Most labs do not struggle because staff lack talent or effort. They struggle because priorities compete, resources stretch thin, and day-to-day decisions pull people in different directions. When a lab lacks a clear strategy, progress depends on constant management intervention rather than shared understanding. Strategic planning gives labs a way to align decisions, focus effort, and move toward long-term goals.
As Harvard professors Frances Frei and Anne Morriss explain in their book, Unleashed: “Strategy, done well, empowers organizations by showing employees how to deploy resources they control (time, focus, capital, etc.) in the absence of direct hands-on leadership.”
The vision
Developing an effective strategic plan requires the lab to define a vision of where it wants to go. This vision is an achievable extension of its mission and purpose, and provides staff with objectives, key results, initiatives, and metrics. The most effective visions are concise, specific, and measurable, and align with the lab’s purpose. Here are some examples of how visions may work for different types of labs:
- Research lab – Within five years, deliver at least 40 cutting-edge peer-reviewed articles to clearly define a specific aspect of science.
- Diagnostics lab – Deliver record levels of tests with unparalleled accuracy and more rapid turnaround time to serve patients’ treatment and recovery.
- Quality control lab – Deliver record-level efficiency, accuracy, and traceability to ensure customer satisfaction with the organization’s products.
- Contract lab – Deliver increased profit by improving lab productivity, expanding the number of delighted customers, and effectively managing costs.
- Core lab – Expand technical capabilities to serve the larger scientific organization through effective delivery of services.
- Product development lab – Innovate at a faster rate to deliver new products that address customer challenges at an increased profit to the organization.
Objectives and key results
Once the vision is developed, the lab must define the path to achieve it. The strategic plan defines key approaches and milestones to drive toward the vision. One well-established approach to accomplishing this is to develop objectives and key results (OKRs).
The objectives are high-level goals that are expected to achieve the vision. For many labs, developing three to five high-level objectives is sufficient. Each objective will be supported by three to five important milestones, which are the key results.
Well-defined OKRs also make tradeoffs explicit, helping labs deprioritize low-impact work that does not advance the vision.
Cascading strategic goals
A strategic plan gives every team member a clear link between their individual goals and the lab’s long-term vision. Once the OKRs are set for the year, the lab manager will be accountable for achieving them. In essence, the high-level OKRs serve as the lab manager’s annual SMART goals.
The lab manager can work with their direct reports to establish responsibilities for parts of the OKRs within their respective spheres of responsibility. This is the first cascade. To enable these lab leaders to meet their objectives, they will further cascade the objectives to their direct reports and teams, ensuring that every individual within the lab has SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) that directly align with the lab’s OKRs. This approach ensures that each lab staff member has a clear line of sight from the lab’s vision to their annual objectives. Everyone can clearly understand how their work, effort, and attention contribute to the lab’s success.
This approach requires the lab to plan ahead and have OKRs ready in time to cascade goals across the lab. Ideally, the OKR process will occur in the fall, alongside budgeting and other annual planning. The cascading of goals will occur alongside the preparation of performance reviews, so that everyone will receive annual SMART objectives by the beginning of the new year. This gives them the maximum time to deliver on their goals before the next performance review cycle begins.
Negotiation
The most successful labs leverage the lab staff’s knowledge, expertise, and experience to develop the OKRs and SMART goals. One effective way is to request input from lab leadership on the OKRs and all staff on their SMART goals. Once the OKRs are communicated, ask staff to submit the first draft of their own SMART goals. This helps them take ownership of their goals and leverage their ideas for achieving the OKRs. Leaders can then use this input when creating their team’s SMART goals. It may take more than one iteration to arrive at an effective set of SMART goals. Leaders must recognize that they have the final say on establishing objectives for their team.
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SMARTER goals
Lab life can be unpredictable, and assumptions made at the beginning of the year may be overthrown during the year. Extending SMART goals to SMARTER goals adds two steps— evaluation and renegotiation. Forcing periodic evaluation of OKRs and cascaded goals enables the lab to remain agile and adaptable in the face of changing circumstances. The strategic planning process expects the lab and its staff to adapt to changes. To meet the vision, the lab needs to understand when OKRs or individual goals are no longer aiming people in the right direction, and change them. Once a change is recognized, renegotiate with the impacted staff to ensure their experience is part of the process.
An effective strategic plan produces a coherent set of goals that enables everyone to contribute directly to the lab’s vision of success. It also provides a blueprint for each staff member to make sound decisions and operate with some autonomy to do their part in driving improved lab performance. This reduces the need for management oversight and correction, which limits micromanagement and promotes both staff motivation and employee engagement—two vital components of high-performing labs.
