Reflecting on Success and Failure:
Managing for Better Client Service
Janine Schmidt, University Librarian, Chris Taylor, Manager, Information Access and Delivery and Heather Todd, Manager, Biological and Health Sciences, University of Queensland Library
Introduction
At a time when client needs and the environment are changing dramatically and information technology developments are impacting significantly, determining the appropriate mix of library service provision and assigning priorities are difficult. Given the funding constraints under which most libraries are operating, providing new products and services as well as maintaining and improving existing ones, seems unattainable. Managing for better client service has never been more challenging. What is success? What is failure? How does one attain success and prevent failure? What constitutes better client service? How do we manage to be successful? In an age of instant gratification, how do we manage to take the time to reflect on our achievements and learn from our mistakes? Some of the experiences at the University of Queensland Library are presented as examples of activities that can be undertaken to reflect on achievements and to ensure success.
One person's success is another person's failure
Success, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. How do we know if we have succeeded or failed? Do we wait for someone to tell us or do we go out and find out for ourselves? The simple answer to the second question is both - we examine our achievements ourselves, and we actively seek the views of others.
There is a plethora of definitions of success. Each person decides whether he or she is successful. For individuals, a job well done denotes success. Recognition by others, superiors, fellows or customers, provides an indication of success. Financial reward or promotion is associated with personal success. An organisation determines its success, frequently as the achievement of goals outlined in its strategic or operational plan, and usually based on a sound, carefully and rationally determined set of criteria and performance measures. Other views of organisational success may involve financial aspects, a balanced budget, or a high profit. Few complaints, lots of congratulations, increased resources, excellent results of benchmarking against other similar organisations, well-trained staff with high morale and an increased market share are all indicators of success.
More importantly, an organisation must recognise that it is not the sole arbiter of its own success. Like it or not, there will be other parties who are also judging whether or not the organisation has been successful. Success (and failure) is very much a personal judgement. Each client will have his/her own (mostly unconscious) criteria for determining whether the library has been successful. Library staff have their own criteria for judging whether they personally have been successful. For library staff, organisational success is viewed through the glass of personal success.
Failure is a much more difficult concept. For some, failure is impossible. For an individual, failure may mean a loss of a job, failure to secure promotion, criticism by peers, management or customers, a foolish action or an inability to cope with the workload. For an organisation, failure may mean a reduction in profit, a loss of or less funding, lots of customer complaints, unhappy staff who leave, a lack of innovation, a loss of functionality and a lack of goal achievement. Just as with success, it is our customers who march with their feet and who also determine our failures.
Any organisation which ignores these judgements of success or failure does so at its peril. Perception is reality and whether we agree personally with the assessment is essentially irrelevant. The organisation must accept the judgement and respond to it.
The concept of success and failure may seem too black and white - life is really about shades of grey. To some extent that is true. Our services are not always judged as spectacular successes or failures. It is a bit like a report card at school, Johnny or Sally could do better. The way we are now may be defined as success, and the way we were in the past as failure. The concept of continuous improvement has a definite role to play here. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels and assume success will continue or wallow in self-pity if we fail. Continuous improvement involves an honest assessment of progress and the development of plans to move forward.
Reflections in the duco
Making honest assessments is what reflection is all about. Reflection can be defined as giving back or showing an image, or as serious thought upon a subject. The activity of reflection is so familiar that, as managers we often overlook it, assuming that not only is it taking place, but that it is occuring consistently across the whole organisation. However, as Duley has pointed out: The skill of experiential learning in which most people tend to be deficient is reflection.1. We have all noticed when looking at the duco of a car (assuming that it has been washed), how distorted is the reflection. For too many people, reflecting is much the same. We see what we want to see, possibly resulting in a distorted view. Consideration of the past or the present may be more about rationalising the past than making an honest assessment. Today's generation lives in and for the present. Perhaps even more disturbing than rationalising the past, is the increasing tendency towards totally ignoring it. The future is inextricably linked to the past and cannot be effectively planned without reflection on the past and the present. The temptation not to pause and take stock, is understandable. The pace and scale of change provide few opportunities for pausing to smell the roses (and Shasta daisies!). While change is considered by most to be inevitable, some think that it is rather like a journey and will conclude. The destination will be reached and "normality" will return.
