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6023 results in Facet Publishing

Page 136 of 302

  • 44 - Conferences – attending

  • from Section 3 - Activities and tools
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 110-112

  • Summary

    ATTENDING A CONFERENCE as a delegate is a rewarding experience. It provides numerous opportunities for learning, sharing ideas, meeting new people, building networks, visiting new places, generating new initiatives and providing time out from the day job for reflection (Baron, 2014). The benefits to both the LKS and individual development are varied and sometimes unexpected, whether attending or participating.

    As a manager or supervisor you will need to balance your service needs with the personal development needs of individuals in your team, whilst trying to be fair and equitable to everyone. However, promoting conference attendance and attending conferences yourself proves your commitment to learning and professional development, which is vital in creating a successful team.

    One way to make an informed decision about whether a member of the team should attend a particular conference is to ask them to provide you with a business case as to why they should attend. This means that they will really have to reflect on the conference and why their participation would be useful to them and to the LKS. You can also add the condition that, on their return, they will write up a report and give a short presentation on what they learned, in order to cascade knowledge to the rest of the team.

    You could encourage staff members to give a presentation at the conference that they wish to attend. In fact some organizations make having a paper accepted at a conference a requirement for receiving funding to attend. If a member of staff does have a paper accepted, they get all the learning and networking benefits of attendance at a conference. They learn about presenting at conferences and they promote your project or service.

    Obviously, attending a conference can be expensive in terms of the actual costs involved and the participant's time out of the office. There is preparation time if they are presenting, travel time, expenses and a possible overnight stay, all of which can mount up.

    Local conferences can help to minimize costs and can be a great way of making connections with new people, creating local networks and building on existing knowledge and skills (Baron, 2014).

  • 27 - Feedback – general

  • from Section 2 - Infrastructure
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 63-65

  • Summary

    PROVIDING STAFF WITH feedback on their performance as individuals and as a team is an important part of performance management. It enables individuals to be clear about what is expected of them and assists them in identifying areas they need to develop.

    If you hold regular one-to-ones with your staff you will have plenty of opportunities to provide feedback. It should be a way of enabling two-way communication between yourself and the individuals you line manage. It is not about telling people what to do, rather it is a means of encouraging them to think about and reflect upon their own performance. Done well, providing regular feedback should enhance an individual's confidence and improve their overall performance.

    The principle behind feedback is that it is about the individual and their performance. It should not be about things they cannot change and it should be relevant to their role. There are numerous models of proving feedback. A quick search on the internet for ‘feedback models’ will provide you with lots of examples for you to select one which suits your style of management and which you feel comfortable with.

    If you are new to providing feedback you might need to prepare in advance what you are going to say. Points to reflect on in preparation for providing feedback include the following:

  • • Think about what you want the outcome of the feedback to be. What is the skill, knowledge or behaviour that you want changed or encouraged?

  • • Can you provide a clear example of what you are providing feedback on? It is not good practice to provide feedback on something that you have not witnessed yourself or that you do not have clear evidence of.

  • • Consider the questions you might want to ask the individual to encourage them to reflect on the situation under discussion. What do they think happened? What do they think went well? What would they do differently in future? What support do they need to make any changes? The idea is for the individual to take ownership of their own performance and work to improve or maintain it.

  • 31 - Writing references

  • from Section 2 - Infrastructure
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 72-74

  • Summary

    AS A MANAGER, colleague or friend you will most likely be approached for a reference at some point in your life. The most usual scenario is that a current or past employee will ask you for a reference to support their application for a new job, but you could be asked for a personal or character reference in relation to an application to rent a property, an academic placement or a nomination for an award. If you are asked to provide a character reference or personal reference you can do this in your own right but these should not be offered on organizational headed paper.

    If you are providing a written reference for an individual on behalf of the organization in your role as their manager or supervisor, you should check your organizational policy for writing references, such as the one provided for staff working at the University of Manchester (University of Manchester, 2015) to clarify the process. If your organization does not have such a policy, your HR department should be able to advise whether you have the appropriate level of authority to proceed.

    Commonly, when you receive a request to provide a reference, the applying organization will send you a number of questions that they require answers to, or a general statement to guide you. If this is not the case and you are asked to write a general account or letter, there are a number of templates that you can access on the BusinessBalls website to get you started (Chapman, 2016). Some of the things that you should consider when writing references are summarized below (University of Manchester, 2015; Chapman, 2016; Sakrouge, 2015):

  • • Include only the facts; do not speculate or provide opinion.

  • • If you provide a reference you have a duty of care.

  • • It must be factual, accurate, fair, balanced and not libellous.

  • • It must not be discriminatory.

