47 Research Library Issues 292 2017 left to be spent seemed higher than I was expecting. She laughed, “I’ve been moving things around to make sure we have enough to cover what’s in the pipeline. We’re good!” It took a little while to sink in, but eventually it did. We had done it. The teams had focused effort on the right things and it made the difference. Part IV We staged two reflection sessions for all team members.4 The first, at the midpoint, was a chance to affirm what was working in the approach and to identify ways to modify the process. The second, at the end, provided a moment to identify which lessons we would incorporate into future work, and to celebrate both meeting our goals and the adventure of working differently. At the second reflection, teams sat together at round tables. Individual members wrote timed responses to three questions in a round-robin fashion meant to elicit deeper insight into the lessons learned about the teamwork itself. The three writing prompts were: What did I learn about being a team member? What did I learn about team leadership? How will I apply what I learned to future work? The comments left me with hope for the future of libraries. The exercise was a safe space to reflect on the problem-solving process and the teamwork. The remarks were nuanced and insightful. The comments suggested that, given the right structure and support, we can solve exceptionally difficult challenges when we work together across boundaries. The obvious boundaries we bridged included departmental Association of Research Libraries Given the right structure and support, we can solve exceptionally difficult challenges when we work together across boundaries.
Previous Page Next Page