OSU Libraries, Cataloging Department Planning Retreat Report, August 1997

Background

On August 12 and 13, 1997, all 19 members of the Cataloging Department participated in a 1.5 day planning retreat at OSU's Fawcett Center in Columbus, Ohio. The retreat was designed and facilitated by Dr. Barbara A. Miller from the Office of Organization and Human Resource Development

Retreat Objectives

The department's leadership identified three objectives for the retreat:

1. To define and share a common vision of the department's desired future.
2. To develop an actionable plan that will lead the department toward that vision.
3. To re energize the department and strengthen its sense of community.

Retreat Format

To maximize participation and intra departmental interaction, staff participated in structured discussions conducted in small, mixed groups from all sections (Serials, Western Languages, Non- Roman Languages, Thesis and Special Projects, Maintenance, and Authorities). Each group recorded their ideas on flip charts then reported out to the larger group. Participants agreed on ground rules to govern behavior during the retreat: begin and start on time; treat each other with respect; listen as an ally; be honest and trustworthy; do not undermine ideas, even your own; be open minded; keep information disclosed in the retreat confidential until the group decides what it wants to share.

To achieve the objectives, staff participated in sequenced discussions to create a vision of excellence, conduct a self-assessment in relation that vision, and develop strategies and action plans that will lead them toward their vision. The following is a summary of those discussions.

VISION OF EXCELLENCE

Who do we serve? Who are our customers (i.e. those who directly receive or experience products and services we provide)?

Internal Customers	External Customers
Students and Faculty	OCLC
Labeling Division	OhioLink
Public Services	Library of Congress
Location Libraries	Interlibrary Loan
Collection Managers	Local, State, national and international Libraries

Who are our stakeholders (i.e. those who, in addition to customers, have a stake in the performance of the Cataloging Department; those who care)?

Stakeholders

Cataloging Department Staff	Service providers (Tech Pro, OCLC)
Library Administration	Vendors
Library Community	Publishers
OSU administration	Authors
Library donors	Taxpayers
Competitor libraries (e.g., Univ. Of Michigan)

How do we define excellence? In our vision of the future, we define "excellence" as satisfying customers and stakeholders by meeting or exceeding their expectations through:

• Quality by providing accurate and complete catalog records in a timely manner, and by achieving compliance to standards.
• Quantity by increasing the records data base and by eliminating all backlogs.
• Quick response by providing fast service with minimum errors.
• Productivity by doing more with less while maintaining high quality.
• Cost effectiveness by eliminating all unnecessary work, and by using resources wisely and efficiently.
• Flexibility by being open to change, by doing what is needed and requested and not just what has always been done, by not doing the same thing for everyone because its always been done that way, and by being adaptable.
• Good communications by explaining what and why we do things, and by being good listeners.
• Expertise by being knowledgeable of new systems and changes in rules and standards.
• Customer service by being accessible and responsive, by answering questions quickly and accurately, and by recognizing donors.
• Professionalism by treating people with respect and dignity, and by being polite and courteous.
• Cooperation by collaborating with organizations inside and outside the department
• Good reputation by being better than others including our competitors, by being viewed as the benchmark of "best practice," and by being a trend setter.
• Continuous improvement by being watchful for and acting on opportunities for improvement.

Also in our vision of the future, we define "excellence" as meeting or exceeding the needs and expectations of faculty and staff in the Cataloging Department by:

• Working in a comfortable, safe, and clean physical environment located in a place other than the basement.
• Having reliable, state-of-the art equipment that supports our work.
• Being flexible, open to change, and continuously seeking ways to improve.
• Treating each other with respect, dignity, trust, and fairness (no finger pointing, no fits of anger, no negative attitude, no put-downs, no gossiping, no broken promises, no breaking of confidences, no stonewalling).
• Being knowledgeable and sharing our knowledge with each other.
• Enjoying good relations with other departments and library administration.
• Having good communications among ourselves and with those we serve, and by being good listeners.that are competitive in the marketplace.
• Having flexible work schedules.
• Having adequate staff, offices, and storage to achieve our mission.
• Being fully trained and up-to-date in all departmental rules and operations.
• Being organized through a more systematic approach to documentation, staff coverage, and training.
• Being a leader in library technology.
• Providing positive and constructive feedback to each other.
• Rewarding good performance through money and other forms of recognition.
• Having "better than good" salaries and benefits

SELF ASSESSMENT

In order to develop a plan to help us achieve excellence, we assessed ourselves against our vision and determined the following strengths and weaknesses, and factors in our external world that may present us with opportunities and threats (SWOTs):

STRENGTHS

What are our strengths? In what ways do we excel? What do we currently do very well?

