Summary of the Discussion and Answer: Think about what the end goal is. What behaviors do we (the SDC and or library administration) want to demonstrate? Then figure out how to get those skills across. It should be clear in our own minds how to measure success. What worked and didn’t work throughout the implementation process? What does the success look like? What do you want them to be able to do? We can measure skills, too. Overall, there should be a clear objective from the beginning. To begin in training people to use various skills, several things must happen. Train a cadre who takes those skills out and develop a way to train others. Develop a personal action plan that includes the benefits, the barriers, etc. Doing this also builds interest in the training. Train the trainers, and then proceed to train others within the organization.

When looking at both needs – meeting management and project management – start with meeting management. It’s easier to start with, and more manageable and digestable. Also, since the VU library system is so large, it’s probably best to start the training with the committee chairs. Hyer's meeting training usually runs about 2 hours. After the committee chairs are trained for meeting management, groups of 30 would be trained until all of library staff receive training, which is about the best size for meeting training.

On a side note, we discussed meetings themselves, Meetings should have a meeting leader who prepares the content for the meeting, a meeting facilitator, who helps with the process of the meeting (keeping it focused, moving forward, positive, keeps time, etc.), and a scribe to take summaries, capture points, and clarify action items to be put in minutes.

Summary of the Discussion and Answer: Nancy believes that the best way to learn is through experience, hands-on opportunities, and time to practice. Telling people what they should and should not do is not helpful to open learning. There should be key concepts, and people can practice applying them with hands-on opportunities.

She also talked a bit about project management, and said that there are 4 phases of project management, with the first being project initiation. It doesn’t hurt to have a case study and run it through first. Then develop an objective, manage the project, and do an assessment.

She recommended 2 books:

- Just Enough Project Management, by Curtis R. Cook

- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen

Summary of the Discussion and Answer: She said to be clear on what the need is for meeting management, and to make sure that the people who are getting training know why they are there. Acknowledge that people have experience and lots of knowledge about how meetings are and have been run. Pull from them, and value their opinions and skills. Be clear on goals, the expected end results, the timeframe, and the big picture.

Consistent methods for meeting management throughout the library system will allow meetings to be more efficient, and people will then appreciate the beauty in consistency when they go from meeting to meeting. People will be able to focus on the content and context of the meeting itself, and not be worrying about who is taking notes or keeping the topic focused, wondering if anything will ever get accomplished, wondering what time the meeting will end, and other unproductive thoughts.

If it’s not documented, it never happened. It’s extremely important to make decisions, and write down who is doing what action item. Otherwise, the topic will be revisited again and again.

Nancy shared her handouts with us at the meeting. These are materials she’s developed based on her knowledge of the topic. She does consulting for groups all the time. She asked that we don’t distribute her handout outside the group out of consideration for intellectual property.

Summary of the Discussion and Answer: Nancy suggested that we work on developing a meeting template for the library system. There are lots of templates available, but we need one that makes sense to library staff and serves its purpose effectively.

We asked her about training new people. Say, after a year, everyone in the library system has received training on meeting management and project management. But people are joining and leaving the library system almost monthly. She said that reinforcement is important, and it serves as both a refresher to people who need more training on these things, as well as training new hires on the system the library uses. Then, when those new employees go to meetings and see a consistent structure to every meeting, the training is even easier to tackle. We could develop a meeting or project management users group, or something along those lines, and share with one another what made the group function so well together, and be so productive.

Nancy suggested that we first train the people running the meetings (Committee chairs, then project team chairs, and so forth). People at the meeting will respond to the structure by participating in other meetings that are well run. If people go to numerous meetings, and all of them are run alike, it will help them focus on the content of the meeting.

For both project and meeting management, have a least one person trained to begin with (from someone outside the system), and then train the participants.

Ann mentioned that when the Divinity Library had meeting management training several years back, they used a neutral party as process facilitator.

It was also suggested that meeting management and project management training should be integrated with new library staff orientation.