Using Change Management to Transform Your Library

Catherine B. SoehnerUniversity of Utahcatherine.soehner@utah.eduMarch 8, 2017

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Outline

My background Literature on Organizational

Change Commonalities Translation to Real Experience Individual Change

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My Background

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National Library of Medicine

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University of California, Santa Cruz

Photos from http://library.ucsc.edu/science and http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

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University of Michigan

Photos by Mlibrary and Rachel S. Goldman

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University of Utah

Photo by Catherine Soehner, CC BY-ND 2.0

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What type of library do you work in?

• Academic• Public• School• Government• Special – Private Company• Other_________

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Literature on Organizational Change

Unshelved. Used with permission.

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Four Articles/Book ChaptersEckel, Peter, Green, M., Hill, B., & Mallon, W. (1999). On Change III - Taking Charge of Change: A Primer for Colleges and Universities. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education.Kotter, John. "Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail.” HBR Articles, 2007: 1-10.Hanleybrown, Fay, John Kania, and Mark Kramer. “Channeling change: Making collective impact work.” Stanford Social Innovation Review 20 (2012): 1-8.Judge, William Q., R. Steven Terrell. “Navigating the White Water of Organization-Wide Change.” Chapter 4, 51-72. In: Carter, Louis. Change Champion’s Field Guide: Strategies and Tools for Leading Change in Your Organization (2nd Edition) : John Wiley & Sons.

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Common FeaturesEckel, et.al.•Create the Context•Lead with Teams

•Develop Change Strategies•Engage the Campus Community•Deploy Resources

•Provide Evidence of Change

Kotter; and Judge & Terrell•Create Urgency•Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition•Create a Vision

•Communicate the Vision•Empower Others to Act•Plan for and Create Short-term Wins•Consolidate Improvements•Institutionalize New Approaches

Hanleybrown, et.al.

•Backbone Support

•Common Agenda

•Continuous Communication•Mutually Reinforcing Activities•Shared Measurement

Hat tip to Estella Lopez for this table.

J. Willard Marriott Library Judge, William Q., R. Steven Terrell. “Navigating the White Water of Organization-Wide Change.”

…sometimes those leading change become too focused on others changing and adapting

without considering how they must change and adapt themselves.

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Self Reflection

Stone, Douglas, and Sheila Heen. Thanks for the feedback: The

scienceand art of receiving feedback well. Penguin UK, 2014.

Oshry, Barry. The possibilities of organization. Power & Systems Training, 1992.

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Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen

Recognizing our Blind Spots Rejecting Feedback Shift from “That’s just wrong” to

“Tell me more”

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Blind Spots

Sometimes feedback that we know is wrong really is wrong.

And sometimes, it’s just feedback in our blind spot.

--Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen

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Rejecting Feedback

I don’t know what’s going on!

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Tell me more

Move from “That’s just wrong” to “Tell me more.”

--Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen

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Poll: Blind Spots

How many of you recognize blind spots in others?•Yes•No

What are those blind spots?Anger, ego, always right, lack of diplomacy, insecurity, consistently misses appointments, others?

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Poll: Professional Identity

Select aspects of your professional identity.•Competent•Good communicator•Conscientious•Prepared•Compassionate•Good listener•Others?

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Barry Oshry

Typical = Internal Warfare People respond based on their place

in the organizational structure

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Bottoms We see negative conditions We believe others (higher ups) could

fix these conditions if they chose to And, they don’t We hold the higher-ups responsible

for what is wrong Leads to a sense of oppression

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Middles Between two or more people in the

organization who are in disagreement

Or have differing priorities or perspectives

One or more parties is pulling us into the middle

We slide into the middle of other people’s issues and conflicts

We make their issues our issues

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Tops

We are responsible for some operation or a piece of it

It is complex We suck up all responsibility to

ourselves and away from others Leads to feeling burdened

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Poll: Your place in the organization

Which place in the organization do you identify with most?

• Top• Middle• Bottom

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The Way Out

Individual choices Recognize how we contribute Freedom to act differently

Hope = Partnership

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Translation to a Real Experience

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Article

Kotter, J. P. (2007). Leading change-why transformation

efforts fail. HBR Articles, 1-10.

