ALA 2015 No Sugar Coating Allowed: Four Honest Perspectives on Change Management

No Sugar Coating Allowed: Four Honest Perspectives on Change Management

This session was presented by Skoie Public Library located in Skoie, IL.  It was presented by 4 staff member of Stokie public: Deputy Director, Community Engagement Manager, Adult Services Manager, and a Young Adult Librarian.

Their plan was to focus on:

 1. Providing Access

 2. Fostering Learning

 3. Building Community

From the perspective of the Deputy Director, change meant: to reach out and be human ( be more personable and approachable), to choose positive and think critically (zoom out and not focus on negativity), to listen and communicate (reality vs their perception).

From the perspective of the Community Engagement Manager, tasks included: building a new department, making community engagement division operational and managing staff transition. 

Three transitional phases were identified:

1. Ending and losses- loss of office space, bathrooms, some job responsibilities, etc.

2. Wandering in the wilderness- time between old identity and new, conversation about what was and what will be, high anxiety, low energy and lower productivity, difficulty getting things done, resignations/ retirements, and reduces sense of competence

3. New beginning- emotional commitment to a new way (staff begin to consider the office as "cozy"), positive community reaction, new services

During all these phases manager were encourage to:

a. Provide a safe place for staff to talk about concerns, questions, etc...

b. Listen, listen and listen some more

c. State, when appropriate, the purpose of realignment

d. Help facilitate the change by painting a picture of what's to come

e. Facilitate connections to answer to questions the manager can not answers

From the perspective of the Adult Services Manager, learning to stop worrying and love the realignment

A personal account of how the changes affected her and how she changed her perspective. Initially she dreaded going to meetings and hearing about the upcoming changes and experienced a roller coaster of feelings but over a period of time and through conversations with her manager, forums about the changes and presentation about the library's new direction, she began to change to her perspective.  Suggestion to help cope with the change:

a. Recognize that the things you lost matter, grieve them and move-on

b. For feelings of being left behind and not feeling important- get involved in the new role, start to change your mindset by beginning to say yes!

From the perspective of the Young Adult Librarian, new kid on the block

A personal account of how the change affects a new staff member. She experienced: resentment from seasoned staff because of her positive outlook on the change and how embracing the change didn't protect her from the negativity.  She overcame the negativity and found her stride by continuing to express excitement and enthusiasm when working with others and her positive attitude be infectious.

Excellent program that can be easily applied to a renovation.