View from the Hill

Having a Voice

Breakfast on Thursday 8 March started with discourse on a diverse selection of good (and not so good) issues currently affecting the working lives of those present. The depth of the discussion which was wide ranging doubtless reflected the excellent mix of new and familiar faces.

Once the last morsels had been cleared from our plates we moved to how communication within the work place can affect not just our own job, but also the general way in which those same organisations are represented to the outside world.

One of our number had worked on an extended contract within a major government department where the research and writing output went directly to a Portfolio Minister and thus garnered an intense perception of personal job satisfaction and value. A solo researcher within a smaller organisation felt that being the focus for all queries created an exceptionally interesting job. These positive views were countered by some who felt that reporting to a far flung city in another country distanced the value of work done as well as the effectiveness. This mirrored another who felt that reporting into a manager in the office next door was no better, as that individual didn't understand information nor want to manage and this had a similar effect.

Lots of positive suggestions came to the fore: attaching yourself to high fliers, forging positive relationships in all areas of the business, demonstrating value, maintaining high visibility and engaging people to let them know your value and skill mix. 

We went off pondering two final questions. Why does breakfast taste better when the sun shines? And is hierarchy based on ego?

Sue H with able assistance of Donald Lickley.

Should Information tip the scales on the balance sheet?

Our Friday breakfast discussions highlighted the importance of online content strategy being understood and supported by everyone in an organisation, in particular at CEO and board level.  Information, unlike a warehouse full of product or work in progress, is invisible and often not recognised or valued as asset.  In the current climate the easily recognised costs of organised access to information are often being cut (the information managers) thus indirectly adding to the cost of ensuring that those who need it can find and identify the appropriate information.  This becomes even more difficult in a global organisation where the cultures may differ and local management have a differing view.  Corporate memory is an eroded value asset.

Equally having a sound information or online content strategy can bring benefits that outstrip information forced into an IT infrastructure that doesn't always fit the need of the users or the organisation.  One delegate mentioned that the corporate ethos of "make search work" was somewhat at odds with several thousand users developing their own mini libraries on local servers without understanding the need for globalised sharing.  This led another delegate to make the point that in their company people only admit where their information stored is if it appears they may lose it or lose access to it.

Risk is always an issue.  Users expect the keepers to circumvent the rules put in place by IT or even to try and bypass contractual limitations. The security of information in the cloud was seen as uncertain - sanctioned by some employers and feared by others.  Social Media is still blocked in certain types of organisation and consequently people use their own personal devices more and more.  This is something that mobile and home working tends to take advantage off.  Providing accessible access to internal information but encouraging staff to provide their own space, PCs and devices cuts overheads whilst at the same time giving risk management a higher profile as organisations try and balance security, access and reputational management.

Intriguingly cultures differ within the same types of organisations and recent co-operation between public organisations has brought that into perspective.  Of three local authorities moving to shared services one has everything outsourced, directly opposite to another where everything is done in-house whilst the third has a mix of both.  Change needs driving from the top down but you often still need information people to make sense of it.

Above all the ability to make a decision (be it right or wrong) is vital as failure to make decisions invariably causes damage and can stall progress.  In a tracked programme of change, four months of 13 months was attributed to failure to make appropriate decisions.  A valuable aid going forward has been to run risk registers alongside the process thus facilitating better decision making.

Asking delegates present to outline the biggest changes they had seen in the last five years brought forth growing user expectations, outsourcing (justification and value), mobile technologies, ways of working, lack of boundaries, globalisation ideology and keeping up with the pace of technological development and concepts.  The final comment brought a wry smile from all those present; "SharePoint is not the answer!"

Sue H

Yam Jam at breakfast - more than just toast and jam

Some interesting words reverberated around the lively agenda-setting session at the breakfast table at Roast on Thursday morning for the first SHR networking breakfast of 2012.  Strategic review was swiftly followed by strategy, business objectives and restructuring; budgets, economy, offsite and time fitted nicely with volume; intranets and wikis; and last but not least governance, reliability and compliance.

