Most labs operate best with a mixture of roles designed to deliver the key needs of the stakeholders. Two important roles are the generalist and the specialist. These roles represent different kinds of technical knowledge and expertise, and each is valuable in different situations. Both can be excellent scientists and represent different ways in which curiosity is used to develop and implement technical expertise. Understanding how to interact with each role will help you communicate, delegate tasks, and run your lab effectively.

The specialist

The specialist is a subject matter expert (SME) who has developed deep knowledge in a specific technical area. This scientist spends time expanding their knowledge of the details of their specialty and becomes the go-to person for questions and challenges within that area. They can deliver across the technical cycle of their specialty with expertise in:

• Appropriate sampling approaches
• Required sample preparation
• Effective experimental design
• Intricate data analysis
• Needed problem solving 

How do specialists prefer to work?

Lab managers can expect their specialists to spend time and energy deepening their knowledge by:

• Reading the appropriate literature
• Engaging with peers both within the organization and across the globe
• Contributing to the community’s knowledge through publications, presentations, and posters
• Constantly learning about the cutting edge of their discipline

To build significant depth of knowledge, specialists need three things from their lab manager:

• Time to explore and learn
• Travel budget to attend specialized conferences and training
• The freedom to explore projects that challenge their current level of knowledge

For many SMEs, their motivation and engagement in the workplace are driven by their ability to continually learn and explore the depths of their knowledge. It can harm a specialist’s motivation to restrict their learning time and to consistently task them with work outside of their specialty.

Future specialists can be identified by their desire to learn more about a specific type of science. They often apprentice to an existing SME and build upon their knowledge and expertise. Working closely with an existing specialist with shared projects and goals enables the future specialist to see what is required to be successful in this role. This coaching provides knowledge about what to do and, perhaps more importantly, knowledge about how to approach these challenging projects. It is important to challenge future specialists with increasingly difficult projects to help them build their depth of knowledge. 

Future specialists can be identified by their desire to learn more about a specific type of science.

Specialists are valued by many labs, and they are very important when communicating about specific projects with stakeholders and line management, solving important projects within their specialty, developing new methods, and doing research within their specialty.

The generalist

The generalist is a broadly proficient scientist with applicable knowledge across a range of technical areas. This scientist spends time investigating related areas of science. Their broad knowledge makes them the go-to person for challenges the lab needs to address that span across specific areas of the lab’s proficiencies. Generalists often make excellent project and program managers due to the range of their knowledge. They have the skills and expertise to:

• Knit together complex projects
• Communicate effectively with a range of SMEs
• Bring creativity to the adjacencies between typical protocols and approaches
• Use their knowledge to ask better questions to enable the specialists to deliver something new and innovative

How do generalists prefer to work?

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Lab managers can expect their generalists to spend time and energy broadening their knowledge through:

• Learning a little about a lot of different things—sometimes the connections between where they explore are not clear, but they are often motivated to reduce the gaps in their knowledge 
• Learn new things based on the issues they face with current projects
• Spend time with virtually everyone else in the lab

They usually aren’t interested in knowing the details of the cutting edge of any specialty, but they feel the need to learn how to use a wide range of specialties to solve complex problems.

To build their expertise, generalists need three things from lab managers:

• Influence or authority around how projects are executed
• Access to the experts in any specific silo of knowledge across the lab
• Projects that can’t readily be solved by a single specialist

For many generalists, their motivation and engagement are driven by the breadth of their knowledge and the opportunity to learn a little about a lot of different things. Generalists can be stunted by projects that expect them to become specialists.

Future generalists can be identified as people who readily digest surface knowledge of a particular scientific area but then move on to another space before developing deep knowledge. They are often motivated to work with a variety of people rather than working closely with a single scientist. They also seem to be the scientists who know where the pain points are of bigger projects and are motivated to solve them. Another hallmark of a future generalist is someone who communicates well with a variety of different colleagues, asking lots of questions.

Future generalists can be identified as people who readily digest surface knowledge . . . but then move on to another space before developing deep knowledge.

Generalists are valued by labs for their ability to stitch together the work of more specialized colleagues to solve the bigger and more complex challenges on which the lab works. They are often important in talking to key stakeholders and line management about the big picture of these broader projects. They can concisely describe successes and challenges without getting bogged down in the technical details.

Challenges for the lab manager

It is often much easier to develop specialists than to develop generalists. The career path for a specialist is usually clearer and has existing examples in the lab.

It takes more effort to develop excellent generalists. Lab managers need to identify opportunities for staff to work on diverse projects and give people the chance to lead these projects. It also requires that lab managers resist the lure of always developing their best scientists as specialists. 

There can be conflict between specialists and generalists. Specialists may see generalists as inferior scientists because their perception of excellence in science is driven by their bias for technical depth. Lab managers should teach specialists the value that the generalists deliver to the lab.

Meanwhile, generalists may see specialists as technical ostriches who bury their heads in their specialty and won’t see the forest for the trees. Lab managers must teach generalists to ask valuable questions to unlock the expertise of the specialists needed to solve key problems. 

Having the right balance of specialists and generalists in the lab greatly increases the lab’s ability to deliver its purpose for key stakeholders. Finding and maintaining that balance requires lab managers to perform effective skills analysis and succession planning. Neither can be developed quickly, so planning and investment are required for success.