Human Resources

• Knowledge and Expertise. We are knowledgeable because we are very experienced in diverse areas, and because we regularly participate in activities to update our skills and abilities.
• Hardworking and Dedicated. We are hardworking because we are dedicated to our work and enjoy what we do. We take pride in what we do.
• Dependable. We are dependable; fewer and fewer things slip through the cracks. We work well together.

Methods

• Flexible and Creative. We are able to respond to customers with different expectations and requirements. Although we maintain compliance to standards which is important for records that serve a national data base, we are creative in finding ways to meet unique needs of those we serve.
• Adaptive to Change. We are accustomed to and skillful at adapting to changes in rules and special projects.
• Productive. We have demonstrated our ability to do more with less.
• Customer Oriented. We are good communicators. We are courteous and responsive. We have a good sense of humor.
• Independent. Compared to our past, we are becoming increasingly independent of strict control mechanisms that intimidate people and constrain creativity and flexibility.
• Problem Solving. We are good at identifying and solving problems. We are resourceful.

Technology

• Systems Expertise. We are systems experts.
• Work Stations. We are in the process of upgrading and expanding technology in the departmen

WEAKNESSES

In what ways do we need to improve? Where are opportunities for improvement we can address?

Physical Environment

• Working conditions that are not safe, clean, and comfortable (short and long term problems).

Staffing Resources

• Do not always have the right number of staff at the right level at the right place.

Technology

• Not enough work stations.
• Under-utilization of on-line resources.

Communications

• No systematic communication systems within the department to share expertise; we rely too much on oral traditions.
• Poor communications with organizations outside the department where we build greater support and recognition.
• Ineffective interpersonal communications such as:

Giving positive and constructive feedback

Fostering cooperation

Strengthening leadership

Building teamwork; working together

Demonstrating support for a colleague when communicating outside the department.

Training

• Disorganized manuals and documentation.
• Lack of cross training.
• Lack of training on changes and updates.
• Lack of technical training.

Organizational Culture and Climate

• Low morale, trust, and negative attitudes
• Inadequate incentives and rewards
• Insufficient Commitment to responsibilities

OPPORTUNITIES

What opportunities are before us? What factors in the environment can positively impact our future?

• Changes in key leadership positions (Library Director, Human Resources, Governor)
• Vacant positions in the department
• New technology (equipment, e-mail, Web)
• Training opportunities (Continuing Education)
• Physical environment and changes in floor plan
• Changes in rules and procedures
• Regional and national cooperatives
• OCLC services
• Outsourcing
• No forced retirements

THREATS

What threats are before us? What factors in the environment can negatively impact our future? What emerging issues in the environment should we be watching and managing?

• Budget cuts
• Low salaries
• Reduced benefits
• Downsizing and loss of jobs
• Job freezes
• Outsourcing
• New administration
• Prompt Cat, Tech Pro
• Blue Ribbon Commission to study Library
• Library merges
• Criticisms from outside
• Our own attitudes and behaviors
• Pace and unpredictability of change
• New fads

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

After analyzing the results of our self assessment of our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOTs) in comparison to our vision of excellence, three strategic areas for improvement emerged: (1) training, (2) communications (within and outside the department), and (3) physical environment. Each area of improvement is explained below.

Training

• Our productivity suffers because we are unable to meet changing work requirements generated by unanticipated special projects.
• Our productivity suffers because we are unprepared for staff shortages created by illnesses, resignations, etc.
• Although we participate in training, our ability to ensure high quality products and services suffers because training is inadequate. More specifically our training: (a) lacks documentation; (b) is somewhat anecdotal and based on oral traditions; and (c ) is limited in scope to areas within our current work assignment.
• Our consistency and efficiency suffers due to undocumented workflow and procedures.

