What kind of leadership does change management need?
Abstract.
This research project shows – or rather confirms – that leading deliberate large-scale change projects to success requires a certain kind of leadership. This takes into consideration not only the leader’s own team members but also members of other teams and staff working in other departments of the library as well as their superiors. This leadership takes the anxieties and concerns of all those members of staff into account through interaction and participation, as well as through the leader’s reliability.At the end of this chapter a modern leadership style is introduced, the result of growing into this position through an expanding team as a consequence of ongoing changes in the library.
10.1 New aspects of leadership in reference to change management
In this chapter the reader will find a lot of good advice from leaders and directors of academic as well as public libraries and from change managers about different (new) aspects of leadership which are needed during deliberate large-scale changes and after extensive, time-consuming change processes.
Before listing specific areas for leaders to consider during a change process concerning
the other people working in the library
the interaction with the team and the participation of their team members
there is one general concept to think about:
Libraries need team management at all hierarchical levels and throughout every department and team to meet their (new) challenges.1 Figure 10.1 lists the new aspects of leadership that arise as a result.
10.1.1 Leaders and their vision and plans
For this chapter the author has collected statements from the interview partners concerning the ability and need of leaders to have a clear vision and to generate a strategy and goals out of that vision.
Transformational leadership is – as can be seen in section 11.2 – a leadership style that is appropriate for managing deliberate large-scale changes. Transformational leaders have a clear vision which they are able to articulate to their followers.2 They have the ability to help their team members to experience the same passion and can motivate them to fulfil the goals resulting from that vision together.3 Therefore they need to make goals for their team, plan strategically and be aware of the restrictions resulting from the budget, the top management or others. Transformational leadership also means to foster communication so that followers can share their ideas while working together to reach their group as well as their individual goals.4
Figure 10.2 illustrates the task of leaders in change projects, including the communication process, as described in the following:
Leaders should have a vision. For this they should be able to discover new trends and challenges and act proactively instead of simply reacting to changes and external pressure. Leaders are in the role of innovators and forerunners.
Leaders often have to be pioneers for new developments in their library as well as in libraries in general. Here enthusiasm for new ideas is helpful.
Leaders shouldn’t be waiting for something to happen or for someone to come and tell them what to do. Thus strategic work is important.
Leaders should always try to predict and develop different scenarios which should be discussed with members of their own or other teams as well as others, such as external experts or colleagues in other libraries.
Leaders should be sure of their ideas and their vision: they should have the utmost faith that what they are trying to achieve is valuable and necessary. Only then are they able to convince their team members of the vision and the need to change something. For this they should also be able to show steadfastness and insistence on their own objectives. This sometimes requires leaders to be willing to take an unpopular stand.
Leaders should nevertheless allow their team members to bring in their own visions and their own ideas and goals. For this their vision should be open, or the vision should be so strong and convincing (which means good for the development of the library) that all team members are willing to follow.
Leaders should be honest and straightforward in their communication and should make their vision and ideas as well as restrictions transparent for everybody. They should communicate the important facts and should try to avoid uncertainties throughout the entire change process.
Leaders should plan some things in advance and tell everybody involved about their specifications. Nevertheless they should not only introduce and explain their plan but also listen to the ideas of their team members. If these are good and substantiated leaders should adopt them and if necessary discuss them with their superior management.
Leaders should – if needed – have the courage to aim high even if this might lead to anxieties and uncertainties among their team members (see section 10.1.2).
10.1.2 Leaders and their team members’ anxieties
Introducing new ideas and deliberate large-scale changes often leads to anxiety and uncertainty.5 Effective modern leaders should be aware of the worries held by their team members and try to reduce them throughout the change process.
In this section some advice is offered with regard to these anxieties and worries during a change process (see Figure 10.3).
Leaders should be able to notice the anxieties and concerns of their team members. Therefore it is crucial to feel and show empathy. Leaders should be capable to communicate openly about the anxieties and concerns of their team members.