  • • It must comply with the Data Protection Act.

  • • Do not get personal in a reference, ensure that you remain objective.

  • • Try to provide positive statements.

  • • Information about disciplinary proceedings should be backed up with dates and figures.

  • 89 - VLEs

  • from Section 3 - Activities and tools
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 237-240

  • Summary

    VLEs

    A Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is a collection of integrated tools enabling the management of online learning, providing a delivery mechanism, student tracking, assessment and access to resources.

    Jisc, 2006, 5

    VLES ARE MOST commonly used in education but do have applications in other sectors. As with many of the tools and activities in this section, using a VLE provides opportunities for individuals as a learner and in developing materials and/or courses for delivery through the VLE. VLEs have been identified as bringing a number of advantages to the learning process for both tutors and learners, as shown in Table 89.1.

    In recent years a wide range of learning opportunities have become available through the introduction of VLEs and their associated platforms. MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) are frequently delivered using this type of technology and can offer development opportunities for individuals which they would not have previously been able to access.

    If you are managing individuals who are undertaking work-related training accessed via a VLE then you do need to ensure that they have protected time to undertake the training and any related activity. The same procedures need to be in place as those you would follow for more traditional training activities, including monitoring the learning which is taking place and discussing ways it can be applied in the workplace and how it is to be shared with others.

    Developing materials and resources for VLEs will develop a wide range of skills for individuals. In addition to the technical skills required, individuals have the opportunity to develop the skills required to make online learning a viable and credible option for learners. Kelsall (2015) outlines the process shown in Figure 89.1 in dev eloping e-learning materials.

    Skills and knowledge developed through following that process will include, but are not limited to:

  • • analytical skills

  • • knowledge of learning and development theories

  • • knowledge of the different approaches you could take and how to deliver these; possibilities include using quizzes, videos, case studies, etc.

  • • understanding how to structure content so it makes sense to the learner

  • • designing learning activities

  • • writing skills

  • • marketing and promotional skills.

    • A further development opportunity for LKS staff in organizations which use a VLE is to embed LKS resources within courses developed by other teams and departments.

  • 25 - Setting objectives

  • from Section 2 - Infrastructure
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 59-61

  • Summary

    MANAGERS AND TEAMleaders will be required to set objectives for individuals and teams within the LKS environment. If outcomes are not agreed and clearly defined from the outset, this can jeopardize the success of any project, whether large or small.

    At the beginning of the project, even before any objectives are set, discuss with your team what the desired outcome will look like. This could be the development and delivery of a new training course, updating the LKS website or a reclassification project. Being really clear from the outset is integral to the success of any project.

    I want all pages on the library website to be revamped with the new logo and the content to be updated.

    I want you to develop a literature search training course for junior library staff and to deliver it on 12th April.

    During the summer holidays we need to reclassify the business section of the library.

    It is a good strategy to ask team members to articulate the outcome in their own words. This ensures that everyone has the same goal in mind.

    Once you are all agreed on the outcome of a project, you can start to work with the team to allocate personal objectives. All objectives should be SMART (see Table 25.1).

    Some simple tips for good objective setting:

  • • Make sure that you select the right person for the job.

  • • Ensure they are supported and given additional training as needed.

  • • Discuss what resources are needed to ensure successful delivery.

  • • Agree deadlines and ensure that they are realistic.

  • • Monitor progress and provide support and feedback on an ongoing basis.

  • • If you cannot determine whether the objective is being achieved, revisit and redefine if necessary, as it may not be SMART.

    • Best for

  • □ Ensuring that individuals within the team know exactly what they are expected to do and what the outcomes of their work will look like.

  • □ Ensuring successful completion of both large- and small-scale projects.

  • 54 - Formal qualifications

  • from Section 3 - Activities and tools
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 135-138

  • Summary

    FORMAL TRAINING FOR librarians in the UK dates back to the late nineteenth century (Broughton, 2010). Professional (rather than academic) qualifications are managed by CILIP; presently the normal route is postgraduate study, e.g. a Masters in Library and Information Studies or equivalent (Broughton, 2010). By focusing on assignments that mirror professional activities students develop a more professional mindset and capabilities; this can include briefing papers, competitive intelligence reports, new designs for libraries, delivering information literacy teaching and evaluating it, presentations, and web pages which are much closer to the reality of professional writing and activity (UKLIBCHAT, 2015a).

    In order to facilitate your staff in achieving their qualifications support can be provided in a number of ways, including releasing staff from work for studying and helping with flexible hours. Working whilst studying has been reported (UKLIBCHAT, 2015b) as being beneficial, as it helps people finance their qualification and provides access to useful resources and advice from their colleagues. For staff considering undertaking a formal qualification where financial support is unavailable from the workplace other support/ funding is available; this includes the John Campbell Trust Award, disabled students allowance and/or career development loan.

