This is a summary of the article at https://www.scientifica.uk.com/neurowire/lab-management-10-tips-for-motivating-your-research-group
Managing a research lab requires balancing experiments with followings.
- Grant applications
- Reading papers
- Admin tasks
- Managing people
Here are ten tips.
- Find out what motivates the members of your lab
- Help them develop their skills
- Avoid micromanaging
- Communicate and ask for opinions
- Set clear goals – CLEAR
- Collaborative
- Limited – the scope and duration of goals should have clear limits.
- Emotional
- Appreciable – break down large goals into smaller ones to make them more achievable and less daunting.
- Refinable – goals can be modified when situations change or if results don’t go as planned.
- Celebrate success and say thank you
- Give constructive feedback
- Help them achieve a work-life balance
- Offer flexible working hours
- Have a work-life balance yourself
- Don’t contact your lab about work outside of working hours unless it is an emergency
- Ask your lab what would help them increase their work-life balance
- Don’t expect long hours all the time
- Encourage staff to take a holiday
- Focus on productivity, rather than hours
- Regularly review workloads
- Support parents
- Don’t punish mistakes
- Have regular one-to-ones
- What do you like most about what you do?
- When do you feel most productive?
- Who do you admire the most in the lab or institute? Why?
- What skills do you want to develop?
- How can I better support you?