Thanks Karye and Angelica! So far I've only just arrived, but judging from the number of people wandering around with PLA nametags and lanyards, I think it's safe to say there are TONS of librarians here. Tomorrow will be a big day of workshops, and there are some really good-looking ones to pick from. It's nice to not have to sift through all the academic/special/law/medical stuff to find something relevant to public libraries, workshop-wise. This is my second PLA conference. I went to one in Portland a few years back (you were there, Karye). If this is anything like the last one, it will be a great experience. I'm looking forward to what the next few days have in store!
I have always thought that PLA is *by far* the best conference for us public library types. Always good programs, good speakers, and just about everything is relevant to what we do.
Does the program say where PLA in 2014 will be?...
I haven't heard anything about 2014. Hopefully it will be in So Cal, since it was way up in Portland last time (or was the the time before last? I can't keep track).
Hope that you enjoy the conference (and good luck with your presentation)! I'll be interested in hearing about the programs and exhibits as well, especially anything tech-related.
This workshop was presented by a librarian from the University of Virginia and the director of the Virginia Library Association. They got an LSTA grant which allowed them to organize a series of workshops to introduce library staff throughout Virginia to various tech devices, including Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and pocket video cameras. At the workshops, some people even brought in their own devices to get information about how to use them. Because I enjoyed our petting zoo last year, I thought it would be interesting to learn what goes on behind the scenes. Mostly, though, they just talked about how much the staff enjoyed the experience. They did tell a funny story about how someone accidentally ordered a subscription to National Geographic on her (the presenter’s) own Kindle, and how she got stuck with the charges. This was a fun program, but it mostly seemed like common sense advice. I was hoping to learn something about how to organize a petting zoo for patrons, not just library staff, but this wasn’t the case.
Adam and I will be putting on eReader trainings soon for Rancho staff (and patrons) as part of our SIF grant project that we're working on with Karye. Any interesting handouts? Sounds like we'll have fun and wind up with unanticipated magazine subscriptions...
I poked around the exhibit hall a bit this afternoon. Got my Mango t-shirt (they made me say “I would like a t-shirt” in a foreign language…luckily I’ve retained enough French to stumble through it). Said hi to the Brodart and Midwest Tape folks, saw Patti from Gale, but she was deep in conversation with someone. It’s mostly the same stuff we see at any conference, but it’s always interesting to browse around.
Creating a Vibrant Organizational Culture Cheryl Gould and Richard Mott
I was excited to attend this workshop because Cheryl Gould is so great. I’ve been to a few of her InfoPeople workshops, she did our petting zoo, and she led one of our SIF trainings. Also, I was interested in learning how I can help maintain our positive org culture.
(Quick side note here – the room was HUGE, and it’s the same room where we’ll be giving our panel presentation tomorrow…gulp!)
Many in the audience described their org culture as stagnant, old-fashioned, and fear-based. So, right off the bat, I felt lucky to work in a positive and innovative environment. The speakers pointed out that engagement is crucial to organizational success (having passion and connection, driving innovation). On average, only one in five employees in any organization is actively engaged. Libraries tend to be organizations of expertise (we consider ourselves experts and authorities), and hierarchical. It’s important to shift from seeing ourselves as experts to seeing ourselves as collaborators.
A vibrant org culture is marked by curiosity, playfulness, energy, openness, empowerment, motivation, respect, having a shared purpose, and confidence. The outliers (negative employees) will always be around – we can’t change everyone all the time – but we can create an org culture that keeps this group from becoming dominant. We can try to change how people act through performance reviews and goal-setting, but changing the org culture means creating commitment, not compliance.
Creating a new org culture means setting a goal, developing a plan, and executing the plan. Some libraries use a book as a model (they recommended several, especially The Leadership Plan), and others have the staff choose their own elements they wanted to see. An assessment of the current state is recommended, as well as a creating a shared language/vision. The speakers stressed the importance of modeling the behavior you want to see in others – leadership by example. It’s also crucial to give people permission and time to practice new behaviors, to make learning a fun experience, and to listen more than talk – in other words, get input before delivering directions. Action items may include updating job descriptions and performance evaluations, creating a feedback mechanism, and making sure the org culture goals are part of new employees’ training experience (this reminded me of the good stuff we’ve been doing in the area of new employee orientation).
I think that our org culture is positive and supportive of innovation. We have a good thing going on, but this workshop served as a good reminder that it takes commitment and consistency. For my part, I’m making a commitment to be a good listener to my peers and those I supervise, and to lead by example.