Communications

• Because of poor external communications, important customers and stakeholders do not understand what we do, how we do it, and why. For example, collection managers do not understand how and why we apply the rules.
• Because of poor internal communications, our productivity decreases and our morale suffers when we receive information that is misleading (based on gossip and rumor), inaccurate, or late.
• Because of poor external communications, our important customers and stakeholders are unaware of our department's strengths and accomplishments. Hence, we do not receive well- deserved recognition and we encounter resistance when building collaborative partnerships with others.

Physical Environment

• Conditions of comfort (heating, air conditioning, furnishings, etc.)
• Conditions of cleanliness (carpet, walls, etc.)
• Conditions of safety (dust, chemicals, fibers, etc.)

PLAN OF ACTION

We selected one of our high priority problems and examined it using a problem solving process of stating the problem, identifying causes, generating and selecting solution ideas, and creating action plans.

Problem Statement

"Although we participate in training, our ability to ensure high quality products and services suffers because training is inadequate. More specifically our training: (a) lacks documentation; (b) is somewhat anecdotal and based on oral traditions; and (c ) is limited in scope to areas within our current work assignment."

Compelling Need to Take Action

The group concluded there was a compelling need to address this problem because if nothing were to change, the following would occur:

• We would lag behind our technology
• We would develop a bad reputation and lose our credibility with customers and stakeholders
• We would provide sub-standard cataloging service errors, inconsistencies.
• We would provide poor customer service because we could not answer questions.
• We could not act "professionally."
• Morale would drop.
• Productivity would drop due to wasted time and energy.
• We would be less flexible.
• We would lose knowledge when someone leaves.
• New employees would not know procedures
• There would be more chaos and less organization.
• Inconsistencies in the data base would increase.
• Users would experience problems retrieving information.
• We would experience low customer satisfaction.

Causes Behind the Problem

Through brainstorming we identified the following causes underlying the problem:

• There is no plan for coordinating documentation.
• There is no system for updating information.
• There is no system for disseminating updated documentation.
• There is no agreement on what documentation is needed.
• No one is responsible for and no time is set aside for organizing documentation.
• Information is inaccessible because people under-utilize on-line resources.
• Too much material is in too many formats.
• Merged departments use with different procedures.
• Training is a low priority.
• There is never enough time.
• There are too many changes in the way information is delivered.
• Too much information comes from too many sources.
• We have different levels of expertise among staff.
• Some are afraid to ask questions.
• People do not assume responsibility for compiling information.
• We are more comfortable asking someone for an answer.

Possible Solution Ideas

Through brainstorming, we identified possible actions we could take and by whom:

(What)

• Develop a process for cross training.
• Inventory all technology and its support to access of documentation.
• Gather documentation and update, complete, or gather what is lacking.
• Evaluate our technology and determine if we need to get outside training.
• Provide workstations for on-line training.
• Establish lines of communications with other affected areas in order to maintain consistency.
• Maintain a master manual in the department to minimize confusion in updating.
• Create a master manual on-line for easy updating.
• Identify best ways to organize documentation (contact others)
• Explain who uses the documentation in documentation explanations.
• Develop an index.
• Develop mechanisms that ensure documentation once organized remains organized and updated

. (Who and How)

• Determine who is best qualified to compile information and keep it up-to-date.
• Form a group to be responsible for gathering all information.
• Develop a time frame for how long this will take
• Set aside specific amounts of time each week for each section to compile and organize documentation.
• Conduct a retreat or workshop to organize materials.
• Set aside time for the whole department to organize materials.
• Make this a priority.
• Encourage cross training in pairs where each person becomes both a teacher and learner.
• Create group participation incentives by ensuring the group(s) are focused on results and are committed to doing things, and won't just discuss things.

