New lab manager seeking any advice!

[u/Florida_Shine]

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?

[u/Science-Sam]

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.