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Kotter’s 8 Stages

1. Establish a sense of urgency2. Form a powerful guiding coalition3. Create a vision4. Communicate the vision5. Empower others to act on the vision6. Plan for and create short-term wins7. Consolidate improvements and produce

more change8. Institutionalize new approaches

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BackgroundUniversity of Utah•Public institution in Salt Lake City•32,000 students

Marriott Library•150 full-time employees•Two IT departments: “Library IT” and “Computing and Media Services”•IT departments: total of 43 employees

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Is it working? Duplicate processes and servers Desire to increase our digital library

efforts

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Feedback Open invitation to meet with

Associate Deans Small group meetings Individual meetings

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SWOT Analysis Weaknesses

o Work across organizational lines is difficulto Very little transparencyo Lack of coordination

Threatso Duplication of effortso Desire to build everything ourselveso Technology is changing rapidly

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Step 1: Establish a Sense of Urgency

Photo by Lauren Currie. Used with permission.

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Step 2: Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition

Photo from The University of Utah – Athletics collection.

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Step 3: Create a Vision

Photo by Catherine Soehner, CC BY-ND

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Observations

Managers are not always capable of leadership

“You’re not listening to us!” More communication! Blunt conversations are sometimes

necessary

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Leadership

A paralyzed senior management often comes from having too many managers

and not enough leaders…--John P. Kotter

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“You’re not listening to us!”

We are listening.

We just disagree.

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Communicate Even More

Sense of Urgency Vision

Without credible communication, and a lot of it,

the hearts and minds of the troops are never captured.

--John P. Kotter

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How many of you have implemented a change very well, did many of the things that we have talked about, and still found that there was at least

one person who continued to

resist the change?

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“Resistance is Futile”--The Borg, Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Blunt Conversations

Move from Selling

To Telling

--Peter Bromberg

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Blunt Conversations

I understand what you are saying. I hear that you still have concerns. I just disagree that those concerns will be

devastating. And,

Unfortunately for you

I’m in charge.

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Individual Change

Our organizations are made up of individuals.

Our ability to work with individuals to help them succeed is pivotal.

Often involves conflict.

Photo by Amy McTigue CC-BYND

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Types of Difficult Conversations

You are not performing adequately.I need you to do something you don’t want to do.I need you to stop doing something you like to do. Maybe something you feel entitled to do.Privately confront a resister to change. (Judge & Terrell)

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How many of you would rather do anything else than have a difficult conversation with a “difficult employee?”

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Soehner, Catherine and Ann Darling. Effective difficult conversations : a step-by-step guide. Chicago : ALA Editions 2017.

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A Productive Difficult Conversation Preparation

Get ClearGather ResourcesClarify your Message(s)

During the conversationState the FactsAskListenEngage to UnderstandExplore optionsPay Attention

After the ConversationWrite it upKeep it up

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Preparation – Get Clear

Why do you need to have this conversation?

Why do you need to have this conversation now?

What might happen if you don’t have this conversation? Photo by Fabiola Medeiros. CC-BY

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Preparation – Gather Resources

Relevant documentation

Consult other people

Personal information

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Prep – Clarify Your Message(s)

What do you need to make sure is clear to this person? Facts of the situation Your expectations of them

Have you considered your emotions? Keep message(s) to a minimum Be Direct and Compassionate Think about potential options

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During the Conversation – State the Facts

Avoid: It has come to

my attention Always and never Imputing motive

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During the Conversation – Ask

“So, tell me what you think about this.” “Tell me more about this from your

perspective.” “I want to understand your position, so

tell me about your point of view.”

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During the Conversation – Listen

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During the Conversation – Engage to Understand

Tell me more, repeat back. They will immediately clarify. The point = the other person feels heard. Ask, “Is that right? Is there anything

else?”

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During the Conversation – Explore Options

I want you to succeed. Let’s work together.

What options are available that help this person meet expectations that are still ok with you?

Options that work best for both parties.

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During the Conversation – Pay attention

Limit small talk. Limit distractions. Use immediacy cues. Manage time.

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After the Conversation – Write it up Thank you The facts and the expectations Anything the employee agreed to do Anything that you agreed to do Correct any misunderstandings By a particular date Keep Human Resources in the loop

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After the Conversation – Keep it up Keep up appointments and write up the

content Establish a pattern Talk to Human Resources If continued non-compliance, begin

disciplinary action after talking to Human Resources

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Conclusions Flexibility is important Have a real reason to change Communicate even more Individual conversations

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Thank you Ann Darling, Department of Communication,

Office of Undergraduate Studies Ann Marie Breznay, Interim Associate Dean for

Library IT, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

Melanie Hawks, Organizational Development Manager, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

Teri Olsen, Director of Project Development, Innovation and Collaboration, University of Utah Health Care, University of Utah

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Questions?

Catherine B. SoehnerUniversity of Utah, catherine.soehner@utah.edu

Photo by U-EET. Used with permission.