I’m a manager – now what? Things They Don’t Teach You in Library School FLA Lightning Round Presented by Jennifer Parsick, MLIS Assistant Branch Manager of the West Osceola (Celebration) Branch of the Osceola Library System 1

I’m a Manager…? As professionals, many Librarians are being tapped to become Managers, either formally (in charge of evaluations and/or discipline) or informally (finding subs when staff are sick, rearranging a daily schedule, handling overrides). These are some of my personal experiences from my first years as a manager. 2

Manager skills are different from Librarian skills Librarians are Task-oriented – Finish a book order, teach a class. – Finding a factual, reference answer. Managers are People-oriented – Talking to maintenance, IT, patrons, staff. – Finding an answer that resolves an issue. 3

Things that will surprise you There’s no way to balance or guess what kind of day it will be. – Some days, everyone needs everything from you. And some days, no one needs anything. Your production levels will go down. – It’s a fact – you only have so many hours in a day to do stuff, and your primary responsibility is to the staff. 4

Things that will surprise you Becoming a manager means you take it all with you – You’re still responsible for Librarian stuff, but now you’re also responsible for staff and the building. – You’re on call all the time. The only time it’s ok to be unreachable is when it’s true (at sea, hiking in the mountains). And even then, you have to let everyone know the temporary chain of command. 5

Things I learned in my first year Attire is important – patrons like to know who’s in charge – My supervisor had to flat-out tell me that my wardrobe wasn’t instilling confidence in the staff OR patrons. – Tough conversation to hear (and have!), but the difference in behavior from both was instantaneous – I actually received 3 compliments from my toughest critics the first day! 6

Things I learned in my first year, con’t Encourage people to offer suggestions to make their work life better – My style is to ask the person to brainstorm with me a way to make their suggestion work – this way they know they’re being taken seriously, but also that there are forces outside of my control that may affect their idea. 7

Things I learned in my first year, con’t Delegate and/or Distribute Leadership – It was always my first instinct to solve all problems with myself, to show staff that I would always be there for them, that I’m not “above” doing any task. – But if I’m solving all the problems, how will anyone else grow? – Encourage staff to take ownership of a situation. 8

Things I learned in my first year, con’t Know your script – Having standard phrases at the ready helps you keep your cool in the face of an angry patron, gives you time to think. – “The County has tasked us as caretakers of the taxpayer’s money, and so we cannot waive late fees.” – On the other hand, be ready to go off book when needed (with a person who has never been late before, their claim of renewing items on time is probably true). 9

Things I learned in my first year, con’t Watch what you say – Everything you say now will be examined, gossiped over, and rearranged to suit the speaker’s perception. – Even a comment meant to bond with someone (“I’m going out to dinner with my guy tonight!”) may be taken as a slight (“Must be nice to not have to work tonight/be rich enough to go out to eat.”) 10

Things I learned in my first year, con’t Learn who you can trust – Not only in daily tasks but also in emergency situations. – This is important in delegating when six different things are happening at once. – Some staff will never step up, but others will if given a chance. – Distributed Leadership – taking ownership of a situation 11

Things I learned in my first year, con’t Some days you will wonder what you did that day – There will be days when you do nothing but attend meetings, speak with patrons and staff, and coordinate with Maintenance and IT on a project. – It might feel like you didn’t finish anything, but as long as your people (patrons, staff, admin) are happy, you’re doing ok. – If you like having a check-list, these will be the hardest types of days for you. 12

Things I learned in my first year, con’t Perception feels like reality – I can’t tell you how many times, in my first few months when I was working odd hours to keep everything under control, when someone would make a comment: “Boy, must be nice to be a manager and leave half an hour before the end of my shift” “Oh, leaving early today?” “What are you doing here? You never work nights” 13

Things I learned in my first year, con’t Perception feels like reality – I followed a mentor’s example of just smiling and continuing on my way, simply saying “Yup. Have a great night!” – It hurt that my staff thought I wasn’t supporting them, but when I would try to explain why I was leaving when I was, I sounded defensive. – As long as your manager doesn’t think you’re slacking, you’re ok. 14

Dealing with feeling overwhelmed You WILL feel overwhelmed at some point. – Too many things happening at once, it’s one of the days when everyone needs you all day long, people are upset and are taking it out on you. Sometimes, it’s not possible to take a moment alone to shake it off – that’s when your professionalism comes into play. 15

Dealing with feeling overwhelmed My biggest trigger? When everyone needs everything at once – Assess the most important issue first Who will be injured if this doesn’t get fixed? – Take a breath. It gives you a chance to think and sort your thoughts. – If you project all is calm, no one else will be upset and you can delegate some things. 16

Dealing with feeling overwhelmed Learn a safe way to handle your emotions – Venting to co-workers feels natural because they’ve been in the same situation you’re in. But it could come back to haunt you (implies you can’t handle something, they tell someone else, etc). – Phone calls to outside friends could be overheard (and disclose proprietary information). 17

Dealing with feeling overwhelmed, con’t My method: get out of the building. Whether it’s for a quick power walk, lunch, or staring at the ducks on the pond, a change of scenery gives me a chance to re-center myself. If you can’t get out of the building (rainy days), take a walk around the inside perimeter to “check on” those parts of the building. 18

Final Thoughts It’s important to project calm and confidence. – “Do not panic, just ignore, wait until you close the door!” If you weren’t flexible before, you will be now If you truly care about your staff, they’ll know it. – Some won’t care, but others will thrive 19

Final Thoughts Most important: You’re never done learning – Continue to watch your mentors, learn from other professionals, and study up on the basics of management. It can be fun to learn the hot new management tips, but you can’t build a strong house without a solid foundation. 20