The document provides tips for effectively communicating a library technology plan to different audiences. It emphasizes that 80% of effort should go towards planning, preparation, implementation and adoption rather than just 20% on choosing and installing systems. Communication is key to success and different audiences like staff, users, management have different needs and perspectives. The communicator needs to understand why each audience should care and tailor the messaging accordingly. Features tell but benefits sell so the technology plan should focus on how it benefits productivity, workflow and results rather than just features. It also cautions about potential problems and stresses the importance of integration, simplicity, saving time, increasing productivity and quality when justifying new technology.

1. Effectively
Communicating
the Library
Technology Plan
Stephen Abram, MLS
EOS Webinars
Dec. 4, 2013

2. THE IMMUTABLE RULE
Choosing and Installing the System is the easy part.
Invest 80% of your time in planning and preparation . . . not 20%
And know that 80% of your success is in the implementation and
adoption (communication, training, support . . .)

3. What happens after all this?

5. START WITH THE “WHY?”

6. Why are you communicating?
Which statement is best?
– “We are training the staff and users to use the
resources of the library, digitally and physically.”
– “We are using technology to improve the research
quality of our products, reports, and decisions.”
– “We are increasing the productivity of all staff
while simultaneously increasing the quality of the
decisions they make and their work.”
– “We’re adding a feature to the intranet to allow
staff to find books, reports and resources from
their desktop.”

7. Who is your audience?
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Library Staff
Library or intranet users
Clients
Management
Champions
Partners or team members e.g.
IT, IS, HR, RM, etc.

8. Each Audience has their own
needs, concerns, and perspectives.

9. The Adoption Cycle

10. The five requirements for adoption
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Relative Advantage
Compatibility
Complexity
Trialability
Observability

11. AIDA
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Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
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Awareness
Interest
Evaluation
Trial
Adoption

12. What is the (best) order?
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Champion(s)
Management
Library Staff
Partners or team members e.g.
IT, IS, HR, RM, etc.
• Library or intranet users
• Clients
• (and the vendor feedback loop)

13. Why do they care?
The responsibility for effective
communication is on the communicator not
the listener.
People listen if you’re speaking about
something they care about. (Duh!)
WIIFM … WIIFT

14. If they don’t care, should they?
If they do care, why?
What are the motivations of your
users to adopt your innovations and
services?

15. If they don’t care, should they?
If they do care, why?
Are those motivations different from
your motivations? Library staff? IT?

16. Adoption Personas

17. What tools are at your disposal?
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E-mail
Print newsletters
Memos
Training sessions (in-person, one-onone, webinars)
Meetings
E-Learning
Hotlines and support desks
Tchotchkes or Trinkets
Food

18. Another truism . . .
YOU CAN’T MANAGE CHANGE
WITH A MEMO.

19. Communication works when it is . . .
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Memorable
Interesting
Humorous
Told as a story
Visual
Localized
Meaningful and targeted
Consistent
Follow the Rule of 7 times . . .

20. Training Strategies for Communication
• Choose themes, audiences, and messages (It’s not
just skills training!)
• Determine what vehicles are suited to which goals
• Develop a description of how each vehicle will be
used.
• Plan for remediation
• Plan For Implementation
• Implement
• Continuously Monitor and Revise

21. Features and Benefits (FABS)
• Features Tell, But Benefits Sell
• Simply put, a feature is what your product or
service has or does.
• By definition, a benefit is something of value or
usefulness.
• As Theodore Levitt, former Harvard marketing
professor and editor of the Harvard Business
Review, once said, “People don’t want to buy a
quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”

22. Features: Communicating the
Library Technology Plan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Easy access to your data
Thorough system documentation
Live API consulting
Thriving developer community
Active developer discussions

23. Benefits: Communicating the
Library Technology Plan
1. Engagement: with transparency and
involvement
2. No dead ends – help is at hand
3. Flexibility to sustainably localize and
customize
4. Cost options and budget
predictability and management
5. Building on the shoulders of others
6. Productivity, user workflow
alignment

24. Study your productivity
• Improved productivity happens when you
work smarter with the resources you have or
get the same results in less time.
• Being busy isn’t necessarily being productive.
Isn’t everyone busy? Who isn’t?
• You may feel productive, but you’re only
productive if you’re producing results that
move the company forward.

25. Technology Questions
• Technology divorced from overall
organizational strategic goals is just a costcenter.
• Do your IT systems improve the overall
operational efficiency of your organization?
• Does the technology platform let employees
take the best care of your customers?

26. One Last Tech Question
• Modernization isn’t enough.
• Catching up is not a future driven strategy.
(e.g. getting ready for mobile, adding distance
access, upgrading coding…)
• Are you justifying your new technology based
on frustrations with the old ways or adoption
of a visionary environment?
• Does the ‘new’ way simplify? Make it more
complicated? Require a steep learning curve?

27. Ask these Questions
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Does it save time?
Does it increase productivity?
Does it reduce complexity?
Your time is a highly valuable asset to your
organization, so use it wisely.
• Does it contribute to bottom-line results?
• Does it improve quality of outputs or decisions?
• Does it support innovation or invention?

28. Productivity Examples
• Communicating with your clients
• Making sales calls
• Managing your employees who deliver your
products and services
• Producing your product or service
• Serving your customers
• Writing proposals

29. Intuitive is a Canard!

30. Integration and Integrated
What is integrated?
How does this matter to the end user?
Are you integrating the whole solution or just
providing another stop on the way?

31. Small Cautions
The horrible problems that WILL
happen.
(Can you say ObamaCare website?)

32. Dealing with problems
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Communicate quickly
Be honest and complete
Commit to correct
Use reasons not excuses
Avoid blamestorming
Set a deadline
Empathize
Apologize

33. More tips
• Make sure your leadership is on-side
• Hold an employee meeting or forum to present your strategic
plan; face-to-face communications are always more effective.
• Highlight certain sections of your plan in your company newsletter
to reinforce messages to most employees.
• Make sure you allow for employee feedback on your plan and
encourage discussion and/or clarifying questions.
• Be sure to include important portions of your plan in orientation
material for new employees. i.e., operational objectives.
• Use your strategic plan to help you develop your marketing tools.
• Make sure the look of our plan and printed or web
communications are consistent and reflect your company's image.

34. Tips
• Don’t over-communicate but don’t undercommunicate either
• Stay positive
• Be realistic
• Use visuals and (appropriate) humour

35. Thanks!
Stephen Abram, MLS, FSLA
Principal
Lighthouse Consulting and Dysart & Jones Associates
Cel: 416-669-4855
stephen.abram@gmail.com
Stephen’s Lighthouse Blog
http://stephenslighthouse.com