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Developing quality managers and quality
management: the challenge to leadership in library
organizations.
Author: Orenstein, David. Source:
Library Administration & Management v. 13 no1 (Winter 1999) p.
44-51 ISSN: 0888-4463 Number: BLIB99001620 Copyright: The
magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is
reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in violation
of the copyright is prohibited.
Library managers face many challenges. Communication, team-based
management, shared organizational vision, and trusting relationship building
are but a few of the issues leaders must confront to create their
organizations. There are many techniques that can be used to develop quality
relationships between staff and customers; however, the lack of leadership
training necessary to use the tools of Total Quality Management (TQM) promotes
gaps in service. This article will explore those gaps and provide some ways to
promote quality service in libraries. Managing for quality will revitalize
your organization. It will transform your library from a traditional hierarchy
where authority is clearly demarcated (figure 1) into a web-shaped structure
(figure 2) that flattens and decentralizes the decision-making process. This
change will move your library toward an organization that considers service
issues, people, and challenges as simultaneous and interconnected concerns.
TRANSFORMING THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONCEPT OF TIMEStaff expect closure when
implementing plans that produce new products, programs, and services. However,
when the emphasis is on quality management, libraries will need to adapt
continuously to the customer's demands for service. Results are always
fine-tuned.
ELEVEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT TQM (WITH APOLOGIES TO WALLACE STEVENS)Managing
for quality is challenging precisely because the change takes time, effort,
and energy from all staffing levels. Using tools of quality will allow you to
manage the change. Library leaders need to use the following skills to
transform organizations using the quality model:.
1. Build a shared vision for the library.
2. Put the needs of the customers before the politics of the organization.
3. Build cooperation among all levels of employees.
4. Communicate.
5. Emphasize teamwork.
6. Build trust.
7. Redesign processes and attitudes.
8. Train for quality.
9. Develop leadership skills.
10. Manage by fact.
11. Motivate staff by making work enjoyable.
BUILD A SHARED VISION FOR THE LIBRARYA shared vision is one of the most
fundamental and important concepts that your organization can apply in order
to change attitudes and focus attention on building a customer-based system.
Regardless of which vision is developed, it must be self-defining and contain
the organization's values, core beliefs, and fundamental attitudes. Staff will
believe the vision when it is backed by action.
For vision sharing to be successful, it must come from the top down and be
built from the bottom up. Frontline staff who see their supervisors embody the
vision and values of the organization will internalize this behavior. Managers
who truly believe in an organization's vision can use this momentum to improve
results and make the future a reality. Glordan notes, "Vision must come from
top management but be based on inputs from all qualified sources in order to
stimulate the entire organization into action and to guide the application of
those tools and processes best suited to the organization's culture and
expectations."(FN1).
Remember, the library's vision is what you want your organization to become
in the future. The vision encompasses all the ideals that you value and
believe are desirable.
PUT THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS BEFORE THE POLITICS OF YOUR
ORGANIZATIONPretending that politics do not play a role in shaping
organizational culture would be foolish. Libraries are not free from the tug
of war that personality conflicts produce. Politics can inhibit innovation and
creativity, block communication, and focus organizational resources away from
customers. Politics strengthen fiefdoms and exist to maintain the status quo.
Ferris found that job-related politics and stress had a high correlation in
organizations. They found that " p erceptions of organizational politics
demonstrate a significant positive relationship with job anxiety and
significant inverse relationship with general job satisfaction and
satisfaction with supervision."(FN2).
Some library managers believe that staff should be empowered to produce
change. However, to say staff are not empowered would be wrong. Staff can be
empowered to produce results through teamwork, personal achievement, and
communication; however, they can also use their empowerment to block growth
and focus on the customer.
The importance of the customer's voice must be emphasized. Quality leaders
listen to their frontline employees when discussing service delivery. Every
organization should ask itself, "Do we give frontline staff what they need to
get the job done?" A customer is not just the person standing at your
reference or circulation counter. Think of the internal customer. Look outside
your unit and identify staff in other units who impact your unit's processes.
Note how your unit meets their needs.
Libraries exist for the benefit of others, as do other service
organizations. Customers (internal and external) expect several things from an
organization when they use their services or products. Develop these concepts
and use them as a guide.
* Dependability. Patrons expect satisfaction every time they use a
particular service, attend a program, or use a collection. Customers want
continuity and consistency from service providers. While repetition can become
boring for the staff, the individual customer should not become the victim of
poor service because staff feel unchallenged. Each user deserves the same
level of expert assistance you can provide.
