I wrote my book about stress because I felt like, from my experiences, others could benefit from what I have gone through. When it comes to today’s pandemic and the stress it causes in the workplace, I wanted to share a few of my thoughts you may find helpful, especially in a laboratory environment in which remote work may not be possible.
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Manage Perceptions of You as a Leader by Richard Durand
“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 DurandDelegating: One of Your Key Management Skills (Part 2)
Last month the ALMA management tip focused on the barriers that managers face in delegating. To be comfortable delegating you
- Match the task and the skills of the person. The match doesn’t need to be perfect. If you feel confident that the person can do it 80% as well as you can and he or she can learn – delegate it. Coach them, watch them grow and they will be even a better match for the next assignment.
- Make it comfortable for them to come back to you for help if they need it.
- Set fences on what you delegate.
- Clearly define the scope of the assignment – what’s included, what’s not.
- Define how you want report outs – how frequently, how much detail, email or meeting?
- Set a clear target date for completion of the assignment
- Gain commitment and make the priority clear.
- Delegate, but don’t abdicate. The manager is still responsible for the end result.
Getting more done and growing people through effective delegation can be one of the most rewarding aspects of being a leader. Make delegation one of your key skills.
Put Personal Development in Your 2019 Budget
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.
Another Successful Conference! ALMA2018@Philadelphia
Philadelphia proved to be a great site for our conference. We had a record number of attendees and excellent feedback on our programming. The ALMA Fundamentals of Lab Management training workshops were both sold out and the half-day
workshops presented by keynote speaker, Wade Younger, also drew praise by attendees.
The conference programming covered a variety of topics such as Communicating the Value of Central Analytical Labs, LEAN Principles, Managing Career/Senior Scientists, and Rewards and Recognition. Other speakers shared presentations on Lab Culture, Managing Outsourcing, the Lab of Tomorrow and Lab Relocation. The roundtable discussions were engaging and notes from those sessions and our new panel discussion will become future posts on our website.
Next year is ALMA’s 40th Anniversary so expect a conference to highlight the exceptional training ALMA has offered throughout the years. The conference date and time will be announced early 2019. In the meantime visit our gallery page to see photos from the conference and make sure you have signed up for our Community Mailing List and/or updated your communication preferences. Check back in the next few weeks for our new blog posts filled with conference content.
Best Practices for Busy Lab Managers (Part III)
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 input 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? This is the last of a 3-part series. Below are tried and true suggestions from conference participants on how to make your days more efficient.
What solutions have you used to better manage your time?
Email Filters – Apply filters so emails from specific senders go into appropriately labeled folders. Filter emails which the manager was not a primary addressee (cc’d) to a cc folder for review later.
Add a Splash of Color -to your email! Color code senders. You might try highlighting your supervisor’s emails in yellow so you can get to those first.
Schedule and Abide by Blocked Time – Do it! Focus your attention on particular issue in a scheduled block of time. Stick to it!
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