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Communication

Demonstrate professional leadership and communication skills.

Introduction

An information professional needs to effectively communicate through written and oral processes. Excellent communication skills are the hallmark of a professional leader. It is important to remember that a leader is not necessarily a manager; a leader is a person who embraces change and tackles projects with confidence and nurturing interaction. When managing change, a leader will guide rather than force the process, allowing for open collaboration in a supportive environment (Albright, 465-468).

Leadership

A question companies often face is “what makes a good leader?” Goleman shares a few specific traits in a leader that drive change, innovation, and success in a business. A leader should exhibit emotional intelligence, including self-awareness because these people are often, “neither overly critical nor unrealistically hopeful. Rather, they are honest — with themselves and with others” (Goleman, 84). These people realize their behavior can affect other people’s emotions and therefore they exhibit empathy, understanding, and compassion for others. A leader has developed self-regulation, allowing them to engage in business proceedings without emotional control of the situation. Self-regulation, self-awareness, and empathy for others usually equates to proficiency in social skills. Lastly, Goleman feels a leader needs motivation because motivation inspires others (84-88). Hopper calls these interpersonal skills “mindful leadership” (15). Mindfulness is said to promote healing while reducing stress; it is paying attention while remaining calm and non-judgmental (Hopper, 15). 

The perfect leader implies balance. Some people are natural born leaders with others looking to them for direction, even if this person is a fellow co-worker and not upper management. Germano writes that, “Leadership is separate and distinct from management” (3). A manager may have distinctive managerial tasks, but “leaders shape individuals’ thoughts, ideas and emotions which in turn, influence motivation, loyalty, ethics and quality of work, and ultimately, organizational culture” (Germano, 3). Since leaders can impact organizational culture, it is important that their leadership styles are balanced. Germano divides leadership styles into five categories: autocratic, bureaucratic, democratic, laissez-faire, and charismatic. All styles of leadership have pros and cons. Autocratic leaders are coercive, with “internalized idea[s] of what success looks like” (Germano, 4), eliminating important values like employer trust and patron satisfaction. This rigid leadership approach lacks creativity and innovation while only requiring exact tasks to be completed. Similarly, bureaucratic leaders are stuck on policy and execution of goals to achieve outcomes. If the leader is stuck on the policy and not open to creativity, the business will suffer without potential growth. On the opposite end are democratic leaders who rely on collaboration and participative leadership. If there are no rules to control the democratic process then this collaboration can come to a grinding halt as employees and stakeholders argue. Laissez-faire leaders take democracy a step farther by fully empowering the employees to all act as leaders and innovators, which some may say is a, “form of behavior-based leadership [that] is arguably about doing nothing, [so] it is sometimes difficult to determine which leaders actually choose to be laissez-faire as opposed to those who simply fail to lead” (Germano, 5). The last leadership type is charismatic, a person who leads with vision and inspiration. Employees gladly follow wherever this person leads. Unfortunately, the loss of this leader can severely damage the integrity of the business (Germano, 3-5). Taking all of these types, from autocratic to charismatic, and combining them into a balanced description would perhaps exhibit the perfect leadership style.

Communication

Leadership requires good communication skills. A leader should have teaching skills; they should also be open to collaborative ways of creating, inventing, and sharing ideas. An essential skill also includes being able to operate technology such as Zoom or other video conference platforms. Any team can easily fall apart without communication between members, whether the team is fully virtual, a hybrid, or in a physical space. In virtual teams, communication needs are easily met with the myriad of tools available. One example is Microsoft Teams, which provides a chat feature and a shared document space for virtual teams to work together. Despite multiple platforms similar to this, communication in a virtual team can be a challenge. Designing rules and assigning member roles can help combat discrepancies in teamwork and having a contingency plan is never a bad idea. A strong leader is needed, as Maduka, et. al., point out: “Trust is a leader’s propensity to easily facilitate cohesion” (700). Weekly video conferences combined with daily communication through email or chat can help keep the team cohesive and on time with project deadlines. Without a strong leader, communication can quickly fail. The leader must help build trust through team orientation and integration plus effective communication. Guiding goals and providing feedback can help prevent the need for conflict resolution (Maduka, et. al., 700-702.)

Sharing the work fairly with tasks based on personal strengths grants members the independence to engage in collaborative tasks. Group work should be a time to learn from each other. Chinowsky and Rojas explain that, “A virtual team is a group of people with complementary competencies executing simultaneous, collaborative work processes through electronic media without regard to geographic location” (98). This can be applied to every team, virtual or not. Every member brings their own talent, ambition, and intelligence to the team; treating each other as equals with equally valid opinions and skills will strengthen trust and confidence in the group’s ability to get the job done. Clear communication will prevent trust and confidence from eroding, which is especially important in a virtual team. “When individuals are separated, they are less likely to establish the one-to-one relationships upon which trust is often built” (Chinowsky & Rojas, 101). A virtual team forces the members to trust in each other. “Trust is built on the basis of members’ perceptions of ability, benevolence, and integrity” (Ford, Piccolo, & Ford, 27). Combining communication with cooperation and collaboration will help prevent erosion so that the team can enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when their task is complete.

