Using Change Management to Transform Your Library (April 2019)

1. C AT H E R I N E S O E H N E R
J . W I L L AR D M AR R I O T T L I B R ARY
U N I V E R S I T Y O F U TAH
AP R I L 2 0 1 9
Managing Change:
How to keep your sanity
in an ever-changing world

2. Scenario: New Library Director
 Close the main reference desk.
 Incorporate reference into the circulation desk.
 Put a coffee shop where the desk used to be.
Photo by Catherine Soehner

3. What would you have liked me to do differently as your
new director when delivering this message? Select all
that apply.
 A. This was exactly the right way to present this information.
 B. Provide reasons about why you are making this decision.
 C. Provide an opportunity for feedback before a final decision
is made.
 D. Help us understand how this is good for the library.
 E. Give me a chance to tell you why I think this is a bad idea.
 F. Other, please describe.

4. Objectives
Leadership
 Apply a set of tools and best practices for invoking change
 Least amount of upset
 Most amount of getting to goals
Employees
 Tools to survive and keep your sanity in an ever-changing
environment
 Your power in an organization
 Where you have and do not have control

5. Outline
 My background
 Change Management Resources
 Systems Theory from Barry Oshry
 Feedback
 Transparency
 Communication – what, when, how much
 Re-thinking resistance

6. My Background
 21 years of leadership and management experience
Photos by Elizabeth Skene, from http://library.ucsc.edu/science, by Mlibrary, and Catherine Soehner

7. What type of library do you work in?
• Academic
• Public
• School
• Government
• Special – Private Company
• Other, please describe

8. Change Management Resources
Eckel, Peter, Green, M., Hill, B., & Mallon, W. (1999). On Change
III - Taking Charge of Change: A Primer for Colleges and
Universities. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education.
Kotter, John. "Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail.”
HBR Articles, 2007: 1-10.
Hanleybrown, Fay, John Kania, and Mark Kramer.
“Channeling change: Making collective impact work.” Stanford
Social Innovation Review 20 (2012): 1-8.
Judge, William Q., R. Steven Terrell. “Navigating the White Water
of Organization-Wide Change.” Chapter 4, 51-72. In: Carter,
Louis. Change Champion’s Field Guide: Strategies and Tools for
Leading Change in Your Organization (2nd Edition) : John Wiley
& Sons.

9. Common Features
Kotter; and Judge & Terrell
• Create Urgency
• Form a Powerful
Guiding Coalition
• Create a Vision
• Communicate the
Vision
• Empower Others to Act
• Plan for and Create
Short-term Wins
• Consolidate
Improvements
• Institutionalize New
Approaches
Eckel, et.al.
• Create the Context
• Lead with Teams
• Develop Change
Strategies
• Engage the Campus
Community
• Deploy Resources
• Provide Evidence of
Change
Hanleybrown, et.al.
• Backbone Support
• Common Agenda
• Continuous
Communication
• Mutually Reinforcing
Activities
• Shared Measurement
Communication is Key!

10. Systems Thinking
The Possibilities of Organization
By Barry Oshry

11. Systems Thinking
 Typical = Internal Warfare
 People respond based on their place in the
organizational structure
Photo by Ryan Roberts, CC-BY,SA

12. Bottoms
 We see negative conditions
 We believe others (higher ups) could fix these
conditions if they chose to… and, they don’t
It is a world in which our lives and the organization’s life
are in the hands of others, higher-ups, and they are
making a mess of it.
Photo by Nathan Rupert, CC BY-NC-ND

13. Middles
 Between two or more people in the organization who
are in disagreement
 Or have differing priorities or perspectives
It is a world in which we get little positive feedback from
anyone
Photo by Nathan Rupert, CC BY-NC-ND

14. Tops
We are responsible for some operation or a piece
of it
We suck up all responsibility to ourselves and
away from others
Leads to feeling burdened
Photo by Nathan Rupert, CC BY-NC-ND

15. Q&A
Where are you?
Top
Middle
Bottom
Photo by Nathan Rupert, CC BY-NC-ND

16. Q&A
How many of you recognize the “Us
Against Them” or “Internal Warfare” in
your library?
• Yes
• No
Photo by Ryan Roberts, CC-BY,SA

17. Q&A
For those of you who answered “yes” in the last
question, how many of you would like to change
this dynamic?
• Yes
• No

18. The Way Out
 Recognize how we contribute
 Freedom to act differently
 Hope = Partnership
Photo by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CC-BY

19. Outline
 My background
 Change Management Resources
 Systems Theory from Barry Oshry
 Feedback
 Transparency
 Communication – what, when, how much
 Re-thinking resistance

20. Feedback
 What do we expect or hope will happen when we are
asked to give feedback?
 Example: Food and Drink in the Library

