Quality Improvement Teams Analyze and Improve Process Flow in Your Library

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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

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Directors Vision

• Former director envisioned extreme budget
  shortfalls in the future due to changing
  economic, political and demographic conditions

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Directors 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

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Director creates QPI Team in August of 2005
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QPI Purpose

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

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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

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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

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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

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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"

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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.

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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.

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QPI process of studying processes

• Director/Team choose area of study
• Team identifies the problems
• Team devises methods to study problem

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QPI process of studying processes

• Team studies problem and conducts surveys when
  necessary
• Team compiles the data
• Team submits white paper to director

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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

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Tools

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

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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

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Examples of processes studied

• Holds shelf
• Materials processing
• Technical training
• Timing the entire Support Services assembly
  line process

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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

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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 didnt 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 recd too late
10 days notice gttoo short or long ?
Human error - Didnt get message
Mechanical error gtDidnt get message
Cant find on shelf gtfont, signage, ID
Not all prefixes entered gt cell phone long
distance
Trouble with location on shelves gt too high/low
Delivery M-Th at Branches dont work for them
Tele circ gtCouldnt hear or understand
Cell phone malfunction
Would like improved pick up or parking area
gtDrive up
Answering machine malfunction
US mail sort or delivery problem
TECHNOLOGY
PROCEDURES
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Examples Materials Processing

• Created flow charts
• Timed and compared individuals processing each
  material type
• Surveyed customers

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Technical competency training/testing

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

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Technical competency training/testing
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Technical competency training/testing
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Technical competency training/testing
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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.

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Support Services timing

• From the time we receive BT materials, to the
  time the materials are available to the customer
• April 2007 - 44 days
• September 2007 - 17 days
• September 2008 - 13½ days

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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.

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Staff Reactions to Process Change

• Initial Resistance
• Adjustment Period
• Return to harmony

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Initial Resistance

• We encountered most of the resistance during the
  planning stages of the projects
• Our Staff
• didnt 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

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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

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Initial Resistance Solution 2 Dont 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

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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

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Examples

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

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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

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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

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Returning to harmony

• If projects are planned and implemented
  thoughtfully, the staff will accept the changes
  if they see positive results. In some cases,
  staff will begin innovating independent of the
  team.

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Examples

• Acquisitions Study
• Left implementation to staff involved
• Improved from 44 to 18 days
• DVD Project
• Involved staff in re-labeling and shelving changes

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Another successful staff project

• New Drive thru service added
• Trained support staff with minimal experience in
  customer service procedures and techniques. This
  involved creating new documentation and training
  strategies
• Made recommendations for purchasing equipment
• Coordinated schedules
• Created new systems for book delivery
• Shifted the majority of materials check-in to
  drive thru staff

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Future Projects

• Pre-processing
• Snags and damaged items
• Inventory
• Records retention

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Resources

• The Memory Jogger A Pocket Guide of Tools for
  Continuous Improvement by Michael Brassard
• The Librarys Continuous Improvement Fieldbook
  29 Ready-to-Use Tools by Sara Laughlin
• Measuring for Results The Dimensions of Public
  Library Effectiveness by Joseph R. Matthews
• Smartdraw software (for creating flowcharts)

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Contact Information

• Jim Backus
• jdbackus38_at_yahoo.com
• Garrett Erickson
• garrett.erickson_at_co.marathon.wi.us
• Rebecca Lemons
• rebecca.lemons_at_co.marathon.wi.us
• Presentation available at
• www.mcpl.us/wla/qpi.ppt

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Questions?