The Library's journey has no end. Change is occurring on multiple fronts, at an ever-increasing pace. As a consequence, more than ever, we need to assess what has happened and where we are going. Reflecting is an essential part of the cycle of change and involves:
As librarians, we must go beyond the mechanistic analysing of day-to-day practices and address the underlying values and beliefs that influence how we act, how our customers act, and how our staff act.
Success and failure at the University of Queensland Library
The University of Queensland Library comprises twelve branches located on the St Lucia and Gatton campuses and in several teaching hospitals (funded and managed jointly by the Library and Hospital authorities) and in the Dental School. A new service is being developed for the Ipswich campus. The branch libraries do not correspond precisely with the Faculties they service and are primarily disciplinary in basis. Nevertheless, each branch library relates closely to a specific Faculty.
The Library has one of the largest collections amongst Australian academic libraries and by far the largest collection in Queensland. Over 1.8 million volumes are held, in addition to large collections of microforms, multimedia, digital files and primary resources. The Library receives 22,000 journal titles, with 10% of these available electronically. Materials are housed in the branch libraries and in a warehouse on the St Lucia campus which provides cost-effective storage for less used material. Over 20 service points deliver services up to 81 hours per week. The Library provides services ranging from loan and inquiry services to information skills training programs and electronic document delivery. Each branch library includes similar facilities and provides similar services, although there are some variations related to client need.
Service delivery through the branch libraries is supported by centralised processing and administrative services for the whole system. All personnel are recruited centrally. All library materials are ordered and processed centrally. Economies of scale are achieved through the centralised management of such services as copying. Policies are developed for the Library as a whole, by participation of as many as possible. The Library uses its World Wide Web Home Page to deliver an integrated service. The Innopac library computer system, marketed by Innovative Interfaces Inc., is used to provide collection management services and access for all clients. The effectiveness of the Library in service delivery is strongly influenced by the effectiveness of its implementation of information technology. Staff must be able to use a wide range of information technology to deliver services effectively. Customers must be able to access a wide range of computerised catalogues, indexes and databases to find information. The Library provides over 500 personal computers for public use. Over 200 databases are networked and dial-up access is available to most of them.
In reflecting on the activities of the past few years at the University of Queensland Library, is the result success or failure? It will come as no surprise that we believe our successes far outweigh our failures. Facilities have been re-designed. New technologies have been implemented. Old ways of doing business have been abandoned. Restructuring of service delivery and support services has occurred. A matrix structure with centralised policy formulation and decentralised service delivery has been developed. Funding has been re-allocated. Reflection on past achievements and admission of failure have highlighted areas requiring improvement. The beginning of the reflective process was the appointment of a new University Librarian in 1993 and the commissioning of a review of the Library by Margaret Trask ... to ensure that to the maximum level possible within the resources available to it, the Library provides equitable access for staff and students in all disciplines, and for other users approved by the University, to the information required for teaching, learning and research.2
Seven working parties of the Library's senior staff were formed to prepare background material and options on specific topics. The consultant noted This consultative process was extremely valuable and formed a learning process as well as preparation for the Report's possible recommendations.3 The discussions with academic staff were also considered to be extremely useful.
In the 1970s, the situation in libraries was relatively stable. We had a well-defined product and a captured audience for our product. In such a stable environment, the priorities were primarily professional and technical expertise. Functional hierarchies developed at many levels between the library and its customers (not that we called them that in those days). In this sort of environment people felt secure, staff could see their career path. For managers, there was a clarity of purpose, as working life was predictable in terms of budgets, staffing and customers.
In the 1980s, the world tightened and life became more competitive. Customers started to compare services and demand some customer service! They viewed bureaucratic structures as too rigid. Organisations were internally focussed and organised to suit themselves. The decentralised model dominated. Government departments shifted to regional centres and companies established divisions. In libraries, centralised functions, such as technical services and inter-lending, were distributed to branch libraries.