 One can be confident that 12 people working in strategic information roles will have something to say.  Those present represented all the facets of information not just sectorally but also nationally and globally

 It was exciting to hear of different organisations' views and usage of the myriad of communication channels.  Not all firms are fast movers and adopters and it seems that IT still hold the reins and are hesitant to condone organisation wide of tweeting, yammer, wikis and more.  Yammer implemented firm wide but working outside of the fire-wall raised eyebrows and certainly was of great concern to IT and we were greatly amused by the idea of a Yam Jam.  The need to drive IT to manage cultural shift away from fear of sharing was high in everyone’s minds.  At least one person found it frustrating and pointed out the difficulties in not being the owners of our destiny and thus needing to take a place in the IT queue which placed CRM ahead of KM.  We needed more time to talk about wikis vs intranets vs web but I heard enough to think I could find a use for an internal team wiki.

 I confess I came straight back to work and checked out http://digbig.com/5bfnkn a great blog by Austin Hunter on how he as a non social media user was able to use Yam Jamming as a way to discuss business priorities. 

Concern about corporate memory and impact of its loss came to the fore.  (Is corporate memory becoming an eroded value asset?)  So too did the mix in old business values re new highly mobile bright social media communicators.  This works well when we can ensure diversity in attitudes to work and life balance and boundaries. It’s good when oldies can understand young folks’ need to publicise all they do, and young ones understanding oldies need for boundaries between work and personal life in return!   

We all felt strategic reviews were happening more frequently and not always with good reason.  They shouldn’t’ be driven by panic.  Some felt them hard to endure and wondered what the end game was but others had found them positive and resulting in the creation of exciting new opportunities, directions and ways of working.

Our delicious breakfast (eggs benedict, full veggie borough, boiled eggs with marmite soldiers and more) nourished us for the day and also nourished our minds.

Economy and change - I'll say it again "Economy and Change - and did I hear outsourcing?"

Breakfast at Roast Restaurant this week ended with a vox pop of the eleven replete breakfasters.  The question asked was: "In one word, what has had the biggest effect on your daily work in the last five years?"   We all thought, wrote down our word and then said it out loud:  economy, change, economy, enterprise2, change, outsourcing, change, outsourcing, transparency, market research, change!  So four for change, two each for outsourcing and economy (surely related in some bizarre spider web way) and one for the rest.  There was consensus that the speed of change was the highlight.  It will be interesting to see who has what to say on that topic next week.

 

Earlier, while delectable kippers, old-fashioned boiled eggs with marmite soldiers, lush eggs Benedict and copious quantities of coffee were consumed the conversation focussed on the many things that occupy our working (and sometimes waking) hours.  Change of course had featured then as well.  A recruitment freeze was seen as both positive and negative in that it encouraged managers to think smarter as teams got smaller.  That tied in with showing demonstrable ROI when new systems or ways of working were introduced.  Decision making surfaced both as a positive (where prompt and effective decisions were made) and as a negative where failure to make decisions is like a weight around our necks impacts on progress.  Decisions lead to change - keep change positive - give colleagues credit to understand why change is needed, keep communication lines open and include them.  There was more of course - at times intense and at times we roared with laughter.   

 

Want to know more?  Come to a Sue Hill Recruitment Networking Breakfast.  You won’t be scrambled or boiled - just the eggs will be. 

 

- Sue (Hill)

 

 

What would you do with £100m? LIKE25 at the Crown Tavern

Stimulating discussions at LIKE25, at the Crown Tavern in Clerkenwell last night with our guest, Caroline Brazier, the newly appointed Director of Scholarship & Collections at the British Library.  Caroline joined us to discuss how the British Library is balancing the current challenges of budget cuts with increasing expectations on the Library's leading role in supporting Britain in the digital information age.

With the background knowledge that the Library faces cuts of £25m over the next three years, Caroline outlined the strategies and evidence that are being presented to face this challenge.  She posed two questions to the audience. What is the one essential thing that the British Library does?  And if you were given £100m (the Library’s operating budget) what you spend it on to give maximum impact for public benefit?

A variety of answers came back on the second question, including a greater emphasis on digital infrastructure and digital licensing, and investment in outreach activities, particularly to the Higher Education community.  It was also suggested that in the current climate the BL should reconsider its core strategy and mission statement – is it sustainable now to be all things to all people?  A number of people also commented that £100m comparatively is not a large sum. "Ridiculously good value" has been a much repeated Twitter comment since last night. Should the BL be more ambitious and lobby actively for increased funding and increased private investment, rather than making do with what they are currently being given?