Sounds like this was an excellent program! Cheryl Gould is so good. Did you have a chance to talk with her afterwards? Just kind of funny you flew across the country to see her again :]
It's always helpful to see the room you are going to speak in ahead of time, and get a feel for the space. Good luck tomorrow! I know it will all be good.
Michelle - All of my experiences with Cheryl have been wonderful. I think she's one of the best instructors at InfoPeople, and I would definitely recommend this workshop for SIF.
Karye - Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to chat with her afterwards. She had a line of people waiting to talk with her, so I figured I'd let them have her.
Commando Diplomacy: Building Skills and Tolerance for Having Difficult Conversations and Making Real Progress
This workshop, lead by a library manager and a librarian/union rep, was about the importance of communicating effectively at difficult times. Their main point was to stick to the issue and not personalize things (their motto is QTIP: Quit Taking it Personally). A lot of the content was based on common sense – try to put yourself in the other person’s position, take a break when things get too heated, think forward toward results instead of backward toward past slights (real or perceived). They stressed the “Magic Formula” of 2+1+1. This means making two positive comments, followed by one difficult issue, followed by one positive follow-up – a complement sandwich. A lot of their advice was taken from the book The Drama Free Office, by Jay Warner and Kaley Klemp.
I didn’t stay for the whole workshop because the room was tiny and jam-packed. The chairs were squished up tight against one another, the lady next to me kept kicking my leg, and it was uncomfortably hot. I figured I’d had enough of being a human sardine on the flight here, so after 45 minutes, I tiptoed out. It was a good workshop, though, and I would have stayed until the end if not for the sauna of a room.
Too bad you had to leave - I would have too! I like the Magic Formula - reminds me of another technique I think they call it a sandwich (?) - the difficult issue between two positive comments.
Hi Jenn,
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more info on PLA next week!
It sounds exciting! I've never been to PLA before. This will be neat! I'm curious about the differences between PLA and ALA -
ReplyDelete-is there more helpful information a PLA since it's all public libraries?
- does it have a higher attendance than ALA?
Hope it is exciting and fun! Happy travels and best wishes!
Angelica
Thanks Karye and Angelica! So far I've only just arrived, but judging from the number of people wandering around with PLA nametags and lanyards, I think it's safe to say there are TONS of librarians here. Tomorrow will be a big day of workshops, and there are some really good-looking ones to pick from. It's nice to not have to sift through all the academic/special/law/medical stuff to find something relevant to public libraries, workshop-wise. This is my second PLA conference. I went to one in Portland a few years back (you were there, Karye). If this is anything like the last one, it will be a great experience. I'm looking forward to what the next few days have in store!
ReplyDeleteI have always thought that PLA is *by far* the best conference for us public library types. Always good programs, good speakers, and just about everything is relevant to what we do.
DeleteDoes the program say where PLA in 2014 will be?...
I haven't heard anything about 2014. Hopefully it will be in So Cal, since it was way up in Portland last time (or was the the time before last? I can't keep track).
DeletePLA 2014 Conference | March 11–15, 2014 | Indianapolis, Ind.
DeletePLA 2016 Conference | April 5–9, 2016 | Denver, Colo.
PLA 2018 Conference | March 20–24, 2018 | Philadelphia, Pa.
Indianapolis? Wow. That sounds...midwestern.
DeleteHope that you enjoy the conference (and good luck with your presentation)! I'll be interested in hearing about the programs and exhibits as well, especially anything tech-related.
ReplyDeleteTechnology Petting Zoos in Public Libraries
ReplyDeleteThis workshop was presented by a librarian from the University of Virginia and the director of the Virginia Library Association. They got an LSTA grant which allowed them to organize a series of workshops to introduce library staff throughout Virginia to various tech devices, including Kindles, Nooks, iPads, and pocket video cameras. At the workshops, some people even brought in their own devices to get information about how to use them. Because I enjoyed our petting zoo last year, I thought it would be interesting to learn what goes on behind the scenes. Mostly, though, they just talked about how much the staff enjoyed the experience. They did tell a funny story about how someone accidentally ordered a subscription to National Geographic on her (the presenter’s) own Kindle, and how she got stuck with the charges. This was a fun program, but it mostly seemed like common sense advice. I was hoping to learn something about how to organize a petting zoo for patrons, not just library staff, but this wasn’t the case.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAdam and I will be putting on eReader trainings soon for Rancho staff (and patrons) as part of our SIF grant project that we're working on with Karye. Any interesting handouts? Sounds like we'll have fun and wind up with unanticipated magazine subscriptions...
DeleteHi Don. All the handouts are online this year, to save paper. I'll send a link to the handouts from this program to you, Adam and Karye.
DeleteExhibits
ReplyDeleteI poked around the exhibit hall a bit this afternoon. Got my Mango t-shirt (they made me say “I would like a t-shirt” in a foreign language…luckily I’ve retained enough French to stumble through it). Said hi to the Brodart and Midwest Tape folks, saw Patti from Gale, but she was deep in conversation with someone. It’s mostly the same stuff we see at any conference, but it’s always interesting to browse around.
Creating a Vibrant Organizational Culture
ReplyDeleteCheryl Gould and Richard Mott
I was excited to attend this workshop because Cheryl Gould is so great. I’ve been to a few of her InfoPeople workshops, she did our petting zoo, and she led one of our SIF trainings. Also, I was interested in learning how I can help maintain our positive org culture.
(Quick side note here – the room was HUGE, and it’s the same room where we’ll be giving our panel presentation tomorrow…gulp!)
Many in the audience described their org culture as stagnant, old-fashioned, and fear-based. So, right off the bat, I felt lucky to work in a positive and innovative environment. The speakers pointed out that engagement is crucial to organizational success (having passion and connection, driving innovation). On average, only one in five employees in any organization is actively engaged. Libraries tend to be organizations of expertise (we consider ourselves experts and authorities), and hierarchical. It’s important to shift from seeing ourselves as experts to seeing ourselves as collaborators.
A vibrant org culture is marked by curiosity, playfulness, energy, openness, empowerment, motivation, respect, having a shared purpose, and confidence. The outliers (negative employees) will always be around – we can’t change everyone all the time – but we can create an org culture that keeps this group from becoming dominant. We can try to change how people act through performance reviews and goal-setting, but changing the org culture means creating commitment, not compliance.
Creating a new org culture means setting a goal, developing a plan, and executing the plan. Some libraries use a book as a model (they recommended several, especially The Leadership Plan), and others have the staff choose their own elements they wanted to see. An assessment of the current state is recommended, as well as a creating a shared language/vision. The speakers stressed the importance of modeling the behavior you want to see in others – leadership by example. It’s also crucial to give people permission and time to practice new behaviors, to make learning a fun experience, and to listen more than talk – in other words, get input before delivering directions. Action items may include updating job descriptions and performance evaluations, creating a feedback mechanism, and making sure the org culture goals are part of new employees’ training experience (this reminded me of the good stuff we’ve been doing in the area of new employee orientation).
I think that our org culture is positive and supportive of innovation. We have a good thing going on, but this workshop served as a good reminder that it takes commitment and consistency. For my part, I’m making a commitment to be a good listener to my peers and those I supervise, and to lead by example.
Sounds like this was an excellent program! Cheryl Gould is so good. Did you have a chance to talk with her afterwards? Just kind of funny you flew across the country to see her again :]
DeleteIt's always helpful to see the room you are going to speak in ahead of time, and get a feel for the space. Good luck tomorrow! I know it will all be good.
This is interesting. Glad you enjoyed it. This is a worksop I have been contemplating for SIF so it's good to hear a positive review.
DeleteMichelle - All of my experiences with Cheryl have been wonderful. I think she's one of the best instructors at InfoPeople, and I would definitely recommend this workshop for SIF.
DeleteKarye - Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to chat with her afterwards. She had a line of people waiting to talk with her, so I figured I'd let them have her.
Hi Jenn,
DeleteThanks so much for sharing your notes from Cheryl's presentation. Sounds as if she hit the mark on another winning workshop!
Commando Diplomacy: Building Skills and Tolerance for Having Difficult Conversations and Making Real Progress
ReplyDeleteThis workshop, lead by a library manager and a librarian/union rep, was about the importance of communicating effectively at difficult times. Their main point was to stick to the issue and not personalize things (their motto is QTIP: Quit Taking it Personally). A lot of the content was based on common sense – try to put yourself in the other person’s position, take a break when things get too heated, think forward toward results instead of backward toward past slights (real or perceived). They stressed the “Magic Formula” of 2+1+1. This means making two positive comments, followed by one difficult issue, followed by one positive follow-up – a complement sandwich. A lot of their advice was taken from the book The Drama Free Office, by Jay Warner and Kaley Klemp.
I didn’t stay for the whole workshop because the room was tiny and jam-packed. The chairs were squished up tight against one another, the lady next to me kept kicking my leg, and it was uncomfortably hot. I figured I’d had enough of being a human sardine on the flight here, so after 45 minutes, I tiptoed out. It was a good workshop, though, and I would have stayed until the end if not for the sauna of a room.
Too bad you had to leave - I would have too! I like the Magic Formula - reminds me of another technique I think they call it a sandwich (?) - the difficult issue between two positive comments.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete