Four Days, One Program

When you oversee multiple teams or supervisors; workload problems are rarely as simple as one person having too much to do. Priorities shift; staffing levels change; unexpected work gets added; and one team may be stretched thin while another has…

Join us as we recognize the recipients of Lab Manager’s Leadership Excellence Awards and celebrate lab leaders making a meaningful impact on their teams; organizations; and the laboratory community.

Lab leaders manage competing demands from staff; customers; leadership; project teams; and day-to-day operations. When everything feels urgent; teams can struggle to understand what deserves attention first; what can wait; and how priorities should shift as new demands arise. In…

How soon into your leadership journey were you blindsided by a crisis you never saw coming? While a strong educational background provides the foundation; the most pivotal moments of a leader’s career usually happen in the "gray areas" that a…

Speakers

Jeff WhitehornSpeaker

All labs require expensive equipment; instruments; and tools to complete their scientific work. Lab managers need to learn how to advocate for their labs and successfully compete for capital funds to drive these investments. This workshop will introduce lab managers…

Speakers

Scott Hanton, PhDSpeaker

Supervisors and team leads will not always manage people the way you would—and that does not necessarily mean they are doing it wrong. The challenge for leaders is knowing when different styles can strengthen a team and when differences begin…

Lean Six Sigma can help laboratories improve quality; reduce waste; increase efficiency; and strengthen staff engagement; but success depends on applying the right tools to the right problems. You don’t need prior experience with the Lean Six Sigma approach to…

Speakers

Dillan JelittoSpeaker

Most labs have safety policies; training; and procedures in place. The harder part is getting those expectations to carry through into everyday decisions and habits. So; how can lab leaders move a lab from a culture centered on compliance and…

Speakers

Jonathan Klane, M.S.Ed., CIH, CSP, CHMM, CITSpeaker

Addressing performance gaps can be one of the most challenging responsibilities for a lab leader; especially when the employee has strong technical knowledge or was recently a peer. Effective coaching requires more than pointing out what is not working. Leaders…

A lab may be hitting its deadlines but struggling with quality. Another may have capable staff but still struggle to meet expectations for output. When performance problems extend beyond one employee or team; senior leaders have to look across the…

Moving into senior leadership changes the work. Leaders spend less time focused on day-to-day lab operations and more time connecting laboratory priorities to broader organizational goals; balancing competing needs; and influencing decisions beyond the lab. Drawing on firsthand experience from…

Scientific and technical expertise can earn someone a leadership role; but leading people calls for a different kind of awareness. Lab managers may be accustomed to staying objective; reserved; or focused on the work itself; yet the way a leader…

Leading leaders is a different job from leading individual contributors; yet many managers never get trained for it. This talk is for anyone who oversees a team of supervisors or supports newly promoted leaders as they find their footing; as…

Speakers

Kelly Sullivan, PhDSpeaker

Get focused; one-on-one guidance from seasoned lab leaders who have spent decades navigating the same kinds of challenges you face. These 15-minute coaching sessions offer direct access to accomplished professionals who are passionate about mentoring others; sharing what they’ve learned;…

Speakers

Scott Hanton, PhDSpeaker Jonathan Klane, M.S.Ed., CIH, CSP, CHMM, CITSpeaker Kiley MulhollandSpeaker

Strong lab operations depend on more than having the right processes in place. Teams also need clear priorities; shared expectations; and a culture in which people follow through on commitments and understand how their work affects the broader organization. This…

Get focused; one-on-one guidance from seasoned lab leaders who have spent decades navigating the same kinds of challenges you face. These 15-minute coaching sessions offer direct access to accomplished professionals who are passionate about mentoring others; sharing what they’ve learned;…

Speakers

Kelly Sullivan, PhDSpeaker BE Brian Eichelberger, PhDSpeaker

In industry labs; strong technical work is only part of the customer experience. How teams communicate; respond to changing needs; manage expectations; and handle problems can shape how clients view the lab just as much as the final result. This…

A quality system may be well documented; but its effectiveness still depends on how people approach quality in their everyday work. When employees see quality as the responsibility of one department; a set of required checks; or something addressed only…

Clinical lab leaders often have to navigate payer requirements that affect reimbursement; test utilization; documentation; and access to services. Those conversations can be difficult when payer expectations do not align neatly with laboratory workflows or clinical priorities. This roundtable will…

Trust affects the everyday working relationship between leaders and their teams. People notice whether leaders follow through on what they say; communicate openly when things change; and handle difficult situations fairly. When those things break down; trust can start to…

