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Bernstein, P. (1997). Mission. In Best practices of effective nonprofit organizations: A practitioner's guide (pp. 7-11). New York: The Foundation Center.

The author summarizes best practices related to an organization's mission or purpose. He describes the important issues to consider when formulating, adopting, evaluating, and modifying a mission statement, and explains why the development and ongoing review of a mission statement contributes to the focus, strength, and productivity of an organization.

Rainey

Bernstein, P. (1997). Volunteer leaders. In Best practices of effective nonprofit organizations: A practitioner's guide (pp. 13-17). New York: The Foundation Center.

Bernstein describes the practices of successful nonprofits in recruiting, training, involving, and retaining capable and productive volunteers. Unlike organizations that are simply grateful to passively accept help from anyone who offers, successful organizations actively attempt to identify individuals whose skills, connections, interests, etc. are directly related to the goals and related tasks of the organization.

Rainey

Bernstein, P. (1997). Resolving issues. In Best practices of effective nonprofit organizations: A practitioner's guide (pp. 105-126). New York: The Foundation Center.

The author emphasizes the importance of the chairperson's and executive staff members' attitudes toward disagreement on issues, and describes the practices of organizations for whom "issues" are not destructive problems. He also lists several common obstacles to smooth and easy decision making by a board, such as apathy, cynicism, and fear, with strategies for working with individuals whose personal qualities or concerns hinder progress.

Rainey

Stueart, Robert D. and Moran, Barbara B. (2002). Planning information services. In Library and Information Center Management, 6th ed. (pp. 62-90). Greenwood Village, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited.

Decision making is an important part of the planning process that eventually effects the future of the organization. The decision-making process can be broken down into a series of steps: identifying the problem, analyzing the problem, creating a benchmark or other evaluative criteria against which the problem can be assessed, identifying possible solutions to the problem, choosing the solution that seems best, implementing a course of action based on the decision, and evaluating the results. Unfortunately, the person or group making the decision is not often given alternatives that can be easily identified as wrong or right. The decision maker must take a risk, the intensity of the risk depending on the importance of the decision, to select the alternative that seems best. In order to involve more people in the decision making process, a manager should rely on preset policies and procedures to handle minor problems, delegate decisions to the appropriate level of authority, plan ahead to avoid crises, and never expect to be right all of the time.

Storygirl

Hill, Linda A. (1992). Exercising authority. In Becoming a Manager: Mastery of a New Identity (pp. 97-121). Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

New managers in this study were often too eager initially to exercise their formal authority. They often felt that subordinates who questioned their decisions were challenging their right to be a manager, their qualifications for the job, and the quality of their decisions. They took criticism from their subordinates as an affront. They soon found that this power wielding approach did not produce results in their subordinates? performance. Instead, they felt resistance to their decisions, increased challenge to their authority, and rejection as a part of the group. To correct this, managers began attempting to build relationships of trust with their subordinates by recognizing accomplishments, listening to personal stories, avoiding the placement of blame, explaining the reasoning behind decisions and objectives, and basically moving more toward an employee-centered approach to leadership. Becoming a nice person who could be trusted to understand and work for the team was a more effective motivator for performance than the previous focus on formal authority.

Storygirl

Wolf, Thomas. (1999). Assembling the workforce. In Managing a Nonprofit Organization in the Twenty-First Century (pp. 85-110). New York: Simon & Schuster.

Volunteers are an important part of the workforce and managing them effectively can be a challenge. Volunteers often perform routine and tedious work without the motivation of monetary compensation. In order to attract and then keep competent volunteers, an organization must appeal to other motivating forces. Many people volunteer for social interaction, to acquire new knowledge, from a sense of altruism, networking, exposure to a field or organization, or self-satisfaction. Whatever it is that attracts volunteers, libraries need to make sure that they fulfill that need in order to provide motivation and job satisfaction. Volunteers can provide a great service, but they can?t be neglected. It is important that their efforts are recognized and that they feel that their service is valuable. It is also important for the staff to view volunteers positively and to treat them respectfully.

storygirl

Blake, Julie C. (2002). The (D)evolution of a director. American Libraries, 33, 9, 62-63. Retrieved February 4, 2003 from EbscoHost database.

