Fighting Fit: A training regimen for demonstrating value in special libraries Maggie Weaver Sha,esbury Associates 2014
Fighting Fit: A training regimen
for demonstrating value in special libraries
Maggie Weaver Sha,esbury Associates
2014
Lifestyle: Posi-oning
• Low value, essen?al
• Low value, not essen?al
• High value, essen-al
• High value, not essen?al
Informa?on broker
Op-mize, Improve
Contract out Eliminate
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Lifestyle: A regular part of your management strategy
• Who are we? Where are we going?
• What does success look like?
• How do we get there? • How do we know if we do
well? • What do we adjust based
on our measurements?
• Vision / mandate
• Outcomes / goals
• Strategies • Performance measures
• Resource alloca?ons
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Inspira-on: Performance Measurement Resources for Economic Development. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture & Food, 2013 www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/rural/edr/pmr/index.html Includes great templates for developing your own “outcomes”
Your three-‐step S Q P program:
• Strategize – Understand what your employer values
• Quan?fy – Focussed measurement of outcomes as they affect those values
• Persuade – Persuasive communica?ons
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OCLC uses SQD = Strategize, quan?fy, demonstrate – see Demonstra?ng Impact Roadmap h^p://www.webjunc?on.org/documents/webjunc?on/Demonstra?ng_Impact_Road_Map.html
Sqp – Aligning with the organiza-on
“Librarians, if they are to remain credible, must develop a deep understanding of how the discipline or ac?vity they are serving is prac?ced.
Only this will lead to credibility as a contributor to the enterprise and thus to the standing and peer regard to supply acceptable solu?ons to problems – preferably before those problems are perceived.”
Peter Brophy “Telling the story” Performance Measurement & Metrics, vol.9 no.1 2008 p.7-‐17
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Sqp – Aligning: finding out
• Who’s really running things? – whose values count most?
– whom do I have to convince?
• How do I become (& stay) in the loop? – more integra?on with projects – collaborate on teams
– go to mee?ngs
• Who is most likely to help me?
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Sqp – Aligning: Maze bright vs maze dull
• Pa^ern • Reality • Trust • Value • Priority • Power • Cues
• Situa?on • Norma?ve • Loyalty • Rules • Sca^er • Authority • Literal
John Butler, A global view of informal organiza?on. SAM Advanced Management Journal, Summer 1986
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Sqp – Which stakeholders? -‐ segments -‐ champions
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Source: SLA
Alignment Project
Sqp – How do my stakeholders measure value?
• Some clues: – Measures of ac?vity – Sa?sfac?on surveys – $$ billings – # clients – $$ budget – Research reputa?on – Efficiency = savings – Something else… … …
• External & internal comparisons
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Sqp – 3 ways that (financial) investment made in me might contribute (financially)
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The S Q P regimen
Regular training:
• Review all ac?vi?es & weed regularly [annual]
• Write a vision, some goals, a strategy
• Get embedded, build alliances
• Iden?fy aligned measures • Measure [frequently] &
adjust accordingly [o,en]
Crash diet:
• Focus on a few high value, highly visible ac?vi?es
• Pick one goal aaaaaaaaaaaaa
• Find a champion aaaaaaaaaaa
• Pick one aligned measure • Take a snapshot, i.e. a
sample
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sQp – The nature of value
• Intangible & subjec?ve, dependent on
– the ?me – e.g. weather [info]
– the situa?on – e.g. valet parking [server + service]
– the audience – e.g. customer vs. stakeholder
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sQp – The best measure may surprise you
h^p://www.cupelocal79.org/wp-‐content/uploads/2011/09/IVR-‐Ward-‐Report.pdf
sQp – what should I measure?
• The clues:
– Ac?vity measures • Events, a^endees, feedback,…
– Sa?sfac?on • Surveys, new customers, …
• So I should deliver & measure – Lots of ac?vity
• New events, more a^en-‐dees, quality delivery,…
– Sa?sfac?on • Quality delivery, new & a^rac?ve services, …
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SQp – Which of my ac-vi-es …
• Align me with my organiza?on’s goals? • “just in ?me” materials? • “just in case” materials? • cuvng edge research?
• Can be described as assets, investments etc.? • collec?on? • staff qualifica?ons? • consor?um membership?
– Elevator speech, or impact story, for each – Direct contribu?ons to desired organiza-onal outcomes – KPI = Keeping Purposeful Intelligence [Edge Hill U.]
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sQp – Measures of value
• Input cost • Rela?ve to some other provider
• Cost to replace • Rela?ve to some other service
• Value in use • How do we measure? What’s included?
• Market value = willingness to pay • Directly or indirectly
• Consequen?al value = effect • Perceived usefulness or actual usefulness
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sQp – Example: alert service
• Input cost = lib staff-‐space-‐materials + user ?me = $158k
• Exchange value = outside alterna?ve = $150k • Cost to replace (D-‐I-‐Y) = est. 8 x users current =$432k But these are all measures of quality – what about value?
