How Technology has (and has not) Changed the Information Profession

Notes from Ann & Lisa's Call w/ Webb:

LEADERSHIP & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The topics will be:

Ann: Don't lose sight of the people

1. Maintain open communications in all directions.
2. Keep in mind the mission and goals of the organization.
3. Make stakeholders a part of the change so that they believe in it and embrace it.

Lisa: Introducing change (Example: un-conference)

1. Proposing changes to management.
2. Suggesting benefits of change.
3. Reporting results of change.

Format for their roundtable:

They will each present their perspectives on leadership and change one at a time. Ann will present hers first. Lisa will follow. They hope to encourage audience interaction by taking some informal "show-of-hands" polls.

Concepts for Emphasis Mentioned in Call:

Technology rollouts fail when they don't fit the organization's goals/mission and when people responsible for implementing the change don't know where they fit relative to the changes.

When people aren't considered, the change may fail. Many of us have observed the creation of technology tools, for example, that were never implemented after much time was devoted to developing them.

Notes from Ann & Lisa's Independent Prep Call:

Rough outline:

Ann and Lisa will introduce themselves (2 min.).

As part of Ann's intro. will mention some of the research she's looked into as part of her LIS PhD studies of the challenge of libraries being disconnected from the organizations they're charged to serve.

As part of Lisa's intro. will mention that she has been using people-centered design methods in leading and managing projects and is half of People Interact, a consultancy that empowers libraries and other organizations to be people-centered.

Then Ann will review following (4 min.):

• That in her discussion with Lisa we came up with 3 key things to consider regarding Leadership and change in Libraries.
  -->Key point - need to never lose sight of the people.

1. Open Communications - Important that everyone participates leading the organization forward, that everyone is empowered and feels their voice is heard - top down and bottom up.
2. That everyone looks at the organization holistically - Don't view just your department, or just the library but the organization from a broader view, overall. Only way to guarantee you're on the pulse of changes underway wherever in the organization and can be ahead of the curve in any changes taking place. To make sure services, resources and support are truly aligned and on target with what your organization needs.
3. That by having open communications and having a broader view most likely that when change takes place, it will be embraced by those participating in the change process - They understand why change is taking place and see how it positively impacts customers, workflow, whatever it's aimed to achieve, they believe it will do it, because they participated in the decisions leading up to the change.

After she says this, have Ann get a show of hands - do you think this is really easy to do?? (likely few hands raised) So definitely have to be ready to rise to the challenge!

Ann's example - working with the B&F Division - great communications. We were able to get a lot done.

Unfortunately because 1-3 aren't always in place change initiatives aren't a success. For example in efforts to make new web applications and tools, where much time has been devoted to creating them, but then they're never used. (Also Ann might add something from book "Creating Customer-Driven Academic Library" by Jeannette Woodward (2009).)

Lisa talks about a case study - here's one way to focus on the people and help facilitate open communication (4 min.):

• Using the unconference concept to engage staff and facilitate open communication
• Also an example of introducing change or a new concept (i.e. unconference)
• Proposing idea to management
• Management concerns: anxiety about this new idea, untraditional concept
• Benefits of doing things in untraditional ways: a way for management to engage staff, foster skills, boost staff morale, flattens hierarchy
• Quick definition of unconference
• An unconference is a participant-driven event - participants decide on the discussion topics. There is no speaker or presenter. Unconferences provide an informal and open environment where participants can learn, share ideas and best practices with each other. It's about the collective knowledge of the group.
• Ideas that came out from the staff unconference: clear and consistent communication, transparency of processes, more training opportunities, sharing accomplishments, flexibility with technology
• Evaluations show positive responses from staff/participants and management hosted three follow-up sessions with participants to address ideas
• Benefits to organization: feedback mechanism, cohesive & smooth operations, sharing best practices
• As a result of the staff unconference, there was more transparency and communication. The unconference concept was integrated into regular staff trainings