Librarian by Day

Yesterday I attended a MaintainIT webinar – Using MaintainIT Resources for Technology Training, where they shared some useful information and links.  One of the sites was Infopeople, a nonprofit that archives their presentations and handouts and makes them available under a Creative Commons license!

As I was exploring I came across materials for a previous workshop - Stress Management in the Library Workplace.  There are a lot of workshops listed but since my post – Library usage will go up during a recession – management are you really prepared? is still getting a lot of hits, I thought I’d share this one specifically. You can download the PowerPoint presentation, some exercise and these handouts:

• The “Bakers Dozen” – How to Reduce Stress
• Relieving Stress through Exercise
• Stress Relief through Nutrition
• Stress Relief and Sleeping Habits – 10 Tips for Better Sleep
• Symptoms of Stress and Causes of Stress
• Seven Quick Tips for Time Management

Talking about the blurred line between home and work when I was writing about Twitter started me thinking about telecommuting.  Writing about the recession and it affects on libraries got me thinking about telecommuting.  Let’s talk about telecommuting, it seems to be something libraries have been slow to embrace.  Yes, I know the old standard that we sit at the reference desk all day and read books, but anyone actually working a library knows that’s not true.  Many libraries are short on space and funding and much could be done from home, at least one day a week, so why aren’t we looking more closely at telecommuting?

Given the tough economic times and the reports that show telecommuting saves employers money and increases productivity it seems a good time to point to some information about it.  Employers see savings in multiple areas and it helps to boost employee morale.

According to Business Week

Benefits of letting employees work from outside the office include keeping cars off the road, helping a company to bolster its green bona fides. But the practice can also foster employee retention, boost worker productivity, and slash real estate costs.

There are some cons too, according to this article “A Desk Too Far?: The Case for Remote Working” they include loss of face to face time and the perception by bosses and coworkers that the employee is not working or not working  hard enough.  Some of this can be overcome with a good relationship with management. Libraries considering telecommuting should have clear guidelines for staff, which positions could be preformed outside the office and which ones need to be on site.  Management should have open communication with staff about performance and productivity regularly.  Library staff should be honest with themselves about their self discipline, which aspects of their job can be preformed off site and the number of hours they can reasonably telecommute.

Yes, I know it isn’t for every workplace or every employee.  Some people are not focused enough to work efficiently from home and for some positions you need to be on site to preform your duties.  But many positions could be a combination that allow employees to telecommute a couple of days a week and be in the office the rest.

For libraries looking to save money and increase productivity (doing more with less!) this is something to consider.

More reading

• Getting Clueful: Seven Things the CIO Should Know About Telecommuting
• Employers Find Telecommuting Brings Savings Plus Productivity
• Sun, employees find big savings from Open Work telecommuting program
• What’s the advantage to telecommuting?
• Telecommuting: Getting Bosses on Board
• The Importance Of Being There
• Telecommuting for Librarians
• The Telecommuting Library Worker
• Working Virtually: Telecommuting or the Doing the Digital Dance
• The Telecommuting Trend: Is it For You?

I’ve seen many news articles and video lately about usage of libraries increasing during a recession. I’ve personally noticed my library seems busier.  While many have celebrated the increase of use and the public attention we so rightly deserve, we also need to consider the down side.  Our funding might be cut, the public is less likely to approve bonds or tax levies to increase services, in some cases staff may be laid off.  Libraries are masters of doing more with less and we are really going to need that skill now.  

The other side of recession is that is causes stress.  Patrons are likely to be less happy about paying their fines and, in general, be a little more on edge.  Staff are aware of the news and what is happening, even those who feel secure in their jobs, have family and friends who have been affected.  

So why am I asking management if they are ready?  All of this stress means an increase in irritable, angry, demanding, stressed out patrons who are rubbing up against your irritable, angry, tired, stressed out staff.  See where I’m going with this?  

The one thing you can do is try to decrease the stress level of your staff.  Happy library staff makes everything run just a little smoother (not to mention they are healthier and less likely to call in sick).  So given the hard times how can you do this? You probably don’t have the funds to hire a masseur to be on call in the break room. I found a great many articles on workplace morale, some things kept popping up :

• make sure staff feel appreciated
• encourage open communication
• training (almost any it seems)
• provide clear goals and expectations
• encouraging a sense of team
• empowering staff
• be flexible with time and schedules.   
• And  there is always the fish books

These are great general principles for all workplaces.  Oddly enough I couldn’t find any article or recommendations that were specific to libraries.  I can think of a few library specifc ones and a few general ones:

• ensure employees get break time away from a service desk
• make sure they have a clean, comfortable place to take that break 
• make sure staff feel supported by management in customer issues
• empower employees to waive fines or make other concessions that will smooth patron interactions
• cross train staff so they are comfortable working all service desks and understand what each point of serivce does
• pay attention – just being aware of employee attitudes will allow you to intervene to boost morale faster and more appropriately when/if need
• be ready – have a plan, know how will you boost morale overall and on a case by case basis
• take action – don’t wait to see the need before you put your plan into place 

What suggests do you have?  If you’re a manager what steps have you taken with your staff? If you’re staff what things could management do to boost morale?

Further reading:

• Libraries Are Used More in Recession
• The library – a recession sanctuary
• The Public Library Renaissance
• Library usage increases with the recession
• Library usage up in wake of recession
• Obama Warns of Severe Consequences Without Stimulus Package
• Foster Success for People: Two Musts for Employee Motivation and Positive Morale
• Eight Leader Behaviors That Increase Motivation, Morale, and Performance…And One That Won’t
• Downturn in economy increasing stress in the workplace
• Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employee