[Web4lib] Infopeople's "Building Leadership Skills: Problem-Solving and Decision-Making" workshop

[Lori Ayre]

Since some people who may be interested in attending might not receive this
notice directly, we would appreciate it if you would print and post or
route this announcement to staff and colleagues. Thanks!

Title:  Building Leadership Skills: Problem-Solving and Decision-Making

Dates and locations:

Wednesday, January 3, South Natomas Library (Sacramento) Thursday,
January 4, San Francisco Public Library Friday, January 5, San Jose -
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Tuesday, January 9, Pio Pico
Koreatown (Los Angeles) Wednesday, January 10, Buena Park Library
District Friday, January 12, Fresno Woodward Park Library Monday,
January 29, El Cajon Library (San Diego Area)

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://infopeople.org/workshop/306

Fee:  There is a $75.00 fee for this workshop.


Good decision-making is an essential skill for effective leadership. If you
learn to make timely and well-considered decisions, you can lead your team
to well-deserved success. This workshop will introduce you to practical
tools and techniques that can help you solve problems and make the best
decisions possible using the time and information you have available. You
will learn how to

--identify the real problem in a given situation,
--map out the likely consequences of alternative decisions, --weigh
the importance of individual factors, --choose the best course of
action to take, and --see your decisions through to a successful
implementation.

This course will prepare you to tackle any problem, large or small, and
will give you the confidence you need to make and implement decisions that
will benefit your career, your library, and the customers you serve.

Workshop Description: This one-day interactive workshop will provide
participants with the skills they need to define library problems clearly
and choose effective solutions. Students will learn the key elements of the
problem-solving process and will discover their own problem-solving style
and approach to decision-making. Through individual and group exercises,
including case studies, participants will practice a variety of
decision-making strategies, and will learn skills for leading others
through the successful implementation of their decisions. All participants
will receive a set of decision-making worksheets, a bibliography, and
practical tips about how to tackle typical library problems and how to
avoid common decision-making pitfalls.

Preliminary Course Outline

Introduction
--The problem-solving/decision-making cycle
--Your decision-making style
--Decision politics and strategic thinking

Defining the Problem
--Staying in context ­ aligning with your library's mission and goals
--Desired outcome(s) --Data gathering ­ facts first --Identifying
options --Charts, maps, and diagrams -----Pareto analysis
-----Ishikawa/fishbone analysis -----Constraint analysis ­ bottlenecks
and flow

Evaluation Tools and Techniques
--Check sheet
--Decision tree
--Thinking hats
--SWOT/PMI

 From Decision to Reality
--Risk planning
--Communicating the decision/solution
--Monitoring your results
--Learning and adjusting
--Avoiding common mistakes

Workshop Instructor:  Joan Frye Williams. For more than 25 years Joan Frye
Williams has been a successful librarian, consultant, vendor, planner,
trainer, evaluator and user of library services, with a special emphasis on
innovation, technology and emerging library trends. She is the president of
her own library and information technology consulting firm. In addition to
her consulting practice she has worked in both public and academic
libraries, for library automation vendors, as well as at the California
State Library.

Who Should Attend: This workshop is appropriate for anyone in the
California library community, especially emerging leaders, who would like
to do a better job of tackling work-related problems and decisions.

Prerequisites: None. However, if you are currently facing a library problem
or decision and would like to enlist your colleagues in finding a solution,
feel free to bring it to class.

Other Logistics:

*On-site check-in is from 8:30-9:00 AM;  instruction is from 9:00 AM-4:30 PM.

*Maps, directions, and parking information are available on the Infopeople
website at http://infopeople.org/workshop/location  Infopeople does not
validate or pay for parking.

*Infopeople does not provide refreshments or lunch.  Since some training
locations do not have in-house or convenient food service, Infopeople
recommends that participants bring a sack lunch.

To view a complete list of Infopeople workshops and for general information
about Infopeople training opportunities, go to the main Infopeople
Workshops page at http://www.infopeople.org/workshop

If you have questions about registration or scheduling of workshops, please
contact Linda Rodenspiel, the Infopeople Project Assistant, at
assist at infopeople.org or by phone at 650-578-9685.