In the 1990s, funds contracted and costs escalated. Customers became more demanding. Change picked up its pace. Total quality management and process re-engineering emerged as ways of examining processes to ensure cost effectiveness and efficiency. Organisational structures which eliminated layers and hierarchies, outsourcing of activities which were non-core, alternative styles of leadership, management and ways of organising processes, were introduced.
Against this background, the Trask report found in 1994 that the facilities of the Library were poor; that its information technology was under-developed; that staffing levels were inappropriate; that the services provided lacked a customer focus; that the organisation structure was hierarchical and ineffective in responding to change; that planning and strategic thinking were under-valued; and that staff lacked many of the skills required. The findings led to a fundamental re-think within the Library about its role within the University. The Library was re-born as a customer focussed organisation. This new focus was embodied in its mission statement:
We link people with information, enabling the University of Queensland to achieve excellence in teaching, learning and research.
This mission is linked to the mission of the University of Queensland
To create and transmit ideas and knowledge and to develop cognitive skills through teaching and research of the highest international standards for the particular benefit of Queensland and the good of the wider national and international communities.
Marking the scorecard - success or failure
The dimensions of success and failure have been referred to earlier in the paper. We have assessed ourselves and sought the views of experts and our customers. Qualitative and quantitative measures of achievement have been made. Of particular assistance in this regard have been benchmarking and the RATER characteristics of service quality.
The University of Queensland Library is involved in two areas of benchmarking. The first is with CHEMS (Commonwealth Higher Education Management Service) and the second is with Universitas 21. The former is a group of universities throughout the Commonwealth who choose several activities to assess every two years. Questionnaires are developed, circulated and assessed. From these, guidelines for best practice are developed. Libraries were surveyed in 1998 and in each of about 12 variables ranging from planning to collection development, the University of Queensland Library obtained the top score of 5 (and was the only University library assessed to do so). Areas for improvement have been noted and these will be acted upon. The Universitas 21 group includes the University of Michigan, the University of Toronto, the University of Birmingham, the University of Auckland, the University of Hong Kong, and within Australia, the University of New South Wales and the University of Melbourne. Standard descriptions of activities have been developed and areas for examination identified. An activity analysis has been conducted and the results of this are still being tabulated. Modes of approach to problem areas in each institution are being examined as guides to others and visits are being made to examine physically examples of best practice.
The RATER methodology was developed by Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry in the United States for use with service industries4. In brief, it is based on the measurement of five key dimensions of service as viewed by the customer:
The importance of the RATER set is that is re-focuses thinking on performance measurement away from counting, to quality management, based on identifying what matters to one's customers and responding to those concerns.
Below are some examples of how the University of Queensland Library has applied the RATER schema to assess its services.
Table 1: The RATER Schema
Preventing failure or turning failure into success
Smart organisations evolve in response to changes in their environment. Even smarter organisations anticipate the changes in their environment. The Library Review highlighted the fact that the Library had not responded well to its environment. Using benchmarking and the RATER performance indicators showed that there were causes for concern. When compared with others and from customer feedback, improvements were needed. Reflection of this kind is a precursor to action as part of the change cycle.
Strategies used to achieve the turnaround, to turn failure (or under-achievement) into success have been varied. They have included process re-engineering, total quality service, continuous improvement, facilities re-design, forming partnerships, action learning and reflective practice, action planning, a constant emphasis on the customer, and regarding the Library as a learning organisation. The last three strategies are addressed below in more detail.
Action learning and reflective practice
The University of Queensland has had a substantial involvement in action learning. At the beginning of this decade, the University acknowledged it was in the midst of unprecedented, rapid and unpredictable change, which created both problems and opportunities. One response was the commencement of a formal Action Learning Programme in 1991. The objectives of the programme include:
A wide range of programs has been initiated and many have included the Library.
