Hello,
Today we are going to talk about a "difficult" topic that's pretty universal.
First some background: Management where I am employed has challenged me to improve staff relations in our department. How can I help us become more of a team? Now this is a difficult task in any industry, but especially difficult in a service industry like librarianship. Librarians serve the public on a long term basis. Let me tell you: working in a library is a pretty stable job. However it can take one bad patron experience to ruin your day.
(Now I warn you if this subject bores you to tears, then here's a fun treat, Enjoy)
Hopefully this will keep the teens occupied this weekend since the weather is turning nasty.(Hey teen services here's an idea: Grand Theft Auto tournament! Just throwing it out there)
Review and Some Library ApplicationsIt is no surprise that over time negative experiences can create librarians that are known as crabs. One crab can then infect a whole team. So in order to gain some help in these matters I picked up a copy of "
Dealing With Difficult People" written collaboratively by Harvard Business School Press. This book contains a series of short concise essays on the main topic. I was drawn by the promise of the timesaving guide logo on the cover. I found some chapters more easily applicable than others, whereas the latter half of the book was more geared toward managers/executives.
The most interesting/applicable chapter was titled "Crabs, Cranks, and Curmudgeons" written by Constantine von Hoffman. I highly agree with the notion that an effective manager must be able to use Emotional Intelligence (EI). EI is defined as "the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships with others. (38) How much of our judgements of our fellow co-workers is influenced by our own personal emotions? It is easier to change behaviors rather than personalities. Is that crab in your office a crab because it's their "way of life" or because of their position? Hoffman effectively emphasizes that it is a manager's job to ask these questions effectively and then make a plan of action. He emphasizes that it seems even worse to do nothing about it all.
Library applications: Look at your co-workers and use some EI to evaluate where you fit into your team.
Another effective chapter titled "Don't Just Do Something-Sit There" written by David Whitemyer discussed how to use conflicts to improve the interactions of the group. As a feminist I always get huffy about the idea that women are more apt to make "tempests out of teapots" whereas men just "have it out" and are done. I do find that a women driven industry such as librarianship it seems more difficult to resolve simple conflicts. It's up to the manager to decide when to step in and how to resolve. Whitemyer emphasizes the importance of the manager to realize the difference between institutional issues and interpersonal conflicts.
Library applications: Take a look and evaluate what team conflicts are resolvable through one-on-one dialogue. When does management need to step in?
The rest of the book centers around conflict resolution and performance appraisals. The heavy emphasis here indicates to me that these are the biggest issues for a manager. I also have a suspicion that the management book/coaching industry would have us believe this in order to sell books/seminars. Perhaps I am wrong. Managers are people too (I guess) especially in libraries. Libraries tend to have long-term employees and managers who do not want to "rock the boat." However I think that constant evaluation is the only way towards improvement. This book seems to emphasize that in it's final chapters. I found this book to be an easily concise and step-oriented book that I recommend to future managers.
Have an excellent Weekend! Book Slave.