    Modes of study

    There are different modes of study available for staff wanting to undertake a formal professional qualification whilst working; these include distance learning and part-time study. Both distance learning and part-time study were considered amongst contributors to a UKLIBCHAT (2015b) Twitter chat to have the advantage of being more affordable, as students could continue working to finance the course and did not have to take a career break to gain the qualification. In addition, students who are already working in LKSs were able to immediately put into practice the skills they were gaining as they were learning them (UKLIBCHAT, 2015b).

    Out of these two modes of study, distance learning is considered advantageous because of its flexible nature and the need for self-motivation, e.g. self-set deadlines. Conversely, it is purported that there is a lack of regular contact with fellow students and tutors; in addition, flexibility can lead to time management and motivation issues (UKLIBCHAT, 2015b).

  • 92 - Webinars

  • from Section 3 - Activities and tools
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 243-245

  • Summary

    Webinars

    A WEBINAR IS defined as a talk on a subject which takes place online, allowing a group of people in different places to watch, listen and sometimes respond simultaneously (Macmillan Dictionary, 2015). Webinars are an economical and efficient way to provide staff education (AWHONN News and Views, 2010), offering a great alternative to traditional courses, which usually involve taking time out of work (including preparation, travel time and overnight stays) and often require funding. Attendance at all-day workshops can leave staff thinly stretched, thus creating hardship for those left staffing the building in their absence.

    Webinars (especially archival webinars, which allow staff to watch them at their convenience) address this problem, as they are often not very long and mean that staff do not have to leave their desks or the physical building in order to participate in the learning (Matteson, Schlueter and Hidy, 2013). Furthermore, with ever-decreasing staff development budgets, webinars provide an excellent way to keep up to date with developments without the expense or time commitment required from a course or conference.

    There are many webinars covering a multitude of topics, including copyright, MOOCs, discovery services amongst many others. The very nature of the internet means that it is not location-driven, therefore you can take part in webinars broadcast from other parts of the world. However, it is important to be aware of the time zone that it is occurring in so that you do not miss it. It is also important to be aware of any cost implications and to advise staff to check these with their line managers. They may be able to arrange funding as part of personal development and it is worth checking whether the organization is affiliated with the provider, as this can entitle participants to free access.

    Webinar providers

    Examples of webinar providers include organizations such as the National Information Standards Organization (NISO, 2016) which tend to cover topics such as responsive web design, MOOCs or text mining. Membership is needed to join these webinars, so check whether your organization is a member. Other providers include associations such as the United Kingdom Serial Group (UKSG), which focuses on developments in the serials world such as altmetrics or Creative Commons, and publishers, which focus their webinars on providing training or information about their products, such as ProQuest (see Further Reading).

  • 49 - Conferences – volunteering

  • from Section 3 - Activities and tools
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 121-124

  • Summary

    VOLUNTEERING FOR ANY project, working group or conference can be hugely beneficial to members of your staff and their careers. Volunteering at a conference may allow staff to attend the conference for free and, depending on what work they get involved in, can also improve their knowledge of a particular topic, their confidence, networking and other professional skills. It might even help staff develop skills that cannot be developed in the office. Perhaps you work for local government and staff are not allowed to create social media accounts, but they could run the Twitter feed for a conference. Maybe there are no opportunities for your staff to develop their staff management skills, but they could get involved in ‘staff management’ for a conference. This sort of volunteering can help progress a person's career and positively impact on their motivation, particularly if your organization lacks opportunities.

    Levels of volunteering

    There are different levels of volunteering for conferences. Sometimes conference organizers need more ‘people on the ground’, volunteers who can act as guides for delegates, showing them where the different rooms are, or ‘runners’ (running to get a tech problem solved), or sometimes just to help move equipment around. Sometimes library conferences approach local LKS courses and ask for student volunteers.

    A member of staff could apply for a longer-term vacancy on a conference organizing committee or steering group. This would involve having a look at the conference website, seeing what the parent body is and then asking if there are any vacancies. If there are, is it a vacancy where the member of staff has a particular skill or knowledge that might help?

    Staff should think about when the conference is being held and what they want to do. They can offer to help (one-off volunteering) in the run-up to the actually conference. If they want a longer-term position, they should watch mailing lists and social media (such as Lis-Link (JiscMail, 1998) or any subjectspecific lists) for ads for conference committee vacancies. They should also talk to people who are already on a committee and ask questions such as:

  • • What is expected of you?

  • • How much work is involved?

