quality improvement teams - analyze and improve process flow in your library
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Quality Improvement Teams - Analyze and Improve Process Flow in Your Library. Jim Backus, Trustee Wisconsin Valley Library Service Garrett Erickson - Support Service Manager Marathon County Public Library Rebecca Lemons – Clerical Assistant Marathon County Public Library. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Quality Improvement Teams - Analyze and Improve Process
Flow in Your Library
Jim Backus, Trustee Wisconsin Valley Library Service
Garrett Erickson - Support Service Manager Marathon County Public Library
Rebecca Lemons – Clerical Assistant Marathon County Public Library
Former director envisioned extreme budget shortfalls in the future due to changing economic, political and demographic conditions
Director’s Vision
Director’s Vision: The organization
must become more relevant to the community
must become more nimble and adaptable must find alternative sources of revenue must become more operationally efficient must track more useful data for decision-
makers
Director creates QPI Team in August of 2005
QPI Purpose:
To create a structure to collect data that identify areas of weakness for the improvement of the organization
QPI Intended Results – The organization will:
Create a culture of improvement Have the tools for evaluating processes Have a procedure for recommending areas that
need improvement for the management team Have a foundation of data for decision making Be able to create quick fixes
MCPL Internal Structure
9 locations with Wausau location being the headquarters
3 Teams (Customer Services, Support Services and Administration)
53 FTEs, 65 Total employees 3 Managers that supervise employees
Choosing members (5-6 people)
Members chosen from each of the 3 teams Members chosen from different levels of the
organizational hierarchy Mandatory member from branch locations Analytical/system thinkers needed Change agents
QPI Team Ground Rules:
1. Be punctual
2. Be respectful of each other
3. We are all equals
4. What is said in the "room" stays in the "room"
QPI Team Ground Rules:
5. All members participate.
6. Be open to learning and improvement.
7. Be supportive of each other.
8. Its ok to disagree but not to be disagreeable.
QPI Team Ground Rules:
9. Meeting dates will be set at the end of each meeting.
10. Committee tasks will be rotated. (I.E. meeting facilitation, reports, etc.)
11. Progress reports to staff will be published as needed.
QPI process of studying processes
1. Director/Team choose area of study
2. Team identifies the problems
3. Team devises methods to study problem
QPI process of studying processes
4. Team studies problem and conducts surveys when necessary
5. Team compiles the data
6. Team submits white paper to director
Tools
“The Memory Jogger – A Pocket Guide of Tools for Continuous Improvement”
Examples of techniques Fish bone (Cause and Effect) diagram Flow chart Force field analysis
Tools
Many surveys, both paper and electronic; staff and customers. Whenever a service was affected, we asked the public for input.
Tools – White Paper to summarize
Title/Date/Members Pertinent history of issue(s) Data Collection/Presentation Alternative Solutions Recommended Solution Questions that remain Follow up study dates/Other
recommendations
Examples of processes studied
Holds shelf
Materials processing
Technical training
Timing the entire Support Services “assembly line” process
Examples – Holds (not picked up)
Identified problems using Fishbone Diagram
Documented the process using Flow Charts
Profiled customers who did not pick up holds
Calculated staff time to determine an actual cost to providing this service
Why Customers Are Not PickingUp Their Holds
PROCEDURES
PEOPLE POLICIES
Why Customers Are Not Picking Up Their Holds
11/30/05
10 days notice >too short or
long ?
