One of the largest construction sites in Europe will give rise to Ulster University’s new campus at Cathedral Square, Belfast.
the application of new technology. It will be driven by the “can-do attitude” of the library team that Janet leads and their ability to flex and change. However, the current speed of change and level of disruption in the HE environment does not lend itself to conventional top-down work cultures, according to Janet.
“I have a team of around 100 staff spread across four campus libraries. Each campus team varies in size and out of necessity there will be a considerable amount of multi-tasking across smaller teams. A blanket approach to skills development is not always appropriate. As one way of supporting change, Ulster has introduced an innovative Self-Directed Achievement approach to CPD whereby employees take responsibility for identifying develop- mental needs which will support them in their role. This encourages personal responsibility and a sense of ownership for professional development.” In addition, giant shifts in working practices are no longer far-fetched: “If Covid-19 can ever be said to have had a positive impact, it has helped the Library Service to accelerate the pace of change in relation to the way that services are delivered which hitherto would not have been considered possible. Had we been asked to implement a new service or way of working within a compressed time- frame, we would have said ‘absolutely not,
18 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
we can’t introduce a library chat service within three weeks’ or ‘you can’t redesign service delivery effectively in three weeks’. But we discovered that you can.”
Leadership
Although disruption has flattened hierar- chies and unsettled top-down leadership structures, leadership during periods of change and disruption is critical. Janet sees self-awareness as one of the most important qualities for those aspiring to leadership roles in the future. “There is an assumption that if you get beyond a certain grade you must instinc- tively know how to lead. I don’t believe that is necessarily true. I would certainly never have said it was true for me. Leadership is a muscle that needs to be exercised on an ongoing basis. I have benefitted immensely from the leadership training offered as staff development opportunities at Ulster. I was also very fortunate to be selected to partic- ipate in the AHUA (Association of Heads of University Administration) Leading with Impact programme.
“In terms of my personal and profession- al development this was one of the best things that I have ever done. The opportu- nity to meet with and learn from a group of like-minded people in leadership roles across Professional Services in Higher Education was a completely liberating experience. The programme was supported
by action learning sets where I had ac- cess to a wide range of perspectives and expertise, we all had a lot of lightbulb moments! Not only did this course help me with my current role, but I also felt much better equipped to contribute to the corporate agenda at Ulster.”
Start early
“I firmly believe that you don’t have to be in a leadership role to demonstrate leadership. If you have an aspiration to move into a leadership role, there are steps that you can take to prepare yourself for the future.” She says that encouraging this responsibility and grassroots leader- ship thinking, benefits existing leaders: “We can all learn from each other. It is important to seek feedback across the structure at all levels and all grades, the person who has face-to-face contact with the user will be able to provide an insight into service delivery that you may not get from your leadership team. This is a two-way process as it also encourages members of staff to consider the opportunities that are available to them to develop their skill set in prepa- ration for the time when they can step up into a leadership role.
“If you find yourself promoted to a leadership role for the first time it is important to identify a trusted colleague
April-May 2021
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