* Implied Guarantee. Customers expect that your library is committed to
service from the perspective of immediate action as well as long-term
planning. When customers use your library they assume that they are receiving
the best service their money or tax dollars can support.
* Compassion. Patrons expect those providing service to be sensitive to
their needs and expectations. Customers expect you to respect their wants and
needs. They also expect that the library will meet those needs given time.
* Responsibility and Responsiveness. Customers expect communication when
things go well. They also expect it when things go wrong. They expect someone
to take responsibility and to produce meaningful change and have those changes
communicated successfully.
Losing a library patron is tantamount to the Big Three automakers losing
market share to foreign car companies. Once you lose a customer, it may take
years for that person to come back and use your services. Make staff aware of
these lost opportunities. When staff perform a service, they have the
potential to enhance the library's value in the user's mind.
Also explain to staff the costs involved in losing and replacing customers.
Showing the cause-and-effect relationship between usage and the ability of
your library to provide service can do this. If your customer base shrinks,
your budget for staff and collections may shrink; this may mean that your
ability to lobby successfully for funding will diminish, and the library will
need to work harder just to keep running in place. However, by maintaining or
increasing your customer base, you are creating implied value in your
organization's ability to perform its function and provide service.
Encourage staff to imagine themselves as the patron. Ask your staff what
they expect when they use services outside their job. Internalizing service
conditions can be a powerful way to produce customer-focused organizational
change. Interested patrons can team with professional and support staff when
designing services or building collections. Dixon, Krauss, and Lehman were
impressed with the improved level of service provided by staff when paired
with consumer advocates.(FN3).
Remember to think in terms of connectivity within your total
organization--staff, programming, collections, services, and customers all
form a partnership. The library and its patrons are mutually dependent on one
another. Train staff and users to identify these areas that need improvement.
BUILD COOPERATION BETWEEN LEVELS OF EMPLOYEESIn many organizations, areas
incapacitate service because managers and staff cannot see beyond the narrow
vision of their daily activities. While all organizations need people in
charge to make decisions and policies, there is no reason why the process of
decision-making cannot be managed through cooperation. By including different
levels of staff in the decision-making process you will begin to change how
people perceive themselves and their work. In quality organizations, staff
understand how various functions interrelate and have a better understanding
of their purpose and responsibilities to the organization.
Frontline employees may know more about the day-to-day organizational
challenges than those in management. However, upper management may receive the
complaints, which reflect negatively upon the staff. Since senior-level staff
are not directly involved in providing service, the most insightful ideas to
improve processes often come from redirecting the planning process down, thus
making everyone responsible for their unit's performance.
COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATECommunication is one of the most
important elements of the quality process. Without good communication,
initiatives will either fail or will provide very low return on your
investment. It is important that you explore and communicate using various
verbal and nonverbal techniques to promote quality service in your library.
The three parts of good communication needed by every leader to make quality
work in your library are:.
* Active Listening. An active listener is someone who understands the
meaning or content behind words, not just the way those words are presented.
An active listener internalizes a conversation or presentation regardless of
the style of the correspondent or presenter. It means you understand and
recognize that not everyone communicates the same way. Some people are more
vocal; some use their bodies more; some are direct; others try to soften a
situation before getting to the point. An active listener is a quality
listener. He or she uses the content of the communication in some way to
improve a situation or use the information to build a stronger understanding
of a larger, more complex problem.
* Honest, Compassionate, and Appropriate Communication. Remain honest in
all your communication with staff. If you don't know an answer, don't be
afraid to say so. Do not leave a situation without some sort of closure. Give
your opinion freely, without bias and without regard to retribution. People
within your organization will respect you for your candid demeanor. Responses
should always be constructive.
* Investigate and Time Your Response. As the saying goes, timing is
everything. Think before you respond if you are given the opportunity. Do not
give partial answers to complex questions. Make sure you have enough
information so that you can respond in an articulate and professional manner.
Do your homework, especially if you are going into a meeting where your unit
is being discussed. Having data available will help support your response.
Direct, active, and quality communication will lead to positive results
throughout your library. Generally, the smaller the organization, the easier
it will be to produce results. In larger organizations, the challenge will be
to bring together facilitators. Select members from each department who can
bring back the skills to direct change and promote quality communication.
As with your employee customers, listening skills are the key to producing
quality communication with end-users and other stakeholders. Simply put, the
most important feeling you can convey to your patrons is that your
organization supports them, that their information needs, however diverse, are
the primary purpose for your library's existence.
Also, do not forget to educate the user about the library's needs. Negative
communication is still communication. Disregarding customer comments will
avoid confrontation, but it will not make the problems go away. The challenge
is to deal with the problem through evaluation and quantitative or qualitative
investigation.
When customers do meet with service problems, be direct in your
communication. Ask what went wrong or what caused their displeasure. While
many service complaints may not be solvable immediately, they can be
reexamined by focusing on the process. Quality training and a review of
policies may be the sole issues.
TEAMWORKQuality management is a community process, as every staff member
has a stake in the organization. If teams are used, do not develop them in a
vacuum. Teamwork is just one component of TQM; teams must share the
organization's vision and mission. Additionally, staff must be allowed to
communicate and take risks; otherwise, they will not produce the results you
intended. Coates and Miller noted that increased involvement of teams can
"improve employee commitment, initiatives, innovation, and productivity."(FN4)
In all libraries, teams and task forces need to feel that they have a chance
to put their work into action.
The following can be helpful guides when managing teams.
* Set Goals and the Agenda. Before any team meets, set the goals and the
agenda. The goals can be far-reaching and detailed or very humble. However,
they should never be vague. Staff deserve to know what it is they are expected
to accomplish. Regardless of its purpose, the team's mission should be
explicit. Goals should be explained clearly so everyone knows what their role
will be in the group and what is expected of every team member.
* Determine Whether the Correct Participants Are Gathered. To implement a
successful team you have to get the right people together as a group. For
instance, if your goal is to explore the development of new Internet services,
then you may have reference, access, and systems librarians as well as
computer-literate patrons participating in the design. If you are planning a
preservation or rare book program, then you may include experts in the field
of conservation, one or more bibliographers, a representative from the stacks,
and administration.
* Designate a Group Leader. Every group, no matter the size, should have a
team leader and a back-up person in case the leader is unavailable. That way
the group has continuity and members will not feel lost should their main
facilitator fail to attend meetings. Ideally, the group leader should be
someone whom people feel comfortable with and who also knows more about the
particular issue than the group. This way discussion can be free but managed.
The group leader will set the pace of inquiry, be responsible for the actions
of the group, and is the point person to monitor, measure results, and report
findings.
* Record the Team's Activities. A recording secretary is just as important
as the group leader. The selected individual should take notes and keep a log
chronicling the development and implementation of team findings. The secretary
is responsible for keeping all written communication orderly and
chronological. This person also informs group members of meeting dates and
future agendas.
* Acknowledge and Understand How Teams Grow. Before teams can produce
meaningful change in an organization, they must process through a series of
internal adaptations. These are best described by Judith Palmer as "forming,
storming, norming, & performing."(FN5) Forming is the first step of
developing teams and includes bringing participants together; storming is part
of the visioning process where team members share their opinions; norming
builds those opinions into team identity, group solidarity, and focus. The
last phase, performing, depends on how well the team has come together to
define, examine, and promote change.
THE TRUST FACTORTrust will promote change. The power of a trusting
relationship will make total quality a virtue. When trust is high,
communication is effective because staff will feel that they can discuss
issues openly and honestly. The greater the trust, the more staff will feel
that they can take risks. In low-trust situations, no one wants to take
responsibility. Staff who feel victimized use much of their energy protecting
their position. To produce trust, think of bringing the following qualities to
your interpersonal communication:.
* Value the Individual. As a manager, remember that all staff have value.
Trusting relationships build employee self-esteem and lead to personal growth.
* Nurture Staff. Direct your staff to fulfill the organization's mission.
Nurturing staff helps to build trust between staff and managers.
* Coach Staff to Be the Best. Coaches provide the support and openness
needed by staff. The coach is a cheerleader, the person who directs and makes
staff feel they can make changes even when they themselves feel it is
impossible or unreachable.
* Be a Colleague and Facilitator. Those who see their leaders as
facilitators have a higher comfort level and experience higher levels of
gratification at work.
Building trust inside your organization is important. Taking the trust
factor out to the customer is equally important. As a consumer, think about
organizations or products you trust. What do Campbell's Soup, Disney, Toyota,
Habitat for Humanity, and the Red Cross have in common? These companies and
nonprofits do well every year because their products are consistently
excellent and consumers feel they know and can trust these organizations.