Leaders should be aware that anxieties and uncertainties exist in both certified and assistant librarians as well as non-skilled and semi-skilled members of the team, and that the handling of these anxieties needs to be different for each group of team members.
Leaders should help their team members to express their anxieties and uncertainties and for this they should allow them to feel comfortable when talking to their superior. One possibility for the leader is to keep some candy in the office and if someone is seen outside hesitating to come in they could be invited in for some. Another strategy is to walk around a lot and so learn personal things about the team members – a conversation can then easily be started, for example by asking how the kids are. This makes it easier for team members to talk openly to their leader. Staff in parts of the library that are not so close to the leader’s office also then have a chance to be invited to talk to their superior easily and freely.
Leaders should give their team members time to adapt to losses resulting from a major change. This might mean doing only one task at a time.
Leaders should avoid lumping together their team members and they should be able to notice promises in them for support.
Leaders should give their team members the chance to express their anger about a deliberate large-scale change, especially if this results from an order given by their own superior, their parent institution or the government.
Leaders should try not to appear as if they are using a change project to keep tabs on everyone working in their team.
Leaders should be able to bear the demonstration of resentment from their team members.
Leaders should support those members of the team that are directly affected by the change project, so that they can learn their new duties and face the challenge without fear. For this they should also be able to feel and show empathy.
Leaders should be willing and able to act as mentor for their team members.
Leaders should give their team members the opportunity and motivation to participate in training courses to reduce their anxieties, concerns and fears, particularly training courses that are related to their new jobs and tasks after the change project.
Leaders should communicate much more than before to reduce their team members’ anxieties, concerns and fears. This doesn’t necessarily mean changing the communication tools (see also section 10.1.7). Sometimes it is enough to raise the frequency with which information is provided.6 It is important to make everything understandable for everyone, through clarity in action and communication.
Leaders should therefore always be aware of the importance of communication. Sometimes some information needs to be given twice or even more times. It is essential that it is always communicated with the same enthusiasm and conviction. These repetitions still need to be exciting.
Leaders should emphasise the benefits of the change project for their team members as often as possible. These might be individual benefits or advantages for all, such as for example knowledge of the main goals of the library for the following years.7
Leaders should maintain a positive outlook throughout the entire change project.
Leaders should provide information about everything concerning the ongoing change project. Sometimes a leader might think that some information is not important for the change process, but the members of staff might think differently.8
Leaders should recognise if something isn’t working out as planned without being upset or angry with themselves or the team members. They should just try the alteration again after a suitable period of time – provided they still believe it is necessary and reasonable.
Leaders should realise that it is not only their own team members who might have anxieties and fear of the new and unknown (see also the following section).
Leaders should try to be as positive and supportive as possible in their library – especially if the major change the library has to face was only announced to the leader as something which cannot be discussed – while fighting as hard as possible outside to get to an end point that is viable for the members of staff as well as the users of the library (see also section 10.1.3).
10.1.3 Leaders and others working in the library
If it is not a one-person or small-town library, managers will always have other managers working with them as well as other departments and teams. Thus they need not only to involve their own team members, but also all the other members of staff who are somehow connected to the change which is taking place in their own department or team.
The advice for leaders in this chapter relates to everyone working in the library. The most important aspects are illustrated in Figure 10.4. However, there are others that need to be dealt with, such as the university’s superiors or the government.
Leaders should live by an ethical value system which takes everybody seriously and they should appreciate other people’s opinions and views.
Leaders should ‘see with their hearts’. People and their knowledge and behaviour are the most important part of every service provider9 and people are the users of libraries and their services, so people should be the most important aspect of change.
Leaders should be able to think and act across the hierarchy to best fulfil the tasks of the library. They should try to find and integrate those who are best for a job and not those who are actually in the position doing it. The output and outcome is important, not the protection of vested interests in the different departments.
Leaders should nevertheless never forget the other managers in the library, especially not their own superiors. And they should take their time to talk with them – even if the change project is running short of time. It is always better to have a personal discussion than a telephone call or – even worse – an email.
Leaders (especially directors of libraries) should also always be aware that they don’t own the library. If the parent institution, for example, is moving in a different direction and that involves the library it is not possible simply to say that the library is not going to change. It is important here to be able to negotiate and to try to get the best out of this decision for the library and its staff.
Leaders should – especially if they have two responsibilities, for example as leader of a team or department and as quality management coordinator at the same time10 – always make a point of the significance of the management team and should consult it and the other leaders regarding decisions resulting from the other responsibility concerning his or her team or department. In this way no mixing of competences might occur.
Leaders should understand that others are experts in their fields of work and should always try to show them how they can support and help the leader during the change process.
Leaders, especially those in top management, should be champions for their library in the wider (campus) community. In this role they should lobby the administration and the government to provide funds and support and try to intercede for the library as a whole. They should also fight for the rights, needs and requests of the library, the team members and the library’s users.
Leaders should be aware that it is not possible to change something in the organisation reasonably without the support of people working in that organisation. This includes every member of staff affected by the change, and especially the leader’s own team members (see section 10.1.4).
10.1.4 Leaders and their interaction with the team and the participation of the team members
In the previous section the point was to think about everyone who is working in the library and somehow related to the change process. This section has its focus on the leader’s team members and what can be done to interact with them and to encourage them to participate in the change process. Figure 10.5 summarises all the tasks of leaders as role models for their team members.
Leaders should be able to integrate their team members in the process and be capable of negotiating with and between them. In extreme situations, such as deliberate large-scale changes that affect everybody on the team, a leader cannot act single-handedly.
Leaders should always listen to that what their team members have to say. There should always be a personal dialogue between the leader and his or her team members. They should discuss problems that arose in the past and those that might occur from the new goals, tasks, working processes, etc. resulting from the major change. Therefore they sometimes need to go to their team members’ work stations instead of just waiting for them to come to their office when a problem arises.
Leaders should have the competence to engage their team members in the decision-making and in the solutions to problems that arise. They should be willing to actively ask the team members about their opinions, though they cannot do this with every small alteration and modification, as many decisions need to be made during a change process.
Leaders should invite their team members to build working groups and task them with fleshing out his or her ideas and suggestions concerning a major change. This might encourage the team members to take ownership of some of the required changes and alterations and to figure out the best way to adapt.
Leaders should encourage their team members to produce ideas for an upcoming change, no matter how farfetched they are. Following this the selection of those ideas that will be followed up through the change process should be made clear for everyone.
Leaders should enable their team members to work together as a team. Therefore they need to have team spirit themselves.
Leaders should enable their team members to work together on a trusting and respectful basis by showing trust in their team members and being respectful of their work, knowledge and ideas.
Leaders should see that if they have to bring about a deliberate large-scale change imposed upon them by their superior or the government, they can build solidarity among all the team members: ‘The government may be against us but we will get through this together.’
Leaders should not mix the roles they have. They are the ones responsible for their team members as well as being representatives of the library in the outside world. Team members and leaders can be on familiar and cordial terms, but roles should be clear for everyone and be separated when and where needed.
Leaders should be aware that their team members are experts in their fields of work and should always try to show them this by asking them for advice and support.
Leaders should honour the expert status of some of the team members. They should ask the experts of their team to explain their working processes and procedures.
Leaders should know the abilities, skills and knowledge of each of their team members. They should be able to decide who of their team members is best capable of doing what is needed. Thus the potential of the team and its members should be known. If the size of the leader’s team is increasing throughout the change process, as is possible for example in merger situations, they should take their time to talk to every new member of the team individually to get to know them. It is also important to understand the various aspects of their staff’s work.
Leaders should find out who has great potential and who are the high performers and integrate them actively into the change process as a kind of backup. These team members need to be keen and enthusiastic about the upcoming major change.
Leaders should work together with their team members even if some types of task – for example the sorting of books or the cleaning of bookshelves – is not usually their kind of work.
Leaders should help every member of the staff to find his or her individual role and his or her contribution to the vision of a major change project by clarifying the vision and strategy clearly and giving staff time to adapt the old procedures to the new.
