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Understanding User Needs

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Do we really know what our patrons are thinking while they use our services and resources? Really really? We may not, especially if we keep our empathy for them framed in our own experience, according to Indi Young, author of Mental Models and Practical Empathy, co-founder of user-experience design firm Adaptive Path, and Internet Librarian 2016 keynote speaker.
Young pointed out that putting yourself in a patron’s place, or walking a mile in their shoes, etc., in order to understand what they’re experiencing, is not sufficient because we’re conflating their experience with ours. It’s still us, even when we have their shoes on, and our background, our motivation, our obstacles – are not theirs. “Our research methodologies are too often constrained by the organization we belong to and the tools we have available,” she said. Time to give those shoes back, stop walking, and start listening.
Her process is based on active listening, which she likened to taking a guided tour. Once the tour starts, Young said, you don’t interrupt the tour guide to ask about things not included in the tour (clearly, Young hasn’t seen me taking a tour!). Instead, you let the story unfold, you don’t change the subject, and any questions you ask should be prompted by what’s said and not by what you hope to learn.
Practical steps include:
  • Decide which segment of your audience you want to address
  • Consider using phones to conduct interviews to prevent appearance-based assumptions
  • Don’t be embarrassed by what you don’t know
  • Establish a rapport to unlock any filters the patron might bring to the interview
  • Ground the interview – what were they trying to do, how did they approach the problem, etc.
  • Write clear and thorough summaries after each interview
  • Spend about 10 times the interview time analyzing each interview
Ultimately, the goal is to learn their inner voice rather than their opinion.
Young also advised putting thought into how results are reported. “Why do we tend to use arbitrary, irrelevant categories, like age and gender, to breakdown statistics?” she asked. Better to look for patterns during analysis to help reveal meaningful correlation, if not causation.
She also warned about inserting such processes into the project cycle. Better to develop a separate “problem cycle” every five years or so to inform future project development.
Adaptive Path is currently the exclusive user experience consulting firm for CapitolOne, but their adaptivepath.org website offers tools, information and ideas to communities seeking to transform via design, and the company does regular pro bono work with “socially conscious groups.”
– Jeff Schneidewind

Engagement and Inspiration

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One of the most important responsibilities we have as colleagues is to engage each other.  Engagement, while edifying itself, is also part of the foundation of inspiration we all need as we strive toward excellence in what we do.  The more we get to know each other and the more we learn of each of our strengths and weaknesses, the better we become individually and as a team.  We become more vulnerable and more supported. We become stronger – “We are Library”

Below are a couple links discussing engagement and inspiration.  They are quick reads and I found them helpful to me in reflecting on teamwork and excellence.  There is even a pyramid diagram and I like those.

https://www.qualtrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/TNS_2703-14_ManagerTipsBook_EMAIL.pdf

https://hbr.org/2015/12/engaging-your-employees-is-good-but-dont-stop-there

Enjoy!

Keith

On Microaggressions

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Yesterday afternoon, several of us library staff attended a group viewing of a webinar jointly sponsored by the ALA Office for Diversity, and the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA), called Racial and LGBT Microaggressions-An Introduction for Library Leaders.

Perhaps the most poignant feature of the webinar was a reference to a tumblr blog site called Microaggressions in Librarianship, which documents the prejudices that many of our fellow library staff have encountered in the workplace.  It’s worth visiting the blog and reading through the many posts, which underscore the fact that while libraries may be symbols of intellectual freedom, there are still plagued by the same close-minded problems that all of society faces.

Afterward we had a good discussion about some of our workplace experiences, and we agreed that these events and conversations are very valuable in helping us continue to foster an inclusive and positive work environment.  (Thanks to our Diversity Planning Task Force for funding it!)

P.S.  Here’s the archived webinar recording.

TED talk – Why good leaders make you feel safe

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This TED talk focuses on “why good leaders make you feel safe.”  A main idea being the difference in morale and safety in a company when leaders sacrifice a part of their well-being for others rather than sacrificing others for personal gain.

