Change Leadership in South East Asian Academic Libraries
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How do academic libraries approach, plan, implement, and evaluate change? What are the reasons and drivers for change? What kind of planning takes place to roll out change? What types of communication with stakeholders are undertaken regarding change? What is the role of mentoring and coaching in change process? What kind of leadership is needed for ‘change’ initiatives? What are some of the challenges academic libraries face to plan and execute change? Many academic libraries have been reasonably successful in adapting themselves to the fast changing digital world since the beginning of the Internet, but also since the beginning of increased accountability and declining budgets in higher education institutions in a number of countries, since the early 90s. They have gone through a great deal of change in the last twenty years or so. Some are continuing to change and adapt at greater rate than others. Some libraries introduce ‘change’ to their services, operations, initiatives much more than others. Technology and space renovations have been two of the most significant catalysts to facilitate change in many cases in addition to the financial and organisational directives of the parent organisation. Agile management and change management are closely related. Libraries can benefit from applying agile management strategies to implement change leadership. This paper uses Singapore Management University Library as a case study in implementing agile management and also present the results of a survey amongst academic library leaders in South East Asia regarding ‘change’ in their libraries as well as causes, effects and outcomes of change initiatives, projects, activities and future plans.
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Change Leadership in South East Asian Academic Libraries
- 1. 6th Rizal Library International Conference Leadership and Change: Setting Directions, Braving the Odds October 23-24, 2014 Change leadership in South East Asian academic libraries Gulcin Cribb and Tamera Hanken Singapore Management University Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 2. Agenda • About SMU Libraries • What’s in a name? • Change Leadership and Management • Agile Management • SMU as a case study • AUNILO Libraries survey results • Conclusion Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 3. Singapore Management University (SMU) • A young university – opened in 2000 • 6 Schools – Business, Economics, Accounting, Information Systems, Law, Social Sciences and many research centres • City Campus - 6 buildings at the heart of Singapore • 8000 students (7000 ug and 1000 pg), 320 faculty • Broad based education, small classes, interactive tutorial style learning, blended learning • International experience, community service, Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage internship
- 4. Li Ka Shing Library Known as a ‘Different Library’ Student and faculty engagement Lean library Consultation, participation, inclusivity, listening to ‘Voices’ Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 5. Change… • Change is a constant • Change is inevitable • Change is transformational • Change is for the long-term • Change is a journey • Change must build on the past and the future • Change must be linked to ‘reality’ • Change is about ‘communication’ • Change is dependent on ‘vision and leadership’ Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 6. Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 7. Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 8. Agile Management • Associated with private sector – Software industries – Emphasizes the need to quickly respond to changing environment – Emphasizes the need for an organization to be adaptable, flexible, etc. Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 9. Agile Management – 5 ways Birkinshaw, J. (2012). How to stay agile. Management Today, Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage March: 40. • Use peripheral vision – monitor trends, innovations, anticipate the new, practice scenario planning • Encourage dissent – encourage debate, allow assumptions/beliefs to be challenged • Experiment – experiment • Simplify & flatten – push decision making to the front line, utilize outsourcing for scalability of resources • Act quickly – practice ‘active waiting’ keep costs under control, manage resources so that when an opportunity presents itself the organization can act
- 10. Agile Management @ SMU • The 5 ways @ SMU – Using peripheral vision – Encouraging dissent – Experimenting – Simplifying and flattening – Acting quickly Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 11. Preparing for agility Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 12. Preparing for agility • Team Building – 2012 workshop (offsite) • Strategic Planning – 2012 • Master Planning -2013 • Repurposing of positions Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage (ongoing) • Design thinking workshop - 2013 • Greenbelt training 2013 (ongoing) • Change management workshop (offsite)- 2014