Leaders should be aware of the problem that it is usually not possible to get every team member on board in the process as planned.11 They also should be able to handle conflicts resulting from this.
Leaders should never forget to compliment and reward their team members for their cooperation during the change process. One idea might be to set milestones at which everyone involved in and affected by the change process comes together for a party – this could consist of having breakfast or even just having tea and coffee together with cookies and cakes.12 At the end of the change project the successful implementation of its goals and tasks should also be celebrated.
Leaders should also show their members of staff that they are appreciated and valued as they may sometimes feel as if their library and their work are no longer important, especially if deliberate large-scale changes have been imposed by the university, the government or some other outside agency.
Leaders should use – if available – a budget for financial incentives even if the intrinsic motivation is more important. It helps to reach goals on the basis of an agreement on objectives and performance.
Leaders should ensure the participation of the staff after the change project is completed (phase 3 ‘Refreezing’13) through, for example, the possibility of getting involved with a working group, the implementation of an employee suggestion system, etc.
Leaders should be role models (see Figure 10.5) for their team members and with this act as change managers (see section 10.1.5).
10.1.5 Leaders as change managers
Leaders not only need change managers/change agents as supporters of their change project, they also need to be promoters themselves (see also section 11.1). Therefore leaders should understand what this means concerning their leadership style and their own behaviour during a change project. They should live this role and always ask themselves and their team members the questions seen in Figure 10.6.
Table 10.1 summarises change competences required of leaders in times of change and what they need to do to gain these skills.
Leaders should consider their own feelings concerning the change project. It is counterproductive to communicate with staff about an upcoming change if the leader doesn’t believe that the change is necessary and reasonable. Team members are usually listening very attentively to what their leaders are saying. Therefore a change process cannot work if the leader doesn’t have the willingness to change.
Leaders should be able to answer the following question throughout the entire change project: ‘Why are we doing this?’
Leaders should be aware of the various methods and tools of change management, for example: project management; the various leadership styles and methods which support a major, deliberate large-scale change; tools such as strategic planning; knowledge of how to moderate a meeting or a workshop, etc.; conflict management. The last point doesn’t only mean being able to resolve conflicts within the team or with other departments. It also includes the leader’s ability to face their own conflicts.
Leaders should understand the different phases of a change process as well as the phases of the team members’ reaction to change14 and what this means for their leadership style. There might be short intermediate phases of euphoria followed by a deep trough of uncertainties, worries and anger.
Leaders should improve their leadership skills through ongoing further training. Every leader should continue their education permanently, especially through practice-oriented training.
Leaders should also improve their management skills through training.
Leaders should be able to network because it is important to have the opportunity to ask others (not just other leaders in libraries but also people working in other departments or the private sector) for advice and to talk to them about how they handled comparable change projects so as to avoid the mistakes that others have already made.
Leaders should be looking back at least once a year to discuss with their team members everything that went well and that what went wrong: ‘Which of our goals did we achieve up to now?’ ‘Did we learn something new?’ ‘Where should we change something?’ etc.
Leaders should be sufficiently good at communication (and not only in using the right communication channels) that they gain their team members’ trust. Therefore they need to communicate as human beings, as people. If they thought how they might react if they were on the receiving end they might not forget that no one has the time every day to read emails that are four or five pages long. Emails with technological content in particular shouldn’t be longer than three to four lines.
Leaders should be adventurous – for example, experimenting with new and modern methods of communication such as a blog or Twitter – even if there is no evidence that they are always helpful (see also section 10.1.7).
Leaders should be capable of making effective decisions as well as having the space and the responsibility required to solve upcoming problems fast enough to address team members’ concerns.
Leaders should be able to motivate those team members that are affected by the change. Therefore they should always be present and accessible throughout the entire change process.
Leaders should always try to give their team members enough time to accept the changes and to handle new challenges. They especially need time to be persuaded that they are not threatened by these changes and to accept the superiority of a new model of work organisation.
Leaders should see change as a chance and implement change management as a routine.