Evidence

The following evidence reflects my awareness and achievements towards accomplishing goals related to professional leadership and communication skills.

Evidence A: Alpha Database Design

INFO202 Information Retrieval Design

This two step project for INFO202 Information Retrieval Design required group coordination and communication. The group communicated through Zoom meetings, email, and Google Doc collaboration as we designed and constructed a database of non-traditional objects in a collection. The first phase of the project included using the database management system WebDataPro. We designed a data structure based on user research of our target group. The document includes a statement of purpose, data structure plan, workflow process for managing records, and rules for data entry in WebDataPro. This project required continuous communication between group members as we developed and evaluated the data structure.

Group 12: Project 1 Alpha Design Document

[embeddoc url=”https://blogs.uoregon.edu/sarahfisherportfolio/files/2022/04/Group-12_202_Project-1-Part-A-1.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google”]

Evidence B: Communication Rules

INFO203 Online Learning

INFO203 Online Learning is an introductory class that covers topics on communication and teamwork. For this group assignment, we created a set of ground rules for successful online teamwork. To complete the assignment, we engaged in communication through Zoom and a shared Google Doc. After drafting the rules, we discussed the best wording for group interpretations. The group rules are followed by a personal reflection on the lessons learned from working in a virtual team.

Module 5 Personal Skills Teamwork Assignment

[embeddoc url=”https://blogs.uoregon.edu/sarahfisherportfolio/files/2022/02/Fisher-S-INFO-203-TeamworkAssignment.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google”]

Evidence C: Group Progress Report

INFO204 Information Professions

This group project for INFO204 Information Professions was a preliminary step for an organizational analysis of a law library. This portion is a progress report that details the results of our first Zoom meeting. The document includes a description of roles and responsibilities for the team, milestone dates, and potential issues and challenges to be addressed. My assigned role for this project was editor. The team rules are divided into governance and etiquette rules. These rules allowed for effective communication between members as we worked on a multistep research project. During this group project, members interacted in Zoom meetings while co-editing documents in Google Docs. I finalized the document with formatting, editing, and proofreading in Microsoft Word.

Organizational Analysis Progress Report

[embeddoc url=”https://blogs.uoregon.edu/sarahfisherportfolio/files/2022/04/204-GroupProgressReportDraft.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google”]

Evidence D: Communication with Microsoft Teams

Folklore Archivist Collection Coordinator, RVMA, UO

At the archive, I use Microsoft Teams because it is an effective team communication tool. As a leader in the archive, I must provide training materials and other employment documentation to employees. I have organized the documents between categorized folders. Workflow directions are seen below but the application also holds other documentation. The General folder holds information like schedules, timesheets, and current work tasks. Another folder holds relevant archival theory sources and documentation about standards like Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS). Teams is an efficient way to communicate. If changes need to be made to work flow documentation, every user gets those changes immediately. This creates an efficient work flow process. Team communication is easy thanks to communication tools installed in Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams

Conclusion

Great leadership cannot occur without clear and effective communication. Interpersonal skills are strengthened with self-awareness alongside empathy and compassion for others. A supported and uplifted team is inspired by a leader who motivates through encouragement and mindfulness. A great leader will get their hands dirty, too; they will lead by example, inspiring employees to give their full effort towards a job well done. I personally dislike sitting still and watching others work. I will always dive in, ready to help and organize to the best of my ability.

References

Albright, K. “Leadership Skills for Today’s Global Information Landscape.” Information services today, S. Hirsh, editor, 2nd edition. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. 465-476.

Chinowsky, P. S., & Rojas, E. M. “Virtual teams: guide to successful implementation.” Journal of Management in Engineering, 19(3), 2003. 98-106.

Ferrazzi, K. “Getting virtual teams right.” Harvard Business Review, 2014. https://hbr.org/2014/12/getting-virtual-teams-right

Ford, R. C., Piccolo, R. F., & Ford, L. R. “Strategies for building effective virtual teams: trust is key.” Business Horizons, 60(1), 2017. 25-34.

Germano, M. “Library leadership that creates and sustains innovation.” Library Leadership & Management, 25(3), 2011. 1.

Goleman, D. “What makes a leader?” Military Leadership: In Pursuit of Excellence, 2018. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429495007

Hopper, L. “Mindful leadership.” Georgia Library Quarterly, 47(2), 2010. 15-17.

Maduka, N. S., et. al. “Analysis of competencies for effective virtual team leadership in building successful organisations.” Benchmarking: An International Journal, 25(2), 2018. 696-712.