Caroline also drew our attention to three key documents as part of our discussion: 

The Value of Knowledge - the annual report for 2009/10

2020 Vision – the Library’s strategic vision statement for the next 10 years

and Return on Investment – a paper from last autumn which presents an economic model suggesting that for every £1 of public funding, the BL generates at least £4.40 for the UK economy.

Much food for thought. 

And talking of food, I was amused to see that our name badges for the evening displayed our first names, and not our employers, but the main course that we had ordered from the menu. Presumably networking conversations could then be started on the basis that you really are what you eat. Mine was more or less (fish)cakes and ale.  I leave you to draw your own conclusions there.

- Donald

Inspirational Monkeys

How often do you feel inspired?  What or who last inspired you? It was last night for me and the inspiration was the Uncaged Monkeys. Let's start with the audience - 3500 people turned out on a Monday night at the Hammersmith Apollo to hear about science. Impressive. I speak at conferences, running workshops about the mechanics of using your voice effectively - pace, tone, volume, projection - so I was particularly interested in how these (now seasoned) presenters but above all, scientists, communicated to the audience in such a huge venue.

We were treated to a whirlwind look at carbon dating by Chris Addison (who, if I’m honest, could speak a bit slower - it pains me to say this as I'm a BIG fan), geek love songs by Helen Arney (ukulele + science = lots of laughs) and a look at perception with Richard Wiseman (Carmina Burana will never be the same). For me, it was Robin Ince hosting who set the tone and got me hooked. He was as excitable as a small child who had discovered a new insect in the garden and thus found a new toy.

Now, I'm a musician, not a scientist. But I have a fascination for all things medical so the last presenter was of particular interest to me - Dr Ben Goldacre, actual doctor and also writer, broadcaster and author of Bad Science. He bounded on to the stage and whizzed around it like another excitable child. His language was, quite rightly, medical and scientific whilst talking about clinical trials and withheld data. But it was the musical delivery which made him stand out as an inspirational speaker for me. He set off at an allegro pace, sometimes hitting vivace as his passion poured out of him but he slowed to a purposeful andante to give us a chance to properly listen to and digest his key points. As if to highlight how invested he is in pursuing the truth (sorry, I went a bit X Files there), Goldacre’s voice occasionally hit the high notes usually only emitted by choir boys but this only served to show us how much he cares.

Moving from the musical Dr Goldacre to the poetic Prof Brian Cox, who was the highlight of the evening for me. Whilst I have a fair grasp of medical terminology (thanks to an early stint in St John’s Ambulance and a love of Casualty, ER, City Hospital & a Dr best friend), my understanding of particle physics is, well, lacking. It didn’t matter. Listening to Cox speak was like soaking up Shakespeare – I got the general gist of it, picked up a few key phrases, but mostly enjoyed his lilting delivery. It was quite a geek-fest at the Apollo and I imagine the scientists in the audience appreciated Cox not dumbing down his language – and so did I. But it’s not just about the words. Why was I hooked on hearing more about the Large Hadron Collider and Gravity Probe B? I think it was the combination of being utterly enthralled by someone so passionate and knowledgeable about their subject and also the imagery he used. There was no background music (controversial or otherwise), just images projected onto a big screen (which were easy to view even from the cheap seats at the back) – far away galaxies viewed by the Hubble telescope, the curvature of the Earth as seen from the moon. It was pure poetry.

What makes an inspirational speaker? For me, it’s someone who speaks clearly but with passion and emotion. It’s someone who knows their subject. But ultimately it’s someone who commands my attention and my respect, someone who engages me and makes me listen whether or not I understand every word. Thank you Dr Goldacre and Prof Cox for making me want to be a better speaker.

We were all entertained and educated last night. I wish all CPD was this much fun.

 - Suzanne

Chemically reactive library

In the historic surroundings of the Royal Society of Chemistry's (RSC) Library last night, I found out that chemistry is, actually, pretty cool.

