Moving into management…

This two-day residential course detailed some of the key functions of management and lots of tools to make the transition into management easier and more effective. I wanted to attend the course as I hope to move into a management position in the future.

The top three things I took away from the residential were:

• Have a daily to-do list with just 4-5 things that must get done, and break large tasks or projects into smaller bites that are more manageable.
• Creative ways of problem solving can make finding a solution more fun and involve the whole team
• Rotational time management Allocate 3-4 tasks to be worked on. The maximum time spent on each task is 15 mins. Set a timer and begin. When you have done the set time on each task begin the cycle again until the hour/2hours allotted time is up

It was a very practical course with interactive work and time for us to apply what was covered to our role. The training covered:

• Planning
• Organising
• Motivation
• Problem solving
• Decision making
• Giving effective feedback
• Communicating
• Reviewing

Planning involved doing exercises to effectively plan what to spend time on each working day, such as thinking about the core activities of my role and what was most important. Having these as a list made me realise the amount and breadth of work I do and I have since used this technique to plan my day around the tasks that are important rather than just being urgent.

Organising reiterated the difference between what is urgent and what is important and techniques for managing the less important tasks. For example, do jobs like emails in bulk rather than breaking off from other work to answer emails as they come through, and have a daily to-do list with just 4-5 things that must get done, breaking large tasks or projects into smaller bites that are more manageable. This section also covered effective delegating, which I found very interesting as delegation is something I am wary of. After this section was covered I felt better prepared to delegate tasks to colleagues, knowing when it is appropriate to do so and give colleagues the responsibility to complete those tasks. Since this training I have delegated more to Library Assistant colleagues and the tasks have gone well so far.

Regarding motivation, I found it interesting that we can only influence the things we have control over. People can only motivate themselves and we can try to influence staff engagement by the way we manage them and creating the culture in the team or organisation to foster engagement. Since the residential I have been working to understand team members’ individual motivations by developing my relationships with them, asking about the types of tasks they prefer and looking for developmental opportunities for them. I have tried to tap into their motivations to create increased engagement and I will continue to do so.

Problem solving was a very useful and interesting topic. We discussed divergent thinking and ways to encourage it in teams to aid problem solving. I have since used some of the techniques discussed – such as reversing the issue to think of ways to make it worse, then reversing the “solutions” into ways to solve the original problem – in a team meeting and it really did open up my colleagues to thinking outside the box, and came up with interesting ideas for service development.

Decision making is a key role of any manager and we discussed different ways of making decisions to suit different scenarios, such as when to tell your team what will happen, when to collaborate and when to devolve the decision to the team completely. This opened my eyes to the different possibilities in making decisions and that it isn’t only managers who need to make decisions but often some can be left to the team or require a negotiation or collaborative approach. This is something I will definitely bear in mind when in a management or leadership role.

Effective feedback is important for reinforcing the good as well as changing the bad. It has to focus on observable behaviours rather than labels so there is something to be worked on or improved. Start with the behaviour; mention the effect this had, and finish on a question. The question could be something like “what can we do to prevent this?” or “what do you need to stop this happening?” etc. This is a helpful way to think about feedback and will help me to structure it so that it is effective rather than “telling off”. To practice giving feedback in this way I have started framing my feedback like this in “safe” environments such as restaurants, so that it becomes natural and to build my confidence. Hopefully when I move into a managerial position I will experienced and confident at giving effective feedback to team members.

The keys to effective communication are to ask questions, actively listen and adapt congruent body language to make sure your message is understood, and important messages should be communicated in three ways. Questions are a good way to deal with any negativity, and we were given a sheet of useful questions to help us in the future.

Reviewing service performance, how staff are feeling and how well you perform as a manager are tasks that each manager needs to do. We discussed the different methods of capturing the information, including informal and formal methods and that often staff will be unwilling to comment on your performance as a manager but in time, with repeated enquiries, they will become comfortable giving honest feedback. I understand why it is important to know how well your team thinks you are doing as a manager and that it could be difficult to elicit honest answers from them. So, this is something I will try to do when in a management role as it will feed into how well the service is performing and how the team feels.

 

Action Plan

During the course of the residential we had been encouraged to draft an action plan for what we would do once back in the workplace.

This is the action plan I created:

Action	When
PlanningManage emails better – in batch Try rotational time management	Tuesday 18th Nov 2014 Tuesday 18th Nov 2014
OrganisingSort through file folder on my desk and turn it into a ‘slush’ folder Daily list of 4-5 things to do each day   Break down large goals into smaller tasks Plan around when I’m most productive	Tuesday 18th Nov 2014   From Wednesday 19th Nov 2014 From Tuesday 18th Nov 2014 From Wednesday 19th Nov 2014
FacilitatingPractice giving positive and negative feedback Try the reversal technique for problem solving	From Monday 17th Nov As needed
CommunicationFollow up from Trustwide emails when the issue could affect the team	From Monday 17th Nov 2014
MonitoringPractice giving positive and negative feedback	From Monday 17th Nov 2014
ReviewingConsider how I could make my 1:1s and appraisals more beneficial	Thursday 20th Nov 2014

 

I found the action plan to be really useful for capturing the main points I wanted to work on and the key tools I wanted to practice.