- 13. Using Peripheral Vision @ SMU Australia study trip: • Informed new service model ideas • Observation of best practices, trends in action, etc. • LMS feasibility study • A Day in the Life of … • Consultants report: “Changing Roles in Research Libraries: Future Directions …” Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 14. Encouraging dissent @ SMU • Defining Value workshop • Voice of the customer – SMUSA – LibQual – Suggestion Board • Culture of Assessment – Data-driven decision making – Evidence based planning and decision making Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 15. Experimenting @ SMU • “Phone booth” • Print PDA • Chat services • New Librarian rotation scheme • New staff immersion program Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 16. Experimenting @ SMU • Student Engagement e.g. Halloween, April Fool’s Day, Faculty reception etc… • Luna Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 17. Simplifying & flattening @ SMU • The Desk • Student Assistants – Training and empowerment • Upskilling ALL • Simplifying processes Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 18. Simplifying & flattening @ SMU • Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training – Process improvement librarian • Redesigned staff work area Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 19. Acting quickly @ SMU Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 20. AUNILO Survey Results • Twenty five responses from 13 AUNILO (ASEAN University Network Inter-Library Online) Libraries • Like SMU, all are involved in similar change activities – Drivers of change – Methods of staff engagement – Challenges – Strategies to manage change Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 21. Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 22. Kinds of change @ AUNILO Libraries Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Staffing reorganisation Technological change Space/facilities change Service model change (levels of service etc.) Workflow change Introduction of new services Series1
- 23. Drivers of change @ AUNILO Libraries Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Series1
- 24. Challenges faced @ AUNILO Libraries Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% No challenges Lack of support from the Parent Institution Lack of funding Lack of technology Staff resistance Delays due to staff changes Series1
- 25. Change management strategies @AUNILO Libraries • “Change management involves all parties impacted. Buy-ins are important and so are careful planning, discussions with people involved. Most importantly, communicate, communicate and communicate” • “When existing staff take on different roles, that helps too. They start developing new perspectives. Getting staff buy-in is the most critical element for change. They also need to see the benefits to them personally.” • “Change management is very important in academic libraries because it can lead to a more efficient and effective services especially with regards to new technology currently available” • “I find that libraries spend significant time on planning and communication, and even evaluation, but less time is spent on actual impact assessment both as a decision making tool prior to change and an assessment tool after change.” Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 26. Conclusion • Success of any change initiative is dependent on communication, collaboration, continuity and context • Change leadership and vision • Agile management – ‘alive & well’ in AUNILO libraries • Staff involvement and participation • Learning from each other – survey results Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 27. Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 28. Agile Management in Libraries • Haricombe, L.J., Lusher, T.J. (1998). Creating the agile library: A management guide for librarians. Libraries Unlimited. • Tennant, R. (2001). Building agile organizations. Library Journal. • McKnight, M. (2009). The Agile librarian's guide to thriving in any institution. Libraries Unlimited. • Critchlow, M., Friedman, L. & Suchy, D. (2010). Using an agile-based approach to develop a library mobile website. Code{4}Lib Journal. Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 29. Agile Management in Libraries • Overby, S. (2013). Library Competes Thanks to Agile Development Outsourcing. CIO. • Wells, A. (2014). Agile management: strategies for success in rapidly changing times – an Australian University Library perspective. IFLA Journal. • Cervone, H.F. (2014). Improving strategic planning by adapting agile methods to the planning process. Journal of Library Administration. • Forsman, D. (2014). Introducing agile principles and management to a library organization. 35th IATUL Conference Proceedings Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
- 30. References Birkinshaw, J. (2012). How to stay agile. Management Today, March: 40. Kotter, J.P. (2006). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. In Harvard Business Review on leading through change (pp. 1-18). Harvard Business School Press. Wells, A. (2014). Agile management: strategies for success in rapidly changing times – an Australian University Library perspective. IFLA Journal Our Passion, Our Commitment, Your Advantage
Editor's Notes
- .
- To Change or NOT to change! Is that the question? Do we have an alternative, a choice? How often do you face this question in a day, a week, a month or a year? Or have you ever faced this question? My co-presenter and colleague Tamera and I will talk about change leadership and how it is closely linked to agile management. We will use our own library, Singapore Management University Library as a case study first. We will then share with you the findings of our survey amongst AUNILO libraries about change management.
