Dr. John K. Borchardt was a consultant and technical writer. As an industrial chemist, he held 30 U.S. and more than 125 international patents, and was the author of more than 130 peer-reviewed papers and was the author of the book "Career Management for Scientists and Engineers". Unfortunately John K. Borchardt passed away in January 2013. John's advice, insights and articles helped hundreds of scientists improve their professional lives, and he will be truly missed.
Published: April 4 2013
The slogan of the micromanager may well be “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” However, “Micromanagement stifles initiative and kills motivation,” according to a very successful manager, World War II General George S. Patton. Despite this, many of us have worked for micromanagers and some of us (this author included) have even been micromanagers. Why do people micromanage? How can micromanagers change their ways?
Published: January 23 2013
Step one, change your mindset While there are specific skills one needs to develop in order to be an effective manager, there are also five mental attitudes or mindsets that aspiring managers need to develop. Specific proficiencies such as oral communication and time management skills are not enough without cultivating these mindsets. These mindsets will determine how you interpret or respond to situations likely to occur in laboratory management.
Published: January 3 2013
Find out all you need to know about budgeting for your lab in this webinar.
Published: December 4 2012
Patents are the fuel for American innovation,” said Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank. The overhaul of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) mandated by the September 2011 passage of the America Invents Act is aimed at promoting innovation.
Published: December 4 2012
Effectively communicating with staff members, customers, and suppliers is a critical skill for laboratory managers.
Published: November 7 2012
Even industrial R&D giants are finding they often lack all the necessary expertise in-house and are reaching out to suppliers, customers, universities, and government laboratories to establish partnerships in order to give them access to expertise and equipment they need to develop innovative new products and processes.
Published: June 6 2012
The traditional view is that the project manager is the project champion who defends the project against budget cuts and maintains the support of project team members and stakeholders. However, sometimes the right decision is not to continue the
Published: May 31 2012
Five rules for maintaining stakeholder support, managing costs and achieving goals
Published: April 3 2012
“Hiring is your most important task,” the late Steve Jobs, former chief executive officer of Apple, Inc., told his managers. The reason? “The team with the best players wins,” according to Jack Welch, a chemical engineer and former....
Published: January 18 2012
“Budgets are like making sausages; it is better not to see them made,” noted Otto von Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor. (As the man who combined the many German principalities into a unified nation, he was an effective manager if ever there was one.
Published: December 5 2011
Patents are more than just boring legal documents. “A patent is the link between R&D and the legal processes,” notes Pierre Buffet, executive vice president of intellectual property information firm Questel. “Patents can be used for various in
Published: November 4 2011
Instrumentation laboratories in the University of Rochester (UR) Department of Chemistry play a key role in both academic research and education. Besides instruments belonging to each professor’s research group, the department also maintains a
Published: November 3 2011
“If we don't get the people thing right, we lose; it is the most important thing in all of business,” said Jack Welch, retired CEO of General Electric Company, who was named “Manager of the Century” in 1999 by Fortune Maga
Published: October 31 2011
It’s widely known that unemployment creates strain on marriage even when both partners work. New Ohio State University research on employment and divorce suggests that pressure on husbands to be wage earners remains. The focus of Liana Sayer&rs
Published: October 10 2011
More evidence of poor decision-making as a cause for the Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout recently emerged. The sorry situation holds valuable lessons for lab managers. Houston Chronicle business columnist Loren Steffy noted, “It&
Published: October 4 2011
To progress in their careers, lab managers, particularly those in their first management assignment, need to develop new skills. Often they had little opportunity to do this while working full time at the laboratory bench. Yet these skills are cri
Published: October 3 2011
Many laboratory professionals – and their managers – would like to delay their retirements. I wrote about this in an earlier blog. However, this is often not an option for scientists, engineers and technicians who lost their laboratory jo
Published: September 26 2011
Scope creep refers to uncontrolled changes in a technical service project's scope. These can swell the amount of work associated with the project. This makes the project take longer and cost more than anticipated. When this occurs neither you nor