The action plan was very useful for focusing on particular tasks and helped to put my learning into practice. This is definitely a tool that I will after future training sessions to capture key skills to put into practice.

Summary

The training seemed comprehensive as it covered a lot of key areas for managers, from managing their own time to providing effective feedback and reviews to their direct reports. There was a good mix of theory and group work with opportunities to try out the techniques we were learning on our colleagues. I certainly feel better prepared to take on a management role and hope to do so.

Putting the PTLLS to good use

Writing for Publication

I’ve written before about doing the Level 3 Award in Education and Training (a.k.a PTLLS) and this is the story of what came next.

Prior to my current role I had limited experience of training of library users but I knew I would be regularly conducting library and information skills sessions. I was confident delivering the courses as there were pre-existing learning materials at my disposal. However, I recognised that I would feel more adept if I had some training myself. So after I completed the Level 3 Award in Education and Training I used what I had learnt to develop a new writing for publication course with all new materials.

The first Writing for Publication training session on Thursday 19^th February. The workshop-style training ran from 2pm-4:30pm and was written and delivered by me in partnership with Lucy Goldsmith, a research assistant colleague working on studies into bipolar disorder, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalopathy, schizophrenia and non-epileptic seizures. I wrote the course outline and created the training materials and course content while Lucy added in content around her experience of the publishing process and contributed feedback she had received to a peer feedback exercise.

Initially the course was oversubscribed and had a waiting list, but nearer the date the 9 delegates became 4 who attended on the day. The delegates were all at different stages of the research process so all had different perspectives to add to discussions.

The aim of the session was that by the end, the delegates would feel confident to submit manuscripts to journals and know what to expect. To this end, the session was a mixture of practical activities – such as finding journals to target and articles to cite; finding the author guidelines for journals; and a peer feedback exercise.

What went well?

The practical activities in the session were well received. Activities that were included were finding and accessing target journals, finding articles to cite and use as examples of tone and structure, and finding the identified journals’ author guidelines. One delegate who was at the start of the research process booked a follow-up 1:1 tutorial for literature searching to help identify articles to cite and to do a literature review.

Delegates also engaged with the section about insight into the publication process, and an example of peer feedback received after submission. I think these sections really interested the delegates as they gave insight into an otherwise mysterious process and hopefully gave confidence in delegates’ ability to submit a manuscript themselves.

A delegate email was sent one week before the course, including relevant information about parking in the area and the address and other details of the course. It also prompted people who could not attend to cancel so that places could be offered to waiting list. Several delegates did cancel which meant their places were offered to the waiting list, and others who had cancelled were added to a waiting list for future sessions.

The delegates got an insight into the intricacies of the publication process from Lucy; who has experience in both submitting manuscripts to journals (and has been published) and reviewing them.

Throughout the session the delegates all appeared engaged and interested in what was being covered.

The collaboration between library staff and research colleagues gave the session a balance between different perspectives and ensured insider knowledge about the publishing process was included in the session, to give delegates advance notice of what to expect as well as the tools to enable them to submit to their chosen journal. Lucy commented after the course that I had noticed one of the delegates looked worried during the submission section of the course, and she was surprised at the delegate’s admission that the process was “scary”. As an experienced researcher who has been published she didn’t pick up on this and wouldn’t have been able to address the delegate’s concern.

Lucy and I carefully planned the session together and had a run-through two days before the session, which helped the day go smoothly.

What could have gone better?

Some handouts for the exercises in the delegate pack weren’t used, but I didn’t make a point of reminding delegates to use them during the exercises.

The session finished 30mins early. This was expected for a smaller group such as we had, but if the course was full the time would definitely be needed. There is potential for the course to overrun if more delegates attend.

What I will do differently next time

• Mention the handouts for the exercises; or decide not to use them at all
• Keep eye on time if the course is fully subscribed to ensure we don’t run over time

Research and development and libraries…continued

A few months ago I wrote about the role of libraries to support R&D within their wider organisation, specifically within the NHS. Since attending the Real World Research and Evidence into Practice conference in April I’ve been thinking a lot about how my library can work closer with our R&D Department and we’re making some real progress.

After the conference I mentioned to my manager that I thought that there should be benefit to working more closely with the R&D department, in particular with regards to supplying papers to be included in literature reviews, database searching, knowledge management of completed research, and writing for publication among others aspects. My manager approached the R&D team who also saw the potential benefits of  working together and asked us to help plan their next R&D Forum to be held later in the year.

