This presentation was provided by Kate McCready and Kirsten Clark of The University of Minnesota Libraries, during the NISO training series "Project Management for the Information Community: Session Eight, Applying Project Management to Academic Libraries" held on April 12, 2019.

1. NISO Training Series: Project
Management
Project Management in Libraries
The University of Minnesota

2. Here are your presenters
Kate McCready
Director of Content Services
Kirsten Clark
Director of Access & Information Services

3. Agenda ● Introduction / Meet the Presenters
● Project Management Standards in
Academic Libraries
● Benefits of Project Management
with Library Administration
● Steps needed to start
development
● Project Management Processes
Development
● Final Thoughts

4. Project
Management
Standards in
Academic Libraries
What’s changed in our
organizations?
How are we structured?
How have positions changed?
Why are standards needed?

5. Approach to Projects Changed
Old
● Project work done in individual
departments (supported by the
department’s hierarchical
structure)
● Focus on physical place-based
services
● Focus on your department’s
portion of the “project”
New
● Shift from only place based to
include online services
● Patron driven focus - looking at
the whole picture of their
experience
● More coordinated understanding
required of all involved

6. New: The Matrix Organization
“...functional reporting lines ensure excellence in knowledge, training, and
service (essentially, the hierarchy of a department); and project reporting
lines center on determining the needs of the user, the schedule for service
roll-outs, and the necessities for implementation (cross-department project
or product teams or committees)...”
-- Harris, C. (2010). Matrix management in practice in access
services at the NCSU libraries. Journal of Access Services, 7(4),
203-211.

7. Specialists & Technologists
Academic library work is
increasingly specialized!

8. Result: New Type of Work
http://clipart-library.com/clipart/technology-png.htm

9. Benefits of Project
Management with
Library
Administration
What are the benefits?
What are the costs?
What should be implemented to
make it worth it?

10. Tracking Work
Administrators Need to:
Understand how staff
are deployed
Understand the project
status
Kate McCready’s Trello Board

11. Shared Expectations
Clarity of expectations
avoids disappointment!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rustychainsaw/3064088848/

12. Easy Access to Outputs & Documentation
Benefits:
● Easy to find needed information for:
○ communication
○ planning purposes
○ to determine how different projects might come together
○ when presented with a new opportunity where there is potential
crossover.
● Ensures data and information is available when staff leave an organization
or new staff are brought in halfway through a project.

13. “...project management provides a common language that everyone
can understand. If all project participants refer to a project or steps in
the same terms, there is less likely to be miscommunication”
-- Abbott, J. A. M., & Laskowski, M. S. (2014). So many projects, so
few resources: Using effective project management in technical
services. Collection Management, 39(23), 161-176.

14. Steps needed to
start development
of project
management
standards
● Areas needing improvement.
● Administrative support.
● Organizational structure.
● Project staff buy-in.

15. What Needs Improvement?
Conduct Needs Assessment On:
● Project Initiation
● Project Planning
● Project Execution or Monitoring
● Project Control
● Project Closeout
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/progress-growth-success-business-3936332/

16. Is There Administrative Support?
Willingness to Impose:
● New requirements
● Standard processes
● Methodologies
By Rogerborrell - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49810059
Willingness to Assign:
● Financial Resources
● Staff Time
● Training

17. Does the Organization’s Structure Support It?
● How does your organization function? Departmental teams or across units
● Will consistency help the work? Or put constraints on a unit that is already
functioning well?
● What level of consistency is helpful to getting the work done?
● What will help with communication?
https://pxhere.com/en/photo/444545

18. Is There Staff Buy-In?
● Who manages projects now? Are they
wanting help?
● Where will there be resistance?
● Will there be champions for new
processes?
● Who would benefit most from the
changes?
https://pixabay.com/photos/achievement-agreement-business-3385068/

19. Balancing the Costs & Benefits
Bureaucracy Improvements
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SeesawWithKids_wb.png

20. Project
Management
Processes
Development
● Proposing work with a great
proposal and charter
● Running meetings, capturing
decisions, and following up on
action items
● Breaking down work
● Tracking work (visibly)
● Communicating with
stakeholders
● Defining roles
● Project Closeout

21. University of Minnesota Libraries
Project Management Process
Handbook - Fall 2018
https://z.umn.edu/niso-pm-handbook

22. Project Workflow
A clearly defined project
workflow can:
● Set expectations for
everybody involved in
project.
● Help new employees learn
the project process
● Identify pain points that
crop up regularly and
address ways to mitigate

23. Starting with a Proposal
NISO Webinar: Proposal Template
● Idea description
● Background and Rationale
● Resources needed
● Additional information

24. What makes a good proposal?
● How do I communicate alignment?
● Does the idea align with the library strategic goals and/or with additional
department/unit goals?
● What goals does the idea support?
● What are the benefits of our idea for the organization? Does the work span
multiple departments/units?
● What if the strategic goals or my project scope changes?

25. Continuing with a Project Charter
NISO Webinar: Project Charter
Template
Background
● Background
● Purpose
● Relevance

26. Continuing with a Project Charter
Roles
● Project Sponsor
● Project Team Members & Roles
● Stakeholders and Resource
People

27. Continuing with a Project Charter
Shared Expectations
● Project Scope
● Project Outcomes
● Project Timeline & Milestones
● Project Budget
● Related Risks & Issues

28. Meetings, Decisions, and Action Items
● Meetings require an agenda!
● Time Management
● Documenting Decisions
● Tracking Action Items

29. Meetings, Decisions, and Action Items

30. Breaking Down Work
Work Breakdown Structure
● Breaks down work into
smaller outcomes and tasks
● Assigns tasks to individuals
or teams
● Estimate the time and effort
required for each task

31. Managing the Project Details

32. Communication
Complete
Concise
Considerate
Clarity
Concrete
Courteous
Correct

33. Communicating with Stakeholders
● Without information, people create their own narrative.
● Lack of communication is the most cited reasons for project failure.
● Strong communication allows stakeholders to make connections between
project work across the organization.
● Strong communication creates buy-in when working with potential ‘work
silos’
● Regular communications should be built into the project plan/charter.

34. Tracking Work across the Libraries

35. Project Closeout, Final Report, and Celebrating
The following steps ensure that the tail ends of the project are dealt with and
should be completed by the project owner(s) or their designate.
● Collect and archive project documents.
● Ensure that documentation (and location on Staff Drive) is passed along to the
person(s) assigned to next steps, if appropriate.
● Work with the Libraries Business Office and Sponsor(s) to determine what to do
with remaining funds.
● Update staff/team web pages.

36. Google Documents

37. Updating Staff Website

38. Project Closeout, Final Report, and Celebrating
● Responds to
outcomes of initial
charter
● Provides a clear
summary of the
project work
● Outlines clear
direction for next
steps /
recommendations

39. Project Closeout, Final Report, and Celebrating

40. Final Thoughts ● Successes
● Surprises
● What we might have done
differently
One year later!

41. Questions? Kate McCready
Director of Content Services, UMN
Libraries
mccre008@umn.edu
Kirsten Clark
Director of Access & Information
Services, UMN Libraries
clark881@umn.edu