Lab managers often recognize operational needs before the rest of the organization does. They see when aging equipment slows turnaround time, when outsourced testing creates delays, when staffing gaps increase overtime, or when facility issues create safety and compliance concerns. The challenge is translating those lab priorities into business cases that senior leaders can act on.
During her 2026 Lab Manager Leadership Summit presentation, Melissa Duong, MS, PA(ASCP), explained that executive leaders assess projects through a different lens than frontline teams. “We really want to establish buy-in with our strategic leaders and our executive leaders because they have the power to influence the trajectory of our projects,” she said. This means that lab managers must frame requests around strategic fit, KPIs, cost, risk, and organizational impact, not only technical need.
Duong described how executives may evaluate projects based on whether they are performing well and whether they support the organization’s strategy. “If a project is going well but it’s a weak strategic fit, the project will be deprioritized,” she said. “If the project is going badly and it’s a weak strategic fit, that’s a double whammy.” The opportunity for lab managers lies in showing that a struggling or under-resourced project has strong strategic value and deserves support.
That starts with alignment. Before requesting capital, staffing, renovations, or new equipment, lab managers should identify which organizational priorities the request supports. Does it improve service? Reduce cost? Support growth? Address safety concerns? Reduce compliance risk? Improve quality?
Turn the lab need into an organizational priority
Duong provided a real example from her own lab to illustrate how this translation works. At the time, her anatomic pathology lab sent immunohistochemistry testing to a reference lab, but turnaround time was worsening. While she worked with the reference lab to improve performance, she also assessed whether bringing testing in-house would produce a positive return on investment. Her objective was to purchase and implement a new instrument, but she did not frame it as a stand-alone equipment request.
Instead, she mapped the project to strategic pillars. “It supports the growth pillar because we’re bringing testing in-house and expanding our test menu,” Duong said. “It also supports the service pillar. We’re going to improve turnaround time.” She also tied the project to finance because the lab could reduce reference lab spending.
The data strengthened the case. Duong explained that the lab’s current state included a $300,000 annual reference lab cost and a three-day turnaround time delay. Bringing the instrument in-house required an upfront investment, along with reagent and service contract costs, but the lab still projected meaningful savings. “We’re still netting a $210K cost savings,” she said. The project also aimed for next-day turnaround time and expanded the test menu by 65 antibodies.
These details are valuable to executives because they connect the request to measurable outcomes. “Recall that their focus is really on the KPIs,” Duong said. “We want to show how something’s not working…so we need them to invest resources so that the KPIs can improve.”
Frame risk as part of the case
Risk can also create urgency. Duong shared a separate renovation example in which she framed the need around employee safety and regulatory exposure. “We have an employee safety issue,” she told leaders, explaining that poor ventilation was sending employees to occupational health. She also noted that without renovation, the organization could face “a $50,000 fine from EPA” tied to non-compliant waste management. In that case, the request became less about improving a room and more about reducing safety and compliance risk.
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Prepare for the questions leaders will ask
Lab managers should also anticipate executive questions. Duong said leaders may ask: “Why now? Why are you bringing it in-house? Why is this a good idea?” They may also ask how the request affects the strategic vision and how implementation will be managed. Preparing concise, data-supported answers helps make the case stronger.
A lab priority becomes an executive-level business case when it moves beyond “we need this” and explains what the organization gains, what risk it reduces, and what outcome it supports. As Duong advised, lab managers need to “tie that nicely in to suggest the solution.” By linking requests to KPIs, strategic pillars, cost savings, risk reduction, and operational impact, lab leaders can make the value of their work clear to the people who control resources.
