Since arriving at MIT last August, I have heard comments from many public services staff members reflecting several common themes:
- over the past decade, roles have changed and all staff members at all levels have been asked and expected to take on duties that had not previously been included in their job descriptions or that had been handled by higher level staff
- we continue to do pretty much all that we used to do with diminished resources and new demands on our time
- our organizational structure doesn’t allow us the flexibility and autonomy to respond quickly to our changing environment
- staff at lower levels of the organization do not feel empowered to take action on issues without going up through the hierarchy
- staff need to be trained in new skills so that they can do the work they’re expected to do
Based on the frequency with which these comments have been made and in looking at the new expectations our users have for library services, I have come to the decision that Public Services units—including the divisional and branch libraries, Archives, and Document Services--must undertake a new initiative in 1998 to redefine our roles and responsibilities, reconsider our organizational structure, and make strategic decisions about what we will and will not do. 1998 will be our "Year of Reinventing Ourselves".
We are living in a time of great change, as we all know. Our resources have not increased even though we are expected to provide traditional library services as well as new services associated with the Digital Library. In order to cope we have made changes at the margins of the organization without really recognizing the cultural shift that has occurred. In 1998 I hope we will have an opportunity to openly discuss the pressures that are bearing down on us, what markets we serve and how best to serve them, and how to create a climate in the Libraries that encourages creativity, innovation, flexibility, tolerance for ambiguity, and risk-taking.
As you have heard, work is already underway on the strategic initiative to do a user needs assessment. The team working on this initiative intends to carry out the first round of the assessment during March and April, so the timing will mesh well with our process of re-examining our values, priorities, and ways of doing work. My intention is to use the feedback we receive from the user needs assessment to help us figure out what direction to go as an organization and as individuals so that we will be making the best use of our limited resources and providing the best range of services for our various user populations.
Just as we are asking our users about their needs, we need to also ask ourselves about our needs as an organization and as individuals employed by the MIT Libraries. Over the next six or seven months we will devote time and energy to doing this and will probably see some changes resulting in our services and jobs. The process through which we achieve this redefinition of our roles and responsibilities will require us to develop a number of documents that help set the parameters for our new way of doing business including
- a statement of our values
- a list of the most serious organizational issues we face and a plan for discussing and determining how to resolve these issues
- a list of our priorities for service
- creation of an internal communication plan
- redefinition of individual roles and responsibilities
- a list of strategies for measuring our changes and their corresponding success or failure from both the users’ perspective and our perspective Timeline
Clearly a change of this nature will not happen overnight. Drawing up the various documents listed above will take time and needs the input of each and every person on the staff of the MIT Libraries’ public services units. We need to have time for brainstorming, clarification of issues, discussion of points of disagreement, and reaching consensus on the final outcomes. Here is a draft timeline I have developed; it may have to be adjusted as we see how our work goes, but it will give everyone an idea of the approach and timing of our work:
MONTH ACTIVITY
For up to date scheduling see the on-line calendar .
- January: Kick-off meeting for all public services staff and librarians
- February: Sessions held to brainstorm about our values; Complete list of values ideas developed through brainstorming; User needs assessment begins surveying user groups;
- March: Final list of values developed and distributed; Creativity workshops held; Creation of a list of our priorities for service; User needs assessment continues;
- April: Identification of key organizational functions for a library of the 21st century; Discussion of organizational issues and structures takes place; Identification of organizational tasks to be:
- phased out or given lower priority
- re-emphasized or restructured Preliminary results from user needs assessment distributed- May: Presentation of recommendations on organizational issues to Steering Committee
Creation of an internal communication plan- June: Redefinition of roles, responsibilities, and how work will be structured is finalized
- July: Creation of plan for measuring our performance; Wrap-up public services meeting held
- August thru December: Individual job descriptions are reviewed and updated as necessary; Measurement strategies established for each service and/or unit; Change management workshops held as appropriate
WORK PLAN
Given the importance of this undertaking and the impact this will have on the way we do our work in the future, ideas, input, and feedback are needed from every member of the Public Services staff and, to the extent relevant, from others with whom public services staff interact. All staff will be invited to attend the kick-off and wrap-up meetings which will be large gatherings to explain the goals of the process and then to bring it to its conclusion. To accommodate our differing work schedules, I will hold multiple sessions of as many of our activities as possible and hope that everyone will be able to attend. Also, along the way other opportunities will occur that allow staff to contribute ideas and opinions through their departments or through other groups that will be formed.