The author relates her experience of leaving a director's post and the reactions of others to this decision. Considered a step down professionally, her choice to leave a managerial position had to be defended to current coworkers and potential employers. Her reason for leaving the position was "simple burnout." Blake had been quickly promoted and provided with little training. The library was undergoing major changes in staff, policies, and automation. She felt pulled in all directions, exhausted, and burned-out. In making a career choice against climbing the professional ladder, she found that she had to explain her act to many of the college library and teaching staff. In job hunting, she learned to explain her position in cover letters so that there was a chance for an interview. She is now much happier in her non-director position, with energy and time to pursue new ideas and projects.

Sapphire

Union, library director vie for staff in Akron. (2001). American Libraries, 32, 5, 28-29. Retrieved February 4, 2003 from EbscoHost database.

Although unions have a history of alliance with the service industry, it is less common to see them enter into a library setting. In 2001, an Ohio public library's employees became part of a power struggle between the union and the library. Matters came to a legal head after the director published articles that challenged union advances to the employees. Unfair labor practices charges were brought against the library, forcing the board to hire legal representation. Although involved parties could not comment after this, the director, employees and union representatives described the events that led up to formal charges. District 925 had unionized library employees in other Ohio libraries. Union flyers had flooded this library. The director stated that employee complaints about the situation led him to include articles critical of union practices in the library newsletter. Not all staff members are anti-union; some want management out of the issue.

Sapphire

Robinson, Carol. (2001). Take control of the situation. Library Journal, 126, 10, 114. Retrieved February 4, 2003 from EbscoHost.

Taken from Library Journal's "How do you manage?," this is an analysis of approaches to library budget cuts. A director and his staff have to gather information to fight against the city's proposed closing of three of the library's branches. While the scenario is fictional, it is becoming more common in real life. Not only are smaller libraries being squeezed by tighter budgets, but even some state libraries have been similarly attacked. This analysis provides concrete steps for directors and boards to take to fend off such a proposal. Options include holding public meetings on the issue of closing, gathering data that support the need for 3 branches, and finding other ways to trim the budget less drastically. The article also mentions that it is advantageous to know the depths of cuts in other departments. Reading articles like this can help an administrator plan counterattacks to financial cuts.

Sapphire

McAfee, R.B. & Deadrick, D. (1999). Workplace harassment: Employees vs. customers. Business Horizons, 42, 79-85. Retrieved February 5, 2003 from Business Source Premier.

This article outlines the problem of employee harassment by customers and the legal implications surrounding this issue. McAfee explores topics such as the degree of liability an employer faces for employee harassment and what steps can be taken to minimize the currently gray area of employer liability. Equal Opportunity Commission guidelines are provided and applied to case studies within the article. Among the EEOC recommendations to create a harassment-free workplace is to formulate a proactive management approach to the issue: identify the problem; take corrective action through use of sanctions, expulsion or other consequences; implement preventative measures such as training and evaluate progress.

May 88

Bohn, J. (1994) The Wounded worker. HR Magazine, 39, 74-77. Retrieved February 6, 2003 from Business Source Premier.

This article provides guidance to managers in dealing with employees who have endured emotional or physical abuse or neglect as children. Bohn emphasizes that the workers raised in this type of environment share unique characteristics that impact a workplace such as lack of trust, cynicism, skepticism, tendency to assign blame and a heightened sense of injustice, both real and perceived. The author asserts that the work world is full of these types of people because our society is full of these types of problems, and the proactive manager will do better if (s)he develops an understanding of the mindset of this particular cohort of employees. Bohn recommends that the manager builds a rapport with the employee slowly, concentrating on building trust into the supervisory relationship. Regular and accurate feedback about performance and behavior is important, but it should be couched in productive language and kept private. In addition, valid recognition is important to the ³wounded² employee, but must be sincere. The author closes with a declaration that although time-consuming, these methods can build a damaged employee to become a solid, high-functioning member of a team.