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Mark Josephson, Bitly CEO, comments on his leadership style

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I think this is a really interesting way to think about leadership, decision-making, and supervision:

…One phrase I use a lot is “input, not consensus.” Every decision should have one owner, and if you manage by consensus, you’re dead, because consensus will give you slight variations on the same ideas, at best. What you need to do is identify the decision maker for every single thing, and it’s not going to be me. I don’t want to be the owner of all the decisions, because that won’t be good enough. Decision owners are responsible for getting input from everybody, but the decision is theirs, and they’re accountable for the results. I want only one person telling me what the answer is going to be. We will celebrate them when they’re right, and we will hold them accountable when they’re wrong…I’ve also made changes in my one-on-ones with my direct reports. They bring the agenda because they understand what our goals are. So I will ask: “How’s it going? Are you accomplishing your goals? How can I help you do what you need to do?”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/02/business/mark-josephson-of-bitly-on-leading-without-a-map.html

Webinar: People-Management Skills: 7 Leadership Competencies

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Yesterday I attended a free webinar put on by UCI Extension entitled People-Management Skills: 7 Leadership Competencies. The webinar is available online until the end of the quarter. Just follow this link and click Playback.

Here’s the description: “For generations, the origins of leadership have been in a state of evolution. Theories to determine leadership effectiveness started with trait and behavior approaches. These theories led scientists to use a scientific approach to determine the behaviors, sources of power and situational dynamics that led and provided leadership opportunities. Contemporary research has coupled previous findings with modern interpretations to shed significant insights on how to develop and utilize effective leadership skills.”

7 Qualities for Future of Leadership

  • Vision
  • Superb oral & written communication skills
  • Self-confidence
  • Ability to inspire trust
  • High-risk orientation
  • High energy & active orientation
  • Ability to empower others

Archives Leadership Institute: takeaways

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From June 16 – 23, I had the privilege of attending the Archives Leadership Institute, a selective, weeklong immersion program in Decorah, Iowa for emerging archival leaders to learn and develop theories, skills, and knowledge for effective leadership. The program is funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), a statutory body affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), hosted at Luther College for the years 2013-2015.

This year represented a complete re-visioning of the program, which featured 5 daylong sessions: New Leadership Thinking and Methods (with Luther Snow), Project Management (with Sharon Leon, The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University), Human Resource Development (with Christopher Barth, The United States Military Academy at West Point), Strategies for Born Digital Resources (with Daniel Noonan, The Ohio State University), and Advocacy and Outreach (with Kathleen Roe, New York State Archives).

ALI has been one of the greatest learning experiences of my career. So much of this program related directly to my work and current role — but more importantly, much of it could be applied in the UCI Libraries. Enthusiastic participant responses and notes are captured in this Storify story from ALI and also this excellent recap by a fellow participant, but I will attempt to illustrate what I see as the biggest takeaways from the program that could relate to us here at UCI.

Each day of the program included introductions and wrap-up by Luther Snow, an expert consultant/facilitator who originated the concept of “Asset Mapping.” Luther’s background as a community organizer provided a solid foundation for his positive leadership strategy, which emphasizes networked, or “generative” methods of getting things done. There are several principles that I took away from this:

  • Leadership is impact without control. We cannot force people to contribute or participate; the goal is to get people to do things voluntarily by allowing people to contribute with their own strengths.
  • Generative leadership is about asset thinking. The key to creating impact is in starting by thinking of what we actually have: our assets. Focus on talent and areas of strength instead of “needs” and problems — avoid focusing on scarcity or pity.
  • Look for affinities. How can our self-interests overlap? Asset thinking helps us find common interests and mutual benefit — we can connect what we have to get more done than we could on our own.
  • Be part of the larger whole. By emphasizing abundance, we can create affinities, which leads to a sense that “my gain is your gain is our gain.” This sets up a virtuous cycle based on an open-sum (think: potluck; network) instead of a closed-sum (think: slices of pie; gatekeeping) environment.

