The Third Carnegie Centre for African Library Leadership Academy at Leriba Lodge in Centurion, South Africa, from 05-19 November 2010
Blog presented by Danie Malan
Blog URL. http://libraryleadershipacademy.blogspot.com
Reflection
Sitting in the group on the last day made me wonder what I would say about the two weeks we spend together. Looking at all the participants I realized that I am 1 of 4 that had the opportunity to attend the CALL and the research Academy. This was indeed a privilege. When the invites to apply for the Academy was send I wondered if I must apply and what would be different from all the other courses and sessions about strategy and leadership I attend. I am glad that I applied and was accepted. Organizations, people and strategies changes all the time in this fast living world, it is difficult to keep up with all the latest trends. During the two weeks some of the things were familiar and some were new. To hear and explore and find out about the new ideas and things happening in our profession make us lifelong learners. One of the concepts we heard during the two weeks. The biggest challenge will be to implement some of the ideas that we heard and learned during the two weeks in our organizations. Thank you to all the participants that we now can call our colleagues and friends that help making this an unforgettable experience. Thank you for all the laughter the hard work and for turning a serious or embarrassing moment around into a moment that we can remember and laugh about. Thank you to Ujala Satgoor for the opportunity and the UPLIS for sending me. Last but not leased thank you to Martha de Waal for all her hard work during and after the Academy.
Five issues intend addressing / doing differently
1. Look at the relevance of the marketing plan and what suggested changes will come back from the report on marketing
2. Use web 2.0 especially Skype. I will investigate the advantages or disadvantages for using Skype
3. I want to develop a short information brochure that can help the clients with research e.g. different steps they must use
4. Develop subject specific training according to the needs of the clients.
5. Help with the re evaluation of the strategic plan for level 5 and adjust it according to the strategic plan of the Merensky Library
19-11-2010
Gala Dinner. Prof Derick de Jongh. (Director: centre for responsible Leadership, UP)
Personnel of Merensky Library
After two weeks of hard work and the stress of the presentations on the last day the Gala dinner was an appropriate finish. Prof de Jongh tried his best but his speech did not have an impact. All the participants were ready for the grand finale and wanted to find out who was going to be the personality of the academy. David a well deserved winner. The food was excellent with a lively atmosphere. The tension of the presentations was clearly not visible. During the feedback session I stated that this was two weeks of hard work. Some of the content was familiar but things change so fast that there are always new things to learn. It was a unique group of people and we learn so much from each other. I had great fun and it was a pleasure to work with all the people. Thank you to everyone that made this a good experience and for all the laughter. Thank you to Carnegie for the opportunity and UPLIS to send me on the academy. Thank you to Ujala for believing in me and to Martha for all her hard work behind and on the scene and for helping all of us.
Presentations
Danie doing the Introduction
Presentations
Danie doing the Introduction
It is time but not for Africa but for the participants of the academy. Our time to present has arrived. With nerves were clearly visible. I started our presentation and introduce our team. Our topic was on HR, the recruitment and retaining of skilled staff. We love working on the topic and during the presentation I had to pull on Andile trousers to keep him from going over his time. He was not at all pleased with me. He was just starting to enjoy himself but if I let him go he would still have talked today. That’s how passionate he and the rest of the team were about the topic. We learned a lot on the topic of Human Resources. What relieve when we were finished.
The way forward for libraries in South Africa. Prof Christine Stilwell
The last formal session after two weeks of the academy has started. What a challenge this would be. Every one is tired and wants to finish. There is a lot of tension in the room. This afternoon is the presentations of the group assignments. Everyone wants to finish off and make last minute changes to their presentations. Prof Stilwell had the daunting task of keeping us interested in her topic. She passed this with flying colours. She had some interesting ideas and the group discussion we had done was great. What I appreciated most of Prof Stilwell was that she didn’t pretend to know everything. If she don’t know the answer she will tell you unlike some of the other speakers we had. She was there to share her view on the topic with us and not to learn us and also learn from us and share experiences that both had. This also shows from the resent request for information on the LIASA list serve. It was wonderful to have someone like Prof Stilwell on the last formal session. Just as strategies and needs changes in organisations, change the strategies and needs and priorities of libraries. This is where the statement of Nicholas and Dobrowolski (1999:33) applies: “By making forecasts of the future we are in fact making statements about the present, because the whole process starts with an appraisal of the present, a look at fundamentals and the lie of the ground.” Some recommendations from previous academy participants were:
• Lobby for adequate funding
• Build capacity through education and training
• Use the improved ICT infrastructure
• Enhance LIASA’s role as a well educated and trained body of proactive professionals
• Promote information literacy and develop a culture of reading
• Focus on LIS as professionals
• We are “powerful beyond measure” but not proactive enough
• Don’t underplay our role - “work hard to push our professional roles into prominence or positions of influence”
• Step into the gap created by ICT and “connect! “
Are these recommendations feasible and possible?
YES If we:
• Focus on a wide spectrum of related issues rather than concentrating on isolated issues
• Endorse the crucial role of LIASA in achieving a coordinated, strategic plan of action and implementation
• Work as an assertive, proactive, well-educated and trained profession collaboratively with the government and other partners
The future of the libraries lies in our hands.
Vision for Libraries. David Labelo (DAC)
David had to stand in for Puleng Kekana. What a difficult task this would appear to be. It was good to hear about the activities of DAC and how they help, especially the public libraries. They have a difficult task to keep all the libraries happy. When you look at the budget there are a lot of things to be done in so little time. David definitely knows what is going on in the department but he struggled to communicate it to us.
International vs. African Librarianship. Dr Buhle Mbambo-Thata
Become a member of an international librarian association and this will give you international recognition. I have a problem with this statement. You don’t just get international recognition by belonging to a foreign library association. You have to do something, present at international conferences and be an expert in your field on libraries or relevant subjects and place yourself on the map. You must earn respect and show that you have insight and knowledge in your field of study. Become a leader in your own association and work from there. You can become a global leader but first be a leader in your own right and association.
18-11-2010
Higher Education. Robert Moropa
Is your library on the right radar screen? Can anyone see what your library is doing or is the library just a building on the campus? Some of the reasons why libraries are falling of the screen are: they have a negative blue print or mindset or two people can be given the same info but argue about it or react differently. You must not see yourself as “just a librarian”. See yourself as an eagle that fly high. Place yourself on the RADAR screen by redefining yourself. Avoid being known as a “whiner or a moaner”. Participate actively to resolve problems in your institution. There are 3 kinds of people: 1. Those who makes things happen, 2. those who watch things happen and 3. those who wonder what happens. Which one are you? The UPLIS wants to be number one. It is clear from there new vision and strategic plan.
Advocacy toolkit. Karen Kitching
The end is near and still so much to do. Tension is clearly visible in the serious room as the time for the group assignment is getting closer. It seems that everyone is waiting for one last idea to take them one step closer to finish their assignment. In anticipation of something we listen to Karen about Advocacy. It was strange in a way how advocacy can form part of the marketing, branding and communication plan. If you take library advocacy were it was defined as:” …building relationships. Increasing the perceived value of the library and creating support for the library among customers both internal and external”. To achieve this you have to market the library. Get to know your clients and their needs. What they expect of you and focus on your communication. Be careful to disregard people as not important. The word of bad service will spread and you will be labelled. Build up a trustworthy relationship with strategic clients. It is easy to do when you believe in what you are doing. See the bigger picture and be open minded, think out of the box, be visible and tell what difference the library can make. When clients have a good experience they will come to the library for help and that is where advocacy begins. What do you want your clients to feel when you convey a message? Karen talks about the “elevator speech”. This is to convey your message in the length of an elevator ride, 30 seconds or 150 words. Elements to cover in an elevator speech: purpose = what are we trying to achieve, goal = what do we need from you, timing = where and when do I use the speech and Audience = to whom do I present the speech. Give the clients time to catch up with your way of thinking and your passion. When you advocate it must be clear, credible, customized, consistent and conversational. Don’t talk all about “me”. Listen to the clients. In the words of Barack Obama: “Guardians of Truth and Knowledge, Librarians must be thanked for their role as Champions of Privacy, Literacy, Independent thinking and most of all reading”. That is who we are, advocates of our profession?
Marketing, Branding and Effective communication. Neeltjie du Plessis
Neeltjie du Plessis had a difficult task even though it was in the morning. A lot of us had late nights working on our assignments and we were tired. Luckily for me the topic is one of my interest fields. I enjoyed the session, however not everyone is interested in marketing. I’m glad to see that I was not far of the pace when I was doing the marketing plan for level 5 of the Merensky library. I just hope that the next session is also interesting. Unfortunately Neeltjie fails to get the group to participate. One of the problems was that she, in my mind, didn’t open the floor for discussion. Every time some one asked a question or did not agree she tends to steamroller over the person. In the beginning she tends to handle the participants as students and that was not received very well. I think she close the door for her there.
It is comforting to know that the 4 P’s of marketing also form the basis of the marketing plan in the library: Product that can be seen as service, Price, Promote that is to inform the target market and Place. Two aspects that appeared through out the academy and that is very important are, communication and trust. Communication forms a key part of marketing. You have to listen to your clients and find out what they really want.
Branding is very difficult for the library. Every department at the University of Pretoria must adhere to the procedures and processes of the University. It would be nice though to brand the library and make symbolic communication visible. The exercise of creating a marketing plan for the library was very useful. It would be interesting to find out how many libraries have a marketing plan.
17-11-2010
Dinner Speaker. Ms Ellen Tise (IFLA President)
Ms Ellen Tise, what a remarkable women. It was good to hear how she developed her career and all the things she did and accomplished. What I appreciate of her was the fact that she walked around and talked to all the people. Ms Tise, well done and keep up the good work.
Gaining a competitive edge. Dr Nisha Sewdass
How can you gain a competitive edge over your competitors? A question that is extremely important for profit organisations and sure enough, you can ask it for non profit organisations as well but the question that I asked for myself is: Is this what we want in the information sector? What is Competitive intelligence (CI)? According to Kahaner, 1996:6 is CI: “a systematic program for gathering and analysing information about your competitors’ activities and general business trends to further your own company’s goals”. It is important to gather information about the competitors but I think it is in the case of libraries better to work together. It is good to know what is going on in the market and anticipate the changes especially on the front of IT and use it to your advantage but work with other libraries and help develop methods and procedures together. A win-win situation is possible that can suite everyone in this age where there are huge information overloads or the lack of information and information needs. The problem with this is: libraries tend to keep everything to themselves. On top of this is the internal competition which include; personnel, expertise and experience, influence and prestige, red tape, procedures and lack of delegation, organisational structure, to name a few. Due to the nature of people and the fact that there will always be competition the following can apply to gain a competitive edge in the LIS taken from the power point slides presented by Dr Sewdass 2010:
• Knowledge enabling- gains come from releasing the creative know-how, intellectual capacity & experience of people and in enabling knowledge and organisational learning. LIS as an enabler of knowledge has a responsibility to ensure that the corporate memory is complete & that everyone is able to develop high-level skills & proficiencies in knowledge sharing, management and use.
• Innovative capability- shift away from management of material goods to the management of know-how, skills, talents and expertise of people. Creativity & innovation are acknowledged.
• Leadership style- leaders are proactive, visionaries, entrepreneurial & risk taking. They create a collaborative & supportive environment. Resistance to change is smoothed by open communication and a participatory style. Decision making is encouraged to those in the service areas.
• Culture & values- strong corporate cultures with executive management “walking the talk”. Mutual respect for people and rewards for performance and innovation rather than for length of service. Importance is attached to expertise, imaginative thinking, trust, ethical behaviour and values.
• People management- increasing expertise through training and development, coaching & expanding capabilities. Emphasis is on the provision of advice & relevant information rather than instructions & decisions.
• Structure- flatter with fewer management tiers in order to be more responsive to changing environments. People work in teams (Cross-functional), collaboratively and with partners.
• Use of technology – viewed as a transformational tool. Can be used for customer relationship management, enabling internal efficiencies through integrated systems and extending the human-to-machine interface to make life more exciting, convenient & enjoyable.
When the above is taken into account you should have a competitive edge. The words of John Cleese wraps CI up in a sinful manner: "We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed. The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous. The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned. Most people unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode. Not that the closed mode cannot be helpful. If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies. When you charge the enemy machine-gun post, don't waste energy trying to see the funny side of it. Do it in the "closed" mode. But the moment the action is over, try to return to the "open" mode—to open your mind again to all the feedback from our action that enables us to tell whether the action has been successful, or whether further action is need to improve on what we have done. In other words, we must return to the open mode, because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent. “
Client Service. Hilda Kriel
I had the privilege to attend the Research Academy at Mont Fleur in Stellenbosch. One of the outstanding points was the client service. They know exactly what everyone preferences were after one day and it was if they anticipate what you need. This is one of the key factors in client service. Anticipate what the needs of your clients are. The following can be seen as aspects of client service:
• “all activities which bind a corporation and its clients together . . .”
• ‘Client service is the ability to provide a service / product in the way that it has been promised.”
• “Client service is about treating others as you would like to be treated yourself.”
• “Client service is the process of taking care of our clients in a positive way.”
• “Client service is an organization’s ability to consistently meet and exceed the needs and expectations of its clients.”
Why is client service important? The simplest answer is that you want your clients to be happy and you want them to return. You also want them to market you by spreading the word to others. What should we do? Create a High Performance Work System (HPWS). HPWS represents an interrelated and aligned set of core characteristics, including involvement, empowerment, trust, goal alignment, training, teamwork, communications and performance-based rewards (Power Point presentation by Kriel, H slide 6). A good example of how to describe the HPWS is to pretend that it is an onion. Peal of the layers to get to the core to satisfy your clients. Go the extra mile for them and look for the dots, blank spaces that you can fill. We must remember that, client service is action, quality management and philosophy. It is not only the responsibility of the front desk staff. It is not only interaction between people, but the whole environment plays a role. It consists of tangibles and intangibles. The client will decide if you are successful.
David had to stand in for Puleng Kekana. What a difficult task this would appear to be. It was good to hear about the activities of DAC and how they help, especially the public libraries. They have a difficult task to keep all the libraries happy. When you look at the budget there are a lot of things to be done in so little time. David definitely knows what is going on in the department but he struggled to communicate it to us.
International vs. African Librarianship. Dr Buhle Mbambo-Thata
Become a member of an international librarian association and this will give you international recognition. I have a problem with this statement. You don’t just get international recognition by belonging to a foreign library association. You have to do something, present at international conferences and be an expert in your field on libraries or relevant subjects and place yourself on the map. You must earn respect and show that you have insight and knowledge in your field of study. Become a leader in your own association and work from there. You can become a global leader but first be a leader in your own right and association.
18-11-2010
Higher Education. Robert Moropa
Is your library on the right radar screen? Can anyone see what your library is doing or is the library just a building on the campus? Some of the reasons why libraries are falling of the screen are: they have a negative blue print or mindset or two people can be given the same info but argue about it or react differently. You must not see yourself as “just a librarian”. See yourself as an eagle that fly high. Place yourself on the RADAR screen by redefining yourself. Avoid being known as a “whiner or a moaner”. Participate actively to resolve problems in your institution. There are 3 kinds of people: 1. Those who makes things happen, 2. those who watch things happen and 3. those who wonder what happens. Which one are you? The UPLIS wants to be number one. It is clear from there new vision and strategic plan.
Advocacy toolkit. Karen Kitching
The end is near and still so much to do. Tension is clearly visible in the serious room as the time for the group assignment is getting closer. It seems that everyone is waiting for one last idea to take them one step closer to finish their assignment. In anticipation of something we listen to Karen about Advocacy. It was strange in a way how advocacy can form part of the marketing, branding and communication plan. If you take library advocacy were it was defined as:” …building relationships. Increasing the perceived value of the library and creating support for the library among customers both internal and external”. To achieve this you have to market the library. Get to know your clients and their needs. What they expect of you and focus on your communication. Be careful to disregard people as not important. The word of bad service will spread and you will be labelled. Build up a trustworthy relationship with strategic clients. It is easy to do when you believe in what you are doing. See the bigger picture and be open minded, think out of the box, be visible and tell what difference the library can make. When clients have a good experience they will come to the library for help and that is where advocacy begins. What do you want your clients to feel when you convey a message? Karen talks about the “elevator speech”. This is to convey your message in the length of an elevator ride, 30 seconds or 150 words. Elements to cover in an elevator speech: purpose = what are we trying to achieve, goal = what do we need from you, timing = where and when do I use the speech and Audience = to whom do I present the speech. Give the clients time to catch up with your way of thinking and your passion. When you advocate it must be clear, credible, customized, consistent and conversational. Don’t talk all about “me”. Listen to the clients. In the words of Barack Obama: “Guardians of Truth and Knowledge, Librarians must be thanked for their role as Champions of Privacy, Literacy, Independent thinking and most of all reading”. That is who we are, advocates of our profession?
Marketing, Branding and Effective communication. Neeltjie du Plessis
Neeltjie du Plessis had a difficult task even though it was in the morning. A lot of us had late nights working on our assignments and we were tired. Luckily for me the topic is one of my interest fields. I enjoyed the session, however not everyone is interested in marketing. I’m glad to see that I was not far of the pace when I was doing the marketing plan for level 5 of the Merensky library. I just hope that the next session is also interesting. Unfortunately Neeltjie fails to get the group to participate. One of the problems was that she, in my mind, didn’t open the floor for discussion. Every time some one asked a question or did not agree she tends to steamroller over the person. In the beginning she tends to handle the participants as students and that was not received very well. I think she close the door for her there.
It is comforting to know that the 4 P’s of marketing also form the basis of the marketing plan in the library: Product that can be seen as service, Price, Promote that is to inform the target market and Place. Two aspects that appeared through out the academy and that is very important are, communication and trust. Communication forms a key part of marketing. You have to listen to your clients and find out what they really want.
Branding is very difficult for the library. Every department at the University of Pretoria must adhere to the procedures and processes of the University. It would be nice though to brand the library and make symbolic communication visible. The exercise of creating a marketing plan for the library was very useful. It would be interesting to find out how many libraries have a marketing plan.
17-11-2010
Dinner Speaker. Ms Ellen Tise (IFLA President)
Ms Ellen Tise, what a remarkable women. It was good to hear how she developed her career and all the things she did and accomplished. What I appreciate of her was the fact that she walked around and talked to all the people. Ms Tise, well done and keep up the good work.
Gaining a competitive edge. Dr Nisha Sewdass
How can you gain a competitive edge over your competitors? A question that is extremely important for profit organisations and sure enough, you can ask it for non profit organisations as well but the question that I asked for myself is: Is this what we want in the information sector? What is Competitive intelligence (CI)? According to Kahaner, 1996:6 is CI: “a systematic program for gathering and analysing information about your competitors’ activities and general business trends to further your own company’s goals”. It is important to gather information about the competitors but I think it is in the case of libraries better to work together. It is good to know what is going on in the market and anticipate the changes especially on the front of IT and use it to your advantage but work with other libraries and help develop methods and procedures together. A win-win situation is possible that can suite everyone in this age where there are huge information overloads or the lack of information and information needs. The problem with this is: libraries tend to keep everything to themselves. On top of this is the internal competition which include; personnel, expertise and experience, influence and prestige, red tape, procedures and lack of delegation, organisational structure, to name a few. Due to the nature of people and the fact that there will always be competition the following can apply to gain a competitive edge in the LIS taken from the power point slides presented by Dr Sewdass 2010:
• Knowledge enabling- gains come from releasing the creative know-how, intellectual capacity & experience of people and in enabling knowledge and organisational learning. LIS as an enabler of knowledge has a responsibility to ensure that the corporate memory is complete & that everyone is able to develop high-level skills & proficiencies in knowledge sharing, management and use.
• Innovative capability- shift away from management of material goods to the management of know-how, skills, talents and expertise of people. Creativity & innovation are acknowledged.
• Leadership style- leaders are proactive, visionaries, entrepreneurial & risk taking. They create a collaborative & supportive environment. Resistance to change is smoothed by open communication and a participatory style. Decision making is encouraged to those in the service areas.
• Culture & values- strong corporate cultures with executive management “walking the talk”. Mutual respect for people and rewards for performance and innovation rather than for length of service. Importance is attached to expertise, imaginative thinking, trust, ethical behaviour and values.
