Empowering Staff

Effective leaders create focus. 

Robert Benson had us think about and talk about what our most fun job was and describe when we surprised ourselves and made a contribution you made in a job.  After we went around the room and did this he said most of what he had to say had already been said, so he tied it in to explain this.  Our team wants to be engaged.  We need to figure out how to get them to be that way.  He talked about the 12 elements of Great Management.  He discussed 3 books. The main one was to Start with Why.
He explained more about this.  The other 2 books were One Thing You Need To Know and Good to Great.  The Y is to clarify your purpose.  People buy why you do it, not what you do.  In Good to Great he emphasized the Hedgehog Principal, which is going about your business slowly with purpose, knowing what you are doing and not running around fast pace like a fox not having a clue.  Also instead of having a to do list, have a "Stop Doing" list.

Performance management

I haven't been doing any evaluations on my staff.  I might try that to see how it goes.  I have been encouraging one of my staff members and praising her for her work.  I have just begun learning how to get work out of the other one.  Sometimes it isn't about just telling them to do it.  It's about asking in a nice way.  I am working on the way I phrase things to get what I want done.

Staff Devolpment

What I Learned Today 

I have been making sure that my staff is going to training meeting, as well as myself.  I have been doing some webinars and I've tried to get the staff to do some as well.  I guess I will have to pick some for them to watch and assign it to them.  One of the staff members however said she does better with hands on than with webinars.  I totally agree with this.  The only problem I have is the mayor not wanting us to close the library to all go to training meetings.  We found out about a Ladies night out going on in Bolivar and we all went to that.  It was about women's health issues.

Genealogy and Geek the library

I took 3 days vacation pay this week, because some distant relatives from Texas found me and they had already made up an itinerary and skits to do for those days.  They had contacted people every where they were going to meet with them.  I knew a lot about my family history and decided to go with them.  I also turned my passion for genealogy into library business.  I made the poster above for GEEK the library and found templates on line from a library that are coloring sheets for the children to get.  It might strike a passion in them too.  Last night I found an app for my phone for find a grave. I also signed up to put pictures on the find a grave website.  This web site is a lot more sophisticated than it was in 2010 when I was taking a beginning Genealogy through Jackson State for the library.  Anyway today I put pictures of Ms. Lee Ola Roberts, her husband, and the library on find a grave under her name in the Melrose Cemetery in Hardeman Co.

6 tips to Drive Results with Effective Communication by Sherry Large

I had internet issues on the day I was suppose to be looking at a webinar, so I didn't get to watch it.  I resigned up for it again at a later date.

I found this one archived on the internet.

The elements of communication are frequency, the sender, the receiver, content, vehicle, feedback and noise.  Always take into consideration the 5 W's and 1 H: who, what, where, when, why and how.  Effects of ineffective communication leads to uninformed people, unclear objectives, delayed projects, and increased costs.

Tip 1:  One size does not fit all.  The audience must be taken into consideration.  What is relevant to each group?  The vehicle is also to be taken into consideration.  This is what means are you going to use to reach your audience. (How are you going to reach them?)  e-mail, speech, etc.

Tip 2:  Spice it up.  Get creative and use visual communication. Chart, graph, etc. They will pay more attention.

Tip 3:  Make communication a priority.  Do away with the rumor mill.  Be up front to start with about changes, etc.  Be deliberate. Say what you need to say.

Tip 4:  Plan It!  Use templates and checklists, be consistent and have clear goals and objectives of project, etc.

Tip 5:  Craft messages carefully.  Think about you say.  It needs to make sense.  George Bush once said in a plug for education, "Rarely if the question asked, is our children learning?"  for what he was trying to accomplish this statement was unnecessary and out of context. Use your 5 W's and 1 H.

Tip 6:  Measure the Effectiveness.  Poll. Monitor feedback. What are people asking?  Don't be afraid to ask for Help!

Recap:  Make a checklist. Think in terms of results.  Tailor your message to your audience.  Spice it up.  Make communication a priority.  Devise a plan.  Carefully craft your message. Ask for help!  Implement the media on projects when appropriate.