Leaders should, in the day-to-day management of their team or library, be working less in the operational side of library business, such as the information or lending desk.
Leaders should as change managers be reliable (see section 10.1.6).
10.1.6 Leaders as reliable persons
Leaders need to be trusted with regard to what they are saying and also what they are doing. If they are not perceived as reliable there can be no trust and without trust it is impossible to carry out deliberate large-scale changes.15
Table 10.2 illustrates which tasks performed by leaders in the sense of being service providers for their team members can help their perception as a reliable person.
Table 10.2
Leaders as service providers for their team members
| Be the boss but work with them: | Be the boss but listen to them: | Be the boss and be there for them: |
| Be authentic and honest | Give precise instructions with clear announcements | Be present |
| Stick to the promises given | Be willing to compromise | Offer and search the dialogue |
| Support the team and do inferior work that is atypical for leaders during the change process | Be willing to admit own mistakes | Enable team members to talk to the leader face to face |
Leaders should see themselves as service providers because management and leadership are to be understood as services which enable people to do their work. This provides the opportunity to delegate some duties concerning planning, organising, personnel, etc. to their team members.
Leaders should be authentic. Only then are they seen as reliable and trustworthy.
Leaders should base their comments and suggestions on sound evidence and argument.
Leaders should always be honest but if they hear from their superiors or the government on a Friday about a deliberate large-scale change that they need to carry out they might tell their members of staff nothing about it before the following Monday.
Leaders should be able to give precise instructions and make clear announcements, and they should be highly competent in decision-making.
Leaders should be willing to compromise, not necessarily with the ‘if’ but at least with the ‘how’.
Leaders should stick to their decisions, and especially to what they have promised before or during the change process. If this is not possible they need to be able to communicate a good and comprehensible reason for their backing down.
Leaders should be capable of admitting their own mistakes if they make any. This makes it easier for team members to cope with their own mistakes.
Leaders should try to be present in the library and visit their team members’ work stations as often as possible. They should always be in dialogue with them, which means being approachable as well as enquiring if more information or help are needed.
Leaders should be reachable by their team members at any time they need them. They should be available for every team member to talk to face to face – despite their higher position in the library’s hierarchy.
Leaders should always be there for their team members if the worst comes to the worst and show willingness to support them, even if this means that they do work during the change process that is atypical for leaders, such as sorting media or cleaning shelves.
Leaders that come across as authoritarian throughout the change process should be aware that they will not be trusted afterwards, even if they try very hard to be more participative after the change project is completed. Everybody will still remember and see only the authoritarian leader of the change project.16
10.1.7 Summary: communication as an essential competence of leaders in times of change
As can be seen in previous chapters, leaders who have to carry out a deliberate large-scale change in their library, department or team need to be experts in communication. Table 10.3 illustrates and summarises the different aspects of internal communication throughout a change project.
It is also important for leaders to find out for themselves if they usually come to a discussion or a personal dialogue, whether with other leaders or with their own team members, with preconceived notions or if they are really open to other ideas and opinions. If they do have preconceived notions then this needs to be addressed immediately: good ideas and advice from others, which might be of importance for the change project, need to be recognised and honoured. Further advice and tips for communication during a change project can be found in section 12.2.
One interesting result of this research project is that in most deliberate large-scale change projects no specific, modern communication tools have been implemented and used, such as a blog or social media. Table 10.4 lists all methods and their frequency of use in the 12 major change projects described by leaders.
Table 10.4
Communication tools and methods used in deliberate large-scale change projects
| Communication tools and methods | Frequency |
| Meetings/workshops | 12 |
| Discussions/personal dialogue | 10 |
| 9 | |
| Telephone | 2 |
| Wikis | 2 |
| Intranet | 2 |
| Blogs | 2 |
| Chats | 2 |
| Newsletters | 1 |
| Face-to-face video calls | 1 |
| Videoconferences | 1 |
| Pyramid style | 1 |
| Walking around | 1 |
All leaders made use of general meetings for communication during their change process. Most of them also sought out personal dialogue and communicated via email. Interestingly it seems the telephone isn’t used very often any more.