• People management- increasing expertise through training and development, coaching & expanding capabilities. Emphasis is on the provision of advice & relevant information rather than instructions & decisions.
• Structure- flatter with fewer management tiers in order to be more responsive to changing environments. People work in teams (Cross-functional), collaboratively and with partners.
• Use of technology – viewed as a transformational tool. Can be used for customer relationship management, enabling internal efficiencies through integrated systems and extending the human-to-machine interface to make life more exciting, convenient & enjoyable.
When the above is taken into account you should have a competitive edge. The words of John Cleese wraps CI up in a sinful manner: "We all operate in two contrasting modes, which might be called open and closed. The open mode is more relaxed, more receptive, more exploratory, more democratic, more playful and more humorous. The closed mode is the tighter, more rigid, more hierarchical, more tunnel-visioned. Most people unfortunately spend most of their time in the closed mode. Not that the closed mode cannot be helpful. If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies. When you charge the enemy machine-gun post, don't waste energy trying to see the funny side of it. Do it in the "closed" mode. But the moment the action is over, try to return to the "open" mode—to open your mind again to all the feedback from our action that enables us to tell whether the action has been successful, or whether further action is need to improve on what we have done. In other words, we must return to the open mode, because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent. “
Client Service. Hilda Kriel
I had the privilege to attend the Research Academy at Mont Fleur in Stellenbosch. One of the outstanding points was the client service. They know exactly what everyone preferences were after one day and it was if they anticipate what you need. This is one of the key factors in client service. Anticipate what the needs of your clients are. The following can be seen as aspects of client service:
• “all activities which bind a corporation and its clients together . . .”
• ‘Client service is the ability to provide a service / product in the way that it has been promised.”
• “Client service is about treating others as you would like to be treated yourself.”
• “Client service is the process of taking care of our clients in a positive way.”
• “Client service is an organization’s ability to consistently meet and exceed the needs and expectations of its clients.”
Why is client service important? The simplest answer is that you want your clients to be happy and you want them to return. You also want them to market you by spreading the word to others. What should we do? Create a High Performance Work System (HPWS). HPWS represents an interrelated and aligned set of core characteristics, including involvement, empowerment, trust, goal alignment, training, teamwork, communications and performance-based rewards (Power Point presentation by Kriel, H slide 6). A good example of how to describe the HPWS is to pretend that it is an onion. Peal of the layers to get to the core to satisfy your clients. Go the extra mile for them and look for the dots, blank spaces that you can fill. We must remember that, client service is action, quality management and philosophy. It is not only the responsibility of the front desk staff. It is not only interaction between people, but the whole environment plays a role. It consists of tangibles and intangibles. The client will decide if you are successful.
Digital Preservation. Ria Groenewald
A topic that some of us heard of before but not many of us know anything of digital preservation. Ria appeared nervous and not to sure of herself but that quickly changed. She was very enthusiastic about her topic and soon you could see the difference in behaviour. One of the things that she mentioned and is sad was that there was no preserved or recorded information on the 1994 election that we know of. Why did this happen? This was one of the most important happenings in the history of our land. It is clear that preservation don’t have the same value for everybody. We must remember that “back up” is not preservation. It is time to realise that preservation must take place. If we don’t preserve our information it will be lost.
Mobile Technologies. Christelle Steyn and Janice de Wee
Where does it end? Just when you think you’ve got the hang of it, it changes. This is how I feel with the rate the technology changes. If you look at the rate those electronic devices develop who knows where it will end. I’m not to sure that I will use twitter or promote it with my clients but the QR codes is something that can be used. Mobile technology can be the one appliance that changes the whole thinking or outcome of learning. There are more clients with smart phones than clients with laptops (Scary).
16-11-2010
Constitution Hill, Court and Library.
It was my first visit to Constitution Hill. A part of the past, history of South Africa that I’m sure we don’t want to remember. You can’t believe all the things that happened in the prison and the petty things that people were locked up for. It is no wonder we didn’t heard about all the things that happened. In the picture above the artist demonstrate how it looked in prison and what they had to do. They had to sleep, were their clothes and use the bathroom all in the small cell. It was an emotional afternoon for many of us. I enjoyed the visit to the court and would like to visit the court when it is in session. They have a much larger library that I though they would have.
Multi-Culturalism and the diverse workplace. Ujala Satgoor
We tend to clamp people into boxes and sometimes tag them. What give us the right to do that? How much do we know about our cultural community history? What is diversity? Diversity can be seen as “differences” or human diversity as “differences among people.” The definition of culture can be “the totality of values, beliefs, traditions, principles, attitudes, shared language, communication styles, ideas and thinking patterns, and behaviours common to a large group of people”. It’s all of us in our rich and infinite variety. Why do we need to be concerned about diversity? Your awareness of the various dimensions of diversity increase, your own cultural identity get to be examined and how that identity affects your relationships with others, you become more aware of your own attitudes, perceptions, and feelings about various aspects of diversity and you make a commitment to increase your understanding of diversity issues.
