monthly to achieving perfect on-time delivery for the full year of 2024.
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Team onboarding time dropped from two months to three weeks due to robust documentation, and new transparency into timelines improved scheduling, accountability, and stakeholder engagement.
Lessons Learned:
A valuable lesson I learned was how to balance structure with creative flexibility. I gained the confidence make a case to deviate from existing operations tracking in favor of a more centralized and transparent system. Earning stakeholder buy-in through data storytelling and using operational analytics to inform real-time decision-making became key learnings that I continue to apply across projects.
Project Artifacts
