Today was my favorite by far. Robert Bensom really drove home some of the marketing / branding and motivational ideas we've been studying so far. I'm enthusiastic about reading the recommended books. Yep, I'm already on the TNREADS holds list for Start with Why and Good to Great. (And I'm very happy to see that our library has Start with Why in audio.)
I also really enjoyed some of the meditation exercises. I did not, however, enjoy one of the guided exercises. The imagery used in guided meditations is very important, and I'm picky. Today, though, the suggestion to visualize yourself as an animal was unfortunate in the extreme. Without warning, my mind brought up the image of the skunk we almost encountered on our morning walk yesterday.
Is my subconscious trying to say something?
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Do you know where you're going to?...
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Overall goal: make the library more welcoming
Staff objective: In one year, I'd like staff to be able to welcome customers to the library in their own language. All staff will be taught the following words and phrases in ASL, Spanish, and Mandarin
Basic greeting (like hello, welcome, etc)
Where's the bathroom?
Do you need
book
computer
medical help / doctor
police
Goodbye
I'll teach, have the staff teach each other, or use powerspeak to teach, these words and phrases one language at a time. We will learn one language, and practice it. Then we will add a new language every four months.
Overall goal: make the library more welcoming
Staff objective: In one year, I'd like staff to be able to welcome customers to the library in their own language. All staff will be taught the following words and phrases in ASL, Spanish, and Mandarin
Basic greeting (like hello, welcome, etc)
Where's the bathroom?
Do you need
book
computer
medical help / doctor
police
Goodbye
I'll teach, have the staff teach each other, or use powerspeak to teach, these words and phrases one language at a time. We will learn one language, and practice it. Then we will add a new language every four months.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Home is the place where, when you have to go there they have to take you in
The above listed quote, if you're interested, is from Death of a Hired Man, by Robert Frost. I've had that quote banging around my head the past two days and I figured I'd share it.
Tangentially, I could relate it to performance management - if someone works for you, you have to evaluate their performance....like death and taxes. Scheduled quick meetings, formal bi-annuals and / or annuals- you prep for these meetings. To some extent, you control the content - at least the date and time, place and length of the meeting. You can be prepared, you've thought about what you will say.
I think the most important part of performance management is realizing you do it every day, with nearly every staff interaction. What you do and say, without thinking about it, can often have the most positive (or negative) impact. An off the cuff compliment, praise tossed in passing, or a poorly thought out comment can make someone's day or break it.
My advice to myself, freely shared: do a five minute breathing mediation before your staff comes in, keep lots of quality tea and chocolate in your office, and take time to do fun things yourself.
Tangentially, I could relate it to performance management - if someone works for you, you have to evaluate their performance....like death and taxes. Scheduled quick meetings, formal bi-annuals and / or annuals- you prep for these meetings. To some extent, you control the content - at least the date and time, place and length of the meeting. You can be prepared, you've thought about what you will say.
I think the most important part of performance management is realizing you do it every day, with nearly every staff interaction. What you do and say, without thinking about it, can often have the most positive (or negative) impact. An off the cuff compliment, praise tossed in passing, or a poorly thought out comment can make someone's day or break it.
My advice to myself, freely shared: do a five minute breathing mediation before your staff comes in, keep lots of quality tea and chocolate in your office, and take time to do fun things yourself.
Staff days or library maintenance days?
I learned Monday that we don't have staff days. The library is closed, but we usually end up reviewing policies and doing inventory. Both of these are necessary, and required, tasks.
We have monthly staff meetings where we examine our stats, evaluate progress towards our goals, hash out new ideas, and review older ideas. Positive customer comments which specifically mention a group or a specific person are enlarged, highlighted and displayed on a bulletin board.
I would love to have actual staff days - when we focus only on training, reward and recognition. We can't afford it. However, I'm happy to say we do focus on training, and publicly recognize excellence - just not all in one place and time.
We have monthly staff meetings where we examine our stats, evaluate progress towards our goals, hash out new ideas, and review older ideas. Positive customer comments which specifically mention a group or a specific person are enlarged, highlighted and displayed on a bulletin board.
I would love to have actual staff days - when we focus only on training, reward and recognition. We can't afford it. However, I'm happy to say we do focus on training, and publicly recognize excellence - just not all in one place and time.
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