Opening Doors and Improving Communication Between Managers and Staff; OR,
Creating a Culture That Encourages Team Playing and Consensus Building
Nevada Library Association Annual Conference
October 20, 2005
INTRODUCTION
James O’Toole, a professor and leadership expert, says that “Ninety-five percent of American
managers today say the right thing. Five percent actually do it.” My job today is to give you
information that will facilitate your joining the 5% that actually walk the walk. Note the “walk the
walk”—this implies a journey. Building a culture of working together collaboratively and
cooperatively to achieve goals is a journey that begins with individual steps and takes time. There
may be set-backs along the way but that is OK as long as you acknowledge the setbacks when they
occur and learn from them.
Throughout the talk I’ll be using the words, goals, objectives, end product. For purposes of this
presentation, these are interchangeable words. They can refer to whatever it is YOU are trying to
achieve. They could be big-picture goals—such as significantly improving service delivery—or micro
goals such as reducing the cost and time required to acquire, catalog and make available printed
resources for our customers. So, the end result can be whatever you want it to be—whatever you
want the organization to achieve.
I’ll also use the word organization throughout the talk. Here again, organization can refer to
whatever you want it to refer it. Depending on your situation, organization could refer to the entire
library. Or it could refer to a major division of a library, or just one department or unit within a
department. Or it could be a team. In other words, organization means whatever you are
responsible for. You can’t change the whole world—only your corner of it. This presentation will
hopefully give you tools to help you change your corner for the good.
An overarching premise of this presentation is that most folks (nearly all folks) genuinely want to do
the best job they can. If they are not successful, it is most often the fault of the organization—not the
individual. I strongly believe that the best organizational structure in the world without the right
people will not be successful. Conversely, the worst organizational structure in the world with
excellent people will be successful. The ideal, of course, is to have an appropriate organizational
structure and mix of individuals working within that structure. But when push comes to shove,
people are more important than structure.
The content of this presentation is derived from reading organizational development and human
resource management literature and from my own personal experience. As you would expect, what I
choose to select from the literature is directly influenced by my beliefs derived from experience.
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Organizational culture is a fascinating topic. I came to understand the importance of organizational
culture relatively late in my career. I pursued an MBA-type degree at Oklahoma State University in
the late 1990’s and was exposed to the importance of organizational culture, and indeed the whole
broad concept of organizational development (intelligent organizations, learning organizations, etc.).
I wish I had been exposed to these ideas and concepts about twenty years earlier. As I reflect over
my career, I think the ideal time for me to have been exposed to these concepts might have been
after I’d worked for about ten years. If you have an opportunity to take a class in organizational
development I encourage you to do so. For me, it was one of the most exciting, intellectually
stimulating and fun things I’ve done in the last ten years.
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Organizational culture is the intangible “atmosphere” that pervades an organization. Organizational
culture is largely set by management—whether management realizes it or not. It is neither created
nor changed over night. It develops over time and takes time to modify or change. It is extremely
important to the ultimate success, or lack of success, of an organization but is often not understood
by management or employees.
Experts in the field of organizational development state that a high performance organization has
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Inspired leadership
Motivated employees
A common cause (vision)
An action-oriented atmosphere (risk taking)
A positive results-oriented monitoring/evaluation system
An appropriate recognition and reward program
Experts in the field also tell us that a culture that promotes team playing and consensus building has
managers with the following characteristics:
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They develop shared values and vision
They promote sharing of both information and ideas
They encourage adaptability, initiative, accountability, and teamwork
They focus on the development of the individual as well as the end product
They take pride in the accomplishments of others, and the group as a whole, in achieving
goals
How is organizational culture created? Simply put, it is created by the leadership and management
of the organization. Note that I use both words—leadership and management. Although the
definition and understanding of these two concepts and their interrelationship is a fascinating topic
that warrants an entire presentation in and of itself, I will quickly characterize them as follows:
Leadership provides the vision for the future. The excitement. The human elements. The change
agent. The innovation for the future. In short, the Pizazz. Leaders are visionaries who effectively
communicate their vision to others in the organization.
Management provides the internal operational working framework or structure. Management deals
with such things as budget monitoring, policies, procedures, scheduling, etc. Managers deal with
activities that keep an organization running.
Leadership and management go together. Although some of the literature in the field suggests a
dichotomy between leadership and management with leadership being good and management being
bad, I do not think this is a very helpful way to look at it. We shouldn’t think in terms of management
or leadership. Rather we should think in terms of management and leadership. We all are, or should
be, both leaders AND managers. To be successful in developing an organizational culture that
promotes the values of collaboration, cooperation, and teamwork, you will need to be both a leader
and a manager. I like to think of leadership and management as verbs—not nouns. They are defined
by what you do, not who you are. Successful managers must not only talk the talk, they must walk
the walk. Actions speak louder than words. Managers must always be fair, honest, and open.