May88

Prencipe, L. (1995). Reenergize the disengaged worker. InfoWorld, 23, 95. Retrieved February 7, 2003 from Academic Search Elite.

This article provides criteria for identifying the disengaged worker, although most managers will find employee detachment very easy to spot. The author points out some useful information on triggers that may allow managers to predict future employee disengagement such as a decline in morale during layoffs, mergers and acquisitions. Employees are at greater risk for ³checking out² mentally during any time that there is a major organizational change ­ it may be in response to the pressure, anxiety and shifting priorities. Arrington provides some techniques to reinvigorate an employee¹s motivation if the manager deems that (s)he has previously been a valuable asset to the company. Among the methods the author recommends are facing the problem immediately to avoid the ³one rotten apple in the bushel² problem; consider the company culture¹s role in the issue; provide new challenges to stimulate the employee¹s professional development and plan team-building activities.

May 88

Bouchikhi, H. and Kimberly, J.R. (2000). The customized workplace. In Chowdhury, S. Management 21C (pp. 207-219). Great Britain: Prentice Hall.

The "customized workplace" is Bouchikhi and Kimberly?s solution to the changing focus of today?s workforce, stating that "in the customized workplace, shareholders, customers, and employers are equally important, it will most likely require a different governance structure where the interest of these stakeholders can confront and balance each other." The authors take a lot of time comparing and contrasting the differences between the primary management styles as they see them through the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. The article describes the "customized workplace" as an effective management style for the 21st century, with some specific features including: recognizing individual workers "strategic life planning", information and responsibility sharing between staff and management, fostering trusting relationships between staff members, as well as allowing employees to individualize plans and negotiate their own employment terms.

Acadia

Stueart, R.D. and Moran, B.B. (1993). Evaluation: Performance appraisals. Library and Information Center Management (4th edition, pp. 146-161). Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc.

According to Stueart and Moran, systematic systems of evaluation were designed with two objectives in mind; to determine how an employee is performing as well as to assist the employee in knowing where her strengths or weaknesses are in relation to job performance. Three fairly agreed upon standards for effective performance standards include quality-quantity standards, desired-effect standards, and the manner of performance. Performance appraisals are controversial, and the authors identify potential problems with appraisals regarding human nature and error. Seven common problems include, letting the strength in one specific area affect the entire review ("the halo effect"), the manager?s prejudice and partiality of employees, extreme leniency/strictness, rating all employees at an average, measuring the potential rather than the actual performance of employees, hurried judgments, and allowing recent (either good or bad) experiences overshadow other potentially important aspects of the employee?s performance. While there are things to consider and tips that make it successful, performance appraisals if treated professionally can be helpful evaluation tools.

Acadia

Osher, C. (1997). Manager?s style wins top marks. Public Management, 79 (2), p. 22-24.

This article focuses on the actions of Eric Anderson, the city manager for Des Moines, Iowa following his first year in office. After one year in office, he is receiving good reviews from many different people in the city. According to Osher, Eric Anderson has done several things right this year. First of all, he has remained consistent and firm this year, showing the city council that he won?t be pressured by them. One reason this has succeeded is because he negotiated a large severance package for himself as protection. He has moved at a face pace, and has approached the job in a professional way. Throughout his year in office he had a 5 year budget balancing plan passed, approval of new policies restricting political activities of political workers; as well as new requirements for incoming city staff. Overall, it seems that his strength is on demanding results through following up on questions and seeing them to the end.

Acadia

Solomon, Charlene. (1992) Keeping hate out of the workplace. Personnel Journal, 71, 30-37. Retrieved 29 January 2003 from www.iconn.org.