Use mailers as last resort
Human error - Didn’t get message
Customer hung up on machine
Staff/customer didn’t know about vacation suspension
Can’t find on shelf >font, signage, ID #
Trouble with location on shelves > too high/low
Delivery = M-Th at Branches don’t work for them
Mechanical error >Didn’t get message
Not all prefixes entered > cell phone & long distance
Tele circ >Couldn’t hear or understand
Cell phone malfunction
Answering machine malfunction
US mail sort or delivery problem
Would like improved pick up or parking area >Drive up
TECHNOLOGY
System customers not on tele circ
Limit of 25 items per customer
No policy on repercussions for not
picking up items
On vacation/resent 2nd time but rec’d too late
Customer went to wrong library
Customer chose not to pick up
Sample of customers taken from expired holds list (11/29–12/6) - 271 Customers
By notification type Sample Sample Total MCPL CustomersCustomers Percentage Customers Percentage
Telecirc notification 198 73% 27,957 79%Email notification 63 23% 4,390 12%
USPS mail notification 10 4% 3,203 9%Total TC, email, mail 271 100% 35,550 100%
By Location Sample Sample Total MCPL CustomersAthens 11 4% 2,206 4%Edgar 3 1% 2,059 3%Hatley 9 3% 2,418 4%Marathon 21 8% 2,662 4%Mosinee 11 4% 2,882 5%Rothschild 40 15% 8,690 14%Spencer 4 1% 2,157 3%Stratford 2 1% 2,500 4%Wausau 170 63% 36,269 59%Total 271 100% 61,843 100%
Sample of customers taken from expired holds list (11/29–12/6) - 271 Customers
By number of expired holds# of expired holds # of persons # of Expired Holds Percentage
1 210 210 44%2 28 56 12%3 10 30 6%4 6 24 5%
5+ 17 159 33%Totals 271 479 100%
By Gender Sample Sample Total MCPL CustomersGender Customers Percentage Customers Percentage
Male 61 23% 180,468 26%Female 210 77% 522,006 74%
By age
Year of BirthTotal by decade % of total persons
1900-1909 0 0%1910-1919 0 0%1920-1929 7 3%1930-1939 12 4%1940-1949 21 8%1950-1959 43 16%1960-1969 54 20%1670-1979 38 14%1980-1989 38 14%1990-1999 54 20%2000-2005 4 1%Totals 271 100%
Quality & Process Improvement Summary – November, 2005 In September, 2005 we did an exploratory survey to determine why customers were not picking up their items on the hold shelf. The main reasons they gave were Forgot to pick up No time to pick up Didn’t get the info to pick up In our September survey, we identified our major problem as customers not picking up holds. This lead us to examine the process flow, cost of expired holds and duplicate pulling of materials. Here are the results from the staff time study with some of the amounts rounded off:
1. An estimated 86,736 annual requests cost $52,008 per year or $.60 per request 2. Customers not picking up their items total a cost of $8,339 per year
An estimated 11,336 expired holds are pulled from the shelves at a cost of $8,339 per year or about $.74 per pull
3. Duplicate pulling of items total a cost of $1,942 per year An estimated 3% of 86,736 requests or 2,602 requests are Branch duplicate pulls to send back at a cost of $1,613 or $.62 per return An estimated 1% of 86,736 requests or 867 requests are Wausau duplicate pulls to send back at a cost of $329 or $.38 per return Staffing levels and timing of pulling made a difference in the cost per return.
4. Our manual study said 11,336 expired holds of the 86,736 total requests were not picked up = 13% The Horizon statistics showed 11% of total requests were not picked up 5. We are further studying the notification process
The committee makes the following recommendations:
1. Look for alternatives to the customer number for customer ease in picking up their holds and cost effectiveness of staff time 2. Have a consistent process at Wausau and Branches for customers picking up their holds 3. Use a larger font on receipt slips for customer and staff ease of reading 4. Shelve holds at Wausau for customer ease of pick up > Do not use the bottom shelves in all sections or the top shelves in the high shelving units.
Further considerations are: 1. Study the U.S. postal mail delivery for holds
2. Repeat the expired holds and pulling study on the following dates: Feb 5-11 (to determine if weather an issue), June 4-10 (to determine if summer vacation is an issue), & October 1-7 (to compare to past year)
Examples – Materials Processing
Created flow charts
Timed and compared individuals processing each material type
Surveyed customers
Processing Timings April 11, 2006
Item Number of Items Time to Process DVD’s 11 24 min. 45 sec. Adult Fiction 10 34 min. 20 sec. Adult Non-fiction 10 31 min. Adult Paperback 10 10 min. 10 sec. CD’s 10 25 min. 35 sec. Children’s Fiction 10 29 min. 20 sec. Children’s Non-fiction 10 13 min. 20 sec.
When searching for a non-fiction book do you use the call number/cutter number to locate it on the shelf? Yes: No: Do you know how to use a call number/cutter number to locate an item? Yes: No: Would you prefer to use a cutter number or the author's last name to locate an item? Examples:
796.72 796.72
B233f BAR
Technical competency training/testing
QPI Team identified staff technology competency as an issue.
Recommended the creation of a process for sharing technical knowledge.
Technical competency training/testing
Levels Summary1 2 3 4 Rev. 3/20/08 InstructorX X X X Basic Hardware FelixX X X X Windows Basic SharynX X X X Basic Word Processing RachelX X X X Groupwise Email Basics TristanX X X X Searching HIP (Horizon Information Portal) SharynX X X X Searching Staff PAC DianeX X X X Express Checkout Skills/Self Check Mike
X X X GroupWise - Calendaring TristanX X X Basic Internet Explorer (IE) MikeX X X Basic Spreadsheet DianeX X X Computer Timing Software Skills TristanX X X Making an OCLC InterLibrary Loan request Sharyn
X X Intermediate Hardware MikeX X Intermediate Word Processing RachelX X Intermediate Spreadsheet DianeX X Basic Desktop Publishing (Publisher) BenX X Electronic Resources BeckyX X V-Cat reports DianeX X Electronic Ordering Using B&T - Title Source III Sharyn
X Basic PowerPoint SharynX Using Databases BenX Basic Web Authoring - Using Blogs/Wikis & other tools Mike
Level 1: PagesLevel 2: Clerical Assistants, Branch AssistantsLevel 3: Library Assistants I, Branch Supervisors, Administrative Specialist, Confidential Office Assistant
Confidential Personnel AssistantLevel 4: Library Assistants II, Customer Services Librarians, Managers, Personnel Specialist, Business Specialist, Purchasing Coordinator
Technical competency training/testing
Levels1 2 3 4Rev. 3/20/08
Basic Spreadsheet X X X Is able to define what a cell isX X X Is able to define what a worksheet isX X X Is able to define what a workbook isX X X Is able to enter and edit data in a worksheetX X X Is able to select a block of cellsX X X Is able to delete a row or columnX X X Is able to resize a column or rowX X X Is able to change font, font size, and font style in a cell, row, or columnX X X Is able to align cell textX X X Is able to insert a worksheetX X X Is able to apply/remove cell borders.X X X Is able to insert, delete, and rename sheetsX X X Is able to use the built-in Help features to locate instructions on how to perform an unfamiliar taskX X X Is able to tell the difference between a formula and a constant valueX X X Is able to use the AutoSum feature to sum a column of cellsX X X Is able to prepare a basic pie chartX X X Is able to use the fill handleX X X Is able to apply auto formattingX X X Is able to use the Auto Sum featureX X X Is able to insert a chart
Technical competency training/testing
Levels Summary1 2 3 4X X X X Basic Hardware 6/4/2007 passedX X X X Windows Basic 6/4/2007 passedX X X X Basic Word Processing 6/4/2007 passedX X X X Groupwise Email Basics 4/27/2007 PassedX X X X Searching HIP (Horizon Information Portal) 5/23/2008 passedX X X X Searching Staff PAC 5/23/2008 passedX X X X Express Checkout Skills/Self Check 12/12/2007 passed
X X X Groupwise Calendaring 12/12/2007 passedX X X Basic Internet Explorer (IE) 4/26/2007 passedX X X Basic Spreadsheet 6/4/2007 passedX X X Computer Timing Software Skills 12/12/2007 passedX X X InterLibrary Loan (if we move to OCLC ILL) 12/12/2007 passed
X X Intermediate Hardware 12/12/2007 passedX X Intermediate Word Processing 12/12/2007 passedX X Intermediate Spreadsheet 3/18/2008 passedX X Basic Desktop Publishing (Publisher) 3/18/2008 passedX X Electronic Resources 12/12/2007 passedX X V-Cat reports 5/22/2008 passedX X Electronic Ordering Using B&T - Title Source III 5/23/2008 passed
X Basic PowerPoint 5/23/2008 passedX Basic Database Design (Access) 4/22/2008 passedX Basic Web Authoring - Using Blogs/Wikis & other tools 5/23/2008 passed
Support Services timing
Customers and staff alike complained about how long it took to receive newly-acquired materials.
Approximately 80% of our materials were ordered through Baker and Taylor.
Support Services timing
From the time we receive B&T materials, to the time the materials are available to the customer
April 2007 - 44 days
September 2007 - 17 days
September 2008 - 13½ days
Common themes among studies
No one understood most processes from A to Z.
We rarely had sufficient backups.
No (or very little) documentation if someone gets hit by a bus.
Staff Reactions to Process Change
Initial Resistance
Adjustment Period
Return to harmony
Initial Resistance
We encountered most of the resistance during the planning stages of the projects
Our Staff: didn’t have a clear picture of the outcome were generally resistant to change resented changing areas that they were proud of
or had a hand in creating
Initial ResistanceSolution #1: Staff Input Very important to get staff input during the
planning stage Surveys Flowcharts Process notes
Easier to plan with accurate information
Makes staff less resentful of eventual change
Initial Resistance Solution #2: Don’t cause a panic
It is wise to withhold planning information from the rest of the staff until a plan is fully formed
Much of our meeting time is spent brainstorming ideas which never make it into the final plan
There is no need to make staff anxious about ideas that may never be put into action
Initial Resistance Solution #3: Be Indisputable
Our most successful results came from projects that had been carefully researched and surveyed
Strong results lend an extra level of authority to the implementation of a project
Examples
Acquisitions Study Process input Timing study
DVD Project Staff and customer surveys
87% of customers, 70% of staff
Adjustment Period After the
implementation of a project we generally experienced about a two week adjustment period
Behind the back rumblings and grumblings about how things were not going to work
Adjustment Period Solution: Create ownership Once the details of a project have been
worked out and decided upon, delegate implementation to key staff
Replaces the sense of pride and ownership that they may have feared they lost
Builds teamwork and trust among staff
Returning to harmony
If projects are planned and implemented thoughtfully, the staff will accept the changes if they see positive results. In some cases, staff will begin innovating independent of the team.
Examples
Acquisitions Study Left implementation to staff involved
Improved from 44 to 18 days
DVD Project Involved staff in re-labeling and shelving changes
Another successful staff project New Drive thru service added
Trained support staff with minimal experience in customer service procedures and techniques. This involved creating new documentation and training strategies
Made recommendations for purchasing equipment
Coordinated schedules
Created new systems for book delivery
Shifted the majority of materials check-in to drive thru staff
Future Projects
Pre-processing
Snags and damaged items
Inventory
Records retention
Resources
“The Memory Jogger – A Pocket Guide of Tools for Continuous Improvement” by Michael Brassard
The Library’s Continuous Improvement Fieldbook – 29 Ready-to-Use Tools by Sara Laughlin
Measuring for Results – The Dimensions of Public Library Effectiveness by Joseph R. Matthews
Smartdraw software (for creating flowcharts)
Contact Information
Jim Backus [email protected]
Garrett Erickson [email protected]
Rebecca Lemons [email protected]
Presentation available at: www.mcpl.us/wla/qpi.ppt
Questions?