Quality Improvement Teams – Analyze and Improve Process Flow in Your Library

Quality Improvement Teams – Analyze and Improve Process Flow in Your Library Jim Backus, Trustee Wisconsin Valley Library Service Garrett Erickson – Support Service Manager Marathon County Public Library Rebecca Lemons – Clerical Assistant Marathon County Public Library

Director’s Vision Former director envisioned extreme budget shortfalls in the future due to changing economic, political and demographic conditions

Director’s Vision: The organization • must become more relevant to the community • must become more nimble and adaptable • must find alternative sources of revenue • must become more operationally efficient • must track more useful data for decision-makers

QPI Purpose: To create a structure to collect data that identify areas of weakness for the improvement of the organization

QPI Intended Results – The organization will: • Create a culture of improvement • Have the tools for evaluating processes • Have a procedure for recommending areas that need improvement for the management team • Have a foundation of data for decision making • Be able to create quick fixes

MCPL Internal Structure • 9 locations with Wausau location being the headquarters • 3 Teams (Customer Services, Support Services and Administration) • 53 FTEs, 65 Total employees • 3 Managers that supervise employees

Choosing members (5-6 people) • Members chosen from each of the 3 teams • Members chosen from different levels of the organizational hierarchy • Mandatory member from branch locations • Analytical/system thinkers needed • Change agents

QPI Team Ground Rules: • Be punctual • Be respectful of each other • We are all equals • What is said in the “room” stays in the “room”

QPI Team Ground Rules: • All members participate. • Be open to learning and improvement. • Be supportive of each other. • Its ok to disagree but not to be disagreeable.

QPI Team Ground Rules: • Meeting dates will be set at the end of each meeting. • Committee tasks will be rotated. (I.E. meeting facilitation, reports, etc.) • Progress reports to staff will be published as needed.

QPI process of studying processes • Director/Team choose area of study • Team identifies the problems • Team devises methods to study problem

QPI process of studying processes • Team studies problem and conducts surveys when necessary • Team compiles the data • Team submits white paper to director

Tools • “The Memory Jogger – A Pocket Guide of Tools for Continuous Improvement” • Examples of techniques • Fish bone (Cause and Effect) diagram • Flow chart • Force field analysis

Tools Many surveys, both paper and electronic; staff and customers. Whenever a service was affected, we asked the public for input.

Tools – White Paper to summarize • Title/Date/Members • Pertinent history of issue(s) • Data Collection/Presentation • Alternative Solutions • Recommended Solution • Questions that remain • Follow up study dates/Other recommendations

Examples of processes studied • Holds shelf • Materials processing • Technical training • Timing the entire Support Services “assembly line” process

Examples – Holds (not picked up) • Identified problems using Fishbone Diagram • Documented the process using Flow Charts • Profiled customers who did not pick up holds • Calculated staff time to determine an actual cost to providing this service

Why Customers Are Not Picking Up Their Holds 11/30/05 PEOPLE POLICIES No policy on repercussions for not picking up items Customer chose not to pick up Customer went to wrong library Limit of 25 items per customer Staff/customer didn’t know about vacation suspension System customers not on tele circ Customer hung up on machine Use mailers as last resort Why Customers Are Not Picking Up Their Holds On vacation/resent 2nd time but rec’d too late 10 days notice >too short or long ? Human error – Didn’t get message Mechanical error >Didn’t get message Can’t find on shelf >font, signage, ID # Not all prefixes entered > cell phone & long distance Trouble with location on shelves > too high/low Delivery = M-Th at Branches don’t work for them Tele circ >Couldn’t hear or understand Cell phone malfunction Would like improved pick up or parking area >Drive up Answering machine malfunction US mail sort or delivery problem TECHNOLOGY PROCEDURES

Examples – Materials Processing • Created flow charts • Timed and compared individuals processing each material type • Surveyed customers

Technical competency training/testing QPI Team identified staff technology competency as an issue. Recommended the creation of a process for sharing technical knowledge.

Support Services timing Customers and staff alike complained about how long it took to receive newly-acquired materials. Approximately 80% of our materials were ordered through Baker and Taylor.

Support Services timing From the time we receive B&T materials, to the time the materials are available to the customer • April 2007 – 44 days • September 2007 – 17 days • September 2008 – 13½ days

Common themes among studies • No one understood most processes from A to Z. • We rarely had sufficient backups. • No (or very little) documentation if someone gets hit by a bus.

Staff Reactions to Process Change • Initial Resistance • Adjustment Period • Return to harmony

Initial Resistance • We encountered most of the resistance during the planning stages of the projects • Our Staff: • didn’t have a clear picture of the outcome • were generally resistant to change • resented changing areas that they were proud of or had a hand in creating

Initial ResistanceSolution #1: Staff Input • Very important to get staff input during the planning stage • Surveys • Flowcharts • Process notes • Easier to plan with accurate information • Makes staff less resentful of eventual change

Initial Resistance Solution #2: Don’t cause a panic • It is wise to withhold planning information from the rest of the staff until a plan is fully formed • Much of our meeting time is spent brainstorming ideas which never make it into the final plan • There is no need to make staff anxious about ideas that may never be put into action

Initial Resistance Solution #3: Be Indisputable • Our most successful results came from projects that had been carefully researched and surveyed • Strong results lend an extra level of authority to the implementation of a project

Examples • Acquisitions Study • Process input • Timing study • DVD Project • Staff and customer surveys • 87% of customers, 70% of staff

Adjustment Period • After the implementation of a project we generally experienced about a two week adjustment period • Behind the back rumblings and grumblings about how things were not going to work

Adjustment Period Solution: Create ownership • Once the details of a project have been worked out and decided upon, delegate implementation to key staff • Replaces the sense of pride and ownership that they may have feared they lost • Builds teamwork and trust among staff