moving into management instructor: nancy bolt [email protected] an infopeople workshop winter...
TRANSCRIPT
This Workshop Is Brought to You by the Infopeople Project
Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project supported by the California State Library. It provides a wide variety of training to California libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered around the state and are open registration on a first-come, first-served basis.
For a complete list of workshops, and for other information about the project, go to the Infopeople website at infopeople.org.
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Introductions
Name Library Position What was the last leadership
position you held in any context: library, church, community group, family trip planner, etc?
Workshop Overview
What is management? Six key roles of effective
management Tips for a successful transition Personal planning for
management
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Myths and Reality
Myth You can get things
done People will
do what you tell them
You just have to know the subject area
Reality You are dependent
on others Compliance is
based on respect You have to know
the subject and the people and the organization and the policies...
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Myth You have to be the
expert
You learn to be a manager through formal training
Reality Your staff and peers
have valuable knowledge
You learn on the job from experience
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What Is Management?
Dichotomy between leadership and management management is doing things right leadership is doing the right thing
Is this true???
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Why are people
chosen to be
managers?
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“Apart from the relationships, the hardest thing for me was learning the business of management. I had to go from task-oriented to concept-oriented work; I wasn't ordering books for patrons anymore, I was creating policies for how to deliver services. I wasn't dealing with patrons face-to-face as much as I was advising staff on how to do customer services. Wise hiring, effective training, fair and reasonable discipline, well-planned mentoring and coaching, negotiating between staff and upper management, planning new services, justifying expenditures, running good meetings, effective and appropriate delegation...I didn't learn ANY of this in library school. And the ongoing needs of a department don't go away just because the supervisor is learning. I didn't think I would EVER catch up that first year.”
From a Colorado librarian in an email
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Move from Individual Contributor to Manager
You were chosen because you do your job well
BUT
You don’t do your old job as manager
Need to learn new skills
An Effective Manager
Has competence
Has confidence
Takes risks
Makes a commitment
Competence
Competence means you have the skills and expertise to be successful in your environment.
Competence comes when you complete assignments successfully overcome adversity or failures learn from past mistakes continuously learn both formally and
informally
Confidence
Confidence comes from increased feelings of competence successfully complete assignments learn from mistakes self-reflection recognition by others “stretch” yourself
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Taking Risks
Builds on competence confidence
Happens when you volunteer for stretch assignments are willing to make mistakes reflect on what worked and didn’t
As virtually every leader I talked with said, there can be no growth without risks and no progress without mistakes.”
Warren Bemis, On Becoming a Leader
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Why Do People Want to Become Managers?
Power to accomplish something Better pay Bored in current job Make a difference in the organization Recognition
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What Is Expected of a Manager?
By subordinates
By supervisors
By peers
By library users
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Subordinates Want Managers to:
Meet their individual needs and take care of their worries
Deal successfully with outsiders Bring back resources Protect them from demands from
above Provide feedback on their work Be fair and equitable
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Supervisors Want Managers to:
Be accountable Integrate with the larger organization Handle problems Follow policies and procedures Keep the supervisor informed Provide good customer service Be a team leader – and a team player
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Peers Want Other Managers to:
Represent their unit Cooperate Share resources Negotiate conflicts Be a team player
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Users Want the Library to:
Provide what they came for Serve pleasantly Offer modern services Be a safe and welcoming place Be run cost-efficiently
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Managing outside
Managing your supervisor
Managing your staff
Managing your peers
Managing yourself
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In Summary
“In some ways it’s an impossible job. A manager is a jack of all trades, a chameleon, who has to please everybody.”
Anonymous quote from Hill, page 41
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Six Key Roles of a Library Manager
Supervisor Direction setter Team builder Networker Team player Administrator
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Manager as Supervisor
What challenges will you face as a supervisor of other people?
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A New Role and Responsibility
New role in relation to past peers Dealing with the new and older staff Individual vs. team supervision Dealing with diversity Delegation
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“My biggest pitfalls: Trying to be friends with everyone. Since I had been one of them I wanted to prove that I wouldn't "turn into management." Big mistake. I undermined my own authority. I didn't have to turn into a stuck-up tyrant, but I also couldn't be the same person I was when I was shelving or working the front desk. I had different and more responsibilities.”From a Colorado librarian in a personal email
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Dependency
As in individual contributor you could do your job
As a manager, you do your job through others
Formal authority is rarely productive and successful over time
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Manager as Direction Setter
Set direction for your unit Develop goals and objectives for
projects Participate in setting direction for the
library Involve staff Accountability
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Manager as Team Builder
Show value of team Make a team assignment Select a team… and it’s leader Coach a team Evaluate a team
“And oddly enough, the more willing you seem to be to let people participate, the less need they have to force participation. It’s the threat of being left out that exacerbates their ego problems and creates clashes.” Bennis on Becoming a Leader, p 134
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Successful Teams Have
A leader An innovator A detail person A people person
How much of each are you?
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Manager as Networker
Networking: a major key to success Must be purposeful and constant
Network with people: you can learn from you need who need you who would oppose you
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Manager as Team Player
Look at the big picture Find “A Place at the Table”
“If you want to be part of the decision-making process, you have to have a place at the table.” Kathleen de la Peña McCook, A Place at the Table
Never miss an opportunity Volunteer Seek recognition and visibility
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Communicating with Your Supervisor
Emphasize impact on larger unit networking never present a problem without a
proposed solution
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Hold Regular Meetings with Your Supervisor
I just wanted to bring you up to date on what the library (department, unit) has been doing
Our plans for the last six months were… We accomplished most (all) of this (give
data) Our plans for the next six months are… Major issues we are facing… We need…
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Manager as Administrator(Enforcing Library Policy)
Expected by subordinates, supervisors, and peers
Eats up time
Must know policies and procedures – and when you can ignore them
Often frustrates
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What Kind of Manager Might These People Be?