• Demand value = difference to user = $378k
• Use value – depends on use, which varies
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sQp – There are lots of formal measures
• Efficiency – Value for money
• Cost-‐benefit – Impact on organiza?on (e.g. employee efficiencies, lower prices nego?ated for commercial services)
• Value in use – Balanced scorecard – Con?ngent valua?on – Economic benefit
But these are easy: – cost per use
– “investment”
– “insurance”
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sQp – Good news about stats
• Your case is not unique – external research • You have more data than you think – internal research
• You need less data than you think – small samples • There’s a useful measure that is simpler than you think
And – measurement is itera?ve
Doug Hubbard – How to Measure Anything: Finding the value of intangibles in business, 2007
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sQp – Outcomes – doing this for myself
• What I invest
• What I do • What I produce / whom I reach
• The changes I effect – Short-‐term – Intermediate
– Long-‐term
• Inputs • Ac?vi?es • Outputs
• Outcomes – e.g. new champion – e.g. percep-ons changed – e.g. re-‐posi-oned
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sQp – Outcomes – I’m doing this for You
• What I invest • What I do
• What I produce / whom I reach
• The changes I effect – Short-‐term
– Intermediate
– Long-‐term
• Inputs • Ac?vi?es • Outputs
• Outcomes – e.g. more use of the investment
such as in KM, search – e.g. help resolve business issues or improve business prac-ces – e.g. compe--ve edge, new markets
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The S Q P regimen Regular training:
• Set up measures aligned to key people
• ‘Story of the week’, one for each desired outcome
• Ac?vity-‐based cos?ng & comparisons for all services, staring with most visible
• Desired short-‐ and long-‐term outcomes for your library & your organiza?on
Crash diet:
• Set up measures aligned to champion
• A few of impact stories aaaa
• Cost per use, investment & insurance
• Desired short-‐term outcomes for your organiza?on
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sqP – Whom do I talk to?
• Type of influence • Level of understanding • Big user • Big player • Type of impact
• Avtude to info
• Avtude to support staff
• All of the above 23
sqP – Individual baseline will differ
Unawareness
Awareness
Comprehension
Convic?on
Ac?on (= use, funding )
Russell H.Colley, Squeezing the waste out of adver?sing
Harvard Business Review, vol.40 no.5 Sept/Oct 1962 p.76-‐88 24
sqP – Individual mo-va-on will differ
25 h^p://www.ipsosloyalty.com/us/customerdelight.cfm
sqP – Talking to stakeholders: the challenges
• Mul?ple targets • “Top-‐down” influences • Long-‐term investment/pay-‐off • “Intangible” products • “Inseparable” distribu-on • Individual customers important • We are boring
(don’t keep them awake at night)
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sqP – What to say: Finding the content
• Cultural immersion – e.g. through “embedding”
• Independent, expert assessments – “self-‐reflec?ve review”
• Use of narra?ve & story
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sqP: the value of stories • “Almost 30 years ago…. Ar?sts went to O^awa to lobby cabinet ministers. But their arguments were mostly “economic”: all the jobs generated, how cheaply ar?sts work, the “mul?plier effect” on the economy. The ministers yawned: everyone who comes to O^awa talks like that. The compelling arguments would have stressed things that publicly supported culture gives Canadians that they can’t get otherwise.” Rick Salu?n, Toronto Star, September 16, 2011
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sqP – Example of talking the talk
• I manage informa?on, thereby protec?ng the investment in informa?on;
• By making informa?on easy for my users to find, I get the investment paying off sooner;
• I save everyone’s ?me, thereby leveraging the investment in me and them.
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sqP – What do I say? not features, but benefits
Patent informa?on: corporate lawyer security of corporate assets marke?ng strategist know compe??on
Database search training: dept. head more valuable contribu?on
from young scien?sts HR department enhances orig. investment
Fast turnaround: immediate boss improved image stakeholder produc?vity improvement
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“Law librarians are informa?on managers, resource evaluators, access facilitators, expert researchers, teachers, and trainers. [feature]
Law librarians possess the knowledge and skills to realize the full value of informa?on in a changing work environment. [feature + fluffy benefit]
Law librarians can bring value to organiza?ons by reducing research ?me and informa?on costs, thus saving money and resources.” [credible benefit]
[Statement on the Value Added to Organiza?ons by Law Librarians – AALL 2003]
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sqP – Examples: not features, but benefits
sqP – When do I say what I need to say?
• In person – Regular mee?ngs ̶ Performance reviews
– Internal commi^ees ̶ In hallways & elevators
– External commi^ees ̶ ̶ ̶ and where else?
• Through our services – At point of sale ̶ ̶ ̶ and where else? – On the intranet
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sqP – Be my most persuasive: • Commitment & consistency
o Agreement early on leads to commitment finally • Likeability
o Factors incl. familiarity, & associa?on with posi?ve • Authority
o Experts, & champions from senior management • Social proof
o Tes?monials, industry research & benchmarks • Reciprocity
o Give something first, or make a concession first • Scarcity
o Time limits (urgency) Robert Cialdini: Influence,: The psychology of persuasion. Quill, 1993
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The S Q P regimen Regular training:
• Iden?fy key people, push them along, enrol 3-‐4 p.a.
• Work out the benefits of all ac?vi?es
• Make opportuni?es to tell your impact stories every day.
• Build the persuasive case with commitment, likeability, authority & social proof
Crash diet:
• Engage one champion as a co-‐presenter
• Benefit of one highly visible ac?vity
• Tell your impact story as o,en as possible aaaaaaaa
• Use a champion & tes?monials
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The S Q P creed
• I must be proac-ve • I must describe the benefits of what I do • My users must also speak up
• It’s a steep learning curve • It’s a repe??ve process • The need will never go away
• I am a people person
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