Successful managers keep a good sense of perspective and maintain a positive sense of humor.
They work to make work fun.
WHAT ARE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO CREATE A CULTURE that fosters team playing, consensus
building, cooperation, and collaboration?
What follows is the nuts and bolts of this presentation. I’m going to discuss concrete, specific things
you can do as a manager to work toward creating a culture that values team playing and consensus
building. Different experts will give you different lists—some lists contain over 20 entries! My list is
short—only six entries—and includes the things that I think have worked for me. I assume if they
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worked for me they can also work for you. I think of this list as tools in my leadership/management
tool kit. Many of my tools may already be in your toolkit and if so that’s great. You may have other
tools in your toolkit that work for you and as long as they work that’s great. Hopefully this
presentation will inspire you to add at least one of my tools to your toolkit and if that happens I will
call my efforts here today a success.
1. Develop shared values and vision.
Your goal as a leader is to develop a shared vision that everyone buys into. You may not totally
achieve the goal—but that is your aim. You want to foster a sense of common goals, objectives, all on
same page, same team, working together to achieve goals. Your goal as a leader is to develop and
communicate shared values and vision among all members of the team in an effective way. The
vision should be based on the organizations purpose for being and its overarching values. Hopefully
your library has a Strategic Plan with a vision statement and perhaps a statement of shared values. If
so, use it if it suits your purpose—don’t use it if it isn’t helpful. Following are examples of a vision
statement, mission statement and shared values statement from the UNLV Libraries Strategic Plan:
Vision: The UNLV Libraries will be a model for the new academic library—bringing people and
information together in innovative ways.
Mission: The UNLV Libraries support the mission of the University to emerge as a premier urban
university, embracing the traditional values of higher education adapted for the global community of
the 21st century. The Libraries provide access to information and services to support teaching,
learning, scholarship and creative endeavors. The Libraries foster information literacy, working with
the UNLV community to think critically, create new knowledge, and be life-long learners.
Core Values:
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We value connecting people to recorded knowledge, information, and creative works
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We value teaching and learning in a library environment
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We value excellence in user-focused services
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We value creativity, innovation, and risk taking
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We value diversity of people and ideas
2. Reduce formality, limit hierarchical differences, and emphasize interpersonal communication
and relationships.
YOU have a very personal role in setting the culture. Coach/mentor. Emphasize training and
individual development. Increase social interaction among all members of the organization/group.
Promote a positive up-beat attitude and atmosphere. Positiveness is catching. Simple things like
saying GOOD MORNING, asking folks how their weekend went, etc. Easy, cheap powerful. More
powerful than we think. Food is a powerful mixer in the workplace. A previous boss of mine told me I
should write a book about management when I retire and she had the perfect title for me—
MANAGEMENT BY FOOD. I have always been a great believer in food and social activities in the
workplace because I believe they effectively reduce formality, limit hierarchical differences and
improve interpersonal communication and relationships. At UNLV I spend $200-$300 a month on
these kinds of activities. I’m not saying all managers should do this—I’m just saying I do. [If you
itemize deductions on your income tax return you can deduct these expenses as business expenses.]
Whenever possible, link social/food occasions to performance—i.e. the group achieving a goal such
as completing a special project.
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3. Focus on the development of the individual as being at least as important as the goals of the
organization.
This is hard for many managers to do. I think it is critically important. Staff training and development
opportunities and support are critical here. Mentoring/coaching is vital. Provide opportunities for
growth and development, especially if they might lead to a more responsible position and better pay
for the individual. Encourage adaptability, initiative, accountability and teamwork. I firmly believe
that individuals are more fragile than the organization and therefore they take preeminence over the
organization whenever possible. After all, we’re not doing brain surgery. Organizations are strong
and resilient. They withstand all kinds of tragedies—budget cuts, inept leadership, bad
management, stupid policies, terrible publicity, etc. But individuals are fragile and break easily.
Therefore, emphasize the individual over the organization. Of course, all of this has to be done
within a general framework of fairness. But in my experience staff understand that exceptions are
sometimes called for and if there is an atmosphere of trust they understand that their turn might be
next.
Treat all employees with respect and dignity. In my experience if you treat employees as adults they
respond as adults. If you treat them like children, they respond like children. You, the leader, set the
tone and take the lead. I realize that sometimes there are exceptions (i.e., problem employees). Deal
with the exception as just that—an exception. Don’t let the experience of dealing with an exception,
no matter how difficult and unpleasant, color your positive and proactive attitude toward employees
in general.
4. Provide resources.
While on the organization chart it looks like employees work for the manager, in reality the manager
works for the employees. The manager’s job is to anticipate resources that will be needed for the
group to be successful and to ensure that those resources are available as needed. This is
sometimes easier said than done. Equipment, supplies, software, appropriate space, environment,
etc. Also training, written policies/procedures, running interference with other departments/areas,
etc. In providing resources the management role kicks in and it is critically important to the success
of the team.
5. Provide opportunities for collaboration and cooperation by sharing information to promote
shared planning and decision-making.
To use a somewhat old buzzword, your goal here is to “empower” the individuals on your team (in
your department, your organization, or whatever). Present problems to be solved or objectives to be
achieved making sure to explain “why” as much as “what”. Let the group brainstorm and share
ideas. You as the leader can offer assistance and advice but you don’t dictate. Active listening is a
valuable tool in this process. Open staff meetings are a useful tool. Sometimes it is better to create
a working team to deal with a particular issue, problem or change objective. Let the group solve
problems and make decisions. Be willing to trust in the group process. Ninety-five times out of a
hundred the group process will yield better results than you working in a vacuum.
Sharing information candidly and openly is critically important. Employees know when they are not
getting “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” I have always acted on the assumption that I
would rather be criticized for sharing too much information than for sharing too little information.
Sometimes that gets me in trouble. But that’s OK.
6. Provide incentives so collaboration and cooperation work—recognition and reward.
Work to provide appropriate compensation—realizing you probably don’t control that. But there are
other recognitions and rewards that are, or can be, within your power as the leader/manager. As will
be illustrated later in my examples, this partly depends on your risk-taking threshold.
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The goal is to recognize and reward, and therefore encourage, positive behavior and emphasize
group success in achieving a goal or outcome. The goal is continuous positive feedback and an
atmosphere of encouragement—a win-win situation for the individual and for the organization. Paul
“Bear” Bryant, the legendary coach at the Univ. of Alabama, expressed it well when he said:
“If anything goes bad, I did it.
If anything goes semi-good, we did it.
If anything goes real good, you did it.”
Simple advice but it covers the concept of recognition.
Recognition and rewards have a powerful motivating effect on people at work. They enhance a
person’s awareness of self-worth and self-esteem. The giving of recognition and rewards are
gestures that recognize a person’s uniqueness and human dignity. They also have a social value
since they are often given in the presence of colleagues. Managers have a key role in this process.
Following are six recognition and rewards guidelines that have worked for me:
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Look for positive behavior to recognize and reward.
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Give recognition and rewards in a public way to maximize their impact and effectiveness.
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Be open and genuine in the process of recognition and reward-giving.
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Utilize a wide range of recognition and reward options.
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Be aware of the importance of timing—recognition should be continual and rewards
should follow hard on the heels of achievement.
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Remain impartial and even-handed in giving out recognition and rewards emphasizing
group achievement over individual achievement.
I stated earlier that your ability to provide rewards is influenced by your willingness to take risks.
What I meant by that is that since most libraries are parts of government organizations, we often
have very little flexibility in providing rewards (i.e. salary increases, bonuses, time off, trips to
Hawaii, turkeys at Thanksgiving, etc.). However, if you are willing to take risk you can provide
reward incentives that are very powerful (and popular) as the following two examples from my distant
past in a far away place illustrate:
1. In olden times (mid to late 1970’s), OCLC was new and response time was PAINFULLY slow
during the week. However, on Saturday response time was excellent because fewer people
were using the system. I worked out a deal with the cataloging folks that if a minimum of two
people (we only had two OCLC terminals) would agree to work on a Saturday they could work
5 hours and it would count as 8 hours. In the five hours they could do nearly twice as much
work as they could do in a full day during the week. This was totally illegal—but it worked.
2. I was the new Head of Technical Services at an urban public library that was getting ready to
open two new branches. We had about a year to process 60,000 volumes—in addition to the
normal workload. Naturally management had not given us any additional positions. How was
I going to get a group of folks who were used to doing 5,000-6,000 volumes a month to do
10,000 volumes a month? I made an informal, under the table, deal with them. Each month
they processed over 10,000 volumes, everyone in Tech Services got to take half a day off “on
me.” It didn’t count against their sick or annual leave. I explained that this was totally illegal
so they’d better keep their mouths shut if they wanted this deal to continue. The group loved
it! It was an amazing morale builder. They didn’t make the goal every month—but they did
most months. It was nearly a year before administration found out about it and I was called on
the carpet. I called a quick all staff meeting and told them the jug was up. By then we had
achieved our goal of processing the books for the two new branches.
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CONCLUSION
In his wonderful book Leadership Is an Art, Max De Pree says, “The first responsibility of a leader is
to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant
and a debtor.”
I’ve covered a lot of territory in the last hour. We’ve talked about creating an organizational culture
that encourages and rewards team playing and consensus building to achieve results. We examined
six steps a manager can take to improve communication and foster a positive team environment and
we’ve looked briefly at some examples from my personal experience.
Having said all of this, perhaps a better title for this talk would be “Opening Doors and Improving
Communication Among Managers and Staff”.
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