Published: September 19 2011
The era of the Western expatriate manager is ending argues Jeffrey Joerres, CEO of the global staffing firm Manpower, Inc. in the May 2011 McKinsey Monthly Newsletter. It’s time for a local approach, he says. Why is this? Accordi
Published: September 12 2011
Throughout the summer economists have voiced disappointment in the U.S. economy. Recovery from the recession appears to have been losing steam. The Dow Jones barometer of the stock market has lost 1,000 points over couple of months. The S&P has a
Published: September 12 2011
Throughout the summer economists have voiced disappointment in the U.S. economy. Recovery from the recession appears to have been losing steam. The Dow Jones barometer of the stock market has lost 1,000 points over couple of months. The S&P has a
Published: September 12 2011
Throughout the summer economists have voiced disappointment in the U.S. economy. Recovery from the recession appears to have been losing steam. The Dow Jones barometer of the stock market has lost 1,000 points over couple of months. The S&P has a
Published: September 6 2011
Are lab managers being penny-wise and pound-foolish in not hiring contractors to perform work that needs to be done but that their own staff can’t handle in a first-class manner because they are already over-worked? By the number
Published: September 2 2011
Activity-based management (ABM) is an approach to management in which work process managers—in this case, lab managers at all levels—are given the responsibility and authority to continuously improve the planning and control of operations
Published: August 22 2011
Encouraging employee engagement is a hot topic for lab managers and human resources specialists. Employees psychologically committed to their jobs are more productive and easier to manage. Yet there is a downside to high employee engagement as well.
Published: August 15 2011
Speaking at an international conference, the speaker had just completed a well-organized, polished presentation. Yet there was almost no applause. In contrast to the many questions other speakers received after their presentations, this speaker didn&
Published: August 8 2011
Deep water offshore oil and gas platforms can lead double lives from the time when drilling begins to after the wells are depleted and oil and gas production shut down. Platforms house the people and equipment to drill the well s and produ
Published: July 28 2011
Deep water offshore oil and gas production platforms can lead double lives from the time of their installation to after the wells are depleted and oil and gas production shut down. Platforms house the people and equipment to produce oil an
Published: July 15 2011
In many ways, the development of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet plane serves as an object lesson about the hazards of globalization of new product codevelopment and manufacturing. Over many years, Boeing had built its own aircraft design facilities, a
Published: July 13 2011
There are several forces driving globalization of R&D. The first is to better target the R&D needs and markets of other nations. A second is to spread the costs of large projects between two partners or more to reduce the risks and costs incu
Published: July 11 2011
Employees – and lab managers as well – worried about being laid off seldom perform at their best. If many lab staff members are worried about keeping jobs, job security jitters affect overall lab productivity and morale. Th
Published: July 5 2011
Hiring managers should look for enthusiasm in job candidates during screening and on-site interviews. Enthusiasm indicates job candidates are interested in working for the employer and excited about their profession. This enthusiasm is usu
Published: June 27 2011
The U.S. Navy offers an interesting lesson to laboratories on how to get more work done with reduced staffing levels. During the Cold War guided missile cruisers were manned by 380 people. Today those same cruisers are manned by 310 people. Future cr
Published: June 20 2011
Employees – and lab managers as well – worried about being laid off seldom perform at their best. If many lab staff members are worried about keeping jobs, job security jitters affect overall lab productivity and morale. Th
Published: June 13 2011
Throughout the spring economists have voiced disappointment in the U.S. economy. Recovery from the recession appears to have been losing steam. The Dow Jones barometer of the stock market has lost 500 points over the past month. The S&P has also
Published: June 6 2011
It is critical for lab managers to hire job candidates who will be real contributors and not just those who have learned to interview well. So when I interview job candidates, I ask them to discuss real examples of their skills and accomplishments. I
Published: June 6 2011
“Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana,” commented Microsoft’s Bill Gates. So why should laboratory managers worry about keeping intellectual property confidential? Gates’ statement may be true for computers and
Published: June 3 2011
Excerpt taken from John K. Borchardt’s article, Proper Disposal or Reuse of Old Laboratory Chemicals, Lab Manager Magazine May 2011 issue. Having periodic cleanup days during which old chemical samples and unused/nonfunctional equipment is