Of particular importance to generative thinking is the fact that semantics matter. In one activity, participants took turns making “need statements” and then turning them into “asset statements.” One example? Time. Instead of saying “time is scarce,” consider saying “time is valuable.” Instead of “we need more staff,” say “we have lots of great projects and so much enthusiasm from our users. How can we continue to provide these services?” Some more examples of language choices were included in Luther’s (copyrighted) handouts.

Building affinity can be difficult, since it is based on trust and recognizing likeness. We can build affinity with stakeholders connected to our assets — emphasize what you have in common, or talk about how your differences complement each other. Relate to stakeholders by focusing on mutual interests, and try to create opportunities to do a project together. Keep in mind: we can do more together than we can on our own.

And now for some highlights from the daylong sessions…

Strategies for Born Digital Resources (with Daniel Noonan, The Ohio State University)

Project Management (with Sharon Leon, The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University)

  • Historical Thinking Matters, a resource for teaching students how to engage critically with primary sources
  • Consider collaborative, flexible workspaces that increase staff productivity: moveable tables, whiteboards, a staff candy drawer
  • Articulating the Idea, worksheets for project planning from WebWise, IMLS, and the CHNM at GMU
  • Leon’s presentation from a different workshop on project management, including guidelines for creating “project charters” that include a scope statement, deliverables, and milestones
  • Share full text of grant projects and proposals with your staff for learning purposes!
  • Recommended PM tools: Basecamp and Asana; deltek.com/products/kona.aspx … https://podio.com/  http://basecamp.com/  http://asana.com/  https://trello.com/ (we are using Trello with some projects in collaboration with IT) — trick is to use these tools yourself to get team buy-in
  • Example from my former institution on positive reinforcement: Dedicated Deacon, which sends automatically to supervisor of person recognized; weekly drawing for prizes

Strategic Visioning and Team Development (with Christopher Barth, The United States Military Academy at West Point)

Advocacy and Outreach (with Kathleen Roe, New York State Archives)

The next phase of my ALI experience includes a practicum, workshop, and group project. I plan to focus my practicum on building and empowering a new team — my current focus as Acting Head of Special Collections & Archives — by integrating asset-based thinking into our projects and strategic planning. Looking forward to continued growth both through my ALI cohort and the valuable leadership tools and resources I gathered from the intensive in June.

 

Help Crowdsource a Library Project Management Toolkit!

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In my quest for new and interesting project management literature, especially in the LAM realm, I stumbled upon this “toolkit” in the form of a Google doc:

Library Project Management Toolkit

Started by Jennifer Vinopal of NYU, this toolkit is “crowdsourced”, meaning anyone is allowed and encouraged to add content. The toolkit already contains a fair amount of useful information, including some software reviews and presentations from colleagues at UCLA and CDL:

  • Description of PM software and use experiences from different Libraries
  • General PM methodologies in context of digital library projects
  • Bibliography of presentations & articles on PM and Library Project Portfolio Management

If you’re involved with or have an interest in library and/or technology Project Management, this is a great starting point for learning more. And if you discover some more info relevant to Library PM, feel free to add it to the toolkit!

Performance Management is more than Annual Performance Evaluations

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It’s that time of the year again: all Libraries’ supervisors are writing the annual performance evaluations for their staff direct reports. And it’s also a good time to remember that a performance evaluation/appraisal is just one part of an ongoing performance management. An effective performance management includes setting individual goals that are aligned with those of the whole department of unit, working together with your directs to create individual development plans, tracking their performance results, coaching for improved performance, rewarding and recognizing good performance, providing the training needed to perform successfully, and motivating all staff to perform at their very best.

The article The Art (and Basics) of Performance Management shows why performance management is important, and how to set SMART objectives. Creating Development Plans that Actually Work gives you some good ideas on producing solid development plans. And here’s a very basic but effective coaching model: How to Coach

An effective performance management process will maximize your staff engagement and performance, while also increasing the effectiveness of the managers and supervisors that are using it.