Entitled "A Little Light Relief", it was a public lecture on the use of light in medicine, presented by the President of the RSC, Professor David Phillips OBE. He explained to the assembled audience - comprising RSC members, students and people like me - that this is the International Year of Chemistry, describing some of his advocacy work with young people and the increase in applications to study chemistry at Imperial College, where he is Professor Emeritus. A seasoned presenter, Prof. Phillips started off with a big bang (in a library?!), moving to surprisingly fluorescent tonic water (still thus when gin is added) finishing with a remarkable demonstration of the treatment of jaundice with photodynamic therapy (PDT). I'm always more engaged when listening to a speaker who is so passionate about their subject, so last night I was gripped by Prof. Phillips, even though a few of the technicalities were a little too, well, technical for me.

Thanks to the delightful Professor Brian Cox, we all know that physics is cool. I'm now feeling that way about chemistry. We surely need more media coverage about the discoveries, achievements and applications of chemistry and how science makes life possible.

Oh, yes, the RSC library... first bookshelf acquired in 1842 and it became central to the growth of the Society. If you are able to visit Burlington House, do - the library is beautiful and just looks like it is full of fascinating discoveries!

I'm off to buy the latest edition of the New Scientist...

- Suzanne

Karmic Strategy

The Deputy Prime Minster was under fire yesterday from a barrage of enquiries on public sector funding cuts.  You don’t have to look far to find bad news emblazoned across article headlines:

Severe public sector cuts looming
Library cuts are cultural vandalism
Many staff feel unable to offer the standard of service that the public deserves
Cuts in library funding continue

However if we look a little further there are silver linings within some of these storm clouds, with communities in Suffolk taking the opportunity to run their local library as part of a pilot scheme, Leeds County Council launching a new mobile service, as well as an article in the Seattle Times titled 'Libraries provide no-cost learning tools'.

There is a wealth of knowledge within the information community and an infinite number of ideas, stratagems and opinions on good practice and working smarter.  To ensure library services weather – no, that's enough meteorological metaphors – endure current economic uncertainty, surely we must share our views and experiences.

Whichever sector you hail from, for none have been immune in recent years, whether you are leading a service or running the front desk, what ideas have you had, what have you seen, discussed and pondered that may help another library work more effectively?

If everyone who reads this could share one or two ideas who knows how this may help someone else and perhaps they you.

Post to this blog and let's share the knowledge.

- Jeremy Clarke

Knowledge Process Outsourcing - take a leading role

This week I am delighted to introduce a guest blogger - Emma King. Emma is a research and information manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She attended the SHR breakfast on 25 June where one of the hotly discussed topics was outsourcing and the potential impact on our roles. We thought it would be interesting to cover outsourcing in a bit more detail here and Emma was happy to oblige. Over to Emma...

I recently attended a session on Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO). It was an interesting session, mainly because the majority of the audience were outsourcing professionals who were looking to further their understanding of KPO so that they can make this recommendation in their own organisations. I therefore got a real insight into how another profession can profoundly impact the delivery of research and knowledge.

The key learning I took away from this session is that as information or knowledge professionals, we need to be on top of this trend. If KPO is going to happen in our organisations then we should ensure that we take a leading role. We have the expertise that should be utilised to get the best possible result for the business based on our knowledge of research need and delivery. It was an eye opener to see how keenly outsourcers view the potential of KPO in their ever present quest to save money (there were many bold statements made about how KPO could achieve a 50% saving over time). However, it was also heartening to hear that our outsourcing colleagues have the same concerns as information professionals in terms of attrition, quality of work, and timeliness of the research conducted.

Discussion focused on quality of the outsourcers used and the consistency of the research they produce, as well as ensuring information security and protection of client data and confidentiality for compliance purposes and brand reputational risk. I do have a full set of notes which I am happy to share with anyone who is interested.

However, to give a flavour of actual issues raised I thought I would focus on one key point. There was a great deal of discussion around whether KPO should be outsourced to the organisation's own staff at an offshore location (Captive), or using a third party supplier (Vendor). KPO requires a particular expert skill set and it is a challenge to outsource this work successfully to the right people. There is typically a lack of trust from existing staff that the outsourcer will have the skills required, in part because existing staff have often spent years developing their own skill set and see this as their value to the business. Therefore, the message needs to be conveyed that using an outsourcer will free up staff’s valuable resource-constrained time and help them. This is arguably easier when using a Captive because the outsourced resource is essentially a member of staff in the same business, just in a different location.

Emma King, Research & Information Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP