Modern Laboratory Management

Introduction

This course will give participants the opportunity to exchange and evaluate practical experiences. The focus will be on case studies accompanied by short theoretical input. In addition participants will learn about and practice coaching as one of the most important management tools.

The course will also help participants overcome the challenges they face in leading their labs and bringing clarity to the confused thinking of their staff (and sometimes even post-docs). Coaching offers group leaders skills both to improve the leadership and management of their labs, as well as cut through much of the confusion that sometimes arises during scientific discussion. Coaching places emphasis on sharpening people’s awareness of an issue and taking responsibility for their work. It is also suitable for teaching people new skills in the lab.

 This course will help motivate dispirited teams of chem­ists and technicians to accomplish high quality work. It is very important to the lab supervi­sors and managers to learn how to create the success in their lab. The course is also designed to provide an introduction and practical ap­plication of quality management in the labo­ratory according to ISO 17025 certified. It is designed also to understand concepts of per­sonnel specification, job descriptions, how to apply quality standards, how to do health and safety risk assessments, how to develop the technical, and methods in the lab and how to evaluate the lab results.

The course aims to inform learners about various aspects of laboratory management and offers practical advice on common problems.

Being a good steward of resources is essential for laboratory managers. The course will also help participants explore the management of people, money, time, material, project, information and quality. They will learn tips and tools for managing laboratories. Participants will also practice techniques for managing your specific laboratory.

Interactions among research personnel can make or break a research team. Researchers may have devoted years of study to their scientific disciplines, but have received little or no research management training. In this course, participants will learn how to understand and manage researchers, research personnel and other resources. They will practice leading research teams, resolving conflict, giving and receiving feedback, and setting goals. In addition, they will effective leadership and decision making strategies, and the use of guiding behavior. They will discuss ways of delegating that will insure continuous laboratory improvement, growth of personnel, an open environment and time for discovery and innovation.

The course provides comprehensive leadership and management training which is intended to help ensure job satisfaction and research innovation, productivity and quality, while enhancing the safety and well-being of research subjects and personnel. This highly interactive program allows participants to rehearse behavior that can be effective in dealing with difficult communication, management and ethical situations they may face in their laboratories

Objectives

By the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Reflect their own habits and patterns of time structuring in order to detect inefficiencies and determine areas of improvement
• Learn and practice tools that will help them with time and priority management
• Learn and train to structure their daily tasks and goals according to their diverse professional roles
• Recognize and expand their own style of dealing with conflict,
• Recognize and analyze conflicts to understand how to manage them
• Negotiate with research partners and suppliers
• Manage authorship conflicts
• Ask questions that increase people’s awareness of and responsibility for a topic
• Help staff to solve their own scientific, technical and general lab problems
• Show staff new techniques so that they can use them themselves afterward
• Guide scientific discussions and debates to be productive and satisfying
• Use a variety of problem-solving tools to improve their own and their lab’s productivity
• Understand how the business processes of a laboratory can be combined effectively with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025
• Integrate successfully important aspects that are essential to maximizing gains from the management system
• Provide an understanding of the roles of the quality manager and technical man­agement

Target Audience

• Laboratory Managers
• Laboratory Supervisors
•  Chemists
• Laboratory Analysts
• QA/QC mangers or auditors
• Production personnel who may be responsible for in-process laboratories or testing
• Instrumentation Engineers
• Chemical Engineers

Chemical Engineering Outline

The course covers the following topics:

• Introduction to the various aspects of managing a laboratory
• Laboratory facilities
• Personnel management
• Self and time management
• Principle of Leadership
• Quality Manual ISO 17025
• Management Functions
• Managerial problem Solving and Decision Making
• Human Resource Management (HRM)
• Principles of Collaborative Management
• Managing laboratory conflicts
  • Authorship of papers
  • Competition for specialist equipment and scarce resources
  • Dealing with low-performing staff or students
  • Negotiating with the organization (institute, university, …) or colleagues
  • Resolving collaborations gone sour
  • Ethical issues
• Coaching: An approach to better science and leadership
• Interactive Communication Skills
• Principles of Collaborative Management
• Organizational Structure
• Instrumentation including validation and calibration
• Management of laboratory supplies
• Budgeting and financial management
  • Fundamentals of Financial Management
  • Effective Budgeting in the Laboratory
• Performance Evaluation and Development Guidelines
  • Power and Influence
  • Performance measures
• Scheduling and planning
• Management of documentation and laboratory records
• Writing of specification and procedures
• Troubleshooting of analysis as well as in production areas
• Safety Management
• The use of computers in the laboratory
• Validation of Analytical Methods and Pro­cedures
• Sampling
• Auditing
• Quantitative Methods
• Method Validation