Published: May 31 2011
In a perfect laboratory managers would accept staff members for taking calculated risks even if the outcome isn’t successful. Coworkers wouldn’t steal others ideas and credit would be given where it is due. Sadly, in reality some managers
Published: May 23 2011
Women have lower career expectations than men. They expect lower salaries and longer periods between promotions than their male counterparts according to a new study from business professors Linda Schweitzer, Ed Ng and Sean Lyons of Carleton Universi
Published: May 16 2011
I once had a manager who equated managing his research group to being the father of a large, unruly family. Such was his personal tact that he often brought this up in group meetings. However, the analogy has some truth to it. As children mature and
Published: May 9 2011
Laboratories frequently accumulate bottles of old chemicals, often toxic or hazardous, that are no longer used. Laboratory managers can use several strategies to properly reuse or dispose of these chemicals. These strategies are not mutually exclusiv
Published: May 9 2011
Staff reductions can result in severe challenges to proper chemical waste disposal management. In some recent cases, entire large facilities have been closed. Some areas of research have been abandoned completely and work in others has been severely
Published: May 9 2011
There are six methods that you can use to control your career as a lab manager. What are the 6 C’s of control? Control the clock Some of us spend our entire careers struggling with time management. Tim
Published: May 4 2011
Developing profitable new products and processes is the major mission of corporate laboratories. Professors justify their research grants aimed at developing new knowledge by describing how the research can eventually result in new products and proce
Published: May 2 2011
Discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression is a significant workplace concern in part because it is related to the productivity of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) employees. As a result, lab manag
Published: April 25 2011
Laboratory layoffs continue although at a substantially slower pace. Currently lab layoffs are due largely to industry restructuring. Nobody likes layoffs. That includes lower and middle level lab managers. Conducting layoffs can be very stressful fo
Published: April 17 2011
It’s time to update my September 2011 “Lab Manager” article (http://labmanager.com/articles.asp?ID=718) on what has happened to closed U.S. pharmaceutical, chemical and oil industry laboratories This blog will discuss recent d
Published: April 11 2011
When applying for jobs many older job hunters hear the dreaded words, “I’m sorry, you’re over-qualified.” Sometimes this is a euphemism for too old; sometimes it means hiring managers fear the candidate would cost too much. So
Published: April 5 2011
There is a fine line between helping staff members with workplace problems and enabling them in ways that promote persistence of the problem. Of course, as a manager, you should help staff members who need it. However, you should not help staff membe
Published: March 21 2011
There are often problem employees even in downsized organizations that have already reduced their staffs. In some ways an organization such as a work group, team or department is like a person. All it takes is one problem employee and the entire orga
Published: March 14 2011
You have about a 20% chance of becoming disabled at some point in your career. A 2002 National Science Foundation study indicates this is the case for scientists and engineers (www.nsf.gov/pubs/2002/nsf029024/nsf029024.pdf). This report indicates, &l
Published: March 7 2011
Many global corporations have laboratories located in several or more countries. Laboratory managers can benefit greatly by establishing a corporate intranet social networking site or utilizing an already existing one. A corporate intranet social net
Published: February 27 2011
Anecdotal information suggests that some firms place job advertisements that discourage the unemployed from applying. Employers and staffing agencies have advertised jobs in technology fields such as electrical engineering noting that only currently
Published: February 21 2011
This week we’ll continue our discussion of how to be a good manager in tough times. Additional constructive manager behaviors are discussed below. Accept responsibility Accept blame when appropriate. Pre
Published: February 14 2011
Well-organized laboratory visits can help your company expand sales, recruit new employees and persuade people that your laboratory is a community asset. So it’s worth spending time and effort to organize them.
Published: February 11 2011
It is easier to be a good supervisor in tough times than in economically easier ones. One is faced with more difficult decisions and problems during difficult economic conditions for your employer. What are some management behaviors that can improve
Published: January 30 2011
By using metrics effectively, laboratory managers can better focus their R&D efforts and be more effective in improving their firms' sales and profitability. This is essential, now more than ever, given the slow recovery from the "Great Recession."
Published: January 25 2011
Listening to President Obama's State of the Union speech last night prompted me to think about leadership and laboratory management. I found his theme of support for American innovation encouraging but without offering specifics. "The first
Published: January 19 2011
You suspect your boss is going to be promoted or transferred or may retire soon. How can you position yourself to be the first in line to inherit his/her job? Train for your boss's job Many laboratory staff members have only a
Published: January 12 2011
Corporate hiring is picking up – finally. This solves some problems for some lab managers coping with accomplishing goals with a limited number of laboratory staff members. However, resuming hiring gives rise to a new concern: making good hirin
Published: January 5 2011
Lab managers can reduce overhead costs by reducing unnecessary bureaucracy. A rough rule of thumb is that larger laboratories tend to have more bureaucracy. Staff members often find their productivity increases substantially when they change jobs and
Published: December 22 2010
Due to the holidays, I won't be posting new blogs until January 5. Enjoy the holidays everyone!
Published: December 15 2010
Impact players are employees whose knowledge, skills and work habits make them exceptionally productive. Of course, one always wants to hire new employees who have these attributes. In this post-recession period, financial managers are beginning to g
Published: December 9 2010
Taking a look at the recent Gulf of Mexico oil well blowoutthe greatest industrial accident in historylab managers can find useful examples of similar decision-making failures that can occur in laboratory environments.
Published: December 8 2010
Delaying retirement? You are not alone. Many baby boomers currently are delaying their retirement. One-third plan to retire only after age 65 according to an Employment Benefit Research Institute survey. In another recent survey of more than 2,200 U.
Published: December 1 2010
Much has been written about the advantages of flextime for both employees and employers. However, there are downsides as well – downsides that are seldom mentioned. This is particularly the case for people working in laboratories. Safety The la
Published: November 23 2010
Laboratory managers can benefit greatly by establishing a corporate social networking site or utilizing an already existing one. Think FaceBook on a corporate intranet. The software isn't the challenge. Rather it is defining your objectives and strat
Published: November 17 2010
For companies marketing to a large number of customers and potential customers, newsletters and blogs offer a way to keep them in touch with customers informing them of new products and generic descriptions of how their products solved other customer
Published: November 10 2010
Many lab managers could ignore a rising tide of incoming résumés for the past two years or so since staffing levels were frozen or being reduced. However, as they begin to hire again they have to deal with this flood. This is a particular problem for
Published: November 3 2010
The primary basis for employee job satisfaction is your personal relationship with your manager. Next is importance is your personal relationship with coworkers and the people that report to you. Only then do broad personnel practices come into play.
Published: October 28 2010
"Better the devil you know than the one you don't." is a familiar proverb. Whether consciously or unconsciously, many lab managers are guided by this proverb in the way they manage their laboratories. The result is a static workplace culture that can
Published: October 19 2010
Lab managers have been faced with cuts in their training budgets since the recession began. Upper level managers have been cutting back on the number of employees allowed to enroll in external training programs and limiting lab staff participation in
Published: October 13 2010
In the wake of widespread layoffs, laboratory managers are beginning to hire again as the economy slowly recovers. Lab managers could ignore a flood of incoming résumés while staffing levels were frozen. However, as they begin to hire they have to de
Published: October 7 2010
Mind maps are used as an aid in organizing ideas and tasks, problem solving, and decision making. Lab managers can use mind mapping to design R&D projects to develop new products or process innovations and track progress of the work.
Published: October 7 2010
While technical ability is essential to becoming a successful laboratory manager, it is not sufficient. Many outstanding scientists or engineers have failed as lab managers. It takes more than just technical ability. What is this more that outstandi
Published: October 5 2010
The primary basis for employee job satisfaction is your personal relationship with your manager. Next is importance is your personal relationship with coworkers and the people that report to you. Only then do broad personnel practices come into play.