South Africa is revered to as a melting pot. This concept came from the USA. As Ujala put it, we are like “potjie kos”. A lot of ingredients (people) in to one “pot” (land or country). Today the term “mosaic” society is replacing the “melting pot” concept. In a “mosaic” society, individuals maintain their own cultural patterns, such as language, lifestyle, and religious practices. Differences are valued and appreciated, as when countless colored stones join together to form a mosaic. As a result, individuals can be proud of their cultural heritage and uniqueness instead of being ashamed of their differences. Are we heading there? Unity in Diversity? (Satgoor, U. Presentation, slide 5). If I look at my work place, I don’t think so. We tried to get people together but they tend to stay with their groups. In our tearoom the older lady’s sits together at tea. Then there is another group sitting on one side at the tearoom and a group sitting in the kitchen part of the tearoom. There were occasions where we tried to get the people together but it didn’t worked. Diversity isn’t something that must be forced. It must be spontaneous to work. It could be a good idea to informed people on cultural issues. Get someone of a specific group to talk to the people about their culture. A good example was the day when we arrived at the Academy the Hindu culture had Divali. How many of us knew that it was Divali and what does it mean? Get someone to inform you about it. When we start to tell each other about our culture and have respect for other people’s culture, then we are starting to move in the right direction. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said:” "South Africa is a country in which one can expect the unexpected an inspiration for all. What made it possible was the determination of the people of South Africa to work together … to transform bitter experiences into the binding glue of a rainbow nation. “Isn’t it time for us to take this at heart and put the differences aside? Do not start a new culture but start by showing respect to each other. From the Preamble to the Constitution of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996), "We, the people of South Africa, recognize the injustices of our past; honor those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity."
15-11-2010
The Dynamic Organisation. Johan Greeff
A few years ago and in some extent still today a lot of organizations jumped on the band wagon of transformation. The question can be asked: is it really necessary and do they know what they are doing? What is transformation? Transformation can be seen as a change in thinking. How to create a strategic perspective? Think in the future. To think in the future you must have a strategic plan with objectives. What is an objective? Vision, mission and strategy, if they are formulated, set the direction of the organisation. If they are to become truly useful as a management tool, they must be translated into what philosophers and management scientists call “Operational Definitions”, but they must, in other words, be expressed as specific, concrete, measurable activities and desired results. Thus translated, purposes become what managers call “objectives”. Objectives are distinguished from philosophies or vague hopes and are concrete commitments with the following characteristics:
• They are specific
• They are reality orientated
• Their Achievements can be verified
• The specific time they will be achieved in (The Living Organisation, 2010:4).
One thing that must also be considered is the effect that the global picture has on you. These can be:
Political
Economical
Natural Environment
Social Demographic
Technological
By considering these factors you will be able to identify potential opportunities, threats and implications for your organisation to test your vision, mission and values. Remember to involve individuals and teams by obtaining commitment. Make the work place a living place. Leaders create a future.
We had an interesting exercise. Something was under a cloth. We had to peak through small little holes and give feed back on what we see. The result was so many people so many results. It shows that people look at things differently. Everyone is looking at it from a different angle. You have to allow for this. Approach the future with an open mind. Don’t always think that you are the only one that is correct. Listen to other people before you decide. The key to success is in a “new” word that Johan made up: Contrisipate – contribute, appreciate and participate.
13, 14-11-2010
Weekend off.
Yippee. Now I wonder about the yippee. Maybe I should have worked on the blog. It was nice though to see the family and I believe they are important. The only problem was that I didn’t create a balance over the weekend.
12-11-2010
Innovative Thinking for Contemporary Librarians. Prof Johannes Cronje
Who said librarians can’t have fun
Who said librarians can’t have fun
It is always fun to listen to Prof Cronje. One thing that bothers me was the exercise on the learning style that we have done. It is more or less the same as the HBDI exercise that we have done to determine your personal and group profiling. If I compare the two exercises I am in the opposite quadrant. In HBDI I am green and in the exercise of Prof Cronje I am yellow. Talk about confusing. In this profile I am a Diverger (Imaginative).
• Learns by Reflective Observation and Concrete Experience (R,C)
• Does well in creativity exercises and imaginative brainstorms
• Views situations from many perspectives
• Tends to be imaginative and emotional
• Interested in people and cultural matters
Typical job:
• Counsellors
• development specialists
• HR managers
• development specialists
• HR managers
We had great fun especially when we had to reveal our artistic side by drawing an elephant. The exercise where we had to choose a new job brings out the creativity in you. Four persons were in a group and you had to say what you would do if you could choose another job. It was a challenge to apply the new job to your current job as librarian.
In his book “Seven habits of highly effective people” Steven Covey gives seven rules that you can use to take on a challenge.
Habit One: Be Proactive.
Proactive means you should do things before you have to. Figure out the route things are likely to take and be there to meet them.
Habit Two: Begin with the End in Mind.
Visualise where you want to be, and work out how you will get there. Then make every decision you have based on achieving that end.
Habit Three: Put First Things First.
Work on things that are important but not urgent, because that is where you can be most effective. Manage the urgent important crises, delegate the unimportant urgent ones.
Habit Four: Think Win-Win.
Find solutions from which other people will also benefit. Then team up with mutually beneficial strategies. Don’t be greedy. Remember that there is enough to go around. Someone does not have to lose for you to win. Life is not chess. If you can’t make a win-win deal, don’t deal at all.
