Today I went to a CILIP course on 'Moving into management' given by Beryl Morris of
Hudson Rivers Training. (Beryl's going to be at the
CILIP East of England event on Tuesday 16th November - I thought she was a great course leader, so I'd encourage you to come along if you haven't already booked.) I found it a really useful and productive day - quite different to the rather lacklustre and uninspiring management lectures I remember from library school.
A couple of things made a particular impression on me:
1) Right at the beginning of the day, Beryl commented that 'even if you don't have the official label of 'manager', you still have to manage relationships with people - colleagues, suppliers, customers, on so on'. I don't have to much management in my current role, but, yes, I do have to deal with people, and it's useful to have structured ways in which to think about how to do that better.
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| What motivates you... |
2) One of the major themes of the course was motivation. We did an exercise to investigate how different people's motivating factors are all different (take home message - get to know the people you're managing!). Out of a list of 16 factors, only 'holidays/perks' wasn't chosen by anyone present as being in their top-four.
My top four were staff development and training, creative work, direction/clarity/structure, and recognition, and it was a honest surprise to find such a variation in a room of twenty people. So, dear reader what four would you choose? (Would you add something else entirely?)
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for sharing this with us. I think I'd go with (in no particular order challenge, valued work, varied work and opportunities, but it's really difficult to narrow it down!
Thank you for the report, can't attend the CILIP course, have been booked by the Temp Employment Agency to cover for someone who is going. Might a pared down version be offered to the CCLF training programme. My 4 when I was in work were valued work, recognition, varied work and autonomy.
ReplyDeleteI think these factors can vary in relation to ones current position. Often one takes various factors for granted, and it is only when they are lacking that you realise how much they mean to you. Also I think the factors that motivate you change as you progress through your career.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie,
ReplyDeleteIf I have to pick four I think I'll go with autonomy, teamwork, varied work (I am sometimes guilty of having a rather short attention span) and creative work (because it's fun).
Richard Hawkins
CILIP
Excellent point Chris, I entirely agree. Autonomy is very high up there for me too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Katie. I think I would choose challenge, recogition, varied work and valued work, but I agree with many on the list. Interestingly I do think holidays/perks and financial reward are important, but I look at them when considering a particular new post, not as a factor in a current job or library work in general.
ReplyDeleteLosbiblio
I would choose creative work, valued work, varied work and challenge. Thanks for the report too!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments everyone. Chris - you're right, these things do change over time, and it can be hard to work out what really motivates you until it's not there any more. Remembering that everyone is motivate by different things is only the start - the real challenge is to work out what those things are, either for yourself or for those you're managing. It's all hard work!
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