The primary job of the manager is not to empower but to remove obstacles.

Anastassia Kargina - Safety Screening Scientist and writer.

Today The Science and Management Blog introduces it’s first guest writer Anastassia Kargina.  

Anastassia is a Safety Screening Scientist at the pharmaceutical company, Astra Zeneca.

Anastassia also writes for Fastbleep and has recently published an article on prostrate cancer.  In her article below Anastassia writes about what the scientific manager brings to the team from the perspective a of young scientist.

The primary job of the manager is not to empower but to remove obstacles. 

By Anastassia Kargina. 

“...The primary job of the manager is not to empower but to remove obstacles.” – Scott Adams, Dilbert cartoonist

A lot of young scientists who see themselves working in a lab, consider their future work place in academia or in the private sector. Regardless their choice, people are always willing to get, gain and achieve more. Even the recent graduates with less than a year of work experience consider their career growth from being a “Doer” to become a “Manager” and a “Leader”. In this short review, I am going to discuss “how to become a good scientific manager” from the position of a young (and good) scientist.

1.      Willing to learn and develop new skills.

Science never stands still and to become a good manager in a scientific field, a candidate should possess a hands-on experience and a wide AND deep understanding of the area he/she wants to manage. However, this is not limited by the previous experience. A person should continue widening his/her knowledge by learning about advances and innovations, alternative options and the future perspectives in the field. A good place for it could be attending conferences, where apart from learning and/or presenting the material (and thus, marketing yourself), the new contacts are generated.

2.      Networking

The ability to network and establish business connections with people coming from different backgrounds. Combining various scientific fields (e.g.: biology with physics or mathematics) helps to deepen the understanding about the science and therefore, improving translational research. However, for a new promising research project, the business exposure and development is vital as in the absence of a support from the private sector and/or the government even the most outstanding research can be left un-noticed. Therefore, a good lab manager should constantly develop connections thereby, promoting his/her work as well as providing benefits to the colleagues within the business.

3.      Managing the people in a team.

I started this blog with a phrase from the cartoonist, Scott Adams and I believe this saying fully illustrates another key responsibility for a manager. The company’s aims are achieved through good team-work, where the specific tasks are delegated to the right people for the job. Connecting these tasks with the people and providing the feedback to them is crucial for business growth and lies on the manager’s shoulders. We cannot force people to do their jobs and if we do, quality of the work is at risk of compromise. Therefore, to encourage the team members to do their best, the manager has to support them, for instance, by highlighting their (unique) skills and to deepen their experience by providing additional training. The benefits of this support will accumulate and therefore, business performance will stronger for it.  

Moreover, a good manager is a good psychologist, who is able to build a trusting relationship with his colleagues as well as ensuring that people play well within the team. A good relationship within the team is a valuable factor for employees as this in turn, promotes motivation for each of them.

4.      Be an “Influencer”

A manager must be an influential part of the organisation. To become such, patience, inspiration and listening skills should be combined to take on board the comments, ideas or thoughts from their team members. Employees feel motivated, when their needs/requirements (or majority of them) are met and the manager is the person who supports these by “removing the obstacles in their way”. As a consequence, happy employees enable business to prosper.

Altogether, there are many “Do”-s and a few “Don’t-s” that the good manager should meet. It is a challenging, but a rewarding job and without the hard job of a “good” manager, neither employees, nor the business will be happy.