Speakers

Jonathan Klane, M.S.Ed., CIH, CSP, CHMM, CITSpeaker

Academic lab leaders are operating in a funding environment that can make long-term planning difficult. Shifts in grant priorities; tighter competition for funding; delayed awards; and uncertainty around future research support can affect everything from staffing and purchasing to project…

Speakers

Shawn McFaddenSpeaker

Lab leaders can find themselves helping their teams through situations no one feels fully prepared for. A sudden loss of funding may put jobs at risk. A round of layoffs can leave remaining staff unsure about what comes next. The…

Implementing a new laboratory information system can affect nearly every part of a lab—from workflows and responsibilities to communication and day-to-day expectations. For organizational leaders; the challenge is not only managing the technical transition but also helping people understand; adopt;…

Speakers

Callie Carson, MHA, MLS(ASCP), CLSSYBSpeaker

Lab leaders are the ones who have to speak up to upper management when their team is stretched too thin; needs better tools; or lacks the time or resources to do their work well. Making that case can be difficult;…

At the organizational level; budgeting involves more than determining what the lab needs and how much it will cost. Senior lab leaders must weigh competing priorities; plan for both immediate and long-term needs; and make a clear case for investments…

Labs depend heavily on specialized expertise; yet much of that knowledge resides in the minds of experienced staff. When employees retire; change roles; or leave the organization; critical knowledge can disappear with them. This workshop will introduce lab managers to…

Speakers

Scott Hanton, PhDSpeaker

A lot of optimization efforts go off track not because the analysis was wrong; but because the decision process was ineffective. A change gets designed by the person who owns the problem; approved by the person who owns the budget;…

Speakers

Shrei Crenshaw, BS, HT(ASCP)CMSpeaker

Near misses and incidents occur in every lab. The question is not whether they will happen; but how often they occur; how serious the consequences could have been; and what the lab can learn from them. So; how can lab…

Speakers

Jonathan Klane, M.S.Ed., CIH, CSP, CHMM, CITSpeaker

Get focused; one-on-one guidance from seasoned lab leaders who have spent decades navigating the same kinds of challenges you face. These 15-minute coaching sessions offer direct access to accomplished professionals who are passionate about mentoring others; sharing what they’ve learned;…

Speakers

Scott Hanton, PhDSpeaker Jonathan Klane, M.S.Ed., CIH, CSP, CHMM, CITSpeaker Kiley MulhollandSpeaker

Some days; it can feel like every question; problem; and decision lands on your desk. A staffing issue needs an answer; a schedule has to change; an instrument goes down; and someone needs you to make a call on something…

What a manager intends to communicate and what employees actually hear are not always the same thing. In the lab; those gaps can shape trust; fuel assumptions; affect morale; and influence how people respond to decisions or change. This session…

Trust affects the everyday working relationship between leaders and their teams. People notice whether leaders follow through on what they say; communicate openly when things change; and handle difficult situations fairly. When those things break down; trust can start to…

Speakers

Scott Hanton, PhDSpeaker

Get focused; one-on-one guidance from seasoned lab leaders who have spent decades navigating the same kinds of challenges you face. These 15-minute coaching sessions offer direct access to accomplished professionals who are passionate about mentoring others; sharing what they’ve learned;…

Speakers

Kelly Sullivan, PhDSpeaker BE Brian Eichelberger, PhDSpeaker

Workforce planning at the organizational level requires more than filling open roles or preparing for retirements. Senior lab leaders must anticipate how changing business priorities; technologies; funding; service demands; and workforce demographics will affect the skills and leadership capacity their…

One of the hardest shifts for lab leaders is recognizing that solving every problem yourself is no longer always the best answer. Sometimes the team needs a leader to step in; provide direction; and help move the work forward. Other…

Speakers

Kiley MulhollandSpeaker

Start the Leadership Summit by getting to know the people you’ll be learning alongside. This brief kickoff will help you connect with attendees from similar industries and backgrounds; learn more about the Lab Manager team and the broader attendee community;…

Kick off the Leadership Summit with complimentary drinks; small bites; and an opportunity to connect with fellow attendees; speakers; and Lab Manager staff. Meet new faces; start conversations; and settle in before the full program gets underway.

Unwind after day two with complimentary drinks; small bites; and time to connect with fellow attendees. Use the evening to continue conversations from the day; meet new peers; and catch up with speakers after their sessions.