1 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:16,190 Well, good afternoon, everybody, and thank you for hanging around for the for the last session. 2 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:23,540 I, I want to share with you some of my anxieties, actually, before I get going, 3 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:28,550 the first of which is why on earth would you want to hear what I've got to say? 4 00:00:28,580 --> 00:00:31,910 I have I have my own ideas about what happens here in Oxford. 5 00:00:32,390 --> 00:00:39,250 Most of those are probably completely wrong. Just as perhaps your ideas about what happens at Manchester may also be wrong. 6 00:00:39,260 --> 00:00:45,110 So I'm a little bit anxious about perhaps having been set up as the entertainment for the end of the day. 7 00:00:46,460 --> 00:00:51,170 My other anxieties, of course, that I'm all that stands between you and a drink at the end of the day. 8 00:00:51,980 --> 00:01:03,010 So here goes. What I'm going to do is is really share with you what I what I have put together as a as a case study. 9 00:01:03,010 --> 00:01:08,110 I think it is a story worth sharing about my library. 10 00:01:08,110 --> 00:01:15,310 And of course, it's not my library. And I feel very much this afternoon the mouthpiece for my team and and my colleagues at Manchester, 11 00:01:15,820 --> 00:01:23,980 because what's important about what I have to say is that this really is if it's a success story at all, 12 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:31,750 it's because it's an achievement of quite a large number of staff working together as one big team, and I feel very proud about that. 13 00:01:32,290 --> 00:01:42,010 So I'm going to tell you the story from the point briefly, from the point at which I arrived in Manchester and then where we've got to so far. 14 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:53,850 It's been a it's been a big challenge. And I think we now at Manchester would say that we have a pretty good research library. 15 00:01:54,450 --> 00:02:02,040 But what we're trying to do is, is move that good research library to become a great library in a modern sense. 16 00:02:02,670 --> 00:02:09,210 And that is, in my view, that is only possible through the efforts of a large number of colleagues. 17 00:02:10,170 --> 00:02:15,810 So I'm going to talk to you about the vision for this library and very briefly, 18 00:02:16,110 --> 00:02:26,340 the kinds of things that we're trying to do in terms of of becoming more innovative and and very aligned with the strategy of Manchester University. 19 00:02:27,030 --> 00:02:31,710 But really importantly, and I have to kind of manage the time to make sure I don't squeeze this bit at the end, 20 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:38,399 really importantly to to talk to you about how we're trying to achieve the next 21 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,860 sort of level of step change through culture change within the organisation. 22 00:02:44,670 --> 00:02:49,950 So it's really a story of sort of from here to there and how we, how we hope to do that. 23 00:02:53,880 --> 00:03:02,250 This is my team. This is and yes, it does rain quite a lot in Manchester, so I threw in some university library umbrellas. 24 00:03:03,020 --> 00:03:10,710 This is my team and you'll see there's a bit of a diversity issue there, but apart from that, they are truly high performing. 25 00:03:11,010 --> 00:03:14,430 And as I've said, I'm really proud to have them as colleagues. 26 00:03:19,210 --> 00:03:27,490 I thought I'd throw in a couple of slides to show at least something about the strategic mission of the University of Manchester. 27 00:03:27,820 --> 00:03:29,380 But of course, everybody does that, 28 00:03:29,710 --> 00:03:35,230 and it can become tedious because if you look at the strategic plans of most research universities, they look very similar. 29 00:03:35,830 --> 00:03:37,990 But I wanted to highlight a couple of things. 30 00:03:38,410 --> 00:03:45,670 Well, first of all, you know, Manchester strives by 2020 to be to have global standing just like everybody else. 31 00:03:45,730 --> 00:03:48,970 Global standing and world class research. 32 00:03:49,610 --> 00:03:53,440 And I don't mind sharing with you that until only a few weeks ago. 33 00:03:53,620 --> 00:03:56,920 The label at the top of this slide could have said Manchester 2015. 34 00:03:58,030 --> 00:04:10,760 We're still our criteria for meeting the second bullet that world class research is, is to do with being in the top 25 universities in the world. 35 00:04:10,780 --> 00:04:20,800 So we didn't make it by 2015. Now, our aspiration is to make it by 2020, but to draw attention to three and four on that slide. 36 00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:25,350 And don't worry that you can't read anything on the side. It's not really there to be to be read. 37 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:32,950 It's to show you that this is a university. This is extremely driven and ambitious to move up the league tables. 38 00:04:33,670 --> 00:04:44,440 But three and four there are to say that we are also taking very seriously our strategy for students, for learning and the student experience. 39 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:52,120 And Manchester tries very hard to identify what makes it distinctive compared with all the rest. 40 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:59,440 And we often say we want to be this, this and this, unlike Oxford and Cambridge and the Golden Triangle. 41 00:04:59,740 --> 00:05:03,760 So we really do try to say what will make us distinctive and different. 42 00:05:04,660 --> 00:05:09,730 And most important, there is is the last bullet, social responsibility, 43 00:05:10,210 --> 00:05:15,760 where the university says that it will contribute to the social and economic success of the local, 44 00:05:16,030 --> 00:05:24,310 national and international community by using our expertise and knowledge to find solutions to the major challenges of the 21st century, 45 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:29,740 and by producing graduates who exercise social leadership and responsibility. 46 00:05:30,970 --> 00:05:38,590 So that's the strategy for Manchester that the library tries very hard to align itself to. 47 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:50,610 And there's just something there about the library aligning its vision with the statements that come from the the parent university so 48 00:05:50,610 --> 00:05:57,360 that the University of Manchester Library will harness the pioneering heritage of Manchester to inspire a world of learning and research. 49 00:05:57,630 --> 00:06:05,940 We will broaden understanding and cultivate intellectual growth in our students, researchers and local and international communities. 