I think this is a really positive position to be in and we should be able to forge supportive working relationships with the Trust researchers and the R&D team.

Meetings to plan the forum day have begun and my manager and I have the opportunity to run a “Writing for Publication workshop” which I have taken the lead on. I’m really looking forward to running this with support from my manager, although I’m sure excitement will give way to nerves before too long.

Research in the real world

Last week I attended the Real World Research and Evidence into Practice conference which was hosted by Bradford District Care Trust. The conference showcased lots of research from the region and I thought this dissemination of research was really valuable. It was also really motivating as the speakers explained the impact the research had on patients and service users – firmly putting the research in the real world.

It struck me that there is a lot more research being conducted in the region than I thought and I wondered how much involvement libraries had in these projects and if  so, were they aware that it was being presented at a conference?

There was a poster display of around 30 posters in the marketplace area of the conference and I spotted a poster relating to some research that had been conducted in my Trust. Indeed, it was a piece of work I had provided a literature search for. Yet the library service wasn’t credited on the poster and no notice had been given by the researchers that the work was being presented as a poster. I suspect could be commonplace and we wouldn’t know unless we happened to spot it. This led me to wonder how to change the situation around so that the work of the library is acknowledged and celebrated alongside that of the rest of the research team.

I also started to think about how research is disseminated in my Trust. We have an annual Research and Development Forum where research is presented and a Trust newsletter about innovation and research. Perhaps an event showcasing completed research would add a new aspect to research in the Trust and inspire more people to conduct their own.

One way forward could be to work alongside the Trust R&D team to collate a register of ongoing and published research by Trust staff, and we could try to connect the literature searches we have done to these projects. This would give us an idea of the impact our searches have, such as if our work has contributed to a journal article, a change in practice or service development.

 

Any ideas???

Microteach…achievement unlocked

As you know I’ve been doing a part time course to develop my teaching skills. The Level 3 award in Education and Training (formally known as PTLLS) culminated for me on Monday, when it was my turn to deliver my microteach.

Those of you who have done PTLLS before ( several of my Twitter followers suggested it to me when I asked about courses last year) will know that at the end of the course you have to deliver a 30 minute teaching session to fellow trainers-in-training on a topic you haven’t delivered before. This is a session you take from lesson planning through to evaluation so it really is a piece of your own work and it’s quite different to delivering a session co-written with or written by colleagues. And scarier!

We were told not to use a topic we had delivered before, but we need to have a good knowledge of the topic so we can answer questions. I decided to run my session on my obsession, roller derby.

Since August I’ve been at roller derby training up to 4 times a week and have progressed from not being able to skate at all to passing the minimum skills requirements and being rostered to play in a bout. Not too shabby for 7 months hard work. This meant that I know a lot about roller derby so felt that I could talk about this to my peer group confidently and know what I’m talking about.

I was anxious about doing this, as the planning seemed to come around very quickly and I hadn’t written learning objectives, planned a lesson or assessed before (we peer assess each other). It was daunting to do all this work to deliver a short session and then receive peer feedback all in one day.

I was really nervous when it came time to present, but looking back I needn’t have been. We were all in the same boat and as nervous as each other but also very supportive. After all, we had seen each other every week for 10 weeks and we were all in the same boat.

I was preoccupied with timings. I had tested my presentation and activities, and came up 5 minutes short. So I added to my script to pad it out a bit. What I didn’t take into account was questions from the learners which meant I had to wrap up in a hurry. Next time I plan teaching, I’ll leave a few minutes for questions and have a back-up activity in case there is extra time left at the end.

I also tried to use a mix of learning techniques to keep the session interesting and to appeal to a range of learning styles. The learners liked that I brought my derby kit to demonstrate what is required and to pass around the class. I also drafted some worksheets and other handouts to be completed in small groups to enable group discussion.

After a few minutes I relaxed into the session and it became fun. I was confident in my knowledge even if I wasn’t confident in my delivery at first and I think this came across.

The course overall has given me more confidence when delivering teaching at work, as I always felt like I was blagging it a bit – I’d not had formal training before – and when I need to update or amend any courses in the future I’ll feel more up to the task. And it confirmed other things that I already knew.

I’m really glad I did the course and hopefully I’ll be able to put what I have learnt into practice.

Preparing to teach…

In my last post (January! For shame!) I mentioned that I was starting a PTLLS* course. I hoped I’d learn a lot about teaching that I could apply when delivering information skills training.

It’s now at week 8 of the 12 week course, and nearly time to deliver our microteach sessions – 15mins teaching to our peers to test what we have learnt.