Habit Five: Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood.
Listen to other people before telling your own position.
Habit Six: Synergize.
Ensure that the whole is better than the sum of the parts. Create things that are stronger than what either party could have produced on his or her own.
Habit Seven: Sharpen The Saw.
Work on continuously improving your physical, mental, spiritual and social strength.
I think this would help in taking on new things.
Introduction to KM and Practical implementation of a KM initiative. Bjarke Gotfredsen
This was disappointing. Maybe my expectation of the session was too high. I anticipated something else, I don’t know what, but there was something missing. I heard Nisha Sewdass before on KM and perhaps I thought it would be the same. One thing that stood out for me was when a person with a lot of expertise leaves the organisation and it is not written down that expertise leave with him. How can we retain the knowledge? People must learn a habit to share their knowledge. I know for many people this is hard because everyone wants to have a competitive edge but it doesn’t help the organisation. The section on web 2.0 social media and other KM tools was also disappointing for me.
11-11-2010
Visit to the Merensky Library and the National Library of South Africa
On arrival Ujala gave a bit of history of origin of UP to the group. In the Merensky we also heard a bit of history and then went to the committee room to be addressed by the Director of Merensky, Mr Moropa. He shared the view and strategic plan of UPLIS with us. UPLIS is currently busy with a new strategic plan that will be implemented in 2011. The challenge will be to get the personnel to bye in to the plan. The colleagues were very impressed with the game that Bettie de Kock showed them. That was a hit. They were talking for a few days about it. After lunch at Burgundy’s we left for NLSA. We were early and them Ujala and Martha de Waal showed us the LIASA offices. Now I also know were my professional organisation office is. We went to the NLSA and listen to Rachel More. It was basic a repeat of what JohnTsebe said to us on Monday, 8 November. The walk through the NLSA showed us another side of the library and what they do. Two things impressed me, the auditorium and the section where they wash the books. After the visits it was back to Leriba for Dinner.
10-11-2010
Maximising Human Capital. John Moalusi
The second day of John and I am waiting in anticipation of what the day will deliver. He started with an interesting quote by Herman R & Gioia J: “People are basically good. They want to do the right things. They want to become a part of something great. People want to be recognised and rewarded. You can’t get the best from employees today by lighting a fire beneath them; you need to find a way to fire within them. Today’s employees are looking for employment environments that will take them beyond the mundane.” How true are these words? If employees don’t like the environment of their work they look for greener pastures. Employees and I know this is a statement that needed to be proven, don’t have the loyalty of early years when employees stayed for 20-30 or longer years at one company. Maybe it is time to get the loyalty back. What are the key things to optimise people? Three things come to mind, train and develop staff; empower them and reward them – give them an afternoon off. How can you build empowered companies? Staff must come through the leadership pipeline. This entails: managing self – do the basic competencies, then manage others – when you master all of this you are ready for the next stage, managing managers – promote when they reach all competencies.
What are some of the challenges that managers need to grasped?
• How do we recognize the intrinsic diversity in the worth of people and find a way to value it through understanding their personal human capital?
• We need to measure the value – financial and non-financial – that is added to each stakeholder by each individual in our organization
• We must be able to value future returns from intangible and people-related investments with as much credibility as the well-tried methodologies for physical asset investment
• It is as important to measure the drivers of performance as it is to measure the outcomes themselves (Moalusi, J. 2010 Power Point Presentation. Slide 9)
Most people look for more than merely financial rewards, this includes: Challenging and interesting work, equipment and resources that would not otherwise be accessible, status and self-esteem, opportunities for personal growth and career development and recognition: by the person managers, or by peers, or even publicly. You must create an employer of choice. This can be done by:
• Marketing & recruiting
• Optimizing performance
• Choosing to work, choosing to stay
• Reduced turnover, enhanced loyalty
• Finding better people Efficiency, Effectiveness, Profitability
• Less stress, more fun
• Planning for continuity
• Greater attractiveness to investors
• Increased attractiveness to customers
• Greater efficiency in customer service
• Exciting Environments – The place where employees will want to be
When managers and even top management take the above seriously and to hart there will be less of a turnover of staff. A long day comes to an end and now we can get started on our group assignment on human Resources.
09-11-2010
Organisational leadership. John Moalusi
The day begin with a quote by Manfred Kets De Vries stating: “If we are to understand leadership, we have to pay attention to the internal and social dynamics, to the complex playing fields between leaders and followers, and to unconscious and invisible psychodynamics processes and structures that influence the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations.” Basically said, you can’t do it alone to be a leader. You have to have followers. “Most leaders have followers around them. They believe the key to leadership is gaining more followers. However, real and successful leaders surround themselves with other leaders. The ones who bring great value to their organization so they lighten the leadership burden and enlarge the vision and goals.” What is leadership? Nel, P.S. says: “It is a process whereby an individual influences others to willingly and enthusiastically direct their efforts and abilities towards attaining defined goals. The leader attempts to change the attitudes and actions of people that are related to specific goals.”