Cataloger?
Reference librarian?
Children’s Librarian?
IT ?
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Tips for a Successful Transition
Listening skills
Decision-making
Art of asking questions
Meeting management
Mentoring
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Why Listen?
Listen to learn
Listen to care
Listen to impress
Listen to communicate
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Five decision-making options
1. Decide and announce2. Gather input from individuals and decide3. Gather input from group and decide4. Consensus between you and a group
be sure you are willing to compromise
5. Delegate with parameters
Make sure the decision-making step is clear to all!
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When to Use Each Option
Impacted by time available
Input almost always produces better decisions
Input almost always produces happier subordinates
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BUT – Need to Be Adaptable
Never have enough information
“Analysis paralysis”
Ready, Fire, Aim
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The Art of Asking Questions
Can you give me some examples? Why do you think that happened? How do you know that? What do you think? Why do you believe that? What’s next?
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Can you clarify what you mean? I’m not sure I understand.
What will you do? Who is in charge of this project and when is
something due? Who’s the final decision-maker on this project? What are we trying to accomplish?
And be prepared to answer these questions yourself!!
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Listen to Learn
Find a partner. The first person picks a topic on which
they have a very strong opinion and share this with their partner.
The partner asks clarifying question to better understand. Do not share your own opinion.
Switch roles.
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Managing Meetings
Why do we hate meetings?
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How to Make Meetings Successful
Engage in active listening
Look for ways to participate
meaningfully
Follow-up on opportunities
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Ask clarifying questions What are the goals of a project? Who’s working on this? Who’s in charge (or wants to be)? Can my unit be involved (who wants to
be involved)? When is something due? Have we decided to proceed?
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Power of the Pen in Meetings
Volunteer to take minutes on a computer in the meeting
Take notes and study them Use notes to refresh your memory
and others Highlight actions and answers
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And If You Hold Meetings
Make sure you need one Have an agenda
Ask for input Make decisions using the options
to proceed who’s in charge when is something due
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Mentoring – For You
New managers often are afraid to ask for help.
Why?
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Finding Your Mentors
You don’t need just one mentor Talk to your boss Find peers Find an outsider Join a professional peer group
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My biggest pitfalls: Not admitting when I needed help. I was afraid, especially after I got my MLS, that people would think I wasn't qualified to do the job if I asked too many questions. Even though others did look at me that way (generally long-time "non-MLS' employees), I needed to have the confidence that I was qualified. That truly learning my job correctly and delegating appropriately were what I needed to do and that those who were criticizing me were going to do it no matter how well I did my job.
From a Colorado librarian in a personal email
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Mentoring by You
Help staff be their best – even if they might leave
Increases your network
Improves the unit’s success
Makes for more productive and happy staff
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Some Realities of Moving into Management
Those First Months must transform from an individual
contributor to a manager less control over time and work trivial competes with consequential for
attention
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Stress(The Dirty Little Secret)
Almost everyone is terrified at first
There is often emotional upheaval
Find someone to talk to
Don’t take things personally – everyone fears change
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“They expect me to hit the ground running. I want to do the job well, but I’m so afraid that I’ll fail. It’s the biggest fear I’ve ever had and I know I won’t be graceful about it if I do. It is important to me to be good at what I do. I have to feel that I’m making a difference. These days sometimes I feel like I shouldn’t accept my paycheck.
Hill, p 177
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What to Do in the First 90 Days
Learn Observe Interact Trust Evaluate Reflect
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Factors that Make the Transition Work. Be Willing to…
Accept the new role and move from an individual contributor to a manager point of view
Sort through conflicting demands from staff, peers, and supervisors
Engage in personal introspection and learning
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So, What are the benefits of being a
manager???
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Benefits of Being a Manager
Personal growth Opportunity to contribute to a unit
and thus the library’s success Opportunity to make a difference Variety of learning experiences
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Public recognition for accomplishments
Ability to train and mentor other people
See staff develop and improve because you challenged them to do more
Thrill of risk taking
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Your Personal Plan
How can you prepare NOW to be a manager?
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Prepare Now for Management
Build a wide and powerful network Volunteer for more responsibility now Never miss an opportunity to show
what you can do as a leader/manager Show interest in the entire library, not
just your job/unit Offer solutions, not problems
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Preparing (2)
Find a mentor Be visible Observe managers at work Dress the part Watch out for “second-in-command”
syndrome
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Commitment
Commit the time Commit the energy Do not be dissuaded Fire in the belly Reap the results
“The essence of leadership is the communication of commitment”
Charlie Robinson, Former Director of the Baltimore County Public Library
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In Summary
Confidence + Competence +
Risk Taking + Commitment =
SELF AWARENESS AND SUCCESS
“The most powerful drive in the ascent of man is his pleasure in his own skill. He loves to do what he does well, and having done it well, he
loves to do it better.”Jacob Bronowski in The Ascent of Man quoted in Bennis, On Becoming a
Leader” p. 135
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Thanks for coming.
Be sure and complete the evaluation form.
Good luck in your management position!