The increased level of diversity within the workforce has complicated communication and tolerance issues for many companies. This article examines incidents of hate crimes and racism within the workplace, and how these incidents can be defused, or avoided altogether, with the proper amount of communication, respect, awareness, and diversity training. The only way for management to avoid a toxic situation at work is to structure diversity into management policies, so that equal opportunity exists for everyone. For companies who have not discussed these issues before, the Anti-Defamation League, a human rights assistance group, can provide assistance through workshops and information packets. The article also explains how incidents of hatred and racism affect more than the targeted individual, a condition known as co-victimization.

Matilda

Urbaniak, Anthony. (2001) After the sale-what really happens to customer service. American Salesman, 46, 14-16. Retrieved 29 January 2003 from www.iconn.org.

The customer services tips within this article related to "suggestion selling" are applicable within the field of library science. Librarians who define customer service "as those activities that enhance of facilitate the role and use of the product" will be able to use this article to suggest related items, new items, and a larger quantity of items to their patron/customer. The suggestions within this article for improving the quality of customer service center on a thorough and considerate understanding of the customer's needs. Customers are more responsive to suggestions that are made in a positive way, such as "Let me show you the collection of XYZ," instead of being asked "Anything else?" which facilitates a negative response. Librarians looking to boost their circulation statistics through better customer care should consult this article, as the tips are both relevant and practical.

Matilda

Tina Panik

Hofmann, Mark. (2003) Arbitration still seen as good option; But case law is in flux. Business Insurance, 37. Retrieved 11 Februrary 2003 from www.firstsearch.oclc.org.

This article examines the pros and cons of using arbitration to settle employee related claims. The recent increase in arbitration's popularity may be credited to "the Supreme Court, [who] has repeatedly supported a pro-arbitration policy." Cases which are handled through arbitration are private and confidential, not subject to appeal, and usually receive an expedient court date. With regular litigation, the results are subject to appeal, the option for a trial by jury is available, the results of the ruling are public, and the process can take substantially longer. In terms of cost, many argue that arbitration costs less because it is so efficient, but the other argument is that it the popularity and frequency of using arbitration negate the cost saving benefits. In other words, employees file more complaints using arbitration because it is easier for them to be heard.

Matilda

Pippin, Aleta. ,(Aug/Sep 2000) Time...Time...Not Enough Time. Hispanic Times Magazine, pp 24.

In this article, the author lists steps to assist you in managing your time. I found it interesting that ³Delegating² is a priority. The article continues on ³how to delegate² and the trick is to ³ask not tell.² Moreover, there are cases when we try to do it all ourselves, usually not possible. Interesting article.

Following are some steps to assist you.

1. Set a clear intention of what you want to accomplish that day, that week, that year.
2. Keep your focus laser-like on accomplishing what you've determined is most important.
3. Be willing to turn down added responsibilities if they're not in harmony with your intention.
4. Make your time productive, i.e. don't get bogged down in administrative tasks if you're the big picture person.
5. Delegate those jobs that slow you down or prevent you from accomplishing your desire.
6. Be sure to include time for yourself, family, and friends.

Cookie

Lewis, ABob. (07/17/2000) Touchy management situations revisited: Why it's a bad idea to overrule a subordinate. InfoWorld, pp80

The article discusses whether it is right to overrule a subordinate who is about to make a mistake or not. It was interesting to notice how you may not always want to overrule, (as long as the company can live with the mistake.) One needs to analyze when the staff is ready to make their own decisions, as ³boss² one can always take considerations making it clear that it may not be the final choice; however as ²boss² one must explain the reasons behind the decision. In the article, the mistake was made by hiring the ³wrong person.² The boss intentionally allows the decision to be made by the staff member who would be working with the newly hired employee.

Moral: We learn from the mistakes we make, I am sure our boss was there once.

Cookie