TLA Launch: Week 5

 

This was the last week of TLA Launch. We discussed Change Management. We focused on the REDUCE acronym based on the book, The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind by Jonah Berger. It stands for Reactance, Endowment, Distance, Uncertainty, Corroborating Evidence. Examples were given of how to lessen the fear of change and get more people on board with them. For example, providing a menu of change options so that staff feels they have agency over the change. One option I never thought of was to "harness freemium" which is like a free trial to get others on board. If you are confident and have done the work necessary, the change should bring about a positive effect. Once people give that free trial a test run, they can see for themselves that the change is warranted. 

Overall, I think the program was useful. We were the first cohort to do the program virtually, so some of the lessons had to be converted appropriately. It was nice that for a lot of the breakout sessions we were divided into similar libraries, though I always got lumped into the academic library group. Which wasn't a problem, per se, but I couldn't relate to everything discussed. I feel like five weeks was such a short time to adequately cover all topics. The topics they chose to cover (Emotional Intelligence, and Influence; Communication & Crucial Conversations; Team Work & Collaboration; Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion; and Change Management) are very substantial and a five-week course over any one of them probably wouldn't cover everything necessary. So in that sense, it was nice to get an overview of these important workplace topics. The teachers did provide further reading and did emphasize that they were always open to more questions. They also stated that they might have a reunion meetup since it's a lot harder to network virtually and it would be nice for us to meet each other in real life. 

TLA Launch: Week 4

This week during TLA Launch, we discussed equity, diversity, and inclusion. First, the teachers went over the definitions of each, which is great because I always get equity and equality mixed up. They had a cartoon to help visually explain the differences, which did help. 

In a breakout room with other academic/special librarians, we made a TRIZ list so that we could hypothetically achieve the worst result imaginable when it comes to an EDI workplace. The list was segmented into Direct Report, Peers, and People You Report To. It was eye-opening to see just how many of the things listed were happening at a previous place of employment. Seeing the columns of segments made it abundantly clear that there is never just one negative issue in a toxic workplace. The negative traits trickle down and out. 

On our collaborative slide, we listed a bunch of different ways workplaces are not EDI, from the obvious, showing favoritism, to less obvious ones like hiring homogenously. As we looked over our list, we were asked to highlight on the slide and reflect on those in which we may be complicit. Many people highlighted working in silos, not being a team player, and being disconnected from employees. I've done some of these myself and it just drove the point home further that even if you're trying to mind your own business and ignore the issues, your reactions to them just add to the overall culture. The lesson provided some great food for thought. 

TLA Launch: Week 3

This week during TLA Launch, we discussed teamwork and collaboration. Again, because I started at SwRI during the work-from-home orders, I have not had many "traditional" teamwork interactions. However, as far as "team" projects go, I think my co-worker and I did great work on the Famous Mathematicians virtual exhibit. Because we each had our own bullet points to work on, it was easy to work separately, then come together to put our two halves to make a whole. 

However, as far as the TLA discussion goes, I had to resort to past work experiences to find common ground. The TLA team put us into breakout rooms by library type. I ended up with the Academic & Special librarians. The first quality on our list of what makes a high-functioning team was open communication. Someone in the group also came up with the term "compassionate professionalism" which was described as having empathy for co-workers but maintaining professional boundaries. A lot of librarians in the group-at-large liked the term. 

You can't talk about what makes a high-functioning team without talking about dysfunctional teams. We spent some time in breakout groups to discuss the different aspects of dysfunction we've experienced at work. Though everyone has experienced the negative team qualities before, because of the current situation the listed traits are now presenting themselves differently. Some felt that COVID has created more meetings just to meet. These meetings are labeled as check-ins to ensure that people are on-track, doing their jobs, and being held accountable but usually, nothing productive comes out of the meeting. Again, I too have lived through many of the negative team traits listed but I haven't encountered them at SwRI. 

TLA Launch: Week 2

As homework for TLA Launch, they asked us to complete a test to get our Style Under Stress Score. You’re asked 33 true or false questions about the way you handle stressful situations. The makers of the Style Under Stress test use Silence and Violence as two indicators of your stress style. On a range of 0-6, you are scored on how you act towards silence and violence. The lower the number the better. 

I could have told you before the test that I’m definitely a silent stress-er. I can’t think fast enough on my good days and I’m very conscious of how correct and accurate I am. There is no way that I’m going to spew things I’m unsure of when I’m under stress. In the Silent section, I received a score of 1 for both Masking and Avoiding and a score of 2 for Withdrawing. 

In the Violence Score breakdown, I received a zero for both Controlling and Labeling and a 1 in Attacking. 

