“Leading from the Middle”

LeadingChangeFromTheMiddle_XAPM220

It is now over 6 months since we installed the Kiestra TLA platform into our laboratory. The initial teething problems have been surmounted, and the sytem is now running beautifully (touch wood!).

The engineering and lean processing support from BD has been outstanding. Our initial fears about installing such a system in the relative isolation of provincial New Zealand have very much been allayed.

We can now start to dream about the future potential that such a system offers us.

But aside from all that, what has impressed me most is how well the scientific and technical staff have embraced the new system.

Not only are they comfortable with the operation and troubleshooting of the Kiestra TLA system, but they are more than willing to come up with suggestions as to how to improve it further…

Staff members of all grades and ages have not been shy at volunteering their ideas and opinions, much more freely than I have ever witnessed before. This is just fantastic. Bring it on. We have a short meeting at 8.30am every morning and this works very well as a platform for starting discussions and building team spirit.

The “Kiwiestras” (as we call our department Pub Quiz team!), are now a confident and self-assured bunch of people. They know they are working in a progressive and high quality microbiology laboratory, a lab which aspires to be one of the best in the world…

And the team are responding to the challenge…

Michael

p.s. No more microbiology posts from me until mid-October as I am off on a road trip across the US. I will however post occasional updates from the trip onto “The Wandering Microbiologist” page of this website.

 

2 thoughts on ““Leading from the Middle”

  1. Dear Michael,
    I am a Micro Lab Manager in South Africa and I just received approval to automate. This is so exciting but I am scared to death as this is an enormous investment! If you can give me one tip what will that be? Is there anything that you’ll do differently? Did you place all your samples on the TLA or do you incubate some of your samples off line eg your prolonged incubation samples.
    Ronel Greyling

    1. Hi Ronel, If I could give one tip regarding automation, it is not to fit the automation into your current systems, but to change your systems to embrace the automation. We put more or less all our cultures onto the Kiestra, including those ones for prolonged incubation. Even the things we can’t incubate online (e.g. anaerobes and microaerophilic), we still do the inoculation and imaging on the Kiestra. Just send me an email (michaela@pathlab.co.nz) if you have any other questions.
      Good luck,
      Michael

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *