SAA Talk

A Good Mix: Merging Collections & Blending PeopleLinda Garnets, Ph.D.Angelo + Garnets Consulting Sustainable Archives ConferenceAustin, August 13, 20091Who are you? said the Caterpillar

II hardly know, Sir, just at present, Alice replied rather shyly, at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.

Lewis Carroll, Alices Adventures in Wonderland

2Reasons for Combining Archives and Special CollectionsMeeting users/patrons changing needsAccessibility of collectionsFinancial/budgetary factorsTechnological changesOperational flexibilityImproving efficiency Resource sharingInnovation and learningDownsizing

3Continuum of Organizational Combinations

Alliances Joint Ventures Mergers Acquisitions

As go along continuum from left to right, greater degree of:Investment of effortCommitmentControlComplexityImpactIntegrationRisk

4 True collaboration engenders a transformative change that is akin to letting go on one trapeze in mid-air before another swings not view.

Ken Soehner, Chief Librarian at the Metropolitan Museums of Art Thomas J. Watson Library, 2005 RLG Conference.Staff ConcernsWhat will happen to me? Whats in it for me? Will I still have a job? Will my job change? Will my work experience get worse, better, stay the same? Will I get a new boss? What will that be like?

6Guiding Assumptions about Workplace TransitionsDefinition: Implementation of a new state, which requires dismantling the present ways of operating and introducing new ways

Adaptation to transitions is a natural and deliberate process that can not be circumvented

7Transition RealitiesMismanaged transitions have a negative, not a neutral, impact on people and organizations

A post-transition culture will emergeeither the status quo or a modified one by design or by default

8Bottom Line Either you manage change, or change will manage you!

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Model for Managing Workplace TransitionsAdapted from Mitchell Marks (2003), Charging up hill: Workplace recovery after mergers, acquisitions, and downsizings

Weakening the oldStrengthening the newEmotional Realities:EmpathyEnergyBusiness Imperatives:EngagementAlignment10Model for Managing Workplace TransitionsGoal:Weaken forces for the old organizational order

Strengthen forces for the new one

11Model for Managing Workplace TransitionsLevels:Emotional realitiesWays in which people experience transitions in the workplace

Business imperativesThings that need to get done for organizational success to occur

12EmpathyObjective:Let people know that leadership acknowledges that:The transition has been, is, and continues to be difficultPeople needand will be allowedtime to recover from the difficulty

13EmpathyKey tasks:Acknowledge realities and difficulties of transition and recovery

Offer workshops to raise awareness of transition process and help people understand where they do and do not have control

Use symbols, ceremonies, and forums to end the old

14EngagementObjective:Create understanding of and support for the need to end the old and accept the new organizational order

15EngagementKey tasks:Help people get their work done

Communicate and provide opportunities for involvement

Diagnose and eliminate barriers to adaptation

16EngagementGuidelines for communication:Provide a compelling rationale for why the status quo is no goodDescribe the change as completely as you canAssure people of what is not changingShare information again and againBe comfortable saying I dont know.

17EnergyObjective:Get people excited about the new organizational order and support them in realizing it

18EnergyKey tasks:Clarify a vision of a new and better organization

Dimensions of New Organizational OrderDirection

Mission

Culture

Core competencies

Social and work systems

20Making the Case for ChangeWhat Staff Members Tend to Want To Know: What are we doing?

Why?

To what end?

When are we doing it? How will we do it? What is it going to take for us to do this?

21EnergyKey tasks:Create a learning environment that:Motivates people to experiment & open up to new ways of doing things Create opportunities for short-term wins

Connect with people & provide supportAccept confusion & backslidingGive people time to move through adaptation

AlignmentObjective:Solidify new mental models that are congruent with the new desired organizational order

23AlignmentKey tasks:Align systems and operating standards with the new organizational order

Involve people in bringing the vision to life

Track the development of the new organizational order

24Principles of ManagingWorkplace TransitionsProvide straight talk about the transition process, and keep employees involved in itTrack the recovery process, learn from the mistakes, and disseminate the knowledge throughout the organizationGive transition process high-priority status, and help managers determine how to prioritize it within the context of current organizational requirements25Principles of ManagingWorkplace Transitions You pay now, or you pay laterTask: You pay now by giving people time to express their experience and mourn the loss of the old, and to participate in creating the newOr you pay later by having a workforce that continues to hold on to the past rather than look ahead for the futureAction: Do it now!26