Abstract
The functioning of any medical laboratory presupposes the appearance of numerous challenges that should be faced and overcome to guarantee the units efficient functioning and further evolution. However, the complex character of these challenges conditions the increased importance of the efficient decision making and leadership qualities. For this reason, the given paper delves into the main issues that a leader might face in the laboratory setting and the role they play in the functioning of this organization.
Introduction
The modern world could be characterized by the increased paces of different processes. The rise of technologies combined with the commitment to the increased efficiency of various activities and improved outcomes resulted in the appearance of overwhelming pressure a person who wants to become successful experience. Additionally, great torrents of data and changeable character of the modern environment introduce the great need for enhanced decision-making and creation of innovative solutions that will be able to fit any context and contribute to the improved outcomes. Finally, the wide implementation of technologies also preconditions the increased complexity of different tasks as well as their delegation and accomplishment (1).
In this regard, the functioning of the modern manager is extremely complicated as a number of demands to the results of his/her activity exist. Managers, as well as leaders who are very often considered the most important contributors to the efficient functioning of any collective, are expected to explain the main tasks and motivate teams to attain success by outstanding functioning and improved competence (2).
For this reason, leaders should be ready to create the tolerant environment that will promote both personal and professional growth of any team member and eliminate the probability of any conflict based on cultural grounds (3). It is a difficult task. That is why the given paper is devoted to the description and discussion of the main challenges that leaders and managers could face when working in medical lab setting.
Discussion
Background
The complexity of tasks of a modern leader or manager is obvious. This includes individuals working in different spheres; however, activities that imply the increased level of responsibility might be considered even more challenging because a leader also accepts unique responsibility and should assure that lives of his/her colleagues are not threatened. The same goes for the laboratory settings. A manager who works with a certain team that performs a complex task in this setting faces sophisticated challenges every day. Actually, his/her functioning could be described as a constant torrent of decisions created to attain improved outcomes and guarantee that no threat will appear (4).
Very often when dealing with these very problems, a leader might feel exhausted and even frustrated because of the inability to manage some problems. It will obviously have the great pernicious impact on the functioning of any organization. However, the existence of this problem is recognized by the majority of the modern medical laboratories and specific training to outline the most common challenges an individual might face and ways to overcome them is introduced.
Thus, the given document also delves into this very issue and describes the most common challenges and emerging issues a leader and manager who work in a medical laboratory might face at their workplace.
Wide Context
Besides, to understand the character of challenges that a leader might face and decisions he/she should make, we will start from the wide context and narrow it down for specific examples and settings to outline the unique character of challenges that emerge in the medical laboratorys environment and the unique importance of the exploration of the appropriate approach. In general, leadership is a unique institution which implies the ability of a certain person to inspire people and make them follow specific ideas (2).
This broad definition incorporates a set of important concepts that should be minded when delving into the peculiarities of this very phenomenon. Besides, in case there is a powerful leader, an organization will obviously show much better results as he/she understands current tasks and acts to accomplish them and guarantee the improvement of the current situation. In other words, leaders are the main contributors to the improved outcomes as they set goals, monitor their achievement, establish certain relations within a collective and face the majority of problems that appear in the course of the functioning of any organization.
For this reason, any manager should also be a leader and be ready to accept all above-mentioned responsibilities and duties. Leadership and management are closely related, and they serve as the basis for the evolution of the modern society as they guarantee the enhanced functioning of any organization. Nevertheless, in a wide context, leaders are responsible for an array of tasks like building an efficient team characterized by the increased mutual understanding; efficient distribution and delegation of tasks; timely and efficient decision-making; appeals to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation; fair rewarding or punishment; monitoring of working conditions; security safeguards to all members of the collective (5).
The given set of tasks demonstrates that a leader or a manager should perform and extremely important and difficult activity trying to incorporate various elements of the efficient functioning of a certain company and attain success.
Management and leadership in laboratory setting
In the broad context, a leader becomes the main determiner of the final result and guarantees that the continuous process of evolution will be aligned. In this regard, at the moment we could observe the increased importance of management and its rapid development aimed at the preparation of managers who are able to work in different settings and face an array of challenges (6). However, narrowing down the definition of leadership and the role managers play in medical laboratorys settings, we could assume that the behavior of different processes, their final outcomes, and safety measures depend on leaders activity greatly.
One should realize the fact that to be able to monitor all these spheres, a leader should possess a certain level of knowledge and be able to respond to any problem that appears. Here we could observe the first significant challenge. A leaders competence and knowledge should be much broader than these of common workers. Hence, the medical labs environment presupposes the wide usage of innovations and huge torrents of new information that should be processed and understood to attain success (7). That is why a leader should be ready to work under the complicated conditions and acquire new knowledge on a daily basis. When a common worker should be experienced and competent in one certain sphere, a manager should possess the improved comprehending of all processes that occur in a medical lab.
For instance, Harmening (2013) emphasizes the fact that the functioning of any laboratory presupposes a wide array of extremely complex and interdependent tasks that should be accomplished by a manager (8). To be able to perform these tasks, a leader should engage in constant and continuous self-improvement process. Only under these conditions, he/she will be able to monitor the functioning of a certain unit and assure that it will remain efficient. His/her main task is the outstanding management of all activities performed by every member of a research group, and it is rather complex.
Infection control
Therefore to be even more specific, we could also provide several crucial activities that come from the nature of medical lab and which provide numerous problems and issues to a leader. Every unit of this sort works with dangerous pathogens or infectious agents that should be isolated not to do harm to investigators, people living in the area, and even the whole world (9). It creates the basis for another significant challenge. A leader should monitor infection control and guarantee that no person will suffer or get ill.
The complexity and necessity of the given task are obvious. In case an infectious agent manages to contaminate a person, the basis for the beginning of the pandemic might be created. At the same time, the efficient monitoring of this very aspect demands an improved comprehending of security measures and peculiarities of every object under the investigation. Every infectious agent or bacteria demand specific environment and conditions to exist and remain active.
In medical laboratories, these conditions are created to be able to monitor the impact substances have on this very object. However, it is crucial to be able to control the further activities of any member of a team and assure that they also adhere to basic safety measures outlined by the rules (10). A leader is obviously responsible for this task as he/she realizes the significance of this aspect and tries to monitor the functioning of every member of a group.
Quality control
Quality is another challenge that a leader should face. The results of the investigation of a certain object provided by the medical laboratory might affect masses and either improve or deteriorate the quality of their lives (11). For this reason, a leader is a person responsible for the quality of the final result. It is he/she who should try to attain the desirable outcomes by any means and provide a client with credible and feasible results. Altogether, the quality of research is the most important demand to the functioning of any lab as it preconditions the further evolution of this sphere of science. That is why the monitoring of the quality is the crucial challenge that a leader faces. He/she should be able to persuade other team members that this aspect is one of the most important ones and make them work hard to attain the improved result.
Costs management
Thus, one of other primary concerns of a leader in the medical lab setting is to assure that the quality of the final result is attained within reasonable costs (12). As stated above, quality is crucial; however, every project as its budget which could not be exceeded. For this reason, costs become a second significant factor that should be considered to attain success and create the ground for the further evolution of a lab. In case the laboratory orders are procured improperly, the exaggerated costs could be expected (13). It will have a pernicious impact on the functioning of this very unit and result in its decreased efficiency. For this reason, a manager should also be ready to monitor this very aspect and outline the basic points which should be sponsored.
The problem of Wastes
Therefore, utilization of wastes is another problem that should be solved by a leader. The functioning of any laboratory presupposes the work with hazardous materials which should be utilized in accordance with strict rules (8) and an efficient manager should be the first to assure that all these rules are observed, and materials are utilized in an appropriate way. Only under these conditions, the further evolution of a lab is possible.
Self-improvement as the possible solution
Resting on the above-mentioned facts, we could understand that a modern leader should perform a set of diverse and complicated tasks in the modern medical lab setting. Besides, the nature of these very tasks often presupposes the background knowledge and improved comprehending of all processes that occur in this very unit. In this regard, the only possible solution for leaders and managers is to engage in the constant self-improvement process aiming at the acquisition of additional knowledge needed to monitor and understand the most crucial aspects of the functioning of any medical laboratory. Only under these conditions, he/she will be able to perform his/her main duties, manage workers and make them follow the outlined course.
Conclusion
Altogether, leaders and managers are the most important specialists who are responsible for a wide array of tasks starting from delegation and ending with waste control. The diversity and complexity of these challenges are obvious, and that is why these specialists should be ready to acquire new knowledge and experiences to be able to align the efficient functioning of a certain unit and guarantee its further evolution and rise. Only in case a leader and manager are competent, success could be attained and improved final results guaranteed. That is why the unique importance of these specialists for the modern organizations could hardly be doubted.
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