- Currently 6 schools: business, economics, accounting, information systems, law and social sciences Housed in 6 buildings including the library, located in the heart of downtown Singapore
- Different Library for a Different U; students, faculty and even the local library community often talk about SMU library and librarians as being ’cool’. Our library staff are very good at student engagement; consultations with and listening to students, faculty, staff and even broader community are very important. Soon to add Madam KGC Law Library
- The world talks about, thinks about and does ‘change management’. We hear about ‘change management’ almost on a daily basis. According to John P Kotter, most change efforts fail. A 2013 survey of UK research libraries showed that nearly two thirds of respondents had recently restructured the library to provide more capacity to support researchers, and one third is planning to restructure or restructure further. Yet evidence from the management literature is that only around thirty percent of change management programmes succeed. Within the text, HBR on Leading Through Change- his article, “Leading change- Why transformation efforts fail” he identifies the most common errors or reasons for failure: Not establishing a great enough sense of urgency (3) Not creating a powerful enough guiding coalition (5) Lacking a vision (7) Undercommunicating the vision (9) Not removing obstacles to the new vision (11) Not systematically planning for and creating short term wins (13) Declaring victory too soon (14) Not anchoring changes in the corporation’s culture (16)
- Fortunately, librarians in general have been relatively successful in adapting to change and adopting new technologies, new ways of offering services. We have changed a great deal over the years. A recent article in Forbes, a business magazine by library vendor said that: “what amazes me is that librarians aren’t so different from startups and the concept of pivoting.” “They reinvented what it meant to be a librarian. They became tech-brarians.” A startup pivots when their initial business model does not work as hoped, and they either start from scratch or leverage their existing resources to try something new”. http://www.forbes.com/sites/nealtaparia/2014/09/11/anyone-can-pivot-what-the-changing-role-of-librarians-mean-for-you/ However, the pace of change in our universities, in industry, technology, expectations of our stakeholders, our users, our staff are such that those who cannot and do not pivot, may not survive, maybe survive but lose ground, left behind.
- Examples, like embedded librarians in Schools, departments, where the customers are, some libraries have no service desk, all self-help, some have no more separate front of the house and back of the house separation, but these functions have been combined to better serve the customers so the staff work on projects across the library, in a matrix style organisation, rather than in separate silos. Rather than competing for market share in the information business which is futile anyway, creating new markets and being quick, fast and agile about it. Some of these new markets are and can be…. Digital humanities, TDM (text-data mining), collaborative projects both within and outside the Library in areas like Big Data, Analytics, alternative metrics, measuring/ analysis and reporting on the impact of research publications and so on…. Demonstrating value not for one part of the library, but the whole; Constant change is the new normal and it requires a new set of skills/competencies and a 21st century organizational culture… Libraries, like other organizations need to help their staff develop new competencies in staff to help them succeed in this ‘new normal’ and leaders in these organizations/libraries need to foster an organizational culture that is adaptable, flexible and agile. Learning, unlearning and re-learning for not only our staff, but for us as leaders have become a critical aspect of our modus operandi, our role as leaders. One example here is the move from silo/function-based work to project-based work, where the old departments or units in libraries do not and cannot work anymore. Staff themselves expect to learn new skills, competencies and not have to do same routine day-in-day out, people, especially the new generation need to be able feel they are getting ahead, moving forward, rather than being stagnated. That is why task forces, project teams, working parties important to have opportunities to work with people across the organisation.
- Definition of ‘Agile’ according to OED “Able to move (esp. to climb or manoeuvre) quickly and easily; nimble, dexterous” http://www.oed.com.libproxy.smu.edu.sg/view/Entry/3979?redirectedFrom=agile#eid What is Agile Software Development? In the late 1990’s several methodologies began to get increasing public attention. Each had a different combination of old ideas, new ideas, and transmuted old ideas. But they all emphasized close collaboration between the programmer team and business experts; face-to-face communication (as more efficient than written documentation); frequent delivery of new deployable business value; tight, self-organizing teams; and ways to craft the code and the team such that the inevitable requirements churn was not a crisis. http://www.agilealliance.org/the-alliance/what-is-agile/ Image: http://agilecomplexificationinverter.blogspot.sg/2011_06_01_archive.html Rather than perfecting a catalogue record, MARC record; agonising over original cataloguing or making sure we have covered all bases in our information literacy, being perfectionist; Need to be more risk taking, experiment, and ‘Near Enough is good Enough’ approach, rather than the perfectionist approach.