The next range they measure is your Crucial Conversations Score. These can be scored 0-3 in each category. I received a 1 in the Explore Other’s Paths, Move to Action, Start with Heart, Learn with Look, Make it Safe, Master My Stories sections, and a 2 in STATE My Path. 

I am pretty self-aware when it comes to my shortcomings in stressful situations. I am definitely a withdrawer and I have a hard time understanding conversations that focus heavily on emotions. I love taking all kinds of personality tests, so this was just something else I have in my arsenal of self-awareness. Knowing how I react in stressful situations is always helpful. 

TLA Launch: Week 1

TLA Launch is a leadership program geared towards those in the library field who have been in the industry less than five years. Though I’m not interested in being a manager, the fact that I was one means you can’t ever say never. While I was a manager, I learned that there are many skills I lacked when it came to managing, leading, and influencing. Even if I never manage people in the future, I think that this program will help in my overall professional development. There will be some skillsets I’ll know to work on and on the flip side I’ll have a better understanding of what bosses have to go through when it comes to supervising others. 

The first week was dedicated to Emotional Intelligence and Influence. I guess it’s good to get the hard things out of the way first, right? Though I think I’m good at recognizing my own emotions, I’m not comfortable expressing them at work. Even less so to others, with others, about others, because of others, or in any way relating to others. I like to think I have a good handle on my emotions and the way they get expressed at work (which honestly has been easy because of COVID) but part of emotional intelligence (and its relation to leadership) is that you have to be attuned to others as well. Well...I’ll just add that to the list of things I need to work on. 

"The Man who Moves a Mountain..."

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

Confucius

Book Club: Pandemic In a totally crazy, random happenstance, one of the books that staff picked to be read as part of Book Club this year was Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond by Sonia Shah. We discussed the book this month. I admit, I didn’t read it. The only book I’ve read on time for Book Club this year was A Man Called Ove. However, I did borrow the book from San Antonio Public Library and after hearing all the good (and harrowing) things about it, I’m more interested than ever to read it. It’s definitely been added to my Goodreads To Be Read list. 

LibGuides Webinar - Google Fonts I attended this quick 15 minute webinar on how to incorporate Google Fonts into your LibGuides. It was helpful but disappointing in that you can only add the font to all your LibGuides, not just individual pages. 

Rare Book Virtual Exhibit This week I spent the majority of my time working on the website for the virtual exhibit. I think I went through five iterations of what I wanted the website to look like. I started with one mathematician, created a page, used it as a template for the next one and then added or changed components. Wash, rinse, repeat. I had to mentally tell myself that this is just the first exhibit and that it doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect or groundbreaking. As I learn more web development, I’ll be able to incorporate those things into other exhibits. For now, I have the content I need, what I must focus on is getting it onto a pretty website that will be functional, engaging, and interactive. 

CORAL Fall Meeting I’ve noticed in life I don’t get invited to much (even before the pandemic). However, when I do, it’s usually for 12 things all on the same day...because, of course. Well, this Friday was that day for me at work. There were three meetings I wanted/had to go to and all of them occurred on the same day. 

CORAL (Council of Research and Academic Libraries) had their fall meeting held jointly with TLA District 10. They had a full schedule of sessions and panel discussions. I watched the keynote with kYmberly Keeton but unfortunately had to jet over to another Zoom call. 

LISSA All School’s Day LISSA (Library and Information Science Student Association) was holding their All School’s Day event on Friday as well. Since I’m an officer of the group, I joined in watching the Dean talk about the importance of research, and saw parts of the three presenters. At 1P there was supposed to be a poster presentation by ASIS&T that I was really interested in seeing. I never got the opportunity to present a poster in undergrad and now feel that it is something I missed out on. I was curious to see what kind of poster presentations LIS students had, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend because Friday was also the first day of TLA Launch. 

TLA Launch TLA Launch is a leadership program geared towards those in the library field who have been in the industry for less than five years. Though I’m not interested in being a manager, the fact that I was one means you can’t ever say never. While I was a manager, I learned that there are many skills I lacked when it came to managing, leading, and influencing. Even if I never manage people in the future, I think that this program will help in my overall professional development. There will be some skill sets I’ll know to work on and on the flip side I’ll have a better understanding of what bosses have to go through when it comes to supervising others. 

The first week was dedicated to Emotional Intelligence and Influence. I guess it’s good to get the hard things out of the way first, right? Though I think I’m good at recognizing my own emotions, I’m not comfortable expressing them at work. Even less so to others, with others, about others, because of others, or in any way relating to others. I like to think I have a good handle on my emotions and the way they get expressed at work (which honestly has been easy because of COVID) but part of emotional intelligence (and its relation to leadership) is that you have to be attuned to others as well. Well...I’ll just add that to the list of things I need to work on.