50 00:06:06,330 --> 00:06:09,390 And that is a quote from our current strategic plan. 51 00:06:11,870 --> 00:06:20,060 And I think I want to say at this point that when I did arrive in Manchester in 2008, January 2008, there was no strategic plan for the library. 52 00:06:20,510 --> 00:06:30,470 And my sense was that this was an organisation that we all had a very strong sense of its own purpose and and a pride in itself as a library. 53 00:06:31,070 --> 00:06:39,320 But actually the library might as well have been over here and the university over here there was very little common ground. 54 00:06:39,710 --> 00:06:48,260 And so my promise to myself was that I was going to bring the library much closer to the university 55 00:06:48,620 --> 00:06:56,060 and and to make us as relevant as we possibly could be to the aspirations of that organisation. 56 00:07:00,890 --> 00:07:07,300 So say a little bit more about the library so that you you get a feel for for us where we are. 57 00:07:08,180 --> 00:07:09,739 What about the university and the library? 58 00:07:09,740 --> 00:07:17,810 We're a large university, 40,000 students, the largest in the UK with 300 library staff, not the largest in the UK. 59 00:07:19,190 --> 00:07:24,049 Our budget is there £22 million per annum and we have quite a large estate. 60 00:07:24,050 --> 00:07:28,070 This university came about recently. 61 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:35,240 The modern University of Manchester came about as a result of a merger with You Missed back in 2004. 62 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:47,300 So that is what has given us our increased research power, but also our scale, which is what it was all about in those days and continues to be. 63 00:07:49,010 --> 00:07:54,590 So as a library, we've seen significant change since 2008 because I think that's why I was employed there. 64 00:07:55,340 --> 00:07:59,630 And that changes continued as as you'd expect. 65 00:08:01,610 --> 00:08:07,790 We have a focus on and some of the terminology I use, I sort of cringe when I think about the words that I know you use. 66 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:16,399 We talk a lot about whether we're quite open and overt about line management and reporting too. 67 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,330 And I noticed that the terminology that you use here at Oxford is much softer than that. 68 00:08:20,330 --> 00:08:27,550 So I apologise if I alienate my audience in the first few slides, but here I talk about customers. 69 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:34,040 We use the term customers in the library, not because actually we think we're running a business and we want to be like that. 70 00:08:34,250 --> 00:08:42,500 But just because we find it quite hard to always list all of our stakeholders and so customer is just a nice, 71 00:08:42,500 --> 00:08:47,899 neat and tidy term that is used only as a last resort actually. 72 00:08:47,900 --> 00:08:52,850 But more often than not we will use student, we will use researcher, just as you do. 73 00:08:54,670 --> 00:08:58,340 Collections and connections. Well, we've heard a lot about that already today. 74 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:08,019 You don't need me to expand on that. I think we have invested a great deal in the library, in leadership development, starting with my own team. 75 00:09:08,020 --> 00:09:17,020 That has changed in the time I've been at Manchester. We spent a great deal there, but also increasingly through the whole organisation. 76 00:09:18,270 --> 00:09:30,020 And that last square there at the bottom right hand corner is just to indicate that increasingly it is, it seems to me, less necessary. 77 00:09:30,030 --> 00:09:32,280 And here I am going to alienate my audience again, 78 00:09:32,580 --> 00:09:39,000 increasingly less necessary to employ library professionals in all of the roles that perhaps we might have done at one time. 79 00:09:39,010 --> 00:09:50,190 So one of the changes I've made is to professionalise in other ways the services that we offer, both internally to the library and to the university. 80 00:09:54,790 --> 00:09:58,990 So you might ask, how are we doing? Well, I think we're doing okay. 81 00:09:59,140 --> 00:10:04,180 And one of the obvious questions is, so why don't you just stop now and, you know, it's fine. 82 00:10:05,170 --> 00:10:09,040 We're reasonably satisfied with our score at 93%. 83 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,310 It could be higher, but it's it's a good score. 84 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:20,470 I think it's Monday. We hear what the next the previous next year's sorry, 2014 score will be. 85 00:10:21,130 --> 00:10:28,750 But I'm reasonably happy that every year since 2008 our score has gone up and it is the highest score across the university. 86 00:10:30,650 --> 00:10:36,980 We've received a number of awards against something that Manchester culturally didn't really. 87 00:10:38,220 --> 00:10:49,050 Go after. But as my team, my larger team of 300, have grown in their aspirations and their excitement for what we're doing, 88 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:55,680 they themselves are quite hungry to chase after any award that's going really, which is quite fun and quite rewarding. 89 00:10:56,130 --> 00:11:04,760 So we've had some successes there. We base a lot of what we do now on market research, and I'll say a bit more about that in a minute. 90 00:11:05,570 --> 00:11:10,219 And generally speaking, I would say and of course, you perhaps think I would say that wouldn't tie. 91 00:11:10,220 --> 00:11:13,880 But I'm trying to be really honest and balanced in what I tell you this afternoon. 92 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,780 We are taken quite seriously within the University of Manchester, 93 00:11:18,290 --> 00:11:28,309 and the pot of gold and gold in the middle is to represent really the message I send to my own colleagues about if we keep doing well, 94 00:11:28,310 --> 00:11:32,150 they'll keep giving us the money and we can carry on with what we want to achieve. 95 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:41,680 So then it's about how do we get even better? 96 00:11:41,890 --> 00:11:45,310 How do we move from good to great? 97 00:11:45,850 --> 00:11:49,000 And you will know perhaps that title it's a Jim Collins book. 98 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,690 And that is that is my aspiration for this library. 99 00:11:53,710 --> 00:11:59,650 How do we move from where we are now to where we want to get to in the future so that 100 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:04,510 the university keeps holding us in high regard and keeps handing over the cash, 101 00:12:04,510 --> 00:12:09,760 basically, and of course, so that our students leave Manchester feeling very satisfied. 102 00:12:10,090 --> 00:12:14,740 And our research profile is continues to improve. 103 00:12:17,330 --> 00:12:24,080 So I'm going to now frame the quite a bit of the talk now really around. 104 00:12:25,550 --> 00:12:29,150 These things. There are four headings in that box. 105 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:34,460 Down in the left hand corner and I'm going to use those to structure what I say. 106 00:12:34,790 --> 00:12:40,190 Now something about so so in terms of trying to move from good to great. 107 00:12:40,850 --> 00:12:47,870 And again, if you know the Marshall Goldsmith book, what got you here won't get you there. 108 00:12:48,410 --> 00:12:54,470 Then I would say that those four things in that purple box, corporate purple box, 109 00:12:55,040 --> 00:13:00,230 all the things that we are paying attention to in order to move us ahead. 110 00:13:01,370 --> 00:13:03,109 One is around market intelligence. 111 00:13:03,110 --> 00:13:10,730 It's about and again, we don't use this terminology, but I couldn't fit it all in the box if I didn't try to to paraphrase and summarise. 112 00:13:11,630 --> 00:13:16,190 So this is about really understanding our communities better than we ever have, 113 00:13:16,190 --> 00:13:23,140 really getting into the bones of the organisation and understanding what our stakeholders want from us. 114 00:13:23,150 --> 00:13:26,720 What do I researchers want? What do our students want? And so on. 115 00:13:28,100 --> 00:13:37,880 It's about having a strategic vision for this library so that all staff can sign up to it and feel involved in it and help to achieve it. 116 00:13:39,450 --> 00:13:42,900 Then of course, it's bound to be about innovation, 117 00:13:43,260 --> 00:13:48,510 because if you've got a strategic vision that isn't innovative, then you may have a bit of a problem. 118 00:13:49,890 --> 00:14:00,450 And then it's about the culture, the culture of this library, to enable us to achieve the vision that we have set out for for ourselves. 119 00:14:07,510 --> 00:14:12,130 So dealing with the first of those. Market intelligence, if I may use that term. 120 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:19,809 We have employed a company called Alltel or commissioned perhaps is a better word, a commissioned a company called Alta Lion. 121 00:14:19,810 --> 00:14:25,630 I don't know whether you've come across them, but they are doing some or have been doing some ethnographic work with us. 122 00:14:26,350 --> 00:14:33,850 And basically we got them to forget about all the new things that we're trying to do, the clever stuff, if you like, 123 00:14:34,270 --> 00:14:44,680 but to actually look at our core services, the things that libraries are known for and that everybody associates with a university library. 124 00:14:45,220 --> 00:14:50,530 And we said we really want to know, warts and all, how those services are perceived. 125 00:14:51,660 --> 00:14:57,260 And what we find is that actually they're quite deficient. And I'm not all that surprised by that. 126 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:02,930 Actually, I know there are things wrong with even basic things like signage in our buildings, 127 00:15:03,470 --> 00:15:12,800 but we got the whole story and we got over 100 video clips of students trying to use our services. 128 00:15:13,250 --> 00:15:22,730 And on one hand, it was laughable, but actually it was utterly depressing to find that there is so much that we have got wrong. 129 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,320 In what we're trying to to provide at a very basic level. 130 00:15:31,690 --> 00:15:39,700 Um, in fact if you're interested in know more about this work there was at the all UK members meeting last year. 131 00:15:39,700 --> 00:15:46,360 I think I'm right, yes. Last year there were some presentations from Penny Hicks, my colleague at Manchester, 132 00:15:46,690 --> 00:15:55,630 but also Soumaya from Mira from Cambridge and Susan Gibbons from Harvard, Yale. 133 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,290 And you might get that wrong. So I looked at Richard. Thank you from Yale. 134 00:15:59,530 --> 00:16:05,380 And there's some really interesting stuff going on in this area. 135 00:16:05,710 --> 00:16:12,010 But what I am pleased to say is that one year later, we asked all to line, to come back and to tell us, 136 00:16:12,370 --> 00:16:19,360 okay, how is it now just one year and we will continue to do this and in one year the detractors. 137 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:32,520 So the people who actually were not happy with our services and were obviously the most inclined to talk about that experience with others. 138 00:16:32,530 --> 00:16:41,770 So the people we need to really worry about, they have moved from 9% to 18% and 8% to 9%. 139 00:16:44,290 --> 00:16:52,149 So what time do we have a drink? And promoters have moved from 38%. 140 00:16:52,150 --> 00:16:59,460 I got it right away around this time 38% to 48%. So even that results is it was worth doing. 141 00:16:59,470 --> 00:17:02,470 And as I say, we'll continue to do that. 142 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:15,890 Okay. Moving on now to the strategic vision, our purple plan, corporate cover that this is, as I said, the second strategy for this library. 143 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:21,350 And we adopted a new approach this time to the way we produce this. 144 00:17:21,350 --> 00:17:29,450 I would say that the first strategy in 2008 nine, when I look at it now, I think actually it was quite inward looking. 145 00:17:29,930 --> 00:17:37,339 It focussed quite a lot on putting things right, things like policies, collection, development policies, 146 00:17:37,340 --> 00:17:44,780 the things that are that one might assume would always be there for a research library of fairly long standing. 147 00:17:45,260 --> 00:17:48,290 So this strategy was going to be different. It is different. 148 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:57,710 And the boxes there on the right are the criteria that we use to determine whether something made it into the strategic plan or not. 149 00:17:59,630 --> 00:18:06,020 Each thing, each idea, each strategic thought had to have a wow factor. 150 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:11,150 If it didn't amaze us, we wouldn't put it in our strategy. 151 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:17,170 It had to be bold. It had to be something, a problem, an issue. 152 00:18:17,170 --> 00:18:22,610 It had to be something that is hard to crack. Otherwise it doesn't need to go in. 153 00:18:22,610 --> 00:18:27,260 The strategy will just solve it. It need to be leading edge. 154 00:18:27,740 --> 00:18:37,880 How is it going to enhance the reputation of this library with its students, its staff, its academics, its researchers, and also people like you? 155 00:18:38,390 --> 00:18:40,040 How are we going to amaze you? 156 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:53,740 Probably it would be something quite big because actually we want to have a small number of big strategic projects to work on. 157 00:18:55,480 --> 00:19:04,280 And. It needed to take us from here where we are to way where we want to get to. 158 00:19:04,610 --> 00:19:09,110 So it needed to mean some kind of step change for this library. 159 00:19:15,100 --> 00:19:23,440 Moving on to innovation. So this is a a team, a sort of self nominated team, really. 160 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:30,190 It's not hierarchically based in any way. These are people who identify themselves with good ideas and are creative. 161 00:19:30,190 --> 00:19:38,320 And there's a bit of a shortage, I think, of creative people around. So this is a group led by Lorraine Beard, who's a member of my team. 162 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:47,860 And they have well, they continue they've been probably doing it for two or three years now, thousand and 12, three years. 163 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,600 They have been working with library staff, with academics, 164 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:59,350 and particularly with students to generate to act as a sort of catalyst to generate 165 00:19:59,770 --> 00:20:06,280 bright ideas of any kind that might improve the library service and its reputation. 166 00:20:14,070 --> 00:20:17,760 The first thing and this was back in 2012 13. 167 00:20:18,420 --> 00:20:21,750 I don't know whether Richard's daughter knew about this. Perhaps she wasn't there then. No. 168 00:20:21,870 --> 00:20:30,960 No, she wasn't. This was a prize of £1,000 for the best idea coming from students. 169 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:37,740 In a kind of Dragon's Den style competition, and you'll see if you know him. 170 00:20:37,750 --> 00:20:40,389 On the right there is Phil Jupiters. 171 00:20:40,390 --> 00:20:50,799 He was the host of our second Eureka Challenge, and he did a great job for us and he's itching to do it again because it was really such fun. 172 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:56,260 The students had a great time and we we loved them for it. So this is a competition. 173 00:20:56,260 --> 00:20:59,740 If you know Dragons Den on the TV, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. 174 00:21:00,220 --> 00:21:03,850 Students entered, they were shortlisted, and then they were given, I don't know, 175 00:21:03,850 --> 00:21:11,620 a minute or 2 minutes or something to present their idea to a small panel of entrepreneurs. 176 00:21:13,210 --> 00:21:19,250 And of course, there's a winner. Bit more about Eureka. 177 00:21:19,250 --> 00:21:25,729 It's about enabling innovation, of course. It's about changing student perceptions of us and what the libraries. 178 00:21:25,730 --> 00:21:29,059 Therefore, it's about understanding their needs. 179 00:21:29,060 --> 00:21:35,330 Because of course we may only shortlist, say, eight students for the Dragons Den. 180 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,800 Um, sort of awards and presentations. 181 00:21:40,190 --> 00:21:49,820 But we got I think two or 300 in from them that we could then pick from pick ideas from and, and many of those have been implemented. 182 00:21:52,310 --> 00:21:55,790 And it really helped to raise the library's profile. 183 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:05,930 So in order to get this off the ground, the library staff put together a whole really professional. 184 00:22:08,770 --> 00:22:18,790 Sort of organised, professionally organised competition, and they designed their own advertisements that were out across campus and online. 185 00:22:19,090 --> 00:22:23,110 And I thought I'd just show you, show you a couple of them, if only so I can have a glass of water. 186 00:22:24,070 --> 00:22:27,670 So here's the first one that was found. 187 00:22:31,150 --> 00:22:54,700 And. This. 188 00:22:59,330 --> 00:23:54,830 Is anybody still saying? Okay. 189 00:23:55,370 --> 00:24:01,320 Are you all awake now? There's another one, actually, that I really love, but I thought it wasn't fair on the member of staff who did it. 190 00:24:01,340 --> 00:24:04,670 She's. It's about getting books to students more quickly. 191 00:24:05,030 --> 00:24:11,830 So she goes around the library with roller skates on. But I thought she might not appreciate me showing that to. 192 00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:18,660 So from that Eureka challenge and from numerous other initiatives, 193 00:24:19,020 --> 00:24:24,900 we have been gathering in ideas and many of these have come from the staff themselves. 194 00:24:25,380 --> 00:24:29,310 So, for example, a library game, it's called booked in. 195 00:24:30,100 --> 00:24:39,899 It's no prizes for innovation there. And this is about engaging students through the gamification of library services, adding gaming mechanics, 196 00:24:39,900 --> 00:24:46,140 rewards points, leaderboards, badges to existing student behaviour in the library. 197 00:24:47,850 --> 00:24:51,509 Now, I don't know what you think of that. I'm not entirely convinced by it, 198 00:24:51,510 --> 00:24:58,650 but one of the things I have to do is go with some of these ideas because I realise that I'm of a different generation. 199 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:05,190 So that's that's one of them. And we're doing that in partnership with Glasgow, actually, Glasgow University. 200 00:25:06,090 --> 00:25:14,940 The next one is Booker Space now. This was the prize winner, the thousand pound prize in the first year of the Eureka Challenge. 201 00:25:15,420 --> 00:25:25,469 And this was to deal with the frustration that students have when they turn up to a library and they can't get a seat because their peers, 202 00:25:25,470 --> 00:25:35,130 their fellow students, have placed all their belongings in a desk with a PC, and they've gone off for a break, a long break, sometimes hours long. 203 00:25:35,820 --> 00:25:46,889 So we were awarded the prize, and then we worked in partnership with an IT company to install the technology that 204 00:25:46,890 --> 00:25:51,540 enables students to book ahead just to place a desk in the library book ahead. 205 00:25:52,410 --> 00:26:00,960 And they're allowed to hold a space for have a space for themselves, for working for 3 hours with a 20 minute break. 206 00:26:01,410 --> 00:26:04,530 They can book ahead or they can turn up and do it there and then. 207 00:26:05,850 --> 00:26:10,200 But we're just seeing how that how that goes. And it seems to be quite successful. 208 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:16,920 And another idea, this was a sort of quick win, really wellbeing during exam times. 209 00:26:16,980 --> 00:26:21,299 So we offer a tai chi sessions, 210 00:26:21,300 --> 00:26:32,610 massage and meditation along with numerous other programs to do with revision clinics and help with procrastination actually. 211 00:26:33,930 --> 00:26:39,270 Okay. So textbook rescue, this was another idea from students. 212 00:26:40,110 --> 00:26:48,450 So we have been at the doors of our libraries towards the end of each academic year asking students, 213 00:26:48,450 --> 00:26:51,840 you know, if you're not going to read your books again, why don't you pass them on to the next year? 214 00:26:52,260 --> 00:26:55,589 And we've had several thousand books donated in that way. 215 00:26:55,590 --> 00:27:00,180 And then there's a big Beano when the next year students come in and help themselves. 216 00:27:02,100 --> 00:27:09,959 Quite simple ideas, but I hope you're getting the impression that this is really about a thousand flowers blooming and again, 217 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:13,470 encouraging everybody to work up these thoughts. 218 00:27:14,370 --> 00:27:23,849 Click and collect. Now, this was the prize winner of the second Eureka Challenge and it's modelled on the John Lewis click and collect. 219 00:27:23,850 --> 00:27:26,999 So students no longer want to go to the bookshelves to get their books. 220 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,810 They want us to get them for them and they will just come and collect them. 221 00:27:31,260 --> 00:27:34,829 So what we we decided to or the panel. 222 00:27:34,830 --> 00:27:40,379 I wasn't involved in the second year the panel awarded the prize to this because there was a thought that there was there 223 00:27:40,380 --> 00:27:49,050 were some that there were the bones of an idea that even if we wouldn't just adopt the whole John Lewis partnership model, 224 00:27:50,550 --> 00:27:53,910 but that there was something in that that we would explore. 225 00:27:53,910 --> 00:28:00,210 And so that's what we're doing. But we rewarded the idea and and we'll now see what comes of it. 226 00:28:03,890 --> 00:28:10,760 And we do have our first sleep pod in the A-League, the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons, 227 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:16,340 and it's been in the national press, but fortunately it was a positive story. 228 00:28:16,460 --> 00:28:21,140 I did worry about that one. Come to Manchester and have a dog so I could just see it. 229 00:28:24,140 --> 00:28:28,400 Did you lab? This is this is about wearable technology. 230 00:28:28,430 --> 00:28:29,960 I'll say a bit more about that in a minute. 231 00:28:31,220 --> 00:28:39,410 It's about using the learning commons that the digital library, if you like, as a place where people can come and trial new technology. 232 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:48,010 Exam extra. This is an extension of those tai chi and massage and those things, 233 00:28:48,250 --> 00:28:53,530 but there's much more to it that's more serious about helping people through their revision. 234 00:28:53,830 --> 00:28:58,960 And, uh, well, you can imagine the kinds of things that we will offer. 235 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,389 And support for personal devices. 236 00:29:04,390 --> 00:29:08,670 Students turn up these days with all kinds of technology, don't they? 237 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:13,060 And the university was actually not really equipped to support that. 238 00:29:13,870 --> 00:29:19,060 If you had if you had what the university supports, then God bless you. But you're on your own otherwise. 239 00:29:19,450 --> 00:29:30,070 So we we now have a service to that's devoted to the whole the whole spectrum of student personal devices. 240 00:29:33,510 --> 00:29:39,680 To say a bit more about did you lab and we did have hundreds of students turn up to trial the technology 241 00:29:39,690 --> 00:29:45,120 so we we feel that that was something worth doing again and I think we've done it two or three times now. 242 00:29:45,690 --> 00:29:50,580 So Google Glass, when it was in its infancy and looking like it had a future. 243 00:29:51,210 --> 00:30:00,750 3D printing pens, virtual keyboards, Oculus Rift, the virtual reality staff, 3D printers I notice you have out here on display. 244 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:09,920 Um. And the whole idea of that really is to develop student digital literacy. 245 00:30:10,100 --> 00:30:21,260 Of course, it encourages innovation again, and it has enabled the library to strike up new partnerships and improve our profile in the university. 246 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:30,079 This summer, we invested in deck chairs to put outside the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons and 247 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,260 we've actually been lucky enough to have some sun in Manchester this summer. 248 00:30:33,260 --> 00:30:39,100 So that was a that was a good thing. Looks right here, right now. 249 00:30:39,100 --> 00:30:47,110 This is a project that we are currently in the middle of and it is seeking to improve the student experience 250 00:30:47,110 --> 00:30:53,980 by investigating student reading behaviour and implementing innovative models for providing textbooks. 251 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:59,079 In other words, Manchester, like most other universities or university libraries, 252 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:06,460 has not cracked the problem of access to high demand reading material for undergraduate students. 253 00:31:06,730 --> 00:31:10,360 And we said, this is going to be our wow project for students. 254 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:16,300 We are going to crack this problem. So it is in our strategy to do that and we'll see how it goes. 255 00:31:20,590 --> 00:31:28,030 We have a project called E-library that's about the future needs in accessing the digital library and related services. 256 00:31:28,390 --> 00:31:32,110 And just last week, I announced to my team or my my staff, 257 00:31:32,110 --> 00:31:38,110 I suppose that we will have a new program called Digital First that will 258 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:44,690 facilitate the transition for the library from a print based to a digital future. 259 00:31:44,710 --> 00:31:47,980 And a lot of the work there will be internal. 260 00:31:48,180 --> 00:31:52,719 It's of course, it will impact on our our students and our our researchers. 261 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:57,400 But we have a long way to go in being able to do that. 262 00:31:58,570 --> 00:32:03,030 And we have to start with staff with ourselves. So that's it. 263 00:32:03,070 --> 00:32:07,719 That's a new one. My learning essentials. 264 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:17,470 This is an award winning program for skills development amongst students, undergraduate and postgraduate students. 265 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:27,579 A lot of the courses here are curriculum linked. We take a blended approach and these these are not subject specific courses. 266 00:32:27,580 --> 00:32:35,680 They are designed to be generic and they cover a whole range of things like assignments being critical. 267 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:41,920 My future so that we've brought in careers, the careers department to work with us on that. 268 00:32:42,370 --> 00:32:53,530 We've brought in student services to work on my wellbeing, how to organise better referencing writing research skills, presentation skills. 269 00:32:53,540 --> 00:32:57,340 The list is very long and it's on our website if you're interested. 270 00:32:57,610 --> 00:33:04,839 But it's really about supporting learning while students are at Manchester and supporting their success, both while they're students. 271 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:07,030 But when they leave. Particularly when they leave. 272 00:33:09,610 --> 00:33:17,620 And I know the students look younger and younger all the time, but these are actually that the kids who've come in to use the John Rylands Library, 273 00:33:17,620 --> 00:33:24,700 because we have for the last probably four years we've had an education officer and we run programs for little children. 274 00:33:25,930 --> 00:33:29,800 So we're talking about the future researcher early this afternoon. 275 00:33:29,810 --> 00:33:37,570 And here they are. The these I think came in to do Doctor Who sleepover, I think it was. 276 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:46,540 And yes, we did do a risk assessment. And we have Harry Potter days and all sorts of things, digital preservation. 277 00:33:46,540 --> 00:33:55,839 We've won an award, the Deepsea Digital Preservation Coalition Award for our Digital Preservation of a Poetry Archive, 278 00:33:55,840 --> 00:34:03,250 a very large publishing archive of over 200,000 emails and 65,000 attachments. 279 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:10,540 A drop in the ocean compared with the problem. But we're pleased to at least have have done that. 280 00:34:11,870 --> 00:34:19,070 I should say we have moved away from in structural terms within the library, we have moved away from subject librarians. 281 00:34:20,030 --> 00:34:32,570 We now have developed teams around research research services, around services to support students in their teaching and learning. 282 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:41,420 And and then there's a team of people who are really responsible for our outreach into the university again, 283 00:34:41,420 --> 00:34:47,360 so that we can be as strategically aligned as possible with what the university is up to. 284 00:34:47,690 --> 00:34:51,740 So the whole team of people there who are out there, 285 00:34:51,980 --> 00:34:57,770 the eyes and ears of of the rest of us finding out what's going on and also offering our services. 286 00:35:01,870 --> 00:35:06,819 I haven't said much about support for research because most of the innovation is coming in support of students. 287 00:35:06,820 --> 00:35:13,660 But a few things that we have done. And again, by moving away from a subject structure, 288 00:35:14,350 --> 00:35:26,950 we I'm pleased to say that we can say that we have now quite expert people around the whole all all of the changes that have gone on in research, 289 00:35:26,950 --> 00:35:30,160 open access research, data management. 290 00:35:30,970 --> 00:35:41,110 I feel that we can now provide services in those areas and more in a way that we couldn't manage when we were organised by discipline. 291 00:35:47,610 --> 00:35:56,370 And we have in the last two years. Two years ago, we established a John Rylands Research Institute, which is the University Research Institute, 292 00:35:56,850 --> 00:36:04,020 a partnership between the John Rylands Library, our Special Collections Library and the Faculty of Humanities. 293 00:36:08,790 --> 00:36:12,449 So now I'm onto the, um, the last bit really, 294 00:36:12,450 --> 00:36:18,990 and that if you remember that purple box earlier in the presentation, this is about a hard look at our culture. 295 00:36:19,110 --> 00:36:27,540 If you remember I said we're trying to move the library from good from where it is now to something great too, something to be really proud of. 296 00:36:28,020 --> 00:36:35,490 And we can only do that if we have a really honest, hard look at the culture of the organisation. 297 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:42,540 So starting with my team, my senior team, but then actually extending this conversation to all staff. 298 00:36:42,930 --> 00:36:49,740 We have had a number of workshops away days, that kind of thing to ask ourselves these questions. 299 00:36:50,130 --> 00:36:53,370 Is our current culture enabling us or inhibiting us? 300 00:36:54,180 --> 00:36:59,700 You can guess the answer. Do we need new thoughts, values and behaviours? 301 00:36:59,780 --> 00:37:04,599 I guess the answer. Are we ready to face up to the barriers? 302 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:14,229 And I think I like to think that by engaging all staff with this conversation, most people said, yeah, actually we like the sound of this. 303 00:37:14,230 --> 00:37:21,340 We're going to change it all. So I'm going to run through some of the things that we've been doing. 304 00:37:21,370 --> 00:37:26,500 I've already mentioned that we have invested a lot in in leadership development. 305 00:37:27,690 --> 00:37:42,590 Um. We have identified three groups of staff in the library who have not necessarily current leadership potential, but leadership potential full stop. 306 00:37:42,830 --> 00:37:48,799 So. Including staff at relatively low grade. 307 00:37:48,800 --> 00:37:59,940 So new entrants into the into the library identifying those people who show some kind of leadership potential and they are being treated differently. 308 00:37:59,960 --> 00:38:09,350 I think this is a new departure for us. We are actually saying, yes, we're going to take these three groups and we're going to work with you. 309 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:15,709 We're going to invest in you. And that's been going on for 2 to 3 years. 310 00:38:15,710 --> 00:38:28,460 And I can tell you it's already worth it. Managing business as usual, trying not to get drawn into business as usual if it isn't appropriate. 311 00:38:28,470 --> 00:38:37,950 So in other words, managers and leaders letting go of the day to day, focusing on the strategic being, more time and cost conscious. 312 00:38:40,350 --> 00:38:45,060 I talked about empowerment, becoming a more self-confident organisation. 313 00:38:45,420 --> 00:38:52,650 Do we see ourselves as supporters or the support act of the university or are we actually partners? 314 00:38:54,040 --> 00:39:03,100 Together in an academic mission. And I think that the library I inherited was very much the former. 315 00:39:03,580 --> 00:39:06,700 We were the servants to our academic masters. 316 00:39:06,700 --> 00:39:10,180 And that's something I really want to continue to change. 317 00:39:12,250 --> 00:39:14,830 Pace and agility. Try to do things more quickly. 318 00:39:16,100 --> 00:39:26,480 I've brought in some people from quite different previous employment and although I think the pace actually is a lot faster than it used to be, 319 00:39:26,750 --> 00:39:30,140 they still think it's very slow compared with perhaps the private sector. 320 00:39:30,470 --> 00:39:33,710 So we have to find the middle ground and what works for most people. 321 00:39:35,700 --> 00:39:40,500 More business like. I've talked about that really and increased risk taking. 322 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:48,890 Is it safe and comfortable as an environment in which to try new things or if you get it wrong, do you get your head shot off? 323 00:39:48,900 --> 00:39:55,900 Basically. So together with staff. 324 00:39:55,900 --> 00:39:58,300 And I said that I started this with my own team. 325 00:39:58,660 --> 00:40:04,480 We came up with eight ways of working and this was going to be our sort of blueprint for a for a new culture. 326 00:40:05,050 --> 00:40:08,070 And the staff said, No, no, no, it's too many. We want five. 327 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:13,750 And so here they are taking collective responsibility to achieve our goals. 328 00:40:14,350 --> 00:40:17,770 More questioning and working with greater openness and trust. 329 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:23,570 Empowering and supporting individuals to take more risks, 330 00:40:24,380 --> 00:40:32,330 recognising and celebrating our differences and our strengths and delighting in our successes whilst also supporting each other through adversity. 331 00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:37,190 A number of you have probably done something like Myers-Briggs. 332 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:41,130 You know, the personality profile. I can see if, you know, it's nice, Briggs or Belbin. 333 00:40:41,700 --> 00:40:49,979 We've done all of that. We've done it to death, actually. But it now enables many of us to talk about why we do things like that and to have a 334 00:40:49,980 --> 00:40:55,560 sort of mutual respect where perhaps once we were just irritated with one another, 335 00:40:56,460 --> 00:41:03,510 it's not perfect, but I think it's helped. And the whole trust thing, I think, is where is where it really starts. 336 00:41:13,330 --> 00:41:21,879 So improving the culture. Now, the next few slides I'm afraid are a bit of a a catalogue of some of the things that we're doing. 337 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:30,580 So we've developed recently a strategic workforce plan to identify looking, looking forward, looking to the library of the future. 338 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:37,000 What are the gaps in terms of skills for this library and how on earth are we going to address them? 339 00:41:41,090 --> 00:41:51,230 And included in that is the whole notion of succession planning, which is where this idea of these groups of of future leaders has come from. 340 00:41:53,560 --> 00:42:01,900 Cross team working, trying to increase people working across departments, but also having the opportunity to. 341 00:42:02,940 --> 00:42:07,200 Go and try a different job and swap and shadow and that kind of thing. 342 00:42:10,070 --> 00:42:17,900 Tim dysfunctions. Again, I don't know whether any of you have come across the book Violent Chianti The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. 343 00:42:19,050 --> 00:42:23,010 I'm not seeing anybody. No, this book. Well, it's a great book to read. 344 00:42:23,010 --> 00:42:30,559 It's. It's a fable. It's written as a fable. But it's it's really, really a very good read. 345 00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:40,700 And it talks about, in fact, is that there's a there's an assessment that you can do with your team to see, you know, where the dysfunctions are. 346 00:42:41,150 --> 00:42:47,930 And in my team, my own leadership team and I'm going back now a couple of years, um, trust was an issue. 347 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,350 I think it's fair to say everybody's incredibly nice. 348 00:42:51,350 --> 00:42:53,540 We love each other and we're all very nice to each other. 349 00:42:53,540 --> 00:43:02,599 But I felt that the library was me because I was not feeling that decisions were being shared. 350 00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:13,490 I felt as though I was really carrying that burden myself and I wanted much more of a, I sort of, um, well, I wanted more challenge, actually. 351 00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:17,660 Surprisingly, I wanted more challenge because I think that's how we get better decisions. 352 00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:22,150 I wanted more grit in the room and what used to happen doesn't happen anymore. 353 00:43:22,150 --> 00:43:28,820 In fact, you have to be careful what you wish for, don't you? But what what used to happen was people would be very nice in the meetings. 354 00:43:29,210 --> 00:43:32,390 There'd be a lot of looking at me, you know? And I think you should stop looking at me. 355 00:43:32,390 --> 00:43:40,340 I wish they'd look at one another. And then outside the meeting there'll be lots of rumbling and corridor conversations 356 00:43:41,090 --> 00:43:46,640 now and I really can hand on heart say this is this has changed dramatically. 357 00:43:47,210 --> 00:43:52,130 We, we've talked a lot about, um, the elephant in the room. 358 00:43:52,130 --> 00:43:53,630 What is the elephant in the room? 359 00:43:53,630 --> 00:44:02,540 We even have an elephant, just a small one that sits in the middle of the table to remind us that things need to be said in the room. 360 00:44:03,350 --> 00:44:07,729 And we've then had so it rather than after after the meeting. 361 00:44:07,730 --> 00:44:11,510 And we've done a lot of work together in quite a personal way, 362 00:44:11,510 --> 00:44:17,180 actually having conversations in pairs about what are the things I'm comfortable talking 363 00:44:17,180 --> 00:44:21,590 to you about and what are the things I'm really uncomfortable talking with you about. 364 00:44:21,950 --> 00:44:27,290 And we've cleared away a whole lot of baggage and people have really risen to that challenge. 365 00:44:28,010 --> 00:44:37,280 I feel we make better decisions. We have a much better quality of debate in our meetings and it things are feeling very positive, actually. 366 00:44:38,030 --> 00:44:42,740 So the team dysfunctions. LANGONE The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. 367 00:44:43,070 --> 00:44:47,030 There's a sort of pyramid that starts with trust at the bottom. 368 00:44:47,050 --> 00:44:50,180 If you don't have trust and then you can't challenge. 369 00:44:51,170 --> 00:44:54,800 Then you are a bit stuck for the rest. 370 00:44:54,920 --> 00:45:00,170 Which sort of stops with accountability and attention to results at the very top. 371 00:45:00,770 --> 00:45:04,490 So I commend that to you if it's of a of interest at all. 372 00:45:06,830 --> 00:45:10,760 There are a few other things that we have a virtual wall of praise for any member of 373 00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:15,050 staff to congratulate colleagues on things they're doing or things they've done. 374 00:45:15,290 --> 00:45:21,110 We have an ideas wall of a similar style for people to dump their their best ideas. 375 00:45:21,530 --> 00:45:28,190 We've changed meeting formats. My senior team meetings now all weekly, but last for an hour only. 376 00:45:28,790 --> 00:45:37,190 We usually have about two items on the agenda, but we always have coffee beforehand because we are very hard working, 377 00:45:37,340 --> 00:45:41,390 totally driven, task orientated, bunch of people who never. 378 00:45:42,670 --> 00:45:49,630 Talk about anything other than work and actually getting to know one another as human beings has made a big difference to. 379 00:45:52,480 --> 00:45:57,490 Mythbusters. So Rachel Beckett here on the far right, in case some of you know her, 380 00:45:57,490 --> 00:46:03,730 she is head of special collections and leads that John Violence Research Institute from the library side. 381 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:12,430 She leads this team of people and their job is to bust all the myths that have been kicking around the library for a long time. 382 00:46:13,390 --> 00:46:22,780 Um, is it true that there's 30 years worth of special collections in the basement of the John Rollins Library and catalogued? 383 00:46:24,250 --> 00:46:33,220 Is it true that there really were wild parties every week in the good old days before John King is there are no jeans policy. 384 00:46:34,750 --> 00:46:38,290 Is it true that when John wears her leather skirt, bad news is coming? 385 00:46:44,240 --> 00:46:47,270 So improving the culture again a little bit more on this. 386 00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:55,759 Um, performance management has has had quite a, an increased profile and reward and recognition. 387 00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:56,629 The two go together. 388 00:46:56,630 --> 00:47:07,940 It's about developing people, it's about rewarding good work, recognising good behaviour, but also doing something with the other people. 389 00:47:09,350 --> 00:47:17,880 Does everybody need to stay in this organisation? People who chair meetings, we expect them to be trained to do that properly. 390 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:24,210 We won't tolerate port sharing anymore. Changes to the work environment. 391 00:47:25,390 --> 00:47:32,890 Whereas this time next year the LIV, the main library of the university will be completely gutted in three phases over three years. 392 00:47:33,670 --> 00:47:41,950 Bad news for your daughter, Richard. And when we reopen, I can't say reopen because we're not closing. 393 00:47:41,950 --> 00:47:48,610 But when that work is finished, all of all of the staff in the library will be working in an open plan, 394 00:47:48,940 --> 00:47:55,330 hot desk environment, including me, believe me, because I do believe it's better for communication and collaboration. 395 00:47:56,370 --> 00:48:04,710 And we're giving more space to. Our students, really, and people who need the library changes the work environment, 396 00:48:05,790 --> 00:48:09,390 devolving as much as possible, including finance, including budgets. 397 00:48:10,860 --> 00:48:16,040 A lot of these. I've covered no elephants. Um. 398 00:48:18,580 --> 00:48:26,260 Again, something that's been introduced by staff in the interests of us all knowing one another as well as we possibly can, 399 00:48:27,250 --> 00:48:33,790 agreed to, which possibly doesn't mean anything at Oxford, but it's the lowest grade of the lowest pay grade. 400 00:48:34,330 --> 00:48:39,280 A grade two member of staff will come and interview me every supposed to be every month. 401 00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:49,090 I'd say it's about every two months. And then that gets published in the staff newsletter and I have to find something to give away about myself 402 00:48:50,530 --> 00:48:56,860 so that there's a feeling that people are getting to know me better because otherwise I'm very scary. 403 00:48:58,810 --> 00:49:05,590 Staff have had resilience training. We've had some of us have had training on how to make an impact that so that's sort of the 404 00:49:05,590 --> 00:49:10,540 one of those groups of people that we're investing in for for leadership in the future. 405 00:49:14,860 --> 00:49:20,889 And I think a lot of this is repeats. Some of the things I've touched on, there's a lovely picture there of one of these groups. 406 00:49:20,890 --> 00:49:23,050 This is called the Leadership Development Network. 407 00:49:23,380 --> 00:49:30,200 These are people who are not necessarily managers at the moment, but they're people who display leadership behaviours. 408 00:49:30,730 --> 00:49:33,340 And they're working on a thing. It's called feedforward. 409 00:49:33,820 --> 00:49:44,560 So rather than feedback, it's about giving advice before you've tried to do something rather than the rather negative concept of. 410 00:49:45,490 --> 00:49:50,080 Well, you didn't get that right, did you? Talking about something. 411 00:49:50,230 --> 00:49:53,440 This is a challenge I'm facing. What would you do about it? 412 00:49:53,740 --> 00:50:01,000 And you can gather. What happens is one row stays still and one row moves down one place every time. 413 00:50:01,360 --> 00:50:11,090 So if I have an issue and I want to get some ideas to help me solve that, I get maybe 20 ideas to take away with me. 414 00:50:11,110 --> 00:50:13,120 Some of them are thrown in the bin, some I might keep. 415 00:50:13,570 --> 00:50:21,130 But this has really helped to free up the culture, I think, and I really notice the difference in that group in the two years they've been running. 416 00:50:33,100 --> 00:50:34,630 That's it. Thank you very much.