One of the most important things for a leader is to coach. He must fight for his team, develop his staff and become a strategic partner of the clients. There are five rules to lead by:
1. Shape the future
2. Makes things happen
3. Manage talent – identify talent and develop it, excite them
4. Build human capital – how well do you plan to have people/talent for the future
5. Invest in yourself and the team – balance your life
The difference between leadership and management was also interesting. The following two columns on page 6 of the handout by John Moalusi, Organizational Leadership show the difference.
LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT
Provide a vision & initiate change Implement changes as suggested by the leader
Inspire & develop Control
Ability to influence others Authority
Do the right things Do things right
Passionate Impersonal
The leader must look to the future and the manager must be the one that get things done. The day comes to an end and we can reflect on the past few days.
08-11-2010
Locating libraries on the national agenda. John Tsebe
After the session with Prof de Boer the presenters had to perform to keep the quality and high standard of presenting. John’s presentation ignites mixed feelings with the group. Some of the group members felt that he did not answer their questions. I was glad that my question about school libraries was answer well. I just hope that the proposed legislation that every school must have a library will pass, after all this is where everything starts. Children have to learn to read and use a library. I hope they can deliver and implement all the initiatives that the NLSA have.
Leading LIASA and LIASA leading the profession. Naomi Haasbroek
What a disappointment! I was ready to hear about all the activities and structures of LIASA and how they work and how the structures form a unit but no such luck. The presenter did not succeed in keeping my attention. I could not find any indication of how LIASA is going to lead the profession. Maybe I missed it but it would be nice if they could have explained it to me.
The next generation librarians: how will we look? Prof Theo Bothma
The Merensky library tries to be in the fore front when it comes to change. The old paper and card catalogue is still there. The catalogue is slowly but surely busy to disappear, we hope. We, the librarians on level 5 or some of us has offices in the departments. I help clients with their proposal. In 2008 I attend a conference in America and after the conference I was asked to be a reviewer of conference articles for submission to a journal that was started for the conference. I was reviewer for the 3rd year and will most probably be for 2012 as well. This is part of the changing role of the librarian. The conference was about learning and life long learning. I think librarians are life long learners. The problem is that we read but we don’t implement. The organisation has a responsibility to train people and create an environment for life long learning. In the future cell phones will dominate the way clients are going to learn. 67% of students at UP use Smartphone’s. Our services will move to the background. We must empower our user by thinking out of the box. What else can be done? How can we improve our service to our clients? Librarians must communicate with their clients in order to meet their expectations and meet their needs.
The practicing next generation librarians. Rene Schoombee
Innovative, creative, thinking out of the box and engaging with the community, this is changes that we as librarians must do. I think a lot of librarians have lost the enthusiasm for their profession. We are most of the time reactive in stead of proactive. Librarians must help where they can, explore and find new ways of serving and doing things.
PAMOJA: Group vs. team dynamics. Ujala Satgoor
We were all amused, uncertain in the dark of what to expect. After the rules was laid out and explained to us we start playing. In the beginning everyone was a bit tight and uncertain of what to do. After a wile we loosen up and enjoyed it very much. We had to trade and negotiate, build libraries and Universities and museums. This was really fun and in a sense we were all kids because we were learning while we played. You had to trust your team mates. It was a great game to play.
07-11-2010
HDBI Profiling. Prof Ann de Boer
Sunday morning we started with the HBDI personal and group profiling. Prof De Boer was brilliant in presenting and explaining the profiling. The profiling shows that I’m dominant green, strong on organising, planning, administrative and implementation. Close to green is blue that is strong on analysing, technical, problem solving and finance. This wasn’t a big surprise for me. I suspected that I was green. What was more surprising for me was the fact that I came out very high in green when I’m under pressure.
The first Sunday was a very long day. We started early and finished late Sunday night. It’s going to be a tough 2 weeks.
06-11-2010
Web 2.0
The program started at 08:30 again this morning, Saturday the 6th. We started with web 2.0. Johan van Wyk gives an interesting presentation on Web 2.0 technologies. Antoinette Lourens present on Blogs and Wikis where after we had hands on training and create our own blogs and wikis. I think that the presenter of Web 2.0 must concentrate on a few tools and discuss those tools in dept. There are too many Web 2.0 tools to discuss. The time for the hands on training was not enough. During the afternoon we received our assignments from Prof Bothma. After the tea break we start with part one of the Campbell Leadership Descriptor Tool. Campbell D 2002 stated: “In our increasingly complex world, the need for good leadership has never been greater” Through leadership we must educate our children, create economic prosperity and build relationships between different populations all over the world. Good leadership is crucial to the success of any organization. The descriptor help you with the question of: what is a “good” leader and how you can improve your leadership skills. It shows you your strengths and areas of development and you can compare leaders with each other. I think this is a good tool that can be used for staff development and a descriptor that can be used to test applicants for leadership positions.
05-11-2010
Arrrival
I arrived just after 4 pm on 5 November 2010 and booked in. At 5 pm we started with the program by means of an introduction to the program. After the introduction the sports started. We had five minutes to introduce ourselves. It was interesting to hear and learn about the colleagues in the profession. We had dinner at 19:30 where after we went to bed.
Expectations
• To hear what experts in different fields says about important issues on leadership
• To learn more about changes in strategic strategies of organizations
• To grow in leadership thanks to the opportunity given to me
• To network and engage with fellow colleagues in the library profession