Modern communication tools such as wikis, intranets, blogs and social media were not important in nearly every change project described in this book. Additionally, newsletters, face-to-face video calls and videoconferences had less importance as communication methods in major change projects, though the last two were important in change projects where people were working together over a distance (see sections 5.3 and 6.2.2).
Two special communication methods – pyramid style communication and communication through walking around – have been introduced (each in a different change project – see sections 5.2 and 6.2.1) as a new method of communication.
10.2 New leaders as a result of change
Do leaders of teams which have grown steadily from a single person to a complete team as a consequence of changes that have taken place in the library lead in a different way to those working right from the beginning with a team comprising several members? One team leader in a German academic library, who started work as the only member of an administrative department, describes below her leadership style in her constantly growing team. This type of new leadership style is also suitable for situations involving major change.
10.2.1 The library and its changes
Marketing and public relations were implemented as new management methods in this academic library. In order to do this an administrative department was created and a staff member with a degree in business administration was found for this position.
Over the years which followed the library had to undergo extensive changes and marketing needed to transform in the face of constant developments such as:
the need for continuing professional improvement in marketing and public relations as well as in other aspects of management such as controlling;
the international competitive situation of the library;
the international positioning of the library as well as its national positioning as a competent partner for full text delivery;
the increasing number of projects based on third-party funds;
the increasing number of requests from all stakeholders, such as customers, the federal government, sponsors, cooperative partners and project partners;
the increasing necessity to be represented through all possible marketing instruments, employing different marketing campaigns and using a variety of marketing collateral;
10.2.2 Leadership style
The library started with an administrative department ‘Marketing and Public Relations’ comprising one member of staff in 2000. In the years 2003, 2007 and 2009 three new members of staff (one of which was part-time) were appointed to work in the newly created team, the intention being to continue developing this team in 2012. Including the team leader the team would then comprise five members working in four and a half positions.
The leader of this newly built and steadily growing team employs a cooperative leadership style. During the interview an interesting question was whether she thought that her leadership style might differ from that of leaders with teams that were already in existence. She thinks that it might be easier to arrange duties according to the competences required. Furthermore it is easier to discuss and organise these arrangements together.
In teams that have grown over the years, the feeling that the team members ought to be involved and considered might be stronger than in ‘normal’ teams. This includes the commitment of team members to their own team as well as to the organisation. Choosing the wrong team members can be reduced to a minimum.
This leader, who prefers this kind of cooperative leadership style, tries to give her team members the chance to participate if possible. This includes discussions about the content of every new job advertisement, as well as the division of work in the team. Since large tasks and projects are always carried out as a team, the job description for the new addition to the team is worked out by the team together.
10.2.3 Communication among the team
The communication process in this team includes a daily informal meeting at which most of the team members and the leader attend. As discussions are possible at all times the door of the team leader’s office is always open and the telephone and email are in permanent service. Furthermore the team has team meetings every now and then, where every team member can tell the others and the team leader how their project is progressing, and also if support is needed.
This staff team ‘Marketing and Public Relations’ is backed by the director of the library who rates these tasks as very important for the library. Because the director has given top priority to these tasks, this team receives the support it requires from the other departments, thus making teamwork slightly easier than in other teams.
However, when it comes to the need for a new member of staff to expand the team, this team competes with other teams and departments. To avoid opposition from other leaders this team has to substantiate its requests thoroughly, especially since the tasks of a marketing team are not clear to everybody in the library. A lot of the work is done in the background, such as the coordination and organisation of activities. It is important for this growing team to be present in the organisation and to show other leaders and members of staff what they are doing, and with this to carry out internal marketing.
Asked if her marketing team was successful and whether she had reached her own goals as well as the library’s, the leader replied with a clear yes. Hers is a small but effective team whose members deal with each other on a trusting and respectful basis. Compared to other teams and departments in this library it seems to be a little island of happy and satisfied people. As a staff unit which is directly subordinate to the director, the ideas of the team do not need to be agreed across the hierarchy and can’t be as easily blocked by other leaders or members of staff as those from other teams and departments.
