In today’s uncertain economy, organizations—including research institutes, clinical labs, and private-sector R&D groups—are flattening structures to cut costs and speed up decision-making. In a recent article, Harvard Business Review reported that in 2023 and 2024, companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon eliminated layers of middle management by laying off tens of thousands of employees, leaving fewer leaders with more direct reports.
On paper, this looks efficient. In practice, it can feel like an avalanche: Slack messages pile up, one-on-ones multiply, and every fire drill lands on your desk. HBR calls this the leadership avalanche—and labs are not immune. After budget cuts or restructuring, a lab manager may suddenly oversee dozens of technicians, scientists, and support staff. Without a new strategy, scale quickly turns into stress.
Here are five strategies—adapted from HBR and reframed for laboratory leaders—that can help you set aside the shovel and rise above the avalanche.
Reset expectations with your team
When one manager suddenly inherits a larger group, old routines often break down. Weekly one-on-ones, immediate email responses, and involvement in every project quickly become unsustainable.
HBR describes one leader who inherited 30 direct reports after a merger and convened a “Team Reset Workshop.” Staff answered three simple questions:
- What helps you do your best work?
- What gets in the way?
- What agreements can we establish to work more effectively?
From that conversation came team-wide norms like “assume positive intent,” “raise risks early,” and “no meetings before 9 am unless critical.”
For lab managers, a reset might produce norms such as: “All equipment requests go through the scheduling system,” or “safety concerns are flagged immediately and without fear of blame.” Making expectations visible, revisiting them quarterly, and holding each other accountable creates psychological safety and reduces friction.
Prioritize what matters—and make it visible
When responsibilities multiply, your job shifts to strategic triage. You cannot do it all, nor should you try. Focus on high-value areas—safety, compliance, and critical experiments—and let go of what’s less essential.
HBR highlights “Jane,” a tech executive who inherited 25 people and quickly realized her old methods wouldn’t scale. She began sending a weekly “Top Five” priorities list to her team. The results: fewer escalations and 30 percent less noise on her desk.
Lab managers can use the same tactic: a Monday morning message outlining the five most critical priorities—such as an upcoming audit, a high-value client project, or a cross-departmental collaboration—gives staff clarity and confidence to act without constant check-ins.
Delegate to multiply impact
Scaling leadership isn’t about doing more yourself—it’s about empowering others. HBR shares the example of an SVP at a healthtech company who created “area leads” responsible for decisions in their domains. Decision-making sped up, morale improved, and several staff stepped into future leadership roles because of effective delegating.
For labs, this could mean designating a safety officer, equipment coordinator, or compliance lead to own their area fully. Instead of micromanaging, coach and equip them with context so they can lead with insight. A “delegation ladder” can clarify expectations—for example: “Draft a recommendation and I’ll decide” versus “You decide and loop me in only if there’s a risk.”
This approach not only lightens your load but also builds the next generation of lab leaders.
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Simplify systems to accelerate work
As teams grow, processes often multiply—sometimes to the point of paralysis. One fintech executive, HBR reports, launched a two-week “process audit sprint” and discovered that critical updates were scattered across email, Teams, and multiple slide decks. After simplifying communication flows, the team gained speed and clarity.
Labs face the same risks: duplicative safety logs, overlapping experiment tracking, and redundant reporting for different stakeholders. A short “audit sprint” can help identify bottlenecks like clunky sample handoffs or unnecessary meetings.
One study estimates that wasted meetings alone cost large companies $100 million a year; in a lab context, those inefficiencies translate to lost productivity, delayed results, and missed grant deadlines. Simplification isn’t cosmetic—it’s survival.
Protect your energy and model resilience
Finally, leadership at scale is a marathon, not a sprint. If you are depleted, your lab staff will feel it. HBR recommends a weekly red/yellow/green self-check:
- Red = depleted and need recovery
- Yellow = stretched, but managing
- Green = energized and focused
For lab leaders, sharing this occasionally with staff normalizes conversations about capacity and prevents burnout from becoming taboo. Modeling resilience—through calendar boundaries, no-meeting blocks, or even walking one-on-ones—sets the tone for your team.
Key takeaway for lab managers
When your span of control widens overnight, it’s easy to feel buried. But leadership at scale is not about doing more—it’s about leading differently. Reset expectations, prioritize visibly, delegate strategically, simplify systems, and protect your energy.
By adapting these strategies to the laboratory context, you can help your team find solid ground—and build resilience that lasts.
