A key activity of our Annual Conference is the round table discussion.  At the October 2017 Annual Conference in San Diego, Greg Bowen, ALMA Board Member,  facilitated a discussion on best time management practices for busy lab managers.  Attendees were asked to provide inputs in three areas: What takes up our time? What should we be spending more time doing? What solutions do you use to manage your time better?  Over the next several weeks we will be sharing points from those discussions as a three part series to help you better evaluate and devise strategies to make your day more productive.

What are we not doing?
What should we be spending more time on?

Conference round table participants identified several areas which were not getting the attention needed to lead a more successful and sustainable lab.  Review the list and see how you compare to that of our participants.  Have you made progress and found ways to address these areas?  Again, we ask you to share this with your peers and start the discussion.

Areas our participants identified as needing more attention:

–  HR Time – Setting up regularly scheduled time with HR would be a great way to handle staffing and personnel issues proactively.

–  People Time – Your staff and coworkers, vendors, clients, and others all are part of your lab’s success.  Making time to meet and asses your relationships and plans can help you meet your goals.

– Developing People – Staff development should be a priority.

–  Productivity – Just get it done!

–  Future planning

–  Succession planning

– Creativity/Innovation

– MBWA (Manage By Walking Around)

–  Personal Growth – Managers need professional development and growth. Search out opportunities to make this happen. Don’t forget that the ALMA Conference is a great place to start!

Part III will focus on Time Management Solutions.