Understanding your workflow

Abstract:

Workflow analysis provides a deeper understanding of the processes laid out in the collection life cycle. Dissecting the functions of multiple departments and employees illuminate inefficiencies and create a quality check on library processes. A thorough understanding of a library's processes can save resources and improve efficiency.

Key words

workflow analysis

lean

efficiency

streamlining

ergonomics

quality assurance

selection

purchase orders

RFID

collection life cycle

Tracking the flow of materials through the library system can guide staff to possible checkpoints of quality. In the previous chapter, we discussed how the collection has a life cycle. In order to properly and fully manage a collection, it is essential to understand exactly what happens at each stage of the life cycle. This can be done through an examination of workflows. A workflow is how things are done, by whom, and when. Analyzing a workflow requires a thorough understanding of the system. A workflow analysis is a complete documentation of the sequence of steps within a given process. This chapter details a sample workflow at each stage of the life cycle. Emphasis will be placed on ways to lean workflows for maximum efficiency.

The analysis of each workflow can be an illuminating exercise for the staff and managers of a library. Most people would probably be surprised at the actual process of what happens where and when. Diagramming and analyzing workflows throughout the life cycle can be very helpful in understanding how the library functions day to day or hour by hour. This deeper level of understanding can provide managers a roadmap for devising improved services and streamlining processes. Workflows from one step of the life cycle to the next should flow seamlessly. They should be analyzed for ergonomics, redundancies, missing processes, and quality assurance.

Selection

If you ask selectors how they select items for inclusion in the collection, they may say that they read review journals and choose what to buy. In reality, there are a lot of steps taken between reading reviews and actually placing a title in an order cart. Let's detail those "missing" steps in a sample workflow analysis.

The best way to get a handle on this procedure is to start by interviewing the selectors. Create, in writing, the actual "how to" of the selection process. This can be a general outline. Once you have the overview, then begin to dig deeper. Fill in the details and ask about different steps. Don't expect to master the procedure immediately. Both the selector and the workflow analyst will remember different things at different times. As the details come together throughout the conversation, the workflow will be better understood. Avoid judging the process until the workflow has been detailed thoroughly.

The selection process is actually more complex than one might initially realize, even in a small library. Selectors have many avenues from which to choose materials. The analysis could begin with "Selectors consult Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal, or even newspapers and popular magazines as review sources." That statement is then broken down even further: How often does the selector consult these resources? Where are the journals stored, and who has access? The analysis could continue with:

These review journals come in the mail weekly or monthly, depending on the title. The member of staff who receives the title first staples a routing slip to the cover. The routing slip names all of the staff members who will share the title. When the first person finishes with it, he passes it to the next name on the list.

This tells us that in our example, library review journals are shared and that they are passed from one person to the next. We still need to know what selectors do with the journals while they are in their possession. Let's continue.

As each selector reads a review journal, he writes his initials next to the titles he intends to add to the collection. Each selector is responsible for reading the portion of the journal that includes the subjects he selects for. Anyone can make suggestions to his fellow selectors for titles outside of his collection area by adding notes to the margin of any title in the journal. If that selector has already been crossed off the routing slip, the information can be shared directly through email, phone, or in person.

Now we know how selectors mark titles they intend to purchase for their own collection areas, as well as how they collaborate with selectors in other collection areas. The analysis is getting more and more refined the more we question exactly how each step is completed.

As selectors mark titles they intend to add to their own collections, they add the titles and publication information, such as ISBN and publication date, to a spreadsheet. This becomes the list that purchasers will order from. As titles are reviewed in various journals, the list also serves as a reminder of titles they already chose from a previous review.

One can see how analysis of each step of the selection process includes an action, such as making a list of titles to be purchased, and also a description of why that action is taken. As various selectors are interviewed about their process, different actions could be introduced (maybe one selector skips the list step and goes straight from reading reviews to placing titles in an online shopping cart with a vendor). As the actions and their explanations are analyzed, the efficiency of one process over another can be determined.

The last person on the routing slip places the review journals in a storage box kept at the reference desk. Anyone can refer back to these journals for up to a year, at which time the back issues are weeded.

This answers the question of where review journals are stored, who has access, and for how long.

Selectors organize their title selection lists by publication date. The month before a title is published, its publication information is submitted to the library's purchasers. This allows selectors to keep track of upcoming titles that they intend to purchase, but which may have been announced or reviewed too far in advance of its publication date to place an actual order at that time.

The process of selecting materials begins with finding out what titles are available and ends with making the final choice to purchase them. The goal of the selection workflow is to select materials for inclusion in the library collection, but there are budget and organization implications that will help selectors reach that goal efficiently. In our sample library, the process of keeping track of what has been selected and their costs falls within the selection workflow because the selectors are responsible for tracking that information.

Selectors keep a budget spreadsheet for each collection for which they are responsible. When a title list is submitted to purchasers, selectors put the total cost of the order on their spreadsheet. As a double-check on pricing and availability, purchasers give each selector a print-out of their actual order summaries after they are submitted to the vendor.

Now we can see where two workflows overlap. Selectors have to keep an accurate budget tally so that they know the balance of their collection budget. However, if a different person submits a purchase to the vendor than who selected the titles, they must communicate details to each other and reconcile any changes or differences between the final order and the one submitted by the selector to the purchaser. They will also have to agree on who has authority to make last minute, executive decisions about the order. Can the purchaser make certain judgment calls on an order at the time it is placed, or do they need to consult with the selector every time any slight change comes up? For example, if the selector needs a title for a program by a certain date, but when the order is placed, the purchaser sees that it will not arrive on time from the chosen vendor. Can the purchaser find another vendor who will get the material to the selector on time - even if there is a small price difference between vendors? Or, should the purchaser ask permission, possibly holding up the order even longer while waiting for communication with the selector?

Another instance of overlap could be between two selectors. Selectors of different formats may want to communicate to each other which titles they plan to add to their collections. If a title is selected by the audio book selector, perhaps the selector for the e-book collection will choose different titles to diversify choices for library users. In a university, selectors for various disciplines might be interested to know that the same title is going to be used in two different classes for two different academic programs. To take this example full circle, when the titles arrive, catalogers may wonder why the same book has been assigned two completely different call numbers and question the selectors to find out if both of them...