Project Management for Information Professionals

220 Pages·2016·1.977 MB·English

by  Note, Margot

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Project Management
for Information
Professionals
MARGOT NOTE
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Margot Note has spent her career working in the cultural heritage sector,
includingcolleges,libraries,andarchives.Shehasleadorhasparticipatedin
awiderangeofprojects,includingdatabaseconversions,digitizationefforts,
web application creations, and collaborations with American Express,
Artstor,Google,andUNESCO.SheholdsaMastersinHistoryfromSarah
Lawrence College, a Masters in Library and Information Science, and a
Post-Master’sCertificateinArchivesandRecordsManagement,bothfrom
Drexel University. She is the Director of Archives and Information Man-
agement at World Monuments Fund, an international heritage
conservation organization.
The author can be contacted via the publisher.
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Books, like projects, are rarely completed in solitude. Many people have
contributed to the creation of this publication. Thanks to the Florio, Leis,
andNotefamilies.IwouldliketothankthestaffofthePelhamBaybranch
of the New York Public Library for keeping their hold shelf full of project
managementbooksfor me,weekafter week.Ihave muchappreciation for
Larry Blake, who generously shared his project management experience
withmethroughoutthecourseofwritingthisbook.Thankyoumostofall
to my partner, Bill Florio, for being supportive of me during the writing
process.
This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, Charles C. Note
(1945–2015).
ix
INTRODUCTION
Project Management for Information Professionals is a resource for people who
have not been trained formally in project management principles, yet have
found themselves involved in projects. They could be working on a
recataloging endeavor at their library, directing their colleagues in a digi-
tization effort in their archives, or establishing a new content management
system at their museum. Colleagues may have sought them out because of
their leadership abilities. They may have earned their assignments because
they are dependable, good at organizing their work, and skilled at influ-
encing others. Given increasing amounts of responsibility over time, they
get things done in changing information environments.
Projects require collaboration between departments and across enter-
prises. Sometimes they involve traversing boundariesdprofessional,
organizational, geographical, or technological. This dynamic creates a
need for information professionals to work in partnership, communicate
effectively, and appreciate the best practices of project management.
Informationprofessionalsoftenaccomplishprojectsalongsidetheirregular
duties, and find they need to develop innovative skills to balance their
workloads. The opportunity to take responsibility for a project offers
personal and career development and the prospect of achieving lasting
change and impact.
Often a library, archives or museum must undertake a project that is
outsideitsnormaloperations,butisessentialforittofulfillitsstrategicgoals.
All change in organizations happens through projects. Entrenching a
project management mindset in the organization’s culture is the way to
make this happen.
Project-basedwork inarchives, libraries, andmuseums is on therise for
several reasons. Project management has the potential to be the métier of
information professionals. The principles, structures, and processes of
projectmanagementareanalogoustolibraryandinformation science;both
are logical, methodical, measurable, and specific (Massis, 2010).
There has been an increase in technology-based work, such as the
implementationofintegratedlibrarysystems,digitalrepositories,andopen-
sourceapplications.Asinformationcentersbecomepartnersinlarger,more
complex projects within their communities, there is likely to be a greater
xi
xii Introduction
reliance on project management methodologies to reach favorable out-
comes (Wamsley, 2009). Kinkus (2007) adds:
Not only does the progression of technology seem to be introducing more
opportunitiesforproject-basedworkinlibraries,buttheincreasedcomplexity
causedbyaproject’sneedforexpertisefrommultipledepartmentsleads toan
increasedneedforprojectmanagementskillsinmodernlibrarianjobs(p.357).
Archivesandmuseumshavesurmountedcontemporarychallengeswith
project management techniques as well.
Projects are integral to efforts to respond to a rapidly changing envi-
ronment. In the current climate of diminished funding, information pro-
fessionals need to maximize available resources and minimize risks in their
projects.Theyencounterchallengesinresourceformats,diversepatrons,and
evolving technology platforms and interfaces. Much of the work of pro-
fessionalsemployedinarchives,libraries,andmuseumsinvolvesprojectsthat
cross departments. Additionally, today’s workforce values the skill of being
abletomanageprojectteammemberswithoutformalauthority.Increasing
demand for technology implementation in library, archives, and museum
operationsandexpandeduserserviceshasoccurredatthesametimethatmost
budgetsandstaffsizeshavedecreased.Inabusinessenvironmentthatrequires
doing more with less, information professionals who master project man-
agementdemonstratetheirworthbygettingthingsdoneundertheseexigent
conditions.Thisiswhereprojectmanagementcomesintoplay.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Project management is an essential part of the work of information pro-
fessionals, although it is only just starting to be recognized. Chambers and
Perrow (1998) surveyed librarians in the United Kingdom and discovered
that27%usedspecificprojectmanagementtechniques,includingschedules,
Ganttcharts,andnetworkdiagrams.Theyfoundthat3%oftherespondents
used formal project management methodologies. This may suggest that
information professionals are beginning to see the value of using practical
project management techniques.
In their surveyof web project management in academic libraries,Fagan
and Keach(2011) found therepeated useof project management practices,
but without proper job titles, recognition, or methodologies. They write:
Thefunctionofprojectmanagementisstilloftenonlyonepartofahybridjob
and is not often included in job descriptions. Some project management
techniques are used frequently, but the most formal practices are not (p. 1).
Introduction xiii
However, the results of their survey showed significant use of specific
procedures:
Morethan90%ofrespondents“frequently”or“sometimes”documentproject
requirements and specifications, and more than 80% archive documents for
future project teams, identify milestones, and submit project status reports.
Thesefindingsareencouraging,astheseactivitiessupportgoodorganizational
communication about projects (p. 19).
Not surprisingly, they found that practices focusing on description and