The importance of action learning as a framework for change, is based on how adults learn. Adult learning usually occurs through action, observation and reflection on the consequences of action. Through reflection, we become more critically aware of our own habits, the way we frame problems and of our values and how they influence what we do and how we think. Action learning is a qualitative research method which has its history in both education and management. Important theorists include Zuber-Skerritt5, and Argyris and Schon6. Action learning is symbolised by a cyclic model of planning, action, observation and reflection. By reflecting on experience, the learners personalise their existing knowledge and use their insights to develop their future practice.
Table 2: Action Learning cycles
The action learning cycle works because it combines the two major dimensions of cognitive growth and learning, the concrete/abstract dimension and the active/reflective dimension. Learners have to cope with a considerable amount of new information, they are facing personal demands and the situation forces them into active involvement whether they like it or not. Reflective practice is required at various points, at the start in anticipation of the experience, during the experience as a way of dealing with the vast array of inputs and coping with the feelings that are generated, and following the experience during the phase of consolidation. Dewey refers to these as conscious reflective activity7. Research into reflective activity offers a number of points. First, only individuals can learn and only they can reflect on their own experiences. At this basic level, the individual is in total control. Second, reflection is pursued with intent. It is a purposeful activity directed towards a goal. Third, the reflective process is a complex one, in which both feelings and cognition are closely related. Perceptions can be easily distorted. Negative feelings can form barriers to learning. On the other hand, positive feelings can provide a stimulus to learning.
In the Library's journey from failure to success (or from success to success), reflection occurs at many stages and the planning revision takes care of the problems identified and the lessons learnt.
Planning the journey
The action learning approach has been extended to the Library's internal strategic and operational planning and the associated projects. Following the Trask review, the Library developed a simplified presentation of its strategic plan, based on the University's approach. It contains broad goals and actions, as well as some performance indicators. The Library has expanded this with action plans for new activities in each year. It holds an annual retreat in November for its middle and senior management (known as "Seven Up"). This retreat reviews progress, reflects on achievements and determines the directions for the following year. Following the 1996 retreat, teams were allocated to new projects. The teams included Library staff across all levels. Each team examined a topic, e.g. signage, shelving and worked on it during 1997, in some cases benchmarking activities against other libraries and other organisations.
The staff attending the Retreat in 1997 included all participants in the teams. They made presentations and produced reports on their projects, including reflecting on the processes involved, the outcomes of the project and any future actions. As part of updating the Library's Operational Plan, priorities were then identified for the coming year. Members of Seven Up are allocated to each team, volunteers from all staff called for and a member of the senior management group assigned to each team to act as sponsor. The teams meet on a regular basis throughout the year, as well as at a whole group meeting every six weeks, to report on progress and discuss issues. In 1998, the Retreat will include as wide an audience as possible from all staff to ensure a broad cross-section of views and greater participation.
The priorities for 1998 were organised under the "4P" plan:
Purpose - to improve teaching, learning and research outcomes for the University, through enhanced access and use of information.
Picture - picture the Library as a hive with a sense of productivity and business
Part - all members of Seven Up have a vital part to play as leaders, trainers and change agents. We all need to ask ourselves a number of questions. What do I need to do next? Why do I need to do it? What do I let go?
Plan - the priorities for 1998 are:
1. Quality initiatives
Benchmarking:
Internal communication:
2. Outreach activities
Marketing :
Flexible delivery:
3. Facilities improvement
Front-end interfaces and Web site development:
Authentication:
Digitisation:
Buildings
The importance of customer service has been a major tenet of business for many years, not always successfully. As noted by Peters and Waterman:
Probably the most important management fundamental that is being ignored today is staying close to the customer to satisfy his needs and anticipate his wants. In too many companies, the customer has become a bloody nuisance whose unpredictable behaviour damages carefully made strategic plans, whose activities mess up customer operations, and who stubbornly insists that purchased products should work.8
In providing services, it is essential to tailor these to the needs of customers, noting the major trends in society which impact on their behaviour. These trends include customisation, "do-it-yourself", convenience, economy, connectivity and privacy. Examples of service changes in other sectors in response include automatic teller machines in banking, serve yourself petrol stations, EFTPOS machines in super markets, delivery of meals, fast food, the disappearance of dress material outlets as everyone buys rather than makes, electronic ticketing and booking systems and longer retail opening hours.