  • • Is it all year round? Or are there peaks and lulls?

  • 91 - Volunteering

  • from Section 3 - Activities and tools
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 242-243

  • Summary

    Volunteering

    VOLUNTEERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED successfully to the work of LKS since time immemorial (Forrest, 2012). Volunteering is a good way for your staff to gain skills that they would not necessarily gain in their current role or workplace. This experience can lead to the individual discovering hidden benefits for their own organization and contributes to their own continuing professional development. Volunteering can occur either within working hours by volunteering to help in other areas/departments within the workplace or externally, e.g. job shadowing in another organization or being involved in a committee. These roles can be either long-term or short-term, depending on what the project entails.

    Volunteering is an excellent way to fill gaps in skills needed for promotions or new roles (UKLIBCHAT, 2012) and provides volunteers with an opportunity to gain an insight into different sectors. Taking advantage of volunteering opportunities is a great way for individuals to improve their CVs, make professional connections and find out more about working in the LKS community (CILIP, 2013).

    However, it is important that the volunteer does not over commit themselves. Volunteers need to be clear on how much commitment is required from them and how this can be factored into their existing workload.

  • 70 - Presentations – general tips

  • from Section 3 - Activities and tools
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 179-183

  • Summary

    PRESENTING IS ONE of those things that people often say they do not like doing. Despite this, it is an important skill that all LKS staff should develop. Recruitment processes frequently require candidates to present, the success of teaching and training sessions is often reliant on the presenting skills of the person leading them and people will frequently learn of the existence of your service though a presentation, be it an induction, a talk at a meeting or some other event.

    It is important to take every opportunity to practise and enhance the skills of your staff in this area. No one wants to be in the position where their dream job comes up or they have to put together a presentation to secure the future of their service and it is the first presentation they have done in years.

    The key to a good presentation is preparation and lots of it. Some people can just stand up and deliver a brilliant presentation off the cuff but they are few and far between. The first steps in putting together a good presentation are for the individual delivering it to be clear about what the purpose of the presentation is and what they want the outcome to be.

    Purpose and outcome

    The purpose of the presentation can usually be classified into one of the following areas:

  • • informing

  • • persuading

  • • instructing

  • • entertaining.

    • The outcome is what you want to happen as a result of the presentation and will be closely linked to the purpose. For example, your staff member might be presenting to a group of students about how to use a database. The purpose of the presentation would be to instruct them in how to use the database and the outcome would be that they would be able to use the database to conduct searches on their own.

    Planning

    Once your staff member is clear about the purpose and the outcome they can start to plan their presentation. The flowchart in Figure 70.1 outlines a possible process for planning the content of a presentation which you could work through with the member of staff who is going to present.

  • 29 - Team meetings

  • from Section 2 - Infrastructure
  • Tracey Pratchett, Gil Young, Carol Brooks, Lisa Jeskins, Helen Monagle
  • Book:
    Practical Tips for Developing Your Staff
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    21 November 2016, pp 68-70

  • Summary

    AS MANAGERS OR supervisors of LKS teams you will be regularly involved in formal, scheduled meetings as part of the day-to-day running of the service. These could be meetings with other LKS staff or alternatively with stakeholders or users of your service, examples of which are management meetings, user group meetings or health and safety meetings (ILM, 2007).

    This Tip focuses on group meetings (one-to-one meetings are discussed in Tip 26, p. 61) and we will consider how you can make the most of these meetings by organizing them and facilitating them effectively. Love them or not, meetings are an essential part of managing your teams and provide the opportunity for you to communicate with them to track progress against organizational objectives, complete and allocate work, address any issues or deliver information to the group. ILM (2007) suggest that team meetings have a range of purposes, including communicating information, management control, decision making and solving problems.

    For a meeting to be successful it is essential that attendees understand the purpose of the meeting and a good way of doing this is to agree these beforehand and record them in the terms of reference. Terms of reference provide clarity about the purpose of the meeting, how it will run, where it will take place, who needs to attend and frequency. Establishing a clear purpose at the outset provides a shared vision and identity for the team. A well conducted meeting will be well prepared and people should know what they need to bring and whether they will have any specific roles, e.g. Chair, minute taker or participant. An agenda which includes timings for the meeting, minutes of the previous meeting, an action log and any additional reading should be distributed in advance and any questions for discussion will ensure that attendees can adequately prepare and contribute (ILM, 2007).

    Meetings should be linked to LKS plans, be regularly monitored and should be collaborative and participative. Mind Tools (2016) indicate that a successful meeting will leave people feeling energized, as the meeting objective was accomplished, it was not too long and a clear process was followed.

Page 136 of 302