documentationalign withinformationprofessionals’traditionalstrengthsin
preserving knowledge.
As Schachter (2004) explains, information professionals “don’t often
call ourselves project managers, but the fact that we do so much project
management. is increasingly being acknowledged and promoted as a
core skill set of librarianship” (p. 10). Lai (2005) investigated the needed
educational background and expertise for knowledge management pro-
fessionals, many of whom hold library and information science (LIS)
degrees. In reviewing job postings, she found project management
expertisewasoneofthetopthreeskillsrequired;shenoteditsoccurrence
in 48.2% of 27 full-time listings from 2000 to 2001. Kinkus (2007)
analyzed library job advertisements and found an increase from 4.1% to
11.2% in jobs requiring project management skills from 1993 to 2003.
She writes, “Based on surveys of both librarian job ads and MLIS
curricula, it is clear that project management in libraries is here to stay”
(p.352).MathewsandPardue(2009)investigatedlibrarianadvertisements
and noted that 29.5% specified project management skills. In a
similar survey of more than 300 job advertisements from 1999 to 2007,
Choi and Rasmussen (2009) found 37.93% of LIS positions focused on
projects.
While information professionals frequently lead, coordinate, and
participate in many projects, most LIS programs overlook project man-
agement training. Winston and Hoffman (2005) published an analysis of
library school curricula for evidence of project management instruction.
Contrary to the need for project management skills in the profession, they
discovered that only 3.7% of the 56 programs investigated offered project
management courses. Similarly, Mackenzie and Smith (2009) found that of
the 24 course syllabi from 17 ALA-accredited graduate library programs,
only 12.5% included project management as one of the topics taught in
their management courses.
xiv Introduction
In a study focused on jobs, curricula, and programs in analyzing the
education of future “‘eScience Professionals’ who extend librarianship into
solving large scale information management problems for researchers and
engineers,” Stanton et al. (2011) write:
The extenttowhichproject managementskillsseemed tofigureprominently
in all of the students, internships suggested that project management ought to
be a required course for anyone seeking to become an eScience professional
(pp. 79, 89).
At the other end of the professional spectrum, art librarianship also
requires project management mastery:
In all environments project management is a popular tool for accomplishing
specific goals. In the visual resources field these tasks may include digitizing,
organizing, and providing access for specific collections. The popularity of
digitizationprojectsandtheincreasednumberoffundingsourceshaveresultedina
largenumberoftheseactivitiesbeingundertakeninallvisualresourcesenviron-
ments.Inaddition,institutionshavealsorecognizedthevalueofdigitalaccessto
collections and as such are increasingly supporting such endeavors. As a result,
projectmanagementhasbecomeanecessaryskill(Iyer,2009).
These studies suggest that project management is often required for
information professionals in the workplace, although it is not being taught
enough in graduate programs.
Althoughformaleducationhasnotcaughtupwithprojectmanagement
needs, LIS resources devoted to project management have increased. For
example, articles, workshops, and books such as this one have added to the
collectivewisdomofthefield.Thissupportsthebeliefthatcollaborationand
managerial ability, two keystones of project management, are significant to
the development of information professionals (Brasley, 2008). Black (2005)
comments, “There is little training within the museum field for managing
majorprojectsthroughtocompletiondmostlypeoplehavetolearnonthe
job” (p.224).Information professionals are using professional development
opportunitiestoadvanceskillsabsentingraduateschool.Inthefuture,allLIS
curricula will provide project management courses, allowing students to
participateinandleadprojectsbeforetheyentertheworkingworld.
The professional literature describes several cases of libraries using
project management methodologies. For example, in 2008 the libraries at
the University of Arizona formally adopted a project planning and man-
aging process overseen by a portfolio management group, which is a sub-
committee of the library leadership cabinet. This group ensures projects
meetthelibraries’strategicgoalsandpriorities(FeeneyandSult,2011).The
Introduction xv
group“isresponsibleforensuringthatprogramsandprojectsarestrategicin
nature, aligned with Libraries’ goals, and that resources are allocated to the
highest-priorityprogramsandprojects”(StoffleandCuillier,2011,p.155).
Universities in the United States, Ireland, England, and Australia have also
reported cases of effective use of project management methodologies
(Horwath, 2012).
Mostinformationprofessionalsbalancetechnologywithservingpeople,
which makes them ideal candidates to be project managers. Additionally,
they are suited for project management due to their expertise in planning,
supervision, and analysis. Wamsley (2009) notes that information pro-
fessionals implement services, upgrade systems, and build community
partnerships, and that “all of these activities involve project work and the
need for library staff to have [project management] knowledge and skills”
(p. 5).
For the information professional, the key to success in a changing
environment is to develop the new skills that the workplace demands.
Above all, information professionals must actively prioritize a commitment
to continuous professional development. The information industry is
growing fast, and the profession is experiencing rapid change. Project
management can assist in developing much-needed skills to compete and
thrive in this setting.
WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK
In my experience with working on projects in nonprofits, libraries, and
archives, I noticed a pattern. When I directed a project in which I was the
primary worker, I was organized, within budget, and on time. I sensed
whenIcouldsolveproblemsonmyownandwhenIshouldconsultsenior
executives. I envisioned the workflow and processes it would take to
deliver results. These projects were always successful.
However, as my career advanced I got involved in bigger projects:
eitherleadingthemmyselforworkingasamemberofateam.Now,things
were different. I had to handle diverse personalities, competing priorities
and schedules, various seniority levels, and organizational politics. The
project results were often satisfactory, but occasionally they were not. The
process was sometimes unpleasant. I wondered if there was a better way.
Out of curiosity and a need for self-improvement, I began to study
project management literature. I found that most current research focused
on project management in the corporate sector and did not address the