As you develop trusting relations among staff, expect them to use the same
verbal techniques of honesty and open communication. Encourage staff to take
risks and, most importantly, to be open to criticism and controversy. When
building trust, remember that leaders do not attack people when they bring bad
news, but attack the problem. Do not treat errors as failures, but see them as
challenges to be overcome by individuals. Kumar and Ghadially, in their
research on organizational politics and trust, found that "trust evolves out
of past experience, confidence, and security while political interactions in
an organization create a sense of uncertainty, competition, fear, and
rivalry."(FN6).
REDESIGN PROCESSES AND ATTITUDESThe way you transform your library's
internal processes depends on how the change strategy is developed. By
committing your organization to total quality, customer focus must be apparent
in every action.
When redesigning internal processes, use workflow diagrams that show how
changes will improve outcomes. These diagrams detail a staff member's role and
responsibilities. Staff will get an added benefit when they see how their role
relates to others' roles in the organization.
Look for the obvious when attempting to improve processes. Reinforce the
idea that even incremental quality change is good. Remember that not
everything in your organization must be changed. Bowman assesses the need to
move to a quality-focused process of describing and defining work. He notes, "
Quality-based organizations discard the goal of perfection; reject the belief
that managers must control everything; and objectively discuss productivity
and improve processes using statistical data rather than rely on feelings or
impressions."(FN7).
We all hope that our staff will embrace the team philosophy when designing
change strategies. Staff need additional information and time to become
familiar and comfortable with new initiatives. Not everyone will agree that
change is beneficial.
Ask staff to explain their views toward change and assess whether the
responses are based on experience or empirical evidence. Challenge staff to
design a better process if they can. Remind them that change is not for
change's sake but to promote better overall customer relations and value.
Once your staff has accepted change, it is important to set goals to
improve the quality of services, policies, and collections. Just as goals and
objectives are set for your library, they should be set for managing the
change process so that you can monitor the progress of the initiatives.
Like workflow analysis and goals and objectives, the ability to universally
measure quality standards in your library is central to quality management.
Setting up universal and measurable standards that staff can understand will
lead to better overall quality. Trained and informed staff who understand the
quality objectives of your library will produce greater results for the
end-user. When employees have an understanding of processes and can measure
output, you can set higher standards for continuous quality improvement.
Changing the way we work can be unsettling and risky. Staff who are allowed
to take risk feel more committed to the organization because they see change
as a positive rather than a negative force. Ultimately this is what you want
to inspire in yourself and your staff.
When redesigning processes, trust your staff to do the best job possible
given they have the resources and appropriate training to get the job done. By
offering trust you declare your belief that every staff member is vital and
important.
TRAINING AND TRAINING FOR QUALITYThe need for training new employees, and
retraining and cross-training long-term staff, will always be an issue for
libraries. When designing training programs for staff, measure the core
competencies of your staff.
Develop your staff's skills to the limit each staff member can attain. If a
staff member can perform a function that everyone should perform, use this
person as the one to develop skills librarywide.
Training makes staff better at their jobs and improves service to the
end-user. Individuals must be made to understand the importance of training
workshops, seminars, and individual and / or one-on-one training. Explain the
training's purpose, what the expected outcome is, and how it will make the
staff stronger and more knowledgeable.
In the early phases, not all training has to come from the outside. Staff
should be asked for their input on this matter. Explain to staff that training
and training for quality is designed to keep them up to date and to make
processes more efficient. Improved processes benefit both the organization and
the end-user.
LEADERSHIPA leader's personal commitment to total quality is vital. Leaders
are expected to think differently and to see problems from the standpoint of
quality.
The controversy over whether leaders are born or nurtured is unresolved.
From the standpoint of TQM, we should not look for full-time leaders but to
individual staff who can get the job done. This is defined as situational
leadership.
Situational leaders lead by example since they must put the customer first,
inspire staff to believe in the mission and vision of the organization, and
supply the physical and emotional support necessary to enhance staff
development. A situational leader also shares the responsibility of making
teams work and embodying purpose of the organization.
Your ability to lead reflects your overall understanding and training with
relation to quality-based initiatives. Stewart and Manz propose that
democratic leadership of teams will assist group members to develop
self-management skills and increase overall quality, productivity, and
morale.(FN8) Guiding and mentoring your subordinates and superiors fairly and
justly will enhance your status as well as that of your organization.
THE ART OF MANAGING BY FACTTotal quality management is really about
customer service through measuring and verifying results. Services and
procedures should be quantifiable so that changes can be made. If you do not
come from this tradition, start right now.
Use statistics to monitor change and follow trends to manage staff for
better results. It is more effective to say "there was a 35 percent increase
in collection usage" rather than to just assume usage has grown. Using
statistical measurements assists in a greater understanding of service
challenges.
