Tag Archives: strategy

The 10-Minute International Librarian #93: Raise your ambitions

The way we think about our actions is often determined by the way we see the world.

This makes sense – it is important to think about the environment in which we are working when planning how we are going to operate.

However, this can also limit us. We can make assumptions about how things are going to be, and what is going to be possible or not, that may not always be right.

Critically, a pessimistic view of the world can risk us to lower our hopes, and not try things that could actually be beneficial.

So for our 93rd 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, raise your ambitions.

Think about your own plans for the coming year and what you think you can achieve, and challenge yourself.

Can you think of an assumption you are making, or a target that you have, and think about whether you can’t stretch yourself?

Obviously don’t go crazy! But it can be a healthy way of breaking out of the same old way of doing things.

Let us know about times when you have raised your ambitions in the comments below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! Key Initiative 2.2: Deliver high quality campaigns, information and other communications products on a regular basis to engage and energise libraries 

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below!

 

The 10-Minute Digital Librarian #13: Explore digital work management tools

This third series of posts covers tools available to support productivity and effectiveness, with today’s edition looking at how you can manage your own work, as well as collaborative projects.

This can be particularly important when you are managing a complex or varied workload, or one with lots of dependencies (i.e. one thing needs to happen in order for other things to happen).

In such situations, it can be all too easy to rely on a sea of post-it notes, or simply to focus on the issues that seem most urgent, rather than stepping back and taking a wider perspective. However, this can lead to things being forgotten, in particular longer-term, more strategic activities.

It therefore helps when you can get a better overview of the tasks you have, and so understand better how you may need to sequence activities, or how to prioritise better.

Many of the tools in this space come from the world of project management, where there are deadlines and obligations to deliver. Others originate from programmers, who need to be able to keep a strong overview of development in order to finalise a product on time.

A well-known example is Trello, used by a wide variety of companies and public bodies in order to support team-working. It can serve both as a one-stop-shop for different information needed by everyone involved, or for task-management. For example, you can establish tasks to be done, those underway, and those which are completed, and assign responsibility, through a tool known as a Kanban board.

However, there are other tools out there of course!

Other free options include Notion, which provides lots of opportunities for organising your work, from keeping track of meetings and action points, Kanban boards, contact lists and others. This has been used effectively by teams working on advocacy for example.

Asana and Airtable also have free options, and there is a fuller list available on this blog.

Let us know which tools you prefer to use in the comments below!

 

If you are interested in issues around digital tools in libraries in general, you should take a look at the work of IFLA’s Information Technology Section.

Discover our full series of 10-Minute Digital Librarian posts, as well as our infographics.

The 10-Minute International Librarian #51: Develop a roadmap

Getting from where you are now to your long-term goals is not always simple.

Especially for more ambitious objectives, success can be dependent on many different factors.

In particular, there may be pre-conditions – things that need to be in place in order to move forwards. These pre-conditions, in turn, may have their own pre-conditions, and so on.

IFLA’s own Strategy is built around the idea that to achieve our Vision, we need to strengthen the global voice of libraries, inspire and enhance professional practice, connect and enable, and optimise our own organisation.

Under these Strategic Directions, it includes different key initiatives that take our work forwards, making it manageable.

A similar approach can be helpful in many different situations however.

So for our 51st 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, develop a roadmap.

Bearing in mind both the long-term vision you have set yourself, and your short-term goals, try to create a sequence of actions you can take.

Just as you did in defining a short-term goal (Exercise #38), try to think ‘backwards’ from your longer-term vision (Exercise #27) – what different things need to happen to achieve this?

In what order do they need to happen? Where are there dependencies – i.e. where does achieving something depend on other factors being in place first?

Creating a roadmap – with deadlines – also helps you keep track of your progress!

Tell us about your experiences of defining a roadmap in the comments box below.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! 3.3 Empower the field at the national and regional levels.

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box below.

The 10-Minute International Librarian #38: Define an achievable short-term goal

Previously in our 10-Minute International Librarian series, we have focused on long-term visions (exercise 27) and values (exercise 34).

These are important if we are to maintain focus, and help us take strategic decisions.

Yet these can often seem far off, and may not be particularly useful in making choices day to day.

That’s why it is important to match your long-term goals with ideas for what you can do in the coming weeks or months.

So for our 38th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, define an achievable short-term goal.

Think what the first step you need to take is in order to meet your long-term objectives.

You may even want to work backwards, defining what conditions need to be in place, and how you can achieve this.

For example, to update your offer of training to users, you may need to carry out an assessment of needs. To do this, you may need to find ways to connect more strongly with the community.

Similarly, you may need to build up connections with potential partners. But to do this, it will be important to know what capacity you have already, and what you can offer.

Each of these can be a short-term goal.

Importantly, be realistic about what you can achieve with the time and resources you have. Ideally, you should be able to turn a big task into a series of actions that you can complete relatively simply, without losing sight of the end goal.

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! 3.3 Empower the field at the national and regional levels.

As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box.

The 10-Minute International Librarian #27: Think of a Long-Term Vision

One of the purposes of our 10-Minute International Librarian series is to help you find ways to think beyond the world around you.

You are part of a global field, and can gain a lot by working with others, without needing to devote too much time!

But as well as thinking further geographically, it’s also good to think further in terms of time.

Libraries have been with us for millennia, and will certainly survive into the future. But in what form?

To help in your planning, a good start is to imagine your ideal end-goal – the sort of world you want to live in, in ten year’s time.

So for our 27th 10-Minute International Librarian, think of a long-term vision.

Write down a few ideas about what characterises this situation.

For example, IFLA’s vision highlights the importance of the library field being strong and united, and fulfilling its mission to power literate, informed and participatory societies.

You can draw on these ideas in your own vision, and add your own, reflecting your circumstances.

Once you have this, try to use it as a guide for decision-making in the shorter term. What will help you realise this vision? Where do you need to do more or invest effort, what is already safe?

Share your ideas for visions in the comments below!

Good luck!

 

This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! 3.3 Empower the field at the national and regional levels.

You can view all of our ideas using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box.

The 10-Minute Library Advocate #44: Define Milestones

The 10-Minute Library Advocate #44: Define Milestones

Advocacy can take time to achieve success.

A combination of actions may be necessary in order to meet your objectives.

You could have to hold a number of meetings and events, contact partners, journalists or other influencers more than once.

In order to structure your work, you need to think both about a long-term goal (see Exercise #7) about shorter-term objectives.

So for our 44th 10-Minute Library Advocate, define milestones for your advocacy work.

You can do this by working backwards from your overall goal. What steps, in what order, will take you to this point? Who do you need to convince to support you? What materials do you need to prepare to convince them?

Defining such steps will not only help you keep momentum, but also to identify successes along the way and help you keep motivated.

Good luck!

 

See the introduction and previous posts in our 10-Minute Library Advocate series and join the discussion on social media using the #EveryLibrarianAnAdvocate hashtag!