Distance Facilitation

This week our group facilitated discussion for the class. At the end of the week we need to provide a summary of the weeks discussion. To help with the summary we all posted the similar questions. One group member had canned responses to questions. At the beginning that seemed like a fine plan. But in reality it didn't allow for the natural morphing of questions. I found that I held back responses more in distance mode than I would have in class. This isn't necessarily negative. Sometimes I talk without thinking. But I talk my way through a thought sometimes and sometimes those thoughts are very fruitful.

Fundamentals of Organizing

The obvious part of organizing an organizations' structure is determining who reports to who. What I didn't realize is that you can divide up work into departments in different ways. You can divide it according to functions or self-contained units.
Functional Departmentalization groups activities around functions like circulation, reference, or children's services.
Product Departmentalization groups around the company's products or services.
The more I look at all these different approaches the more they all look the same. I don't think I'd be able to differentiate them unless I had to use them and examine their differences.

The organization chapter introduced the idea of power vs. authority. I can see how this simple concept of organizing who reports to who can become very complex when seen through the perspective of power vs. authority. This is where Union organizing comes in. "Experts often argue that getting employees' acceptance is increasingly important today, given the emphasis on empowered workers and team-based organizations." Dessler p.169

Power vs. Authority
You can have power without authority. Authority is based on job title. Whatever is at the center of the organization holds the most power. Some examples would be design, engineering, finance, marketing, or in the case of libraries - information. In a conical power model where power is the center, one can move horizontally towards the power core without moving vertically upward with authority.

Types of Power
Legitimate- power based on one's position in the formal hierarchy
Coercive- power based on fear and intimidation
Reward- power based on the ability to distribute something that others value, for ex: recognition or bonuses
Expert- power based on one's expertise, special skill, or knowledge
Referent- power based on identification with a person who has resources or traits

Delegation: The act of passing down authority from supervisor to subordinate.
"Organizing would be impossible without delegation."
"Managers are people who get thing done through others, so knowing how to delegate is a crucial management skill."

• The manager can delegate authority but cannot delegate responsibility
• Clarify the assignment
• Delegate, don't abdicate
• Know what to delegate
• Specify the subordinate's range of discretion
• Authority should equal responsibility
• Make the person accountable for results
• Beware of backward delegation

How would these delegation skills apply to coordinating volunteers for an organization? Would the volunteers be accountable for results? Is that where volunteerism is different from a job?

Strategic Planning

While reading the chapter about strategic planning I realized that the Future Services Committee that I am on is a strategic planning tool. It is very complex and I wasn't able to directly relate all of the concepts in the Dessler's Chapter 5 on Strategic Planning, but I took some time to see some connections:

Strategic Planning Components of the Future Services Committee

Future Services Committee is involved in Strategic Planning: identifying the current business of the library and the business it wants for the future, and the course of action or strategy it will pursue. “What is our business and what should it be?”

Step 1 Define the Business and its Mission

We have a mission statement and a vision statement and in addition we have a values statement. Library services have been changing for over a decade and they will continue to change. This committee is examining what may be coming in the future.

Discussion in the committee meetings talks about

1.) Product scope – the range and diversity of the services the library wants to offer. We can’t be all things to everyone.

2.) Vertical integration – should we use our own information search products or use better and faster products that other companies offer?

3.) Geographic scope – defined as King County. What about Seattle and Renton?

4.) How will we compete – with other information service providers.

Step 2 Perform External and Internal Audits

Step 3 Translate the Mission into Strategic Goals

Step 4 Formulate a Strategy to Achieve Strategic Goals

Step 5 Execute the Strategy

Step 6 Evaluate Performance

Right now the Future Services Committee is working on a “Corporate-level strategy”. If the libraries portfolio of businesses are children’s services, teen services, cataloging, reference services, etc. than a corporate-level strategy is the way these businesses (or departments) fit together.

The corporate-level strategy will spill over to the competitive strategy: a plan to establish a sustainable competitive position against the forces that drive industry competition. Who is the library competing against? One theory is that the advent of the internet and web browsers like Google have infringed on the libraries search business. Patrons no longer need to come to the library for an answer – they just go to Google. This hasn’t been fatal to public libraries, it’s just changed our business. Google is a substitute product.

Eventually the recommendations from the Future Services Committee will translate into Functional Strategies which will specify the basic actions and policies each department must adhere to in order for the company to execute its competitive strategy.

In the committee meetings we are performing a SWOT analysis – identifying our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Environmental scans:

Economic trends: funding is based on property tax values

Competitive trends: Google

Political trends: I-747 puts a cap on financing

Technological trends: Web 2.0

Social trends: demographic trends with teens, baby boomers, and ethnic communities

Geographic trends: location decisions for library construction and renovation

BCG Matrix: a strategic planning tool that helps a manager assess a business unit’s attractiveness, based on its growth rate and market share.

