The LazyLabTech

We have a "technician" in our lab. I put it in quotations because she doesn't actually work per se, nor does she care to. I mean, she does work, but not much. This "technician" has a PhD and is supposedly more than qualified for her job. So then why does she suck so bad?

She does not like people asking her to help. Which, oddly enough, is her JOB. She is supposed to be there to help us (my advisor hired her for this exact purpose). I'm aware that there are some technicians who take on different roles in different labs. At my previous job, the tech had his own project(s) he worked on and every now and then, he would help out with other people's stuff, just like any other lab member would. Prior to that, our technician functioned more as a lab manager/helper. So if we had a massive amount of work to do, say, a large assay, the technician would be there to literally provide technical support. Our current technician's role is similar to the latter.

What's so frustrating about the work we do, is there are times when you REALLY need a second hand. So, either I ask an undergrad for help, or our technician. Undergrads, however, are not always available, they have classes etc. So often times I go to our technician. Unfortunately, most of the time when I ask her for help, I am met with silence. :::Crickets::: Yes, she doesn't even acknowledge I asked her a question. I don't think I have EVER in my life dealt with someone like this. If my adviser asks her to help on a project, her question to him is "how much do I need to help?" Literally, the lady wants a percent. This, so that she can quit once she reaches her percent contribution.

In my head, I think WTFWTFWTFWTF!!!! Really? We are a new lab. We are a small lab. We have tons of projects going on. Not wanting to help? This behavior does not sit well with me, not at all.

She once told my advisor that only he is her boss, and not anyone else. So, if I ask her for help on something, she feels it is okay to not even respond to my query, because I am not her boss. That's fine (not really). But what about when her (my) boss asks her to help, and he is met with the same silence? "LazyLabTech, can you please put the dishware into the autoclave before you leave for the day?" :::Crickets::: So it's not just me! Hallelujah praise the lab gods!!! My advisor gives me a frustrated look. I shrug my shoulders and shake my head. I told you so AdvisorDude.

So how do I handle this situation? Well, after getting about the 5th frustrated look from my boss, I decided to just mention off-hand (yes we were out for my birthday and I had had a few drinks)to AdvisorDude that I thought LazyLabTech was "not a team player". He nodded his head knowingly. And he wanted to ask for more details there. But I waved my hand at him saying we should talk about it later.


Later meant that next day. He really wanted to get down to business on this situation. Unfortunately, he knew he made a bad choice in hiring the tech. He told me his frustrations about how she just didn't work enough. She wasn't at all efficient and how he did not feel he was getting his money's worth. He was VERY frustrated to hear that she was unwilling to help us when we needed help, unless AdvisorDude asked her to help, personally. I expressed my main concern, that I was worried for the future success of the lab by having her behave the way she does. AdvisorDude was taken aback by this and was thankful I understood how bad this can really be, for productivity, for lab morale.

My question is, how do I handle this? How does he handle this? Does he fire her? He already took action by basically telling her that she had to help me with my project. When she asked "how much?" he told her "as much as it takes for the project to be done in X amount of time". She didn't like this. But AdvisorDude put his foot down, and he put it down hard. In fact, I have never seen him so demanding! I was actually quite proud of him.

I realize this is going to be a real touch and go situation. It also means I am going to have to work really freakin' hard. I'm willing to put in the effort. In the meantime though, this looks like it's going to be some rough waters ahead.