Pittcon 2010
Pittcon 2010 ended yesterday afternoon at the Orlando Convention Center. As expected, the attendance numbers were down slightly from last year. If you weren't there, please tell us why. If you were, please share your impressions.
Who Polices Police Labs?
There is currently no governmental body, no state or federal agency that oversees the forensic labs that run tests on DNA, fingerprints, ballistics, even on the blood of drunken driving suspects.
Know Your Xs from Your Ys
All generations are not created equal nor are they motivated the same way. How much attention do you pay to the personality characteristics that differentiate boomers from Gen Xers from Generation Ys?
Interviewing Do’s and Don’ts
When interviewing a job candidate, do you adhere strictly to a grading scale or do you sometimes modify the job requirements based on the unique qualifications of the candidate?
“Editor’s Buzz” becomes Editor’s Blog
Welcome to the updated "Editor's Buzz," now a blog. As editor-in-chief of Lab Manager Magazine, I have a unique bird's eye view on the world of lab management. With this perspective, I will be weighing in on a variety of topics that should be of keen interest to lab managers. While contributing writer John Borchardt will focus on management and staffing matters on his blog (Lab Management Matters), I will cast a wider net to include topics such as "Tips for getting the most out of trade shows," "Keeping clutter at bay," and "Tracking grant dollars." I will also use this platform to point out new features of the site and on-line only articles of interest, as well as timely industry news and events. I will also create conversations on topics of interest based on reader feedback. For example, one reader recently challenged an interviewing technique author Ron Pickett recommended in his October article, "Honing Your Interviewing Skills." I will share that letter along with Ron's response and then ask readers to weigh in. Keep an eye out for that blog entry next week. Until then, say goodbye to the old style "Buzz" and hello to the new blog-style Buzz!
Sincerely,
Pam
PS. We have included the previous Editor's Buzzes below so feel free to comment on any of the past topics or future blog posts.
What A Mess!
Last week I received a phone call from a lab manager asking if there was literature or guidelines for cleaning up the glassware clutter and chemicals in his research lab. I had nothing to offer. Do you?
While not the most glamorous of lab management tasks, controlling clutter and helping your staff keep their work areas tidy (and thus safe) is no small feat. However, based on some cursory research after hearing from this lab manager last week, it seems there's not much in the way of step-by-step guidelines for getting and keeping one's lab ship shape. If I've missed something, please let me know. If you can offer your own suggestions, I'll take that as well and pass along via the magazine or online. I look forward to hearing from you so that I can help your colleagues clean up their acts.
Cross-training to Alleviate Workflow Bottlenecks
In our June Leadership & Staffing article, author Allison Champion describes her lab's cross-training program in which technicians develop capabilities in more than one area and adjust their focus as needed to alleviate workflow bottlenecks.
In the July/August issue, author and lab manager Mark Gibson shares a similar story--describing the advantages garnered from a Six Sigma program that also included the creation of "flex analysts"--individual analysts whose tasks alter, or "flex," based on the workload.
"We realized that what we primarily needed was an individual geared for specific tasks, and not necessarily someone experienced and knowledgeable of the full spectrum of HPLC theory. As a lab manager and chemist, the idea made me feel a bit uncomfortable, as anything less than a fully trained instrument chemist would increase the opportunity for errors and rework. Yet, it was successful. Training our current lab analysts to perform basic process HPLC analysis allowed us to begin balancing our lab work load and enabled samples to move more smoothly through our processes," says Gibson.
Has your lab implemented anything similar? If so, what were the results? If not, what's stopping you?
Please share.
Federal Stimulus Plan Grant Money
In our June Leadership & Staffing article, author Allison Champion describes her lab's cross-training program in which technicians develop capabilities in more than one area and adjust their focus as needed to alleviate workflow bottlenecks.
In the July/August issue, author and lab manager Mark Gibson shares a similar story--describing the advantages garnered from a Six Sigma program that also included the creation of "flex analysts"--individual analysts whose tasks alter, or "flex," based on the workload.
"We realized that what we primarily needed was an individual geared for specific tasks, and not necessarily someone experienced and knowledgeable of the full spectrum of HPLC theory. As a lab manager and chemist, the idea made me feel a bit uncomfortable, as anything less than a fully trained instrument chemist would increase the opportunity for errors and rework. Yet, it was successful. Training our current lab analysts to perform basic process HPLC analysis allowed us to begin balancing our lab work load and enabled samples to move more smoothly through our processes," says Gibson.
Has your lab implemented anything similar? If so, what were the results? If not, what's stopping you?
Please share.
Survey Results!
Based on a recent Lab Manager Magazine survey, we learned that nearly 44 percent of you have applied for Federal Stimulus Plan grant money - 46 percent from academia, followed by 12.7 percent from hospital or medical centers, and 12.7 percent from pharmaceutical/biotech firms.
If you're one of those, how difficult was the application process; what are your chances; has the money begun to flow?
In a recent article in The Scientist, author Alastair J.J. Wood said, "Were it not that the purpose of the bill was to attempt a rescue of our teetering economy, this would indeed be a time to celebrate. The additional funds to the scientific enterprise are sorely needed and long overdue, but it is hard not to have some misgivings at the manifest "short termism" of the overall scientific funding process."
Two years from now, when the stimulus money will be gone, are you concerned that people and projects will be yanked abruptly?
Care to weigh in?
On the Twitter homepage (http://www.twitter.com) is the following explanation: "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and coworkers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"
The question is whether "What are you doing?" is a question worth asking lab managers and their colleagues? Is it just me or does the question imply: Stop what you're doing and turn your attention toward me the twitterer. But, heh, I'm still uninitiated. If you're not, tell me what value Twitter serves you work wise. The social stuff, like "I'm heading over to Starbucks for a latte, want to join me," I get.
