Working Paper # 6 : Technical Services Division in a Team-Based Learning Organization

Appendices

Appendix A: BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE CHARGE

The Blue Ribbon Committee is charged to recommend an overall organizational design for Technical Services that 1) streamlines functions and eliminates duplication of effort, (2) ensures cost-effectiveness, (3) is flexible and evolves with changes in division goals, new technologies, and enhanced procedures, (4) incorporates the principles of teams, and (5) expresses an integrated relationship with the overall library organization.

The Committee is further charged with recommending changes in practices and procedures to eliminate redundancy as well as identify areas that require a process improvement study or new work initiatives.

In conducting its work, the Committee will rely upon the following background documents: the Division's Mission Statement, the Libraries' strategic plan, the Libraries' Working Papers, the Program Review Reports, the Program Review "key messages," articles from the library literature on reorganization, as well as core values which will be articulated by the Committee early in its work.

Appendix B: Timeline

The Data Gathering Phase:
Data gathering began with informing TSD staff about the project and the broad outlines of the process. TSD staff provided the bulk of the data the BRC relied on although all library staff had opportunities to contribute to the data gathering. Many TSD staff and some staff members from other divisions made very substantial contributions to the process. Where existing processes were reviewed and analyzed, the BRC depended heavily on the work of the staff who perform the work.

• June 30 2000. Discussion of the goals, methodology and timetable with TSD staff
• Summer of 2000. Initiation of the TSD Program Review. Included documenting the work flow as it existed in the summer of 2000.
  This step identified each of the program activities that are performed in the Division. These activities were gathered into logical groups to be studied. The TSD Council and TSSAC were tasked to draft a list of activities and group them. Cross-departmental and cross-divisional working groups were created to study the activities. The information gathered included answers to the following questions: How do we do it? How many do we do? How long does it take? Why do we do it? Who uses the product or byproduct of this activity? Are there any gaps in services or activities that TSD ought to fill?
• Dec. 11, 2000. Held TSD Staff meeting to discuss the overall results of the working group reports and to determine the next steps.
• Dec. 2000. Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) established and charged (Appendix A) to recommend a structure based on the working group reports, the additions from the TSD discussion groups, the comments from the staff members outside of TSD, in addition to the strategic plan, libraries' mission, and TSD values.
• Dec 2000- Jan 2001 Focused discussions with TSD staff and Blue Ribbon Committee members clarified and revised the Working Group Reports.
• Jan 2001. Held facilitated discussions with staff outside of Technical Services to hear their perspective about our work.
• Jan. - May 2001. BRC met weekly. Data gathering activities included:
• Review of the Libraries Strategic Plan and TSD Mission.
• In-depth discussion of Program Review findings
• Consideration of TSD customer focus groups
• Consideration of practices at peer institutions
• Analysis of physical mapping of current work flows
• Discussion of emerging understandings of the implications of Ex Libris implementation
• A visioning exercise aimed at surfacing key factors affecting TSD in the next five years.
• Dialog with Personnel about current staff classification systems and implications of these classification systems for organizational redesign.

Proposal development

• May-June 2001. Activities involved in proposal development included llisting all current activities and then grouping those activities into structures that seemed to most effectively coordinate related activities, developing a vision of how various groups would interact and what structures were needed to ensure effective coordination of various groups, revisiting the goals for the reorganization process and clarifying TSD's organizational values and the goals the structure should support. The BRC instantiated its ideas into a series of diagrams illustrating the composition and relations of functional groups, coordinating teams, and other key leadership groups.

Presentation of proposal, gathering of feedback, proposal redesign

• March 7. Presented findings and observations to date to the TSD staff.
• May 1 & 3. Presented findings and observations to date to all Libraries staff.
• June 13.Presented the proposal to all TSD staff and initiated feedback gathering.
• June-July. Held 8 facilitated discussion groups with TSD staff, including 2 session with cataloging staff to discuss their proposal.
• July. BRC met regularly to discuss feedback from facilitated discussions, initial proposal presentation, email, and informal discussions with BRC members.
• July 10 & 12. Presented initial proposal to all Libraries staff and invited feedback.
• Late July- Aug. Reviewed and revised structure based on feedback from TSD staff, C-Team, and the library staff as a whole. Continued discussions with TSD staff.
• End of August. Final proposal presented to LEC.

Appendix C: TSD Mission and Values At the beginning of its work, the Blue Ribbon Committee found it helpful to clarify for itself and for staff in the Libraries the core statements of mission and values that were incorporated into its thinking. The BRC reviewed the existing mission statement and developed for itself statements regarding TSD's organizational values, goals for the division's organizational structure, and a set of organizing principles for the organizational framework.

The TSD Mission Statement is:

This statement addresses our basic goals and reinforces the value of a highly trained staff. The Libraries' Strategic Plan also addresses the division's goals but also supports dedication to customer service, scholarship, as well as the importance of being a team-based, learning organization. These two values promote the high quality service that is provided by staff who are fully engaged in the mission of the organization and are offered opportunities to expand their professional and intellectual skills.

These themes are articulated in the "organizational values" adopted by the Blue Ribbon Committee. These values are:

• Quality service to our primary clientele. Our primary clientele include students, faculty, University departments, staff within the library, and the scholarly community. The key components of providing quality service were defined as:
  • Support of customer focus - responsive service
  • Excellence - balance of quality and quantity
  • Cooperation and teamwork - both inside and outside of Technical Services
  • Effective communication between units/functions and across all staff levels
• Effective and efficient use of all resources. This includes not only library resources such as staff, equipment and supplies, but also includes contractor and vendor services which we use to provide service to our clientele
• Physical environment, infrastructure - appropriate and sufficient tools and facilities
• Staff who continuously learn, evaluate and participate in a changing work environment. The key components of creating an environment that builds/supports staff as a valued resources were defined as:
  • Development of core competencies and an appropriate learning curriculum/mentoring program
  • Staff who are leaders and serve as resources for projects inside the library as well as for national and regional initiatives
  • Shared decision-making - encourage collaborative and creative problem-solving
  • Systems thinking - an environment that encourages a vision broader than TSD
  • Self mastery - respect for others, assume the best and create pride in achievements
  • Sensitivity and respect for cultural diversity

While the Committee's Charge (Appendix A) lays out the expectations and responsibilities of the BRC, the Committee found it helpful to develop a richer, more extensive statement of the goals it sought to honor in developing the proposed organizational structure.

We want a structure that:

• Supports the library's vision and strategic directions
• Streamlines functions and eliminates duplication of effort
• Shows clearly defined roles and responsibilities
• Ensures cost-effectiveness (allocates resources effectively)
• Is flexible and evolves with changes in library and division goals, new technologies, and enhanced procedures (continuous improvement)
• Incorporates the principles of teams (promotes collaboration with strategic partners; coordination of related work processes)
• Expresses an integrated relationship with the overall library organization
• Promotes communications and collaboration across the organization

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