Announcements

Managing Your Lab in the VUCA World

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Managing Your Lab in the VUCA World

Over ten years ago, I stumbled onto the concept of VUCA which was a framework for how the military had to adapt to the rapidly changing world relating to military actions and strategies that would need to evolve in the modern world. Past military history can’t easily be used to suggest future practices in the nuclear world. This is crucial thinking to how to train future leaders on managing challenges that will come. The concept started to find its way into the business world later as a variety of new/disruptive technologies and thinking changed the effectiveness of past practices and directed us toward new strategies.

The VUCA principle suggests that the modern operating environment is characterized by:

Volatility -The nature, speed, volume, magnitude, and dynamics of change
Uncertainty-The lack of predictability of issues and events
Complexity-The confounding of issues and possible chaos
Ambiguity-The haziness of reality and mixed meaning of conditions

Whoa, doesn’t this sum up the last 2 1⁄2 years of managing your lab and life in the pandemic world? It was an amped up discontinuity for any lab even in well-organized and managed situations. It is also establishing the context for the future as we have had to change quickly due to circumstances that are out of our control.

Your VUCA going forward needs to reflect operational thinking that can cope with the dynamics:

Vision - Clear communication in leading your staff through change(s) that we can’t foresee
Understanding - Listening for details and engage all resources you need early and often
Confidence - That you and your team will rise to the challenge if we work together
Adaptability - Advance processes for the future which were not thought possible or suitable before

Take the time to reflect on how the turbulence of the last couple of years changed your paradigm related to lab management. There will be a need to continue to make changes in thoughts and approaches to lab management practices in relation to how the world around us and staff expectations evolve. There is no one prescription that would be right for all labs. We all need to be mindful that we are in a different place in which we need to comprehend adequately various stressors in play to manage the people and processes in the lab.

Submitted by Richard Durand, ALMA Board Member and Director, Analytical and Material Science at Sun Chemical Corporation

Sometimes You Should Just Pick Up the Phone

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Sometimes You Should Just Pick Up the Phone

Just this morning, I encountered a situation where at least five emails could have been reduced by the process of picking up a phone and talking to the person involved.

Here are some reasons why:

  • Everything looks worse in black and white
  • It’s easier to answer the questions involved on an interactive basis

The pandemic has increased the tendency to communicate via email. We have become loath to pick up a phone. Slowly, the isolation of the pandemic will wear off and we will become more social again.  However, before you hit that email send button, take a moment to (1) breathe and reread that scathing email before you hit the send button (or not), and (2) consider picking up the phone. Sometimes, you should just pick up the phone. Of course, you can always follow up a call with an email.

Recently, this was exactly the situation I faced.  A new member of HALMA (Houston Association of Lab Managers-serves Houston Galveston and areas surrounding) had questions about the organization. Once I got on the phone, the topic of the conversation became more clear and the live interaction resolved the member’s questions in a timely and more direct manner.

To add to this topic, there is the school of thought that says documentation never hurts. It is important to consider the importance of keeping a paper trail. This way when a question comes up several months later, you can refer to a confirmation email or your notes. In the situation above, I went back to my sent files (I keep one for every year plus current) and found emails I had sent to the person in question. I carefully used those support documents to prove the point we were discussing. Note, I said "carefully", delicate use of previous communication can be key - but that's another post.

Lastly, a comment about sales by the phone versus email.  I am currently answering a call to someone who I hit a "request information" button for on LinkedIn. Ten minutes later, he is still asking questions. After about five minutes, I think, I never should have asked. Once you do get on the phone, be mindful of your colleague or customer’s time.

Submitted by Rebecca Rosas, Ph.D.
ALMA Board Member, HALMA Director, VP of Strategic Planning, Texmark Chemical, Inc.

The Myth of Managing Time

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clock half

The Myth of Managing Time

by John Sadowski, ALMA Executive Director

Time management and controlling the clock are important tools for winning basketball and football teams.  Managers, however, can’t stop the clock, they can’t manage time.  All managers have the same number of hours in a day, but some get more done than others.  Why?  Do they work longer hours or work harder?  Not necessarily.

We’ve all tried using “To Do” lists, checking some things off and updating them periodically.  The problem is that some things stay on the list forever and the list keeps growing longer.  A John Maxwell Company blog a few years ago said don’t manage your time, manage yourself.  In this post, I’ll relate that excellent advice to the job of managing a laboratory.

Time is wasted by things we do ineffectively and things we do that we shouldn’t be spending our time on. 

Here are some tips:

  • Start with a clear understanding of what is truly important. High-priority items must be aligned with the mission of the organization.  Put your to-do list to the test.
  • Don’t focus and fret on things you cannot control. Tight budgets, limited capital, the need to do more with less, personnel leaving or retiring, are going to happen.  Devote your energy to things you can control.
  • Many managers spend most of their time on a small percentage of the people. Understand why.  Are there training or performance issues?  Address them.
  • Learn how to say "No". Managers cannot handle every request that comes their way.  Responses like ‘I’ll try” or “I’ll get to it” when you really mean "No" create an expectation of action. Remember to give a reason why the answer is "No".
  • Manage interruptions. Learn how to deal with the ”you gotta minute” interruption.  If the request is something that can be handled later, acknowledge that it is important and deserves your full attention. Schedule a time to talk about it.  Interruptions waste time and result in the need to restart what you were doing.
  • Make meetings count. Meetings can take up a lot of your time and your staff's time. If the primary focus of a meeting is to share information, consider a less time-consuming way to convey the information.  Meetings should result in action points that are followed up on later.  A meeting that results in no action points may have been a waste of time.
  • Control your appetite for information.
    • Do you need to be cc’d on every email? Set boundaries on what you want to receive, how much detail, and how often.  CC’s, like carbs, should be limited. Trust me on this one.
    • Do you ask for and write reports that have become a habit, but aren’t really needed or read?
  • Break down large tasks or objectives into smaller ones that you can accomplish.  This way they aren’t so daunting that you avoid them and waste time.
  • Delegate effectively. Are you reluctant to delegate because you don’t want to burden others? Do you feel that no one else could do it as effectively as you can? Do you want to continue doing what got you promoted in the first place?  Mark Simmons advised the “80% rule of delegation.”  If someone can do it 80% as well as you could, delegate it and watch them grow and excel.
  • Lastly, recharge periodically.  Take those vacation days and come back energized and ready to take on the challenges that await.

You can’t manage time, but you can control what you do with it.

A Message from ALMA’s Past President and Executive Director

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On behalf of the Association of Laboratory Managers (ALMA), we would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year!  We appreciate your continued support of our organization over the last few difficult years and look forward to continued engagement with the laboratory leadership community.  ALMA is a unique nonprofit organization of volunteer laboratory leaders who are passionate about sharing their professional experiences and knowledge in an effort to create an environment of continuous learning and development.   

Despite the challenges of 2021 and our inability to hold a traditional live conference, ALMA had an exciting year of free webinars and panel discussions on subjects ranging from implementing the digital laboratory, networking, and effective communication skills.  In addition, ALMA’s community of leaders grew at a record pace.  While challenges remain in 2022, we are excited to announce that ALMA will once again be able to offer a live, in-person, interactive conference.  As with previous ALMA conferences, this year’s will consist of workshops, vendor exhibits, and presentations on topics relevant to laboratory leaders.  The conference will be engaging and informative and we are very excited to see everyone again this fall.  Stay tuned for more details as we invite lab leaders of various levels and disciplines to go back to school with ALMA2022@UNC-Chapel Hill  October 11-13, 2022.

Lastly, we are pleased to announce ALMA’s new president, Thad Gurley. Thad is Associate Research Laboratory Manager of the Accessioning Unit and Biorepository at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute.  Thad also manages the Accessioning Unit Core, is a member of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute Shared Resource Core Facility, and is the Manager of the Duke Student SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance Upstream Processing Team.  Thad received his Bachelor of Science in Zoology from North Carolina State University and his Master of Science in Microbiology and Immunology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.  He was the 2020 and 2021 ALMA Program Chair and has been an active ALMA member since 2018, specifically leading ALMA’s virtual webinar programs.  Please join us in congratulating Thad on his new role with ALMA!

If you are interested in becoming a part of our organization or learning how you can contribute, please email us here.

  • Christie Bowden, ALMA Immediate Past President
  • John Sadowski, ALMA Executive Director

Biocair Shares Lab Relocation Case Study

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Gold Sponsor Biocair Shares Lab Relocation Case Study

Global lab relocations are complex endeavors given the variety and number of materials involved. Biocair knows the importance of attention to detail, knowledge of customs requirements, and expert project management to deliver every sample safely and efficiently. We hope you find this case study helpful.  Read the study here.

 

Managing Your Boss

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Managing Your Boss

Alan Arkin as Leo McGarry on The West Wing
“I've got to keep the knucklehead stuff off his desk, and this is worse.”-Leo McGarry-The West Wing-Aaron Sorkin

This thought has filled the head of many an employee who wonders how much to tell his/her boss/supervisor. The thought of the “knucklehead” criteria ought to pose a decision for employees wondering how much information to give their supervisor and how to convey that information. Working remotely even complicates this.

My boss is the President of our company and the fact that sticks out is that there is a lot of things that go across his desk. At the start of the pandemic, I began working remotely and would supply a work diary email at day’s end with the highlights. As the work diary evolved, I would also include beside highlights items that are coming up as well as items I needed his take on.

I have tried to keep the “knucklehead” doctrine front and center as I want my boss handling the important and necessary business of the company free of distraction. By the same token, I try to make sure that he has all the information necessary to make an informed decision. It’s a fine line to try to keep the information overload to a minimum. We do talk on the phone several times a week and he does correspond by email. We have weekly staff meetings where we can add items to the agenda and have discussions as a group.

A lot about the information flow depends on how hands-on/hands-off your boss is. A hands-off supervisor tends to be kept informed as needed or on a scheduled basis but a hands-on supervisor will require more and frequent communication. There are pros and cons of both and it depends on the job how their supervisory styles will vary.

One thing that is key is that in the case of a situation/issue that is tantamount to the company, frequent and concise communication is necessary. Here the communication is concise and factual.

In summary, it doesn’t hurt to have the conversation with your immediate supervisor to keep the “knucklehead” stuff off his/her desk. It makes room for those issues you want your supervisor to know about and focus on.

By Rebecca Rosas, Ph.D, VP, Strategic Planning, Texmark Chemicals, Inc and ALMA Board Member