Partnering for Shared Success

1. Partnering for Shared Success Terri L. Lawrence Director of Library & Information Resources Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C. July 17, 2005

2. Partnering for Shared Success • Judy Meadows – (State Law Library of Montana) Intranet & Internet site for Judiciary System of Montana • Linda Wills (Dorsey & Whitney) – produces four daily newsletters, client development, & CLE • Linda Burke (Davidson County Community College, N.C.) – Coffee Hour @ the Library, removed restrictions, new décor – “right staff”

3. Quick Survey • Directors/Managers • Middle Managers/Supervisors • Support Librarians • Solo • New Librarians/Students

4. Three Walk-A-Ways! 1. 2. 3.

5. Communication is Key! • Downward – top management • Upward – lower levels to higher levels • Horizontal – across departments and functional areas

6. Communication is Key! By understanding organizational communication, you will: • Increase the library’s presence within any organization and partner for success across the board. • Better understand the decision-making forces within your organization. • Identify opportunities for your library’s involvement. This session will focus on ways to build successful horizontal communications and to partner for shared success.

7. Static You Say! • Ideas and shared thoughts presented today are not static and may not apply to or be appropriate for your environment. • Go back to your offices and begin to listen: • to the culture. • to other departments. • to your customers, summer associates, office support staff. • Then make plans with your staff and/or colleagues to share your skills, to expand your roles, and increase your influence and contribution. • Be ready to make adjustments when necessary. Flexibility is Key!

8. How to Get Started? What can you do immediately? • Become active horizontal listeners, active horizontal communicators and get actively involved horizontally. Then customize your library to fit your organization. • 1. Be proactive -- Invited yourself to a department, section, committee or team meeting – just to listen! • 2. Focus on one new area to make an impact and to add influence. • 3. Find one department, section, committee or team to assist. Why not, find more? • 4. Solicit input from other librarians – call and e-mail. Brainstorm! Network! Include the LexisNexis and Westlaw librarians and “it ‘s all on the internet!” • Get buy-in from your staff/colleagues! This is essential. Everyone can make a contribution to a successful, dynamic, resourceful library, if motivated and informed!

9. How to Get Started? • You may need to assess if you have the right skills to get there. • Complete a staff skills audit – include hobbies and outside activities • Conduct internal training and development exercises to achieve goals • Look for opportunities – read all internal communications – conflicts reports, department newsletters, attorney CLE presentations, marketing proposals, comb through every page of the organizations intranet and internet. • Send the attorney information/articles on existing or new clients • Suggest how the library can provide enhancements to proposals • Suggest improvements for areas outside the library. Ask for feedback. Use that information as testimonies and elevator speeches.

10. Brown Bag Moments • Informal meetings with members from other departments. • Speak with service support staff. • Lunch with colleagues. • Get a quarterly “what’s happening” in IT -- at minimum. • Do not miss scheduled management meetings of any type. Always bring a pad and pen to record those possible opportunities. “Always” means – to lunch and when leaving your work area, on the elevator coming and going, and if you pass more than three workstations on the way to the bathroom! Record what you hear, record commitments, records ideas and record names of people.

11. Elevator Speeches/Stories How many of you have created an elevator speech? • What are elevator speeches or stories? • How do you answer “How are things going in the library?” or “What’s new in the library?” What would your answer be? • Discuss and write elevator speeches with the library staff. • Be consistent and uniform! • Always be prepared! • Include futurist plans for the library. • Believe in departmental plans, goals and strategies. • Individualize for each function, section, practice or department. • Show a passion and uncommon commitment to obtaining goals. Share success stories, highlighting partnerships that helped achieve goals and successes. Seek feedback – record what you hear.

12. Make Informed Choices • Hold a staff planning retreat. Set out goals and objectives. • Make a presentation to the department/committee/section – marketing, IT, recruiting, tax, client team, etc. • Then forge aheadwithout any weak links! • YES! Look for more work – meaningful work!

13. What Can Be Done? • Be a valuable, motivated, happy team member for the entire organization. • Believethat you can make a difference in all targeted areas. • Understand that this is not marketing – it’s partnering! • Write a business case for library involvement. • How? There are only so many hours in the day!!! Where do I get the resources for partnering strategies?

14. Gather websites and publishing in a shared area. Create a bibliography of library resources for a particular project, section, or client team. Add a person to a routing list and sending the person a selection of available titles. Send an on-point article or client dossier report. Host a coffee hour or brown bag with the librarian. Send invitations to a select group. Discuss their informational needs and how the library can partner with them. Partner with service providers for continuing education opportunities. Produce exposure and additional services for the library. Create and publish a mission statement. Very important! Send out timely non legal news – e.g. safety, resolution on current events, legislation passage, a major historical event. Organizationally or to a targeted group. Be the best mentor/ambassador for interns and summer associates. Have Recruiting include library questions on departing surveys. Tell people and your boss you are here for the entire organization. Help your boss on a project. More ideas can be located on the various library association websites – use ideas from National Library Week all year long. Things you should be doing. And . . . Do not require additional resources or huge amounts of time. Ideas for Impact- Partnering Minimum Resources

15. Host a library expo – or an information expo. Invite other departments to participate. Submit ideas for the organization’s Intranet and Internet to project coordinator and cc: your executive director or managing partner. Read conflicts reports daily and determine the appropriate information to track on a specific clients. Send information to all appropriate parties. Create information packets on clients or specific projects and send to marketing and attorney. Actively host selective National Library Week activities. Something for everyone. Host training sessions for support staff to increase their understanding of their value to the library. Send or post “tip of the week/month”. Network and attend departmental meetings. Provide resources to favorably affect their business processes, save $$ and time. Submit targeted articles to organization’s section, client newsletters or intranet. Interview section and department heads and directors annually. Follow up with annual progress and success reports. Here’s what we did for your report! and Here’s what we did with you! Ideas for Impact-PartneringMedium Resources

16. Participate actively on client teams. Becoming the information broker. Keep library services aligned with shifting customer needs – partner with section and department heads or their designees. Ask for partnership on the organization’s portal or intranet. Be involved on client-based extranets projects providing organization and resources. Partner with marketing, IT and attorneys on organization’s internet. Organize knowledge sharing opportunities. Leveraging collective knowledge into systems to capture, recycle, disseminate and support business objectives. Use expertise indexing logging and tracking presentations and speeches create and post industry dossiers help increase informative decision-making provide informational results in database (Access) – access from the desktop. Demonstrate a high degree of skills in competitive intelligence gathering. Generate revenue worthy results. Invite input on goals and objectives – create organizational rather than library-centric goals and objectives. Ideas for Impact-PartneringHigh Resources

17. Get assigned to committees – technology, recruiting, marketing, etc. Inquiry about expansion initiatives – supply informational, purposeful resources. Assist with the big picture planning. Identify resources to create synergies across sections, practice groups and departments. Place information at their finger tips – outline of proposal items, process and timeline on creating team sites or part on portal or a page on the intranet. Support continuing education classes – partner with attorney in identifying CLE opportunities, state bar approvals and submitting and tracking credits. Begin to think customer-centricinstead of product-centric. Every project, every statement, every report, every event must be backed up with excellent, efficient service. Example – creating a portal with great resources and not offering training or offering on-going, responsive helpdesk assistance or experience. Mottos – customer’s experience based the motto Disney – Magic and Memory My Library – Your Information Support Partners Ideas for Impact-PartneringHigh Resources

18. Use all available resources for communication print media – bookmarks, tip sheets online media signage liaisons colleagues Newsletters Social Events Firm wide meetings Helpdesk Ask others to help Remember: There is no answer book No right or wrong Timing is everything! Speak to your target groups agenda Remember customer-centric tactics Tout talents of entire library department Follow the money Listen for a buzz! Find source of real action and get on board. Ideas for Impact-PartneringMarketing -- Partnering

19. Partnering for Shared Success • Takes • Effort • Desire • Creativity • Solid skills • Passion • Solid commitment • Planning • Adjustments to status-quo • Managing expectations and goals • Time • Horizontal communication You can develop the shared partnering success for your library.

20. Partnering for Shared Success Questions?? Thank You. Enjoy the remainder of the conference.

21. Partnering for Shared Success Terri L. Lawrence Director of Library & Information Resources Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C. July 17, 2005