In libraries, these trends are reflected in the establishment of networked resources, with site licenses, which can be used in the library, or accessed from office, home or elsewhere, at any time of the day or night; the linking of databases to full text and the digitisation of collections for easy dial-up access, networked printing and copying services; longer opening hours; automatic check-out machines; and a variety of self-service measures, such as customer initiated reservations and renewals, and open access areas for heavily used materials.
The realisation of the centrality of the customer and the need for improving the customer's control over the learning process is changing the face of education itself. Flexible delivery, student-based and problem-centred learning are changing the way libraries are being used. More information skills or information literacy programs are being provided by libraries as students take control of their own learning. Improved publications, layout, design and signage empower customers. The role of the librarian becomes that of a guide not an oracle.
Customer service at the University of Queensland Library
The Library's primary customers are the students and academic staff of the University. There are 32,000 primary customers (27,000 students and 5, 000 staff. They can be differentiated by:
They can be differentiated by location or type:
Last, but not least, are the internal customers, the Library staff. All these categories of customers have differing needs and perceptions as to what constitutes a successful service.
Finding out what the customers need ... and making the appropriate response
The Library seeks to understand and respond to clients through a variety of methods, asking questions, listening to the answers and acting on what is being said. Statistics of use including lending are analysed to determine trends. Liaison librarians are attached to each department and take special responsibility for communicating with them. In turn, there are academic department library liaison officers (i.e. the converse of liaison librarians) who act as gatekeepers for information about new developments and as communicators of customer needs. Advisory committees exist for each branch library. There is Library representation on Faculty committees. The University Librarian, senior staff and liaison librarians attend departmental meetings and the Library is represented on various University committees, e.g. Academic Board, Strategic Planning Committee and the Teaching and Learning Committee. This ensures a good understanding of the environment. Suggestion boxes, both print and electronic, facilitate student feedback. All questions and letters are responded to. Focus groups have been held on specific issues, e.g. the design of the Home Page and customer surveys, e.g. of postgraduate needs, have enhanced an awareness of needs. All new members of academic staff are contacted and the Library is involved in sessions for new academic staff, student orientation activities, the University Open Day, Parents Day and other public relations initiatives of the University.
The needs of the internal customers, who are also responsible for service delivery, must be understood. It is difficult to ensure all staff have an equivalent understanding of customer needs and are willing and able to provide innovative new services, while at the same time continuing to provide existing services to a larger and more demanding customer base. The Library uses the same methods as it uses to understand its external customers, asking questions, listening to the answers and acting on what is being said. Decision making and response time have been improved by flattening the organisational structure and devolving authority. A document on vision and values has been produced with involvement by all staff. All means of communication, talks from the University Librarian, a staff newsletter Links and e-mail discussion groups, are used.
The Library as a learning organisation
The concept of the library as a learning organisation makes a significant contribution to ensuring success. Senge9 has identified five competencies. Systems thinking provides the framework for viewing the interrelationships in an organisation, rather than a series of silos or snapshots. Personal mastery involves individuals gaining skills and knowledge, with a commitment to personal growth and that of the organisation. Mental modes refer to how we think and feel about each other - negativity must be neutralised and positive approaches re-enforced. Shared vision ensures that all are committed and team learning provides the essential framework.
What learning is now required?
All librarians require new skills and knowledge. Librarians must learn to teach, using a variety of support mechanisms - gone are the days of chalk and talk. The sage on the stage has become the guide on the side. Librarians must negotiate prices and licenses. They must be capable of conducting market research and preparing publications. They must be capable of writing and acting persuasively. They must understand the bottom line and be able to plan effectively. Some staff like and want the challenge of change. Others deplore it.
