Skills & Interests Project Team
Statement of Need
The Skills & Interests Survey was created by the Communications Committee in 2005 to give library staff an opportunity to self-identify for system-wide projects. In 2008, the Strategy & Planning Council asked the Staff Development Committee to review the survey to determine if it was meeting the needs of committees searching for project team members and to recommend changes, if appropriate, that might improve the survey.

The Team leaders polled committee chairs to determine if the survey was being used and how well it was meeting their needs. It was clear after surveying the committee chairs that the Skills & Interests Survey is not being used as often as it should be. This is primarily because the survey is not considered useful. The list of items is very long, and there may be some redundancy, although it’s also possible that there are additional skills that could be added. Gathering data from the survey is slow and tedious. There was also some question as to whether the purpose of the survey has been fully communicated to staff. Some staff members have also expressed an interest in being selected for committees or project teams but have never had the opportunity to do so.

This project team will look at ways to improve the survey instrument, including the way information is imported into a useful spreadsheet. It will recommend edits for the list of skills and interests and explore whether an addition could be made to the Skills & Interests Survey to target staff who are interested in serving on a committee or project team but haven’t been selected. It will also examine the way that the directory is made accessible, since committee chairs and team leaders use this resource to evaluate potential members’ time.

Benefits
• The Skills & Interest Survey could be shortened to make it more efficient in selecting committee and project team members, as well as easier for staff to fill out.
• Committee chairs and project team leaders would have an easier time identifying staff members who are interested in serving and who have never served on a committee or project team before.
• Revising and reintroducing the Skills & Interests Survey would remind staff that it’s available. This could also generate greater interest in the survey if staff see the revised form as more useful.

Project Summary
This team will be responsible for the following:
• Examining each of the items on the Skills & Interest Survey to determine whether any are redundant, and removing redundant items.
• Considering additional items (i.e. familiarity with blogging software) that could be added to the list of items.
• Talking to committee chairs and project team leaders about the Skills & Interests Survey about how it could be revised to better fit their needs.
• Considering adding two new options to the Skills & Interest Survey, allowing users to select “I have/have not served on a committee or project team” and “I am/am not interested in serving on a committee or project team”.
• Exploring with LITS the possibility of revising the Skills & Interests Survey software. Currently the program requires users to run a separate search for each skill, cut and paste the results into an Excel spreadsheet, and manually remove duplicates. If this could be made more efficient it could encourage more use of the Skills & Interest Survey.
* Reviewing the directory that contains information about who is on an active team and/or committee to see how its results might be integrated into a search of the database.

Project Champion/Owner
The Skills and Interests Survey Project Team will report directly to the Staff Development Committee.

Project Leader/Coordinator
Christopher Waldrop and Karen Swoopes will serve as project leaders.

Documentation and Reporting
Members will talk to committee chairs and project team leaders and report back to the project team. In meetings the members will also review the list of skills and interests and make revisions. The revised list will be submitted to the Staff Development Committee for final approval, then submitted to the Library Council before implementation.

Other Staff Members Involved/Required
Joe Collins, Management Library
Dee Stephens, Science & Engineering Library
Donna Smith, Divinity Library
Jodie Gambill, LITS

Related Projects and Stakeholders
The team will consult with committee chairs and project team leaders. Ultimately this project will benefit all library staff. The Library Information Technology Service team will be contacted to recommend changes to the software. We will work with the Communications Committee to plan ways to publicize the revised resource.

Budget
There will be no budget needed.

Timeline
We expect to complete the research and recommendations for terminology changes by October 1, 2008. Discussion with LITS will allow us to better determine when the revised resource will be completed.

Assessment
Assessment will initially be based on the number of staff who respond and fill out the revised Skills & Interests Survey. A more long-term assessment may be necessary to determine whether committee chairs and project team leaders are using the survey, and whether they find it useful.