- Perhaps make initial reference to IFLA presentation – introducing Julian Birkshaw’s ‘5 ways’ as a way to frame or identify elements of agile management at work in libraries… From Andrew Wells at UNSW (2014) UNSW has faced rapid changes in its operating environment over the last decade Enrollment grew 30% from 2005-2010 The budget increased by 9% over the same time period UNSW transitioned from print based to digital based A restructuring from multiple ‘special libraries’ to a single library “While the management of UNSW has not consciously used the term ‘agile management’ to describe its approach it has used many of the ways of agile management described by Birkinshaw to meet the challenges of rapid change”
- SMU Library has been using TMS instrument to help staff learn about and be aware of their own team preferences as well as their colleagues. It is helpful for team building, for appreciating diversity and for recognising that teams need diversity of skills, competencies and way of thinking and working. All new staff do this and we use it when appropriate to refer to, to reinforce the value of diversity in teams etc… We used another instrument called QO2 (Opportunities-Obstacles Profile (QO2™ Profile) in preparation for major changes to come as a result of renovations. This tool helps again to help staff to be aware of their own and others’ approaches to work and their approaches to risk and change. The Risk-Orientation Model is the basis of the QO2™ concept and defines five subscales that are used to calculate the QO2™. MTG Energy - how much energy you put into 'Moving Towards Your Goals' Multi-Pathways - the extent to which you find ways around obstacles Fault-Finding - how good you are at seeing potential obstacles Optimism - the extent to which you expect positive outcomes Time-Focus - a measure of your psychological time and your orientation to the past, the present or the future The Opportunities-Obstacles Profile (QO2™ Profile) enables individuals to review their approach to work and improve both the way they seize opportunities and foresee obstacles. An overall score on the instrument is given together with data on the five subscales For most jobs it is important to have some sort of 'balance'. People who focus on the opportunities without seeing potential obstacles can make hasty decisions, whereas those who focus on the obstacles may never give the go-ahead to new products or ventures. It is this degree of balance within individuals, teams and organizations which can have profound implications on issues such as conflict resolution, goal setting, problem-solving, risk management and change.
- For master planning, all library staff, faculty, students involved in focus groups to do scenario planning, come up with design approaches Team Building, using TMS, revisiting values, vision, mission and coming up with strategic goals and measures Change Management workshop – using the results of Opportunities and Obstacles profile, doing scenario planning, looking at worst and best case scenarios, drawing pictures of the future after the change, lots of celebrations….
- Monitor trends & innovations; anticipate the new; practice scenario planning to identify & assess industry changes Feasibility study… people learned to work in groups, study current state, future state Annual work plans Computer use study – outcome not what we expected; a good learning experience “when in doubt ask the customer’, but learn about user studies, don’t rely only on one form of study, triangulate etc…
- Leaders of organizations are successful when they encourage debate and are prepared to have their assumptions and beliefs challenged. There are dangers in organizations becoming complacent or being unwilling to change course. Learning to listen to different voices, approaches, views both within and outside the Library and be able to say ‘why not’… What are the options,
- It is important that organizations try out new activities, even if this requires redirecting resources from existing activities. Disruptive technology; Repurposing of many positions (times changes, job descriptions change) New student spaces also used for university wide events SmUSA survey, focus groups, lib qual Chat came about because of blended learning
- It is important that organizations try out new activities, even if this requires redirecting resources from existing activities.
- Birkinshaw recommends pushing decision-making to the front line to enable responsiveness as opportunities arise. He notes that ‘‘agile companies are typically very flat, with clear lines of accountability’’ and mentions that they are often major users of outsourcing, allowing them to reduce or increase capacity as needed. Pushing decision making to the front lines, Student
- Birkinshaw recommends pushing decision-making to the front line to enable responsiveness as opportunities arise. He notes that ‘‘agile companies are typically very flat, with clear lines of accountability’’ and mentions that they are often major users of outsourcing, allowing them to reduce or increase capacity as needed.
- Paradoxically, it is sometimes smarter to wait, make preparations and save resources, so that when an opportunity arrives, an organization can act quickly. Priority renovations – in record time --- but preparations began long ago with master planning exercise… Desk Lounge Investment Studio Learning Lab Learning Commons - 24X7 Hive Staff spaces - consolidation
- What is AUNILO (Asean University Network Inter-Library Online); established in 2004. So, exactly 10 years old. The AUNILO Working Committee held its 1st meeting in April 2004 in Singapore. The theme for the meeting was “Growing people; training and developing new-age information professionals for academic libraries”. To promote competent human resource development in ASEAN by the strong support of wider access to academic source supplies shared by all ASEAN countries. To strengthen existing linkages and support further co-operations among higher education institutions in ASEAN countries through the sharing of academic resources. To provide another channel of information sharing among academic communities in ASEAN, utilizing technological advancement and existing resources in the AUN Member Universities. Why we did this… how change management happens, what is happening in SE Asian libraries… All libraries who responded said that they have been involved in ‘change’ activities in the last 3 years. 25 people said yes to the question whether they have been involved in ‘change’ activities.
- Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei
- Space, followed by staffing followed by introduction of new services were the top kinds of change. The lowest identified type was workflow change. Did your library prepare a plan for the change projects? All but one said ‘Yes’.
- Staffing re-organisation appeared to be the top driver of change, followed by customer feedback and then by technology. Of course, often all these three are interlinked, inter-dependent on each other. It looks like directive from government is not a driver of change. Budget cuts was one of the lowest ranked drivers. That is interesting, because often libraries use ‘budget cuts’ or funding as a powerful driver to make changes. It may be then more palatable for staff to understand, cooperate, participate and move forward with the changes needed to deal with the budget cuts, e.g. cancelling print subscriptions, re-organisation of departments, changing workflows, closing branch libraries which is a regular occurrence in North America, Australia and the UK. etc. Not sure, if that is the case for many AUNILO libraries. If the Library has not been involved in any change activity in recent times, do you have any plans for ‘change’ in the near future? All except one library said ‘yes’ to the question:
- What does lack of funding mean, and what were they trying to do that needed funding. It looks like ‘lack of funding’ is identified as the top challenge: What kind of challenges did the Library face with the ‘change’ projects? Example: master planning to design planning It’s often an opportunity (sense of urgency for change); funding cuts and issues to do with funding often a good driver for change and ‘agile change’; Other challenges:Deficient technology infra & slow support/responses & lack of spaces; What kind of strategies did they use to deal with the challenges: Postpone such projects and re-propose them the following year; Regular meetings with the various groups and communicate changes whenever necessary; Individual and group discussions Role modeling; Discussion and retraining staff; strengthening internal as well as external networking for wider support and expertise; Communication strategies Professional development strategies; Staff engagement strategies; understand and properly address resistance of the staff - - communicate change with the staff - coach staff through change; Did the Library have an evaluation or assessment plan or scheme to review effectiveness and impact of the 'change' initiatives? 83% said they did, 16% didn’t. Some said their plans are on-going. Here are some of the comments expressed by the Library Directors and/or Associate Directors.…
- Good leadership & excellent professional staffing ensure smooth Change... I am a believer of change, no matter how hard the challenges this will entail. Injecting change in the library (people, processes, initiatives) is always good for its advancement, however, it really takes time for one's team to really embrace these changes and become a learning organization. Ageing staff and difficulty in recruiting suitable candidates Teamwork and unity is very important to make the change and the supporting staff need the exposure for better involvement in the team Academic libraries should be able to flexibly adapt to new condition and challenges in order to develop and be responsive to both user demand and current trends as necessary I find that libraries spend significant time on planning and communication, and even evaluation, but less time is spent on actual impact assessment both as a decision making tool prior to change and an assessment tool after change. Change management is very important in academic libraries because it can lead to a more efficient and effective services especially with regards to new technology currently available Change as they say is constant, with the fast paced environment we have, change management is vital for an organization in order to meet the its mission. The one important thing to make a process of change management success is involving staff in 'change process'. Do some brainstorming process to keep up an ideas from all of the staff with our guidelines to the new library vision. Policy support from the parent institution is important to break-up any resistances from the staff and also to support any new activities regarding the change management. Library leader should be an active person to get an involve with the staff problems. Staff involvement and participation is a key to the success management The change management in academic libraries is very interesting . Its result should be distributed The greatest challenge in change management is how to handle staff resistance. You need to carefully explain the reasons for implementing change for this to be appreciated and accepted by the staff It's good to implement pilot test to get feedback rather than impose it as a mandatory we do the change and we've confident to do it. Using evidence based planning and decision making is essential. We used a variety of feedback, input, analysis, eg LibQual, Suggestions from students, Library Advisory Committee, an external consultant and report, sending staff to visit both local and international libraries and asking them to share their observations and get them involved in various project teams and initiatives etc. Change takes time and patience. New staff with new ideas also help. When existing staff take on different roles, that helps too. They start developing new perspectives. Getting staff buy-in is the most critical element for change. They also need to see the benefits to them personally.
- Did the Library have an evaluation or assessment plan or scheme to review effectiveness and impact of the 'change' initiatives? Most said yes. There are many ‘windows of opportunities’ that are coming to us at faster and faster speeds almost every day. Hence agility, nimbleness and communication with all stakeholders as well as involvement critical. What choice of strategy for managing organizational change best suits your library? What might a successful change management process look like for your library, and? “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” (Mahatma Gandhi). Are you?