Star: There is a new effort to promote early literacy for children. Children’s services are also historically strong in the public library.

Cash Cow: Circulation of popular fiction, non-fiction, movies, and other media

Question Mark – Teen services are a fast growing market for libraries. They are seen as the future of library services. Resources are now being earmarked for this historically low use group.

Dog – General reference has a low market share and low growth. Physical reference books are now obsolete and reference does its business using databases and the internet.

Scenario planning:

What’s the worst case funding scenario if we don’t pass the next library bond?

The Planning Process

"Nobody has planned to fail, but many have failed to plan." (old management maxim)

It is important to use plans as a frame of reference; not slavishly adhered to, but rather used as a frame of orientation.

Planning is the process of setting goals and courses of action, developing rules and procedures, and forecasting future outcomes. The creative part of planning is the process itself. Planning is a way of looking ahead without being there, yet making sense of where one desires to go.

I think the intimidating part of planning for me is the (false) impression that once I make a plan I have to stick to it. And if one part of the plan is altered than the whole plan needs to be thrown out. But if a plan is a frame of reference, or a way to make sense of where one desires to go, planning has an entirely different feel to it. Planning: exploring what might happen, thinking about what you would like to have happen. That's not so intimidating. Maybe the trick to effective planning is expecting the plans to change. You plan the best you can with the information you have, then as you get more information you adjust the plan.

Something to think about: Failure may breed success. Failure gives the opportunity to analyze why there was a failure which leads to a different approach and success.

Creativity in Management

I was pleasantly surprised to read today that creativity is a quality that is valued in management. And intuitive thinking is highly valued also. Maybe management is for me after all! I've been under the false impression that systematic decision makers who take a logical, step-by-step approach to solving a problem were the only good decision makers. It turns out that the method of disregarding much of the information that is available and bouncing from one alternative to another to get a feel for which seems to work best gets better results! I feel like I'm in some alternative universe where everything I do is right. Management is also psychologically and sociologically based. Two other areas that I'm comfortable with. I'm actually motivated to learn about this stuff! Alot of the tips remind me of my "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Affirmations".

I like that the theory advised you to be skeptical: "Never take the statement of the problem for granted."

Policy making: When you come across the same puzzle or problem several times you can come up with a standard response to a standard problem. That's how a policy is made. Policies are good for programmable decisions. It's the unique problems that managers are called on to to decide because they are non-programmable. No policy can be made to anticipate the problem.

It's not like you don't have to do you research - it's just that once you've got the information that you have to work with, the decision can be made with a creative mind and with intuitive thinking!

How to make better decisions:
Increase Your Knowledge i.e. Ask questions. Ask more questions. Ask the same questions to different people. Be satisfied only when the answers begin to converge. Do your research.
Force yourself to recognize the facts when you see them: It is always easy to overlook or give too much importance to some facts when you really want to do something.

Use your intuition: You can usually tell when a decision fits with your inner nature, because it brings an enormous sense of relief. But don't be overconfident either.

Don't Overstress the Finality of the Decision: you should not become frozen with an unrealistic fear that a decision can't be changed or modified. Knowing when to quit is important. Escalation is the act of making a wrong decision and then losing even more through a continued devotion to that decision.

Avoid regrettable decisions when moods are extreme or when you are under duress.

Creativity is the process of developing original, novel responses to a problem. Creativity skills are combining elements and components that you already have in new ways. Expertise is how to make something that seems like a weird idea fly. Task motivation like being on a mission helps creativity too.

Brainstorming: something I've done that I think I could do better. To create a safe environment for brainstorming you must require all participants to withhold any criticism and comments until all suggestions are on the table. People should feel comfortable about making suggestions even if the suggestions seem strange. In an environment where everyone can build on everyone else's suggestions, it's often the most implausible idea that eventually produces the perfect solution!

Suspend judgement: Don't automatically go with your first reaction.

Get more points of view: Try to obtain different opinions - get input from other departments. "Creativity works better when you have a group of three or four than it does with one, because you have the synergistic effect where people are working with each other building on others' ideas." Again, this is how I feel comfortable working... it looks like there's a place for me after all.

Psychological set: the tendency to look at things with a rigid point of view when solving a problem. i.e. Think outside the box.

Perception: the unique way each person defines stimuli, depending on the influence of past experience and the person's present needs and personality. i.e. your prior experiences influence the way you look at a problem.

Introduction

This is a good start on not procrastinating!