This is the first time I have had to plan a session instead of following established lesson plans. And it was difficult.I think the hardest part has been working out how much time to spend on each part of the programme. How do you know what proportion of a session to spend on each segment of teaching? Does it come with practice? Examples of your experiences are welcome!

Another really important message that has stuck with me is that knowing the subject area is key to planning the learning objectives and planning activities but insider information about your audience is also very important. We need to plan session with a mix of activities and using a range of teaching or learning approaches to keep learners engaged, appeal to their motivations and help ensure your session is inclusive.

So far, the course has both reinforced what I already knew and shown me things I hadn’t considered before. I also found that there were things I felt I knew or was doing but wasn’t exactly sure why and found out the reasoning behind them.

It’s clear to me that after this course, there is still a lot to learn about teaching. But, I am more confident in my teaching because I have more faith in my delivery. And it always helps to understand why you do things the way you do

I deliver my microteach in a couple of weeks…wish me luck!

*Now called Level 3 Award in Education and Training

New challenge

A quick post to say that today I start a course to develop my teaching skills. I’m doing a level 3 award in education and training (previously PTLLS) at a local college. Teaching info lit skills is a big part of my role and I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable doing them – as if I was just winging it. So I’m really looking forward to doing the course and developing my skills. Hopefully I’ll be a lot more confident when delivering courses too. This isn’t to say that my workplace hasn’t given me lots support, local training and guidance – of course they have! – and I think I have been doing OK. A bit of extra assurance is always welcome though, and I’ll take any chance to develop new or enhance existing skills.

Birthday cake

This is the cake I made for my husband’s birthday. Just a little show off because I was so pleased with it!

Research and development and libraries

This week my trust had its annual research and development forum. This event brings together people doing, about to do, or who have done research so they can share their experiences and disseminate results. I attended the event to learn about the research that the trust is involved with and to promote library services at the same time.

I was at the same forum last year as a newly qualified librarian fresh to my first professional post and at the time I was impressed at the amount of research that was going on. This year was just the same. I don’t always get to see the research that is going on (and if so, usually only a part of it) so the forum has been really useful to highlight the good work that is happening locally.

It was interesting to see how some of the speakers from the 2012 event, who had been presenting planned research, had completed that piece of work in the convening months and were presenting their results at this forum. I was able to see how their work had developed and gone full circle. This also gave me more insight into the whole research process which previously I have only seen from the inside when I did my dissertations. Now I have seen how research is conducted in clinical settings and I also saw how research findings were impacting on service users and service development. I could see how the work the library had done to support research had been used, and it felt good to see the impact the service had contributed to our colleague’s research.

Since the 2012 forum I have been in post for 11 months and I’ve gained some experience of working in a health library service. Attending the research and development forum again gave me the opportunity to look at the research in the trust and understand how library services could fit in and alongside it. I think it’s vital for LIS and R&D to work together as there are so many ways we can learn from each other and support the research process. Going to events like the forum means I can see what is going on and join in when needed.  I can also tell researchers about the services we offer that could aid them in their work.

Insight into what our customers are doing can make you aware of where they may need to work with LIS and so taking a day to spend time with your research community is time well spent. I know I will reflect on what I’ve learnt at the forum and build on the relationships that have started to form so that the library can continue to work with everyone doing research in the trust. 

Journal club – critically appraising the situation?

As a NHS librarian, I see health staff regularly on their quest to find evidence for their practice, research and studies. As well as finding the evidence, our library services also offer critical appraisal training. So far I haven’t delivered on this training (due to a lack of confidence…) so my colleagues have had the task of providing the critical appraisal sessions. I felt it was important that I could deliver critical appraisal sessions and I’d done it myself when studying so knew I could do it…but teaching it seemed a bit beyond me.

There’s something about critical appraisal that always seems to challenge me. It might just be the fear of reading papers wrong and coming to an incorrect conclusion. Despite going on 3 (or 4?) critical appraisal training sessions myself the ‘how to’ of doing it seeped away. The only solution seemed to be to just do it, but maybe not in the form of teaching it myself right away.

So, yesterday I went to a journal club for the first time. The journal club is for academic and health librarians in Leeds and there were familiar and new faces there. The paper had been circulated beforehand and we had all read it. There was also sent around the CASP “11 questions to help you make sense of a trial” tool (available on the CASP website). I think I’d use the tool each time I looked at a paper (or the appropriate one for the trial design) as a guide to make sure nothing was missed.

Journal club lasted about an hour, which was plenty of time for introductions and to run thorugh the paper. I found it really useful to practice critical appraisal in a friendly setting and find out what others had picked up on that I had missed. I already feel more confident just from doing critical appraisal in “real life” outside the classroom. It won’t be long until I’m delivering sessions, and at the next journal club I hope to be able to confidently participate and volunteer more observations.