Darla Funk10 has examined job listings in the MLA News over a ten year period. In 1986, the top three skills or knowledge requirements were online searching, knowledge of automated systems and supervisory skills. In 1996, the top three were instruction and teaching skills, Web, Internet or information systems knowledge, and reference skills. The Australian Library and Information Association11 has drafted a statement which includes 8 core knowledge areas: the broad context, understanding the contexts in which information sources originate and are stored and disseminated, analysis, the identification and evaluation of client needs, strategy, developing strategies for infrastructure and operations that are linked to corporate and social goals, infrastructure, planning and implementing financial, human and IT resources, information sources, selecting and acquiring a range of relevant information resources, processing, facilitating resource delivery, product and service delivery, providing and delivering information access and client services and evaluation, ensuring the effectiveness of products and services.
For the Library to be successful, everyone on the staff must want to be part of the winning team. With a staff of over 240 and a large body of casuals, it can be difficult for all to understand the goals and the role they play in the team. Sporting teams use coaches and sports psychologists to inject enthusiasm/commitment into their teams and this has been very successful. Each member of the team shares the common goal - WIN. They are committed to each other and work together to achieve the goal. It is not as easy in a large organisation where staff have differing reasons for being in the team. Some find it convenient to work at the University. The job pays the bills, provides a safe and comfortable existence and a congenial social environment. Staff all have different personal values and although the Library has developed a document outlining its values, these are not always shared. Most people do however enjoy learning and appreciate learning opportunities.
How do you take staff with you down the information superhighway?
Staff development is vital. At the University of Queensland, staff development needs are assessed as part of the university-wide Recognition and Development process (euphemism for performance review), at both an individual and group level. Programs are provided which range from orientation sessions to specific information technology training. The University Librarian holds at least three information sessions a year (each session repeated three times) for all staff to explain the directions the Library is taking and why. Staff need a view of the whole and it is through acceptance and understanding of this view that they will be motivated to work towards the vision. During these sessions it is stressed that all staff are leaders, not just the staff with "Manager" or "Team Leader" in their job title. All staff have something to contribute.
However, while staff development and training can equip staff with the required skills to make them future-proof, in every organisation a small percentage of staff will resist change, a small percentage will lead the change and the majority will go along with it. Although the resistors can be very vocal and negative, the organisation should ignore the distraction and continue to move forward. Frequently, they leave the organisation or come to terms with the changes.
Conclusion
Librarians have at their disposal a vast array of methodologies to continue to make their libraries successful. No one methodology is a panacea. There is no guarantee of success. However, through reflection, planning, action, observation and a large dose of dedication, librarians will ensure that their services continue to successfully meet their customers' needs. As JFK noted:
For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgement on each of us, recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state, our success or failure, in whatever office we hold, will be measured by the answers to four questions: First, were we truly men of courage ... Second, were we truly men of judgment ... Third, were we truly men of integrity ... Finally, were we truly men of dedication?12
Bibliography
1 Duley, D.S. (1981) Field experience education, in Chickering, A.W. (ed) The modern American college. San Francisco: Josey-Bass.
2 Trask, M. (1994) Report of a review of the University of Queensland Libraries. Appendix 1: Terms of Reference [unpublished report]. The University of Queensland.
4 Zeithaml, V.A., Parasuraman, A. & Berry, L.L. (1990) Delivering quality service: balancing customer perceptions and expectations. London: Collier Macmillan.
5 Zuber-Skerritt, O. (1996) Action Research In Higher Education : Examples And Reflections. Kogan Page.
6 Argyris,C. & Schon, DA (1989) Participatory action research and action science compared: a commentary. American Behavioural Scientist, 32 (5), pp.612-23.
7 Dewey, J. (1933) How we think. Boston, DC Heath.
8 Peters, T.J. & Waterman, R.J. (1984) In search of excellence: lessons from America's best-run companies. Sydney, HarperCollins, 1984 p 156.
9 Senge, P.M. (1994) The Fifth discipline fieldbook: strategies and tools for building a learning organization. London : Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
10 Funk, D. (1998) Evolvingroles of life and health sciences librarinas for the twenty-first century. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, 86 (3), pp.380-384.
11 ALIA (1995) Library Industry Competency Standards. Canberra: ALIA.
12 Kennedy, J.F. (1961) Speech to the Massachusetts State Legislature.