People's Network Change Management Toolkit

Public libraries in the Age of Information

The People's Network is up and running. It has taken detailed planning, implementation strategies and timetables, careful deployment of resources, staff training and high quality co-ordination (local and national) to get the hardware and software into libraries across the country. However this success is part of a much longer process - managing the change to produce integrated service delivery and a new information environment for users. The hardware and software infrastructure on its own will not achieve this goal.

The process of managing change is concerned with how people can be encouraged and empowered to work with the new resources; what support strategies are needed to help overcome resistance to change; methods of consultation; the roles of managers at different points in the change process; and the influence of organisational climate, structures, and ways of working on how well change is managed.

A toolkit for change

This toolkit has been designed to support libraries as they grapple with the challenge of using the new infrastructure to develop their services. There is no single checklist, blueprint or strategy that will steer all libraries through this change process. Managing such a change is complex. The change process is too problematic and too dependent on local context to be captured in one model. This kit will provide ideas, insights, and lines of thought; tools to help you think through different approaches and to apply key principles to your own situation. It will support you as you work systematically through the elements in the process of change.

If you are serious about managing change effectively you will need to pay careful attention to all the issues identified in the toolkit. We have put the sections in the order that we believe reflects the most productive way to address these issues. Managing change is not the same as planning a project and therefore a chronological approach is not necessarily the best one. The chronological approach tends to leave important issues, such as forging ownership amongst staff, until too late in the process.

Most of the tools are designed to be used in collaboration with other people: they encourage discussion and consultation. Managing change involves building a common understanding of the nature, scope and purpose of the implementation of the People's Network; a shared vision of the future. Suggestions about how to use each tool are provided in the toolkit.