leadership

Eight Ways to Manage Change

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Eight Ways to Manage Change

Change is inevitable. Now, more than ever is time to imagine what your operation will look like post-pandemic. Return to the pre-pandemic normalcy is not an option. As stated by the McKinsey organization (June 8, 2020) “The pandemic has forced the adoption of a new way of working”. Most likely, a hybrid setup, combining working remotely and at the workplace will be the new normal. The Gensler workplace survey 2020 identified 5 trends to consider: mobility, choice, privacy, unassigned seating, and health and well-being. Here are 8 summarized tips from the Lindenberger Group to manage change in the workplace:

  • Have a Plan
    Spell out objectives, a mission, and how these things are about to change

  • Set the Goal
    Leaders should be able to articulate why the company needs to change and where it needs to be
  • Define the Change
    Due to the iterative nature of change, it may be necessary to not just define the change at the outset, but redefine the change at various steps along the way.
  • Celebrate the Old
    All too often, old policies, programs, strategies, and work are dismissed out of hand as a new direction unfolds.
  • Articulate Challenges
    Discuss the potential challenges, the range of those challenges, and what the company is doing or will do to address them
  • Listen Carefully
    It is important to express that the employee concerns have been heard and will be addressed at a later date
  • Find Key Influencers
    Every organization has key players who have earned the respect of their coworkers, have longevity (and therefore perspective), and are influential
  • Adjust or Set New Performance Objectives
    Employees in a time of uncertainty will want to know how the changes will affect the way they are evaluated

Sources: www.mckinsey.com, www.gensler.com, https://lindenbergergroup.com/8-ways-manage-change-workplace-effectively/

Submitted by ALMA Board Member, Dennis Swijter

ALMA2020 Free Webinar Series Registration is Still Open for November 18 and December 2 Webinars

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ALMA2020 Free Webinar Series Registration is Still Open for November 18 and December 2 Webinars

Since the inception of the Association of Laboratory Managers over 40 years ago, the mission of our nonprofit has been to educate laboratory managers to become better leaders. (More about ALMA History here) We take this mission very seriously and for the last 40 years have held annual conferences that have provided education, training, and networking to improve lab management and leadership skills for our community.

https://labmanagers.org/alma-2020-webinar-1/6/

As you all know, 2020 has been a challenging year. When it became clear that we would not be able to hold our annual conference, we needed to find a way to hold fast to our mission and to maintain the partnerships with our dedicated sponsors. Now, we are proud to announce our virtual version of our conference! ALMA2020 is a combination of seven webinars offered for free to our community, and the online networking forum powered by Givitas. Many of you have already joined the ALMA Givitas Ring and now we are rolling out the ALMA2020 Lab Manager Leadership Webinar Series.

An exciting group of speakers with multiple years in the laboratory management field is lined up to present webinars on pertinent topics for lab managers ranging from Staff Productivity to Laboratory Safety.

We will kick off our ALMA2020 Webinar series in September with talks from Mark Kennedy on Counterintuitive Productivity and Jonathan Walston on Laboratory Resource Planning and Modeling using Activity-Based Costing.

Continuing in October with talks from Scott Hanton on New Challenges to Lab Management – Leading and Developing Remotely and Mary Schwans on Meeting Challenges of a Multigenerational Workforce.

In November there will be talks from James Kaufman on Leadership in Laboratory Safety: The Manager’s Role and Joe Keary on Laboratory Directors: Find Balance in the Pandemic. The last webinar will be December 2, Back to Business as Usual: How Labs Are Changing and Adapting Operations Post -Crisis.

Lastly, we expect to meet in person next year for ALMA2021@Louisville October 3-7, 2021. Mark your calendars! We hope to see you all then.

Register Now for Webinar #6

Learning Through Experience

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Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.

Vernon Law, Major League Baseball pitcher

Learning through experience is a normal part of lab management.  However, our ever-changing world can make it difficult to reuse our lessons learned. To be responsive to these shifts, we can apply VUCA thinking.

[Read more…] about Learning Through Experience

Manage Perceptions of You as a Leader by Richard Durand

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“Some people see the cup as half empty. Some people see the cup as half full. I see the cup as too large.”

This poignant quote from the comedian George Carlin puts in perspective that in the simple act of sensing that there are multiple possible perceptions of the same event, person, situation, etc.  rendered by the observer.  All of them can be correct in the absence of additional inputs. The observer defines the frames of reference for if and how they will go about finding the inputs and interpreting them.  You actually deal with this on a daily basis in all aspects of life.

Have you ever thought about the need to deal with this topic in your role as a lab leader? Perceptions can become the reality in people’s minds and impact your ability to lead and your career.

[Read more…] about Manage Perceptions of You as a Leader by Richard Durand

Put Personal Development in Your 2019 Budget

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Successful leaders aren’t born, they develop through continued enhancement of their skills.  
Learning from the experiences of successful leaders who have faced the same issues and challenges is an effective way to develop these skill sets.  Forty years ago, the Association of Laboratory Managers (ALMA) was formed to educate lab managers in exactly this way – sharing successes, failures, and challenges in an organized way to improve team and lab management success.

Let our 40 years of experience supporting Lab Managers help you achieve your personal development goals.

ALMA conferences and workshops feature presentations by experienced laboratory leaders on the day to day challenges all lab managers face in leading people, improving productivity, increasing customer satisfaction and positioning the organization for success in the future.  

Celebrate our 40th Anniversary with us at ALMA2019@Minneapolis!


Join us October 21-24, 2019 for an outstanding program of workshops and presentations ALMA has provided to thousands of lab managers. To celebrate we are offering a special discounted conference registration fee of $400 (regularly $599). Registration will open Spring 2019.
Add ALMA2019 to your calendar and into your budget! We are proud to be consistently considered an excellent return on investment and top-notch leadership training by previous attendees.

For more details and to see previous conference schedules and details click here.

New Year’s Resolutions for the Lab Manager

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As the new year begins, almost everyone makes resolutions such as taking measures to improve one’s health, lose weight, improve your partnership, create a better work / life balance, reduce stress, etc., etc.   Consider making a resolution to become a better leader.  We suggest you begin with an examination of 2018.

  • Were your customers delighted with your service?  Did your customer satisfaction improve in 2018?  Which customers were more than satisfied?  Which had issues?
  • Were projects completed on time?  Did you achieve the desired result?
  • Did you enable a staff member to grow and exceed expectations?  Are there any lingering performance issues?  Do you have a plan to address them?
  • Were the training objectives for your organization completed?
  • Did you do a good job communicating within and outside of your organization to build trust, enhance engagement and prevent surprises?
  • Did you get helpful feedback and spend time on self-improvement to build your management and leadership skills?

After addressing the questions above, develop specific resolutions (actions) to improve the areas where needed.  Unfortunately most new year’s resolutions are quickly abandoned.  If you stick to yours, your skills as a leader and the performance of your organization will improve.  Keep them in front of you every day with a resolve to complete them and enjoy the progress.