5. Celebrate their success!  Food and drinks are a HUGE motivator!

            Reward and recognition are extremely effective motivators, especially for researchers. Every six months we host a wine and cheese party for all the labs that consistently meet the goal, and we have a great time.  Each lab has a specific fume hood goal, and each month, one of the labs that meet the goal is chosen for a celebration, including food and prizes.   The combination of regular celebrations, along with big celebrations every six months allows everyone the chance to receive reward and recognition on a consistent basis.  "It costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars to operate the fume hoods, and right now we are cutting it down by about 70%.  It is a substantial savings and we are getting full support from the researchers," according to Jerome Connors, former associate director of the Harvard Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology.