r/labrats • u/Florida_Shine • 1d ago
New lab manager seeking any advice!
Hello!!
What is your best advice for a new lab manager? What are some mistakes you made and leaned from? Any advise for supervising technicians?
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u/Livid_Difference_344 1d ago
Re: tech supervising - When training others on a technique, have them do a sample alongside you. This helps trainees practice and work through questions on the spot saving you time down the line!
Re: lab management - Make a weekly/monthly/semi annually chores list. This helps me stay on top of any maintenance or general lab upkeep.
Some examples - Weekly: ordering, check/restock consumables, autoclaving, check freezer temps & water bath
Monthly: check chemical waste/inventory, refill water incubator
Semi annually: defrost freezers, coordinate inspections (general ehs, incubators, hoods, etc), remind lab to do/renew lab safety trainings, bulk order common items
Tending lab is an important job. Hope this helps!
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u/ilovebeaker Inorg Chemistry 1d ago
When I train people, we do 3 repetitions. First, I demonstrate, then I get them to do the process with my guidance, and lastly they do the process alone, with me just watching. This last step really forces them to think hard and refer to notes.
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u/Florida_Shine 17h ago
Love this!
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u/ilovebeaker Inorg Chemistry 11h ago
It's a teaching method I learned in a youth leadership program :)
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u/rabid_spidermonkey 1d ago
I've been a lab manager in academia for about a decade and my team loves how I work.
Make sure your priorities are always correct for your work effort. Safety is always number one, no exceptions. If there is anything that presents and unsafe working situation (people, equipment, protocols, PPE, etc), stop what you're doing and address it.
After that, whatever is most important to make your lab function the best should be your focus. I have running lists of tasks and priorities, each with their own level of importance. I don't work on anything that can wait until the things that can't are finished.
You will, at times, have many balls in the air. Keep your notes and tasks lists organized. Delegate. Most people are more than willing to help and YOU don't have to do everything, but you do have to make sure it gets done.
Over-communicate. If you see something, say something. It's awkward at first and you feel like a nag but once you have developed/established yourself as a competent manager, people will know what to expect and how to work without raising any red flags.
Lastly, make sure you go home when the work is done. Don't make other people's problems your own. If a task is your responsibility, own it. But if it's not, you have to let people fail. That was a tough one for me to learn.
Good luck!
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u/annquicksand 1d ago
A mistake in my experience that comes to mind is managers not being direct. I often see supervisors complaining about how a tech "should be done with that by now" or some other comment about how they aren't working fast enough or prioritizing a certain task but at no point did this supervisor 1. tell the tech when they hope the task would be completed by, 2. why its important to prioritize, and most importantly 3. ASK the tech to make an estimation of how long a task will take them - they will know their own workload/speed the best! It isn't hard to share your expectations, and its just empathetic to adjust your expectations sometimes - if you make a plan beforehand, together, you are both better prepared.
Another common method of not being direct is the "you guys need to take care of this" mentality of shared tasks like cleaning. It isn't so hard to confront who is responsible, delegate specific tasks, or ask for volunteers to fix an issue. I never understand the attitude of just shaming everyone as a group as a way of making sure a task gets done.
This might just be my experience, but I have worked for PIs that have never really worked outside of academia and so end up being super indirect and/or rude to institutional staff. This is where the lab manager can really shine! Get all the operations and admin people on your good side, share with them what your responsibilities are, learn what theirs are and they will always be willing to help you out (e.g. finding a missing package, getting a product ordered, getting a reimbursement, fixing regular lab equipment in a timely manner, etc.). There is so many times I was able to avoid or remedy an issue because I knew exactly who to go to and that they were my buddy.
I think if you're asking about it then you're going to be a very thoughtful manager, so you'll do great and good luck!
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u/Little_Dragonfly2420 1d ago
Yes the general “you guys get this done “ is horrible because there will be some responsible people who get it done and some who never participate
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u/dirty8man 1d ago
Before the wall of text, I’ll give a shameless plug for LabOps Unite. Join. It’s free. The community is amazing and will have most of the answers you need.
While being a lab manager is all about customer service, you can not be a passive lab manager. That room/floor/building is your baby and it’s your job to nurture and discipline as needed.
The best pieces of advice I give my junior ops staff are that they can not expect people to read between the lines. Always be direct. You also have to know that lab like the back of your hand. Have backup plans for your cold storage shitting the bed. Don’t be afraid to enforce boundaries, including “I’m sorry, I don’t have time for that.”
Become friends with other lab managers. Do not underestimate the importance of this network. When you’re realizing your 25ml seros are on backorder but you need some now, they’ll be the first to offer some if you ask. Want one plate to test something without buying a case? They’ve got your back.
But for people managing? It’s not rocket science. It’s empathy and treating them as you’d want to be treated without becoming a doormat. Learn how they want to grow and find ways to provide those opportunities. And always have your teams back. I jump on grenades for my crew and shield them from things to the best of my ability.
These are broad strokes, but I’m always happy to answer any questions if you need a brain to pick.
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u/TranquilSeaOtter 1d ago
Organization is so key. Having a well organized lab and assigned freezer spaces makes life so much better. I've stepped into a lab management role before where freezers weren't organized and ordering was a mess and getting all that straightened out made everyone's life a lot better. Aside from everything else mentioned, figure out a system to keep things organized. I appreciate being able to find what I need easily and knowing how to easily get things ordered that we're low on.
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u/Florida_Shine 17h ago
The new lab is backlogged by literally three years of samples spread out in 4 different freezers. Organization is my first priority!
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u/Science-Sam 1d ago
Start an Excel spreadsheet that everyone can access for placing orders. Make columns for vendor, description, catalogue number, unit, quantity, date requested, date ordered, date received, quote numbet, notes. This will help in placing orders, keeping track of what has arrived. Also helps to copy frequently re-ordered items.
Get in touch with your local sales reps for discount quotes when you will place large orders.
Figure out an inventory system. You are the person people will ask to find things. Before any equipment or facilities problems happen, find out what to do for maintenance problems. You are the person people will turn to to fix it.
Others here talk about supervisory duties, but my own experience as a lab manager was not so much directing personnel as ordering and solving problems. Someone was always at my desk with a request or problem that it was my job to solve.
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u/Maleficent-Fig5208 1d ago
I think in your first few months, learn the lab, especially when the lab is busy. Even though this is more of a "busy work" sort of thing and you can delegate it to others, you will be surprised as to how many people will ask you if you know where xyz is. Besides the basic inventory and purchases spreadsheets, do maps, equipment, cell lines, animals, common inventory etc. Meet with all of your techs, bosses, admin team, your main contacts for safety, animal care people, lab managers from other labs/closely related departments and certain reps your lab works closely with. Ask the techs if there's a lab group chat that you can be invited to. Ask your safety dept to send you as many lab-related websites/pdfs as possible.
Although I've only worked as an academic lab manager, I'm sure that supervision is somewhat similar to industry lab management. I recommend having a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly meeting with each of your techs. Even though this may be a job for your PI, this could be an opportunity for you to further optimize the lab and/or assist in solving interpersonal conflicts early on. The lab and the techs has phases, it's best that you're not the last one to know about it. If you don't really have people skills, this is the position to learn!!
After all meetings, always send a follow up email!!!! Highlight the main discussions and your/their priorities or their research progress. This will for sure help if there's any misunderstanding between you and whoever. Every follow up I send, I send a load of docs and spreadsheets and pictures. Find out a way to be as direct in your language as possible too. Always justify what you're enforcing - a very basic example would be "please wear your lab coat when entering the lab because you may have a bio/chemical hazard spilled on you" or something. I always just assume people just don't know - even if they do know, it's a good reminder.
lastly, if you don't really have a set time to eat lunch/leave, set a timer. when it goes off, be strict about leaving (unless you're unable to). be the person that they'd feel comfortable sitting next to at a work related luncheon, but don't be so close to where you guys are hanging out outside of work. over-share your work business with your bosses and your techs if it's applicable. congrats on the new position and have fun!
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u/Walkintotheparadise 17h ago
Listen to the people you are supervising. Take your responsibilities. Do what you promise. Don’t get buried in theory, ideas and notes but try to get things done. Even if it’s only 10 percent of what you have in mind, actions speak louder than words.
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u/Equinsu-0cha 1d ago
Nobody is gonna tell you when something is running low. Figure how much gets used up from when you place the order to when it arrives. Hide that amount and tell nobody about it. When people complain you are out, put the hidden quantity out and place an order.
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u/sciencevertigo 1d ago
From experience, the best lab manager I ever had (and best manager in general) was very emotionally intelligent and empathetic. She looked at all of us like we were humans first (this should be the standard but isn't). She anticipated mistakes would be made, and always made sure to follow the rules for fixing said mistakes, but never made us feel stupid for messing up. She would defend us if the PI ever got too pushy, too, and always had our backs.
At one point I was really struggling and feeling like I didn't belong and wasn't good enough, and she left a sticky note under my keyboard that said "You belong here." I cried all through my lunch when I found it.
Bottom line, she paid attention to us, but not just the employee side.