Published: September 28 2010
For companies marketing to a large number of customers and potential customers, newsletters and blogs offer a way to keep them in touch and inform them of new products and generic descriptions of how these products solved other customers' problems. U
Published: September 22 2010
Many laboratory professionals reaching traditional retirement age are finding creative ways of staying in the workforce. What they are doing is often more than just working full-time past age sixty-five. This is occurring even as many mid-career and
Published: September 15 2010
According to a quarterly Associated Press survey of 42 leading economists, economic growth will slow from 3.5% to 3.0% in the next 18 months (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38457713/ns/business-economy_at_a_crossroads). The primary reasons are slow hiri
Published: September 9 2010
Limited training budgets pose a challenge for many lab managers. To meet their training needs we need to scrutinize both internal training programs and those offered by consultants and other external suppliers more carefully. Maintaining an effective
Published: September 9 2010
Is there a large laboratory in your area that might close? Or is there one that has closed and reopened and is renting laboratory space? If so, this might represent a valuable opportunity for your firm.
Published: September 9 2010
The best single way for lab managers to promote outstanding effective technical service is to take care of the lab people who take care of customers. When the people who work for you feel valued, they will make your firms customers feel valued.
Published: September 1 2010
Lab managers don't have time to read or write unnecessarily long reports; nor do they have the time to write them.. Thick reports may look impressive but how many people are actually going to read them? So how can you write a concise report that conv
Published: August 26 2010
ACS national meeting programming holds much of interest to industrial and government lab managers and to academic researchers in their role of lab managers running labs and supervising research students. The ACS national meeting will be held August
Published: August 19 2010
Increases in management practices such as outsourcing, hiring temporary workers and focusing on project-based teams is having an adverse effect on workers. They may also result in long-term problems for lab managers and other employers. Employee j
Published: August 11 2010
The recent demise of Chrysler's once popular PT Cruiser automobile holds important lessons for lab managers. A decade ago, Chrysler Corporation introduced its PT Cruiser. The car's retro styling immediately made it popular with both car dealers and d
Published: August 4 2010
Before presentation software such as PowerPoint became almost ubiquitous, many presenters would give rambling, poorly focused presentations. Preparing 35 mm slides was often too costly and took too much time for internal presentations. So speakers wo
Published: July 28 2010
Taking useful short courses and workshops can be a major factor in career success. While taking full semester courses is often helpful, many times this isn't possible due to time constraints of job responsibilities or family duties. Often full semest
Published: July 21 2010
Writing in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/ad/article/managingrisk-managing"), veteran business journalist Russ Banham notes, "In this era of globalization, few strategic initiatives are more global than a company
Published: July 14 2010
Forming and managing effective global research teams with members located in far-flung countries and different time zones is a major challenge for lab managers at multinational companies and at companies outsourcing lab work overseas.
Published: July 14 2010
Doing a good job of establishing project priorities and focusing on the highest-priority projects can enable laboratories to compete effectively with labs having much larger staffs and budgets.
Published: July 14 2010
The pharmaceutical industry appears to be in the process of switching over to a different R&D model involving more outsourcing and less internal R&D than in the past. Perhaps a decade ago, pharmaceutical companies were outsourcing drug manufacturing
Published: July 7 2010
Cloud computing is not just for large laboratories. Data processing and storage requirements are increasing substantially for small laboratories as well. We talked about cloud computing in the April 21 edition of this blog. As noted then, cloud compu
Published: June 29 2010
Last May BP promised to spend $500 million on oil spill research relating to its big Gulf of Mexico oil spill. "We must make every effort to understand (the) impact" of the spill "on the people and environment of the Gulf Coast," said BP CEO Tony Ha
Published: June 22 2010
Efficient customer service plays a key role in keeping customers loyal. Effective customer service begins with selecting the right people to provide this service. The hiring process When recruiting and hiring laboratory staff, the focus is usu
Published: June 15 2010
The human and environmental tragedy that continues to unfold in the Gulf of Mexico has important lessons for lab managers. I'll be writing an article for the December issue of "Lab Manager" on the lessons in crisis management that the situation holds
Published: June 10 2010
The soft knowledge of your most experienced staff members is a valuable asset that can be used for commercial advantage. Allowing these staff members to leave the laboratory without capturing this knowledge means an irrecoverable loss of valuable as
Published: June 9 2010
There is a huge backlog of approximately 750,000 patent applications in various stages of review at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In 2009, it took an average of 34.6 months for patent applications to be reviewed compared to an average