The Library

1
The Library

• A fly-on-the-wall documentary filmed at the
  Enterprise Library and Information Service
• May 2005
• PART EIGHT

2
Time flies!

• As the filming in the Enterprise LIS draws to a
  close, the crew were interested to learn more
  about how the library assistants prioritise and
  manage their time on a day-to-day basis. As the
  crew were aware that the library assistants
  usual jobs could have been affected by the
  presence of cameras, the library assistants were
  asked about their general strategies for time
  management.

3
Limiting time waste

• The library assistants had lots of examples where
  strategies were in place to avoid the wasting of
  time.

4
Limiting time waste

• Specify to callers how long you have to spare -
  If people ring or come to see me and I can only
  spare say 10 minutes, I will always tell them
  that upfront. Owen Oracle
• Use appointments if possible - If anyone asks at
  the enquiry desk for one-to-one training sessions
  or advice on literature searching, we always
  encourage them to make an appointment. We would
  very rarely drop everything and see to them
  straight away. Petra Part-Time

5
Limiting time waste

• Do not procrastinate! - I have learnt that it is
  never a good idea to put off tasks, even if they
  are less interesting than some of your other
  work. Putting off an unpleasant task doesnt make
  it any easier or more enjoyable. Martin Meekly
• Set up protocols for handling telephone enquiries
  (to avoid spending time relaying messages, going
  to find someone who knows etc.) - For a lot of
  the frequent telephone queries we get, such as
  literature search requests, we have a checklist
  to follow which I find really helpful. Rebecca
  Rush

6
Limiting time waste

• Devise a rota so all appropriate staff have a
  fair share of staffing enquiry/circulation desks
  etc. - The rotas for the enquiry desk and issue
  desk work really well as we all have the same
  number of sessions, meaning we all have the same
  amount of time away from the desk to concentrate
  on other work. Martin Meekly
• In crises, learn to say No! or Not today! -
  I think you do have to be assertive and be
  honest about when you simply havent got the time
  to do something. Owen Oracle

7
Limiting time waste

• Delegate appropriately - I think the senior
  staff here are very good at knowing when to
  delegate and when not to. For example, I cant
  ever imagine that they would delegate a task that
  would take longer to explain to someone else than
  it would to do it themselves. Petra Part-Time
• File correspondence logically, and date stamp
  incoming mail - Again we have a procedure to
  follow when dealing with the post in the
  mornings. This is great as it means its always
  done in the same way whoever does it, and it is
  easy to answer any queries we might get as you
  know where to find things Rebecca Rush

8
Managing Meetings

• Owen mentioned that he thought the monthly
  Enterprise LIS staff meetings were a good example
  of time management. Owen was asked to describe
  why he thought this was so.

9
Managing Meetings

• Well we always have a set agenda to follow so
  everyone comes to the meeting knowing what we are
  going to discuss. Minutes of the last meeting and
  anything else we may need to read are circulated
  well before the meeting so we all have chance to
  look at them. We have a strict time set for the
  meetings, making sure we always start and finish
  on time. The deputy manager usually chairs the
  meeting and she is very good at keeping us on
  track, so we dont go off on a tangent and start
  discussing other topics. If there is not enough
  time to resolve an issue it is usually postponed
  to the next meeting so that we have ample time to
  discuss it. Owen Oracle

10
Prioritising

• The Enterprise LIS is a very busy service, and
  often the library assistants and working on many
  different tasks and serving lots of customers all
  at the same time. The library assistants were
  asked how they organise their workload and how
  they manage to keep on top of things!

11
Martin Meekly

• I usually divide my work into those essential
  tasks that I must do, important tasks that I
  should do and then those tasks that would be
  useful, that I could do if I have enough time. I
  then rank these in order of how urgent and
  important they are.

12
Petra Part-Time

• If I am short on time, I usually look at each
  task and ask myself what would be the
  implications if I deferred or dropped the task.
  That way I clarify in my mind what order to do
  things in and which tasks are not essential and
  can be left until later.

13
Owen Oracle

• I think prioritising your work can be quite
  complex sometimes. Obviously urgent tasks are
  usually the ones you do first, but it is
  important to keep in mind which tasks are going
  to give the best pay-offs and by that I mean
  those tasks that will give maximum benefit. For
  example by spending a bit of time processing a
  backlog of new books you will be satisfied you
  have completed a job that has been pending and
  you will benefit your users, as they will be able
  to borrow the new books once they are on the
  shelves.

14
Rebecca Rush

• Im quite a morning person so I find it is
  better for me to tackle the tasks that need more
  thought and concentration before lunch, and then
  I tend to use the afternoon for more routine work
  such as shelving or labelling books.

15
End of Part Eight