Effective lab management benefits from close interaction and clear communication between lab leaders and staff. Having a first-hand view of lab operations and hearing directly from the people doing the work enables lab managers to have better information, more data, and make better and faster decisions. One method to help you be more aware of what’s happening in the lab is to regularly walk through it and talk with the staff. This is referred to as management by walking around (MBWA).
Benefits of management by walking around
There are many benefits that come from MBWA. Most of them center around direct communication and interaction between lab staff and lab management.
Improved communication
Going to see and talk with staff in their space promotes better communication. The lab manager’s office can be a scary place. It’s where staff get fired, laid off, and documented. The lab is a friendlier, more comfortable place for most staff. You can have a less formal conversation focused on the lab’s work.
Increased operational awareness
Having first-hand knowledge of how work progresses in the lab enables you to see what is really happening. You can get your own data on workflows, bottlenecks, workload, constraints, and variability. Seeing how the work is done provides a better understanding of the actual practices, as opposed to the documented procedures.
Improved safety and quality cultures
Seeing how the work is completed enables you to observe safety and quality practices. It also provides the opportunity for you to share your knowledge to reduce risk, improve safety, and reinforce quality protocols. It allows you to put into practice the values of the lab around safety and quality, and to ask questions that become teaching moments to help staff continue their journeys to being safer and better scientists.
Enhanced trust
Going into the labs and sharing the space with staff tends to build trust if you approach them with emotional and psychological safety. Treat them with respect and encourage ownership and pride in their work. Showing interest in what they do, how they do it, and thanking them for a job well done builds relationships, trust, and engagement.
Lab Quality Management Certificate
The Lab Quality Management certificate is more than training—it’s a professional advantage.
Gain critical skills and IACET-approved CEUs that make a measurable difference.
Sharing technical knowledge
Most lab managers were promoted based on their excellence at the bench. MBWA provides opportunities for you to share your technical knowledge with all the staff. Your lab experience and expertise didn’t disappear when you became the lab manager. Sharing technical tips allows you to interact with staff on a scientific basis, helps them learn from your experience, and shows them that you have some understanding of what they do and why it’s important.
Pitfalls to avoid in MBWA
Simply walking through labs is not sufficient to gain the benefits. You need to be conscious of your messages and interactions. There are several pitfalls to avoid if you want MBWA to be effective.
Drive-by management
Walking through the labs, making superficial comments without engaging with people, will make things worse, not better. Commit sufficient time to this activity to understand the context of the work in the lab and to get to know the people a little better. This is not a sprint. It is more of a marathon.
Interested in lab leadership?
Micromanagement
While sharing your technical knowledge can be helpful to staff, telling them what to do and how to do it in detail creates negativity. Staff will feel micromanaged and second-guessed. Ask questions before sharing ideas and advice. Make the interaction collaborative rather than directive. Encourage staff to make key decisions and have control of their own workloads.
Inconsistency
Be consistent in doing MBWA. Establish some regular patterns. Inconsistent activities make people doubt your intentions and commitment to helping them. Staff will also quickly figure out if you only stop by to see them when there is something wrong. Use a consistent approach to both correct issues and celebrate success.
Creating anxiety
Check your motivation for MBWA. If it is to help people get better and succeed, it will be a helpful tool. If it is to monitor, judge, or look down on staff, it will quickly become a negative experience for all involved. Be predictable, approachable, helpful, and supportive.
Ignoring safety protocols
Despite the emphasis on safety in nearly all labs, some lab managers feel that they can walk through working lab space without following basic safety protocols because they aren’t there to work at the bench themselves. Please follow all safety requirements when in the lab. This reinforces the importance of safety and demonstrates to staff that everyone is aligned around safety. You are not above the law on safety compliance and need to be a role model for all staff.
Tips to do MBWA well
MBWA can be a powerful leadership tool. To really reap the benefits of spending some quality time with staff in the lab, be prepared and follow some of these tips.
Plan ahead
Have some ideas of what you want to accomplish during a MBWA. Some common themes might be to deepen relationships with staff, reinforce safety and quality compliance, understand operational rigor, or improve technical knowledge. Be consistent but also build in some flexibility. When the lab is pressing to meet a rushed deadline or dealing with an overwhelming workload, it might be a bad time for a visit from the lab manager.
Be disciplined
Focus on helping staff and getting to know the people. Use your time wisely. Don’t waste their time with frivolous questions or deep dives into unimportant details. Take the time to compare how you imagine the work is being completed versus how it is actually done.
Ask powerful questions
Be curious. Ask interesting, open-ended questions that enable staff to share ideas, opinions, and observations. They probably know their work best, so ask them about how it could be improved or what they have concerns about. Ask questions to learn and actively listen to the answers. The focus is on what is going on, not on you. Avoid asking accusatory questions that will make staff be defensive and anxious.
Reinforce what works
As you walk through the labs, you’ll find good practices that work. Share them across your teams. Highlight and celebrate good, safe, and effective behaviors in the lab. Share them with others to help them improve.
Make decisions
Be willing to make some decisions on the fly. Look for ways to help staff solve problems, resolve issues, and get the priority right. Making decisions is a key way that lab managers serve the labs they lead. MBWA is an excellent opportunity to help people with the decisions you make.
