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Introduction

Welcome back to Season Three of Linking Our Libraries! We are Central Minnesota Libraries Exchange, and we are here to share information with all types of libraries, archives, and other nonprofits working to build their skills. I’m Angie/Mary. This season, we are working on building a toolbox of leadership skills and ideas. By the end of this season, you will have fifteen specific skills that will make you a stronger leader and manager in your organization.

This week we are looking at strategies for communication!  It’s a surprisingly tough skill, but we have some strategies.

Joining us is Guest Host Jami Trenam, from Great River Library System and the Minnesota Library Association Legislative Committee.

The Basics

Communication is one of those leadership skills that seems like it should be so easy to do. However, everyone discovers that communicating with colleagues, patrons, Boards, funders, and community members is wildly complicated. It is so easy to issue directions, or to send out a policy, or to post news to your social media account. Just saying things is easy, and if that were the extent of true communication, it would be easy too.

Instead, you need to think of communication as a larger process, each step filled with the possibility of failure.

• In the first stage, you think of an idea inside your mind. Something is created there, and the goal is to get it pretty much intact into the mind of the person with whom you are communicating.
• Now, while holding onto that idea, you also need to think of a transmission system to get that idea across to the receiver. It may be audible speech, texting, video, gestures, written words or pictures, or other systems. You choose the one that you think will best get your idea intact over to the other person.
• The final step is receiving the information; it has to land in the brain of a recipient, and to be understood by that person, to be able to say communication was effective.
• Add in the possibility of noise, and it becomes even more amazing that anyone ever communicates anything to anyone! Noise happens when there is some sort of interruption in any stage of this process.

There are a few things you want to see in all of your communication, to help it to be the best darn information sharing process it can be:

• Accurate. This one should be obvious, but you only want to share information that you know is accurate. So, no passing on rumors. Definitely avoid lying directly about things. Not only do inaccuracies diminish the chances of effective communication, but they take away from your reputation as a leader – and that in itself can create noise in the communication process as people filter your message through the lens of “might be lying now.”
• Complete. When you are discussing the upcoming budget, it might be accurate to say you do not know what will happen. But it would be incomplete to leave out that you do know that every single other department is getting a 20% budget cut, and you are pretty sure your library will also get this news. Give the whole message.
• Clear. Avoid ambiguity in your message. Think through what you really want the other person to know, and say it in a way that is understandable for them. Don’t bother with using a lot of big, impressive words; getting across your message is more important.
• Meaningful. This is a big one for managers to think about as we communicate. We have a lot of information that we need to sift through, sort, understand, repackage, and distribute every day. But consider how much your 12-hour a week shelver is going to care about the intricate negotiations you are holding with the database vendors. Not much, usually. So pick your communication partners, and focus your message to ideas that person (or group) cares about – or needs to care about.
• Connection. If your cataloger tells you she’s nearly out of materials, and then you say it rained last night, you might both technically be communicating your ideas – but the lack of connection means this was still a communication flop. Respond to the message from your staffer first, and say “Okay, what do you need?” Then you can switch over to the fascinating topic of the weather.
• Confirmation. This one is pretty easy to do. Say things like “Does that make sense? Does that agree with your plan? What can you add here? Do you have questions?” Think about the final stage in our communication model above: the information has to be understood in the brain of the recipient. But how do you know that happened? You might be able to tell from their actions or behavior or facial expressions; but just asking people if they are following you is also quite effective.

So, now we have some ideas about the theories of communication. Let’s chat with someone who knows about it in practice!

Guest Hosts

• Have you done any formal communication training?
• You work with advocacy for libraries – has that changed the way you communicate with other people?
• How do you think about idea as you plan to communicate it?

 

Books Read

Everyone share a book you are reading, or one that you like
Braving the Wilderness, by Brene Brown “True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are.” Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW, has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives—experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. In Braving the Wilderness, Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarization. With her trademark mix of research, storytelling, and honesty, Brown will again change the cultural conversation while mapping a clear path to true belonging.

Brown argues that we’re experiencing a spiritual crisis of disconnection, and introduces four practices of true belonging that challenge everything we believe about ourselves and each other. She writes, “True belonging requires us to believe in and belong to ourselves so fully that we can find sacredness both in being a part of something and in standing alone when necessary. But in a culture that’s rife with perfectionism and pleasing, and with the erosion of civility, it’s easy to stay quiet, hide in our ideological bunkers, or fit in rather than show up as our true selves and brave the wilderness of uncertainty and criticism. But true belonging is not something we negotiate or accomplish with others; it’s a daily practice that demands integrity and authenticity. It’s a personal commitment that we carry in our hearts.” Brown offers us the clarity and courage we need to find our way back to ourselves and to each other. And that path cuts right through the wilderness. Brown writes, “The wilderness is an untamed, unpredictable place of solitude and searching. It is a place as dangerous as it is breathtaking, a place as sought after as it is feared. But it turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it’s the bravest and most sacred place you will ever stand.”

A Quiet Life in the Country, by T.E. Kinsey

Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they’ve just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life.

But it is not long before Lady Hardcastle is forced out of her self-imposed retirement. There’s a dead body in the woods, and the police are on the wrong scent. Lady Hardcastle makes some enquiries of her own, and it seems she knows a surprising amount about crime investigation…

As Lady Hardcastle and Flo delve deeper into rural rivalries and resentment, they uncover a web of intrigue that extends far beyond the village. With almost no one free from suspicion, they can be certain of only one fact: there is no such thing as a quiet life in the country.

 

Conclusion

This was a quick overview of communication. Whether you are communicating verbally, in writing, online, or nonverbal body language – it all matters. To be a good leader for your library, keep practicing these skills and keep making in a priority!

Thanks to our Guest Host Jamie! And check back in with us next week to discuss our next topic: Advocacy.