Final Decisions

We agreed to the following actions:

1. As an entire staff, compile and review all current factors, plans, and priorities before deciding anything further.
2. When appropriate, each sub-section will collect all documentation materials related to their section and present it to a coordinating committee.
3. When appropriate, form a coordinating committee to develop and coordinate a system for organizing documentation and training. The committee will develop a timeframe, make policy recommendations, and coordinate training. The committee must be "results" oriented. Members of the committee include: Beverly, Noelle, Cheryl, Jose, and Sherry.
4. In addition, prepare and disseminate a communication to everyone who might be impacted by documentation organization.
5. Conduct a meeting with the Library Director and Assistant Director for Technical Services to present retreat results and discuss ways to improve the physical environment.
6. Type up all the data from all the flip chart sheets and retreat evaluation notes.
7. Prepare two versions of a final report: a complete report for the staff, and an executive summary for stakeholders.
8. Create a consolidated "vision statement" based on the data generated at the retreat.

RETREAT EVALUATION

Goals and Expectations

During the planning stages of the retreat, departmental leadership identified three objectives:

1. To define and share a common vision of the department's desired future.
2. To develop an actionable plan that will lead the department toward that vision.
3. To re energize the department and strengthen its sense of community.

In the beginning of the retreat, participants expressed their personal "expectations" in terms of the process and outcomes.

In terms of the retreat's process, participants hoped everyone would:

• Be open-minded
• Speak up and contribute
• Listen and be able to hear opinion of others

In terms of outcomes, participants hoped:

• To open lines of communication
• To continue to be on a good basis with one another
• To be pleasantly surprised with the outcomes
• To gain a sense of renewal
• To renew a sense of direction
• To gain a sense of their future and what it will bring

Participant Feedback

Participants discussed "what went well" and "suggestions for improvement" in small groups lead by section coordinators who recorded and reported to the large group the following findings:

What went well?

Overall

• Many of us who came with a negative attitude were pleasantly surprised and think it went better than expected.
• We felt it went well.
• We liked having an official forum for discussion.

Format and Logistics

• We liked the small group format.
• It was well organized and well run.
• There was good interaction within and among tables.
• There was good communication throughout the department.
• It was a good pace; we were never bored.
• There wasn't too much paper and handouts.
• It was interesting to note consistency in opinions.
• It was a good location; it was good to get away so we didn't have to focus on daily needs.
• It is good that information on flip charts will be written up and shared.

Facilitator (Barbara Miller)

• She was excellent; she did a very good job
• She helped us bring out and identify areas that can be improved and helped us channel them into problems that can be changed.
• She took effort to understand our work; we were pleasantly surprised by her understanding
• She was accommodating
• She showed respect for others and made participants at ease; she was good at including all in the discussion.
• She was good at interspersing humor.

Outcomes

• We have a more clear sense of direction especially regarding documentation and environmental problems.
• We hope we can get what we need but we are skeptical. We wish administration would go on a retreat because change comes from the top.
• We are glad we came back to the physical environment problem the second day.
• We have formulated problems and actions and now we need to clearly articulate our vision; we are glad Andrea volunteered to write one that will be based on these ideas.
• We are leaving with a sense of goals. It will take a while to accomplish them and we need cooperation.
• We feel we are positioned to adapt to the future.
• We feel we have a strengthened sense of community as a result of this retreat; some of us feel more a part of the group.
• We leave this retreat with a strong sense of commitment to solving our problems and pursuing our action plans.

Suggestions for Improvement

• We needed more time to identify specific problems (on green cards). We did not like being restricted to problems that fell "within our sphere of influence."
• Could we have done this in one day?

Additional Notes About the Meeting on Physical Environment

(Where and When) The meeting should be held in the basement during the afternoon as soon as we are ready.

(What) The purpose of the meeting will be to start direct dialogue about conditions in the basement and to present the vision of excellence and plans initiated at the retreat. Suggestions about the content were to: (a) offer several options, (b) avoid sounding "whiny", (c ) avoid threats, (d) state our concerns in the language of performance (i.e. impact on productivity, morale, customer satisfaction, cost (opportunity costs as well as cost savings). In any event, be planful and not rush into the meeting.

(Format) Structure the meeting using an agenda to maintain control. Conduct the meeting in a manner that suggests a "united front" and cohesive team. Several members of the staff should play a role; avoid relying on communications primarily from coordinators and the head. (Invitation) The nature of the invitation will state an important message so this too needs to be carefully planned. Incorporate the word "dialogue" as this has the connotation of two-way communications.

Maintained by Jose O. Diaz

Revised: November 18, 1997

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