The team leader is especially happy about the fact that eventually every position has been transformed from a short-term project position into indefinite employment. This also shows how successfully this team works and provides an indication of its standing in the organisation.
Since ‘Marketing and Public Relations’ was established, the library has become more visible and has been better recognised in every area of importance, national, international and political, as well as in the perceptions of users and both existing and future cooperative and project partners.
Recognition throughout the professional world has been achieved, and the library has a very good reputation among experts. Furthermore, this library is being evaluated by an external committee on a regular basis and the library earned excellent results at the last evaluation.
The team sets itself new goals every day – some rather small, some major. They tackle new problems and subjects and often work out joint solutions together.
10.2.4 Leadership competences in times of change
In the experience of this leader leadership competences that are needed to master deliberate large-scale changes include:
the competence to enhance, encourage and stimulate the team members;
the ability on the one hand to provide the required outcome, and on the other hand to give the team members free space to find their own way to reach the goals;
the ability to alleviate the team members’ uncertainties concerning their workplace and their tasks and to admit one’s own uncertainties;
the ability to be a team player (which sounds obvious but this can’t be taken for granted, looking at other leaders);
the ability to align oneself with the team members or the entire team when needed;
10.2.5 Recommendations
Anyone who has the chance to build their own team step by step as well as integrate every team member into the process to find a new member for their team should use this opportunity to carry out a very careful selection of new personnel for his or her team.
Not only should professional competences be taken into account but social competences and emotional intelligence17 should also be crucial criteria. Such skills – which are helpful for every team – should be stimulated through further training.
Besides the efficiency of the team, teamwork should also be enjoyable – team members should enjoy working in their teams. It is also important to build mutual trust in the team and between its members.
It is easier to work in a team if the leader isn’t a ‘control freak’. All that should be necessary should be to name the problem specifications and requirements and give the goals of the tasks that need to be done, but not how to reach these goals.
Leaders should be able to admit if they are unsure about something and ask their team members for help. This neither weakens their competences nor degrades the position of the leader.
Finally, one other important aspect is to compliment the team members for their work – however, these compliments should always be honest and really meant as such.
1.Two strategies for laying a foundation for transformational change are the building of a leadership team and the forming of operational teams and workgroups (Nussbaumer and Merkley, 2010).
2.For this see also section 11.2 on transformational leadership.
3.‘Team leadership research provides compelling evidence that setting challenging goals and clear performance expectations is one of the most important leadership functions for facilitating effective team performance’ (Morgeson et al., 2010).
4.For the aspects of transformational leadership see section 11.2.
5.The anxieties and uncertainties of team members could be recognised in nearly all of the major changes in libraries described in this book.
6.For example, one leader of a smaller library with 18 team members tried to speak with everyone of his team several times a day.
7.An example for this can be found in section 5.2. In this library the annual quality development plan is published on the intranet.
8.A good example can be seen in section 6.2.1, where the leader in the change process forgot to tell her staff about something which was in the end essential to end the resistance of team members.
9.The members of staff are the central resource of a service provider as they are the ones who create the product, who realise the processes, are recognised by the customer and symbolise the organisation (Haller, 2010).
10.See section 5.2.
11.One leader did say in his interview that he had learned throughout his change process that it was only possible to take along 75 per cent of his team members.
12.Another idea might be the planning of a series of events. For example, one leader of a smaller library with 18 team members has planned and is about to launch a series of day trips involving tours of local attractions together with lunch out.
13.See section 2.2.
14.For the phases of a change process see section 2.2 and for the phases of the team members' reaction to change see note 1 at the end of Chapter 4.
15Trust has an influence on the positive approaches and perceptions of the members of staff (Neubauer and Rosemann, 2006).
16.In one case, for example, it took them nearly nine years to change from a strictly autocratic system to team management (Massey, 2009).
17.Emotional intelligence is the competence to understand one's own emotions as well as those of others and to orientate behaviour around it (Fröhlich, 2005).