Delegation

A PI often delegates responsibilities to a Laboratory Manager or Senior Researcher. While this is an accepted and valuable model of research organization, there are often two potential issues associated with this arrangement: (1) the delegation involves responsibility but may have little or no authority or power to enforce practices, and (2) communication between the PI and Manager can be affected by numerous demands on PI time. Mindfulness of these issues assists in developing and maintaining a strong and healthy research environment. Some key aspects of effective delegation include matching the correct skill level to the task, having firm goals, and providing solid support.

“It’s one of the weirdest aspects of scientific training: You spend years learning how to do the science, hands-on. The natural progression, if you’re successful, is to become head of your own lab and stop spending time at the bench. There just isn’t time or bench space for it anymore: All your time is spent (between teaching gigs and committee meetings) obtaining and managing money and hiring and managing people. You’re no longer a scientist; you’re a manager of scientists and your own scientific enterprise. And what training did you get for that?”
-Jim Austin, Nov. 9, 2007, “Special Feature: Laboratory Management”, Science (https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2007/11/special-feature-laboratory-management).