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SLA: What's Love Got To Do With It?

posted this in Organizations on February 13th, 2012

At the recent SLA Leadership Summit, James Kane – considered to be the world’s foremost expert on what makes an individual truly “loyal” to a product, brand or, in this case, association – made a very interesting remark about love.  He pointed out that the 43% of members who are “Predisposed” to SLA (more on that in a moment) is our biggest association blind spot:  because we think they love us … but they don’t. 

Working with SLA, James has undertaken the Loyalty Project to ascertain how SLA members fit on a scale of relationship levels and what percentage of the members are “loyal”.  Based upon a statistically significant survey, the following profiles SLA’s relationship levels with members today:

Relationship Level Survey says Definition LOYAL   6% Members who are committed to SLA.  They perceive that their relationship with SLA makes their lives better, easier, happier. PREDISPOSED  43% Members who are satisfied with their relationship with SLA – they are happy with the status quo and will stay as long as it’s comfortable.  However, if the association changes, these members will need to re-evaluate their relationship with the association. TRANSACTIONAL  45% Members who receive value for the money they spend on the association services.  Their reason for belonging is purely based upon receiving a specific product or service – be that discounted conference registration, member rates for meetings, etc – for the money paid. ANTAGONISTIC   6% Members who actively or passively do not support the association.  They may continue

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February 13th, 2012 | Tags: , , | Category: Organizations | Leave a comment

OLA Superconference 2012: Top Ten Management Tips

posted this in Conferences, Leadership on February 7th, 2012

Wendy Hicks of Stratford Public Library created and moderated a session with an incredible mix of seasoned managers offering their top ten tips to be an effective manager.  Although they didn’t say it, I heard the overall message as “Keep in touch.”

1. Keep in touch with the front line: Know what front line staff knows. Go on the front line occasionally to find out what the customers are thinking, and what staff is experiencing.

2.  Keep in touch with yourself: Govern your temper, put everything in perspective, and be the calm centre of any storm.  Be in control of yourself. 3. Keep in touch with staff: Be respectful of staff, and that respect will then be reciprocated. Acknowledge and highlight the work someone does well. Don’t just point out flaws. While it’s important to make sure staff knows what they can improve, it’s important that they know what they have done well.

4. Keep in touch with the golden rule: Give 100% of the credit to everyone else when a project has gone well. Heap praise on them. Be front and centre when criticism comes your way. Project your people. Take the burden of blame. Build trust, show you have their back and people will do their best for you.

5. Keep in touch with the culture: Keep your style flexible to reflect the style needed in any given environment.

6. Keep in touch with opportunities: Look for opportunities to guide people. Don’t try to control. Identify people’s

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February 7th, 2012 | Tags: | Category: Conferences, Leadership | Leave a comment

Promotion 101: Is blogging part of your plan?

posted this in Marketing on January 26th, 2012

One of the marketing “P”s at which librarians excel is Promotion.  One of the most popular promotional vehicles for many libraries is their blog.   Many libraries, like many organizations, assume that “if we blog it, people will read it.”  And rarely do libraries look at how the blog fits in their overall promotion or marketing plans.  So, before you set up a new blog – or continue on your current blog, scope out the plan.  Consider what you are trying to achieve with the blog, and how you plan to achieve that goal by answering the following questions:

Purpose:              What is the goal of your blog?  What do you want to communicate or promote?  Be clear about this.

Description:       What do you want your site to look like?  Plan the physical description of the blog.  Sketch out your vision so you can “see” it before you build it.

Schedule:            How often will you be updating your blog?  Set a publication frequency that’s reasonable.

Audience:           Who are they?  What’s the target market?

Cost:                      How much?  Even electronic publications have a cost,  including  - and especially – the “cost” of your time!

Distribution:      How are you going to ensure that you reach your audience?  Where is the “Place” (another marketing “P”)?

 Person(s):          Where does the responsibility lie?  During set-up, you may want to create a project plan to identify milestones – especially if you are relying upon outside expertise to deliver certain aspects of your site.  After you are up and running,

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January 26th, 2012 | Tags: | Category: Marketing | Leave a comment