Professional Qualities that matter in standard laboratory team
Team
building in a laboratory setup plays a vital role as in any other commercial
organization. As a laboratory in charge it is important for you to have clarity
yourself
on expectations you have from your team members. In other words you
have to have a vision and roadmap ready on how you would like your laboratory
to grow in the coming time.
The key
objective of selection of new team members should not be to simply fill up
vacancies but to employ fresh entrants who have potential to be groomed to meet
the challenges ahead and be a part of your vision for future growth. It becomes
necessary to involve yourself from the very start in the selection process of
the short listed candidates and judge the prospective candidates aspirations
and commitment level apart from technical skills and knowledge.
It is but
natural that with ever increasing job applications you will have to make your
choice candidates with varying levels of experience and skills. These can
include beginners who are fresh from universities and are striving for a break
in analytical laboratories to those with years of experience under their belts.
Desirable
Attributes
It is a well
established fact that a single individual, however talented, cannot realize
that cherished goals of the organization. It requires unified contributions
from all team members. The team should be selected carefully so that with some
motivation and training the team can become capable of producing the desired
results. The level of expectations will depend on the past experience and
qualifications of the new members. A sound understanding of basics is a prime requirement.
However, all fresh entrants fall into two groups, namely, fresh and experienced
candidates.
Fresh
Entrants
Fresh
entrants have no professional backgrounds and are struggling to set their feet
in the organization. You may be faced with several candidates who are fresh
from universities and can be placed on the same platform in terms of skills and
knowledge. It is important for you to gauge if they have the required level of
commitment and also where they would like to see themselves in the coming 5 to
10 years.
Experienced
Entrants
An
experienced entrant is a definite asset as he or she brings with him or her
exposure in earlier laboratories. Each laboratory has its own growth models so
such candidates can bring with them ideas and recommendations for improvement
of your own laboratory operations. It is important for you to assess the reason
for their decision for change of job with caution. No doubt their contributions
can be of great value but it is important to ascertain that the person is not one
who is looking forward to his own personal career growth and not concerned
about the growth of the laboratory. You have to assess their sincerity and
loyalty through a more purposeful interaction. In such cases holding a round of
interviews along with other senior members of your team will serve the desired
purpose. The more you interact with an experienced prospective member it will
help you gain a better understanding of his or her motive behind the
reason for
joining your organization.
Selection is
the initial phase of building up your team. It is equally important to
understand the deficiencies and strengths of new team members and groom them to
read your expectations through structured skill development and training
programs.
lab-training*
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