21. Feedback – Food & Drink
A. People will leave a mess
B. Food leads to pests
C. Food and pests damage books
D. What about Special Collections
E. The smell!
F. Libraries are not cafes
G. I don’t want to be the food police
H. I want to have positive interactions with users
I. This is a good idea

22. Response – Food & Drink
 Thank you
 Plan is to move forward with allowing food and drink
 Not in Special Collections

23. Feedback – Q&A
For those of you whose feedback was not
incorporated, did you think I considered your
ideas?
• Yes
• No

24. Response – Food & Drink
A. People will leave a mess
B. Food leads to pests
C. Food and pests damage books
D. What about Special Collections
E. The smell!
F. Libraries are not cafes
G. I don’t want to be the food police
H. I want to have positive interactions with users
I. This is a good idea

25. Feedback – Q&A
For those of you whose feedback was not
incorporated, did you think I considered your
ideas?
• Yes
• No

26. Feedback Toward Partnership
 Employees
 Not everyone will agree with us
 Included in the decision making process
 We are still valued, respected, and appreciated
 Leadership
 Not everyone will agree with us
 Listen without judgement
 Be prepared for passionate and strong opinions
 Be ready to adjust the original idea

27. Feedback to the Boss
 Is the decision final?
 Do you have new information?
 How important is it?
 Connect feedback to organization’s and manager’s goals
 Provide actionable suggestions
 Curiosity is your friend

28. Feedback from Others
 I don’t know what is going on!
 Library Administration isn’t listening to the people on the
front lines.
 You really could have done that better.
 You should have told my group first.
 All the work I’ve done in my career is not appreciated.

29. Feedback
 What do we do with all this feedback?
 How do we work in partnership?
Photo by Virtual EyeSee, CCBY

30. Evaluating Feedback
Stone, Douglas, and Sheila Heen.
Thanks for the feedback: The science and
art of receiving feedback well. Penguin
UK, 2014.

31. Tell Me More
Move from “That’s just wrong” to
“Tell me more.”
--Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen

32. What Was Said
“I don’t know what’s going on!”

33. What Was Meant
“I don’t know what’s going on!”
What she really meant:
1. I don’t know what’s going to happen next.
2. I’m confused about a decision and the timing of the
announcement.
3. I just don’t like it.

34. Feedback Toward Partnership
 As often as possible ask for feedback
 Use “Tell me more” and similar questions
 (Curiosity is your friend)
 Listen without judgement or defensiveness
 Take time to think

35. Outline
 My background
 Change Management Resources
 Systems Theory from Barry Oshry
 Feedback
 Transparency
 Communication – what, when, how much
 Re-thinking resistance

36. Transparency
 What do we expect or hope will happen when our
boss says they are going to be transparent?

37. Transparency
 What do we expect or hope will happen when our
boss says they are going to be transparent?
• Example: We will be closing the main reference desk
because of reasons A, B, and C.

38. Communication is the Key
 When
 How much
 What
Jick, Todd D. “Recipients of Change.” In Organization change : a comprehensive
reader. Edited by W. Warner Burke, Dale G. Lake, and Jill Waymire Paine, 404-417.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008.
Photo by Catherine Soehner, CC-BY

39. Communication - When
First, managerial secrecy
probably has no positive value…
Greenhalgh, Leonard and Todd Jick, “Survivor Sense Making and
Reaction to Organizational Decline,” Management Communications
Quarterly, 2, (February 1989): 305-327.

40. Communication – How Much?
 First drafts
 Feedback and more drafts
 Decision making process

41. Communication - What
 Clarify expectations
 What is and is not changing
 Listen for where your employees will have to take big
risks
Jick, Todd D. “Recipients of Change.” In Organization change : a comprehensive
reader. Edited by W. Warner Burke, Dale G. Lake, and Jill Waymire Paine, 404-417.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008.
Photo by Jason Eppink, CC-BY

42. Re-thinking Resistance
 An indicator that change is already underway
 Important information can come from resistors
 Unearth core values
 Working toward change
Jick, Todd D. “Recipients of Change.” In Organization change : a comprehensive
reader. Edited by W. Warner Burke, Dale G. Lake, and Jill Waymire Paine, 404-417. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008.

43. Conclusion
It is a fundamental tenet of participative
management that employees are more
likely to support what they help create...
Jick, Todd D. “Recipients of Change.” In Organization change : a comprehensive
reader. Edited by W. Warner Burke, Dale G. Lake, and Jill Waymire Paine, 404-417.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008.

44. Thank you
 Anthony Bole
 Melanie Hawks
 Alberta Comer
 Steven Bell

45. Questions?
Catherine Soehner
University of Utah, catherine.soehner@utah.edu
Photo by U-EET. Used with permission.