To guide me in this process, I intend to form several groups that will meet on a regular basis to make specific plans for the various tasks outlined in the timeline. Among the groups to be formed are the following:
- a task force on public service values (to be established in January/February)
- a task force to help determine priorities for service (to be established in March)
- a task force to identify organizational issues (to be established in April)
- a task force to draft an internal communication plan (to be established in May)
- a task force to draft a plan for measuring our performance (to be established in June)
Other groups may be needed as our work progresses, but this will depend on the direction our work takes us. A new group will be created to focus on each of the tasks, so there will be an opportunity for widespread participation of public services staff and librarians. I will issue a call for volunteers to serve on each of the groups and hope to have representation from all levels of the organization. We will also draw upon the skills of outside consultants to help us with some of our tasks, and I am very pleased that Robin has agreed to help facilitate both the process and use of consultants.
Given that work of the nature outlined above will take time out of our already busy schedules, I encourage those people who convene or chair groups to consider minimizing the number of meetings over the next few months. As a first step, I am going to talk to PSAC members to see whether it would be possible to cancel some of our biweekly meetings to free up that time slot for our redefinition discussions. Another possibility is to use email whenever possible rather than holding meetings, so this is another option that might free up a little time.
INTERIM HIRING PLAN
During the first six months of 1998, three positions that are currently vacant—the management librarian, the materials science subject specialist, and the associate head of Dewey—will be held open until we resolve our organizational and structural issues. Since other librarian staff may leave before we reach the end of this process, I will ask the department head to make a case to do one of the following: fill the position using the existing job description, wait to fill the position until our redefinition of roles is complete, or rewrite the job description to take into account our changing environment and then recruit for someone to fill this new role. The final decision to move ahead with filling vacant positions will continue to ultimately rest with Steering Committee and will depend on the urgency of need in the department and the stage we have reached in our redefinition process.
Vacant support staff and exempt staff positions currently require approval from Steering Committee before recruitment can begin for a replacement. This practice will continue to be the norm throughout the redefinition process.
CONCLUSION
The next few months will be an exciting time for us but will also probably bring out some troubling issues that have in the past caused conflict. One of my goals in going through this process of reinventing ourselves is to help us deal with conflict in a constructive manner and to learn how to create an environment of trust for our colleagues. I am counting on each of you to help make this a positive experience both organizationally and individually and hope that you will seek opportunities to participate in the process and convey your ideas in a way that helps us to redefine our priorities and services to better meet our users expectations.
To lay to rest any concern that I have a hidden agenda, I want to reassure you that I have consciously avoided using the word "reorganization" since I am not sure that that will actually happen. Our structure may remain the same, or it may change slightly or quite radically, but I am not going into this process with an outcome already determined in my mind. By working together over the coming months, I hope that we’ll all figure out what changes, if any, are needed and then together we’ll also figure out what structural changes are needed to make this happen. Along the way we may send out scenarios describing one or more options, but these will be clearly labeled as discussion documents until we have all had a chance to comment and reach consensus to the extent that consensus in this type of process is possible.
At any time during this process I am available to meet with you to discuss any concerns or questions you might have. Please feel free to schedule an appointment to see me or, alternatively, send me email or a note.
Our ability to redefine ourselves and our responsibilities rests on the willingness of each person to participate in this process in a positive way and to be open to possible changes. Based on my observations of the high quality of staff members in the MIT Libraries, I am sure that we will be able to carry out this undertaking in a creative and innovative way that results in the continuation of a world-class library that matches the world-class nature of the Institute!