Do not let tradition and personal experiences stop you from managing in new
directions. While individual and organizational history is important in
building a culture and image of a library, it is important to remember that
you should not manage based on experience and intuition alone.
Managing by fact also allows you to stop the "quick fix" or "putting out
small fires" type of organizational response to problems common in libraries.
By avoiding the "quick fix" you can deal better with underlying challenges
facing the organization.
MAKE WORK ENJOYABLEUsing total quality methods in the boardroom, in
administration, and on the frontline does not have to be boring or
restrictive. When the TQM process is done well, it can be the most liberating,
self-fulfilling, and joyful management process you can share with others. Your
role as a leader is to make the work stimulating, interesting, and
challenging. Use humor whenever appropriate in the discussion of challenges
facing your library. By looking to the lighter side of a given situation,
people will feel more comfortable in the process.
Humor has an exacting and measurable positive impact on the mind and spirit
of every employee in your organization. Caudron notes that most managers in
American companies are too busy worrying about pleasing the next level of
management or how best to manage subordinates. She suggests that "more
companies should create 'humor rooms, promote individual or group play, and
humorous and fun activities."(FN9) The serious side to humor is the
acknowledgment that your staff work very hard. Humor can help eliminate
stress, strengthen friendships, and build teamwork.
A better work environment will develop when humor and positive
reinforcement are used. To truly remake your library into a quality
organization, speak to staff directly and take appropriate action when a staff
member is not doing his or her part. However, do not micro-manage! Remember,
everyone is responsible for better performance, so give staff the space they
need to take what they are learning in the total quality process and
internalize through action.
Do not set strict quotas. Set goals for everyone in the unit to share
equally. Quotas put undue stress on staff and promote a sense of competition.
Your goal should be to develop quality output rather than emphasizing output.
CONCLUSIONSBy instilling a quality service philosophy in your organization,
you will bring twenty-first century management tools to improve services in
the future. Quality management is forward-facing management.
Review your organization's core competencies because they are the actions,
plans, and services which make your library unique to end-users and create
employee commitment and value. At the same time, those core competencies have
to be constantly reassessed and reevaluated.
Thinking in a box and maintaining the status quo will hurt you as a leader
and will hurt your library's ability to perform its functions for end-users.
The status quo will only go so far until external and internal forces make you
change. You and your organization are not immovable objects existing outside
space and time. Therefore, you will need to continuously make changes to
provide better service.
Do not take staff at face value, especially based on their current job
descriptions. Be fair when designing assignments for teams or groups
participating in new strategies. Take risks and use staff who have been
underutilized in your organization. Place them in charge of small yet
important projects. Build on their success, train all staff so they are
quality-conscious and customer-focused. They, in turn, will value your
leadership and have more respect for the organization.
What worked well yesterday may not be the best solution for tomorrow.
Added material.
David Orenstein is Coordinator of Access Services at Benjamin Rosenthal
Library, Queens College/CUNY, Flushing, New York.
Figure 1. Typical Hierarchical Library Organizational Structure.
Figure 2. A Web Organization, Customer-Focused and Interconnected.
FOOTNOTES1. Judith C. Glordan, "That Vision Thing: The Key to Sustainable
Competitive Advantage," Chemtech 26, no. 123 (Feb. 1996): 11.
2. Gerald Ferris and others, "Perceptions of Organizational Politics:
Prediction, Stress-Related Implications, and Outcomes," Human Relations 49,
no. 2 (1996): 233-66.
3. Coats and Miller, "Self-Directed Teams: Lessons Learned for Local
Government," Public Management 77 (Dec. 1996): 16-21.
4. Ibid.
5. Judith D. Palmer, "For the Manager Who Must Build a Team," In: Team
Building: Blueprints for Productivity and Satisfaction. W. Brendan Reddy with
Kaleel Jamison, eds. (VA.: NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science
(1988): 137-49.
6. Pramod Kumar and Rehana Ghadially, "Organizational Politics and Its
Effects on Members of Organizations," Human Relations 42, no. 4 (1989):
305-15.
7. James S. Bowman, "At Last, an Alterative to Performance Appraisal: TQM,"
Public Administration Review 54 (Mar./Apr. 1994): 129-36.
8. Greg L. Stewart and Charles C. Manz, "Leadership for Self-Managing Work
Teams: A Typology and Integrative Model," Human Relations 48, no. 7 (1995):
747-66.
9. Shari Caudron, "Humor is Healthy in the Workplace," Personnel Journal 71
(1992): 63-68.
