Digital Libraries- Building Agile Organizations

As I pointed out in a previous column ("The Most Important Management Decision," LJ 2/15/98, p. 102), it's essential to hire flexible staff to meet the challenges of building digital library collections and services. But it's also important to maintain organizational agility.

New tools and technologies offer new ways we can meet the needs of our users but only if the organization can accommodate them. Agile organizations are marked by committed staff, skilled managers, and commonly held beliefs in the organization's mission.

If we are to create the kinds of organizations that our present challenges and opportunities require, we must strive to create agility where none may now exist. Here are some ways to do so.

Good communication within the organization—both from above and below—is essential. Communication should not be stifled by overcontrolling management or by resentful staff. An agile organization offers many avenues of communication. Line staff must have ways to bring issues to management's attention, and managers must promulgate decisions without delay to all staff.

Nothing harms the esprit de corps of an organization quicker, or with worse effect, than regularly hearing about an internal decision from an external source. Similarly, management should not have to discover front-line problems from customers.

Leadership can come from anyone, at any level of an organization. In fact, those at the top are sometimes not close enough to the ground to see what's coming.

For example, look at what happened at Microsoft. Bill Gates did not understand the Internet and the impact it would have on his company. Those of us who were Internet-savvy were amazed when Gates attempted to remake the Internet with a Microsoft label and call it MSN (Microsoft Network). It took an employee to make him see the light, but when he did, he turned the company around on a dime. It was stunning (see "How the Web Was Won").

Librarians are better consensus builders than leaders. That makes us inclusive, cooperative, and willing to build on the work of others. However, we don't always rise to the occasion on an individual basis. In an attempt to include everyone in decision-making, we end up watering down the decision.

Radical change cannot be achieved by consensus management, except perhaps in times of clear and present danger. Sometimes you need good, old-fashioned autocratic leadership.

An agile organization requires agile management. Managers must use techniques such as those described above to build agile organizations. They also should make it clear to all employees that individual agility is valued and honored and then follow through.

Individuals who exhibit professional flexibility should be recognized for their efforts. Do not expect employees of an organization to value something that management does not.

Standing committees will meet forever whether or not there is anything of substance to discuss. Such committees should be avoided at all costs and tolerated only as a mechanism from which to spawn task forces and project teams that get the work done. You can appoint anyone to such a group on an ad hoc basis, give them a specific charge, and disband the group when the charge has been completed.

Agility in staffing involves whom you hire and how you hire them. Strive to bring staff on board who exhibit the flexible traits I outlined in the previously cited column. Also, rather than thinking that every job requires a full-time, permanent staff member, consider the range of potential staffing opportunities. It's more flexible to hire part-time staff, temporary staff, and contractual staff, if unions involved will allow such options.

As your staffing needs change, you can adjust the mix if you are not completely committed to permanent staff. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in the 1990s use of temporary staff for jobs in the information technology sector grew dramatically (see "The Changing Temporary Workforce").

Truly agile organizations will set aside a portion of the budget to move quickly in new directions. Most libraries lack such money. In these cases, you might consider trimming areas of the budget to support new endeavors. Still, such exercises are time-consuming and lower staff morale. Also, try to seek extramural funding from foundations and government agencies.

Libraries are experiencing rapid and unpredictable change. Only a decade ago, the Internet was hardly a blip on most library radar screens. Now it is essential.

It took years for most libraries to learn about and begin to implement what was obviously a vital technology; this demonstrates that most libraries are far from agile. But with effort, libraries can create the kind of agile organizations that we require to meet the ever-changing needs of our users in a timely and effective manner.