Change communication can be so simple! The empathic change communication style
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-01-2016-0006 |
| Pages | 398-409 |
| Published date | 14 November 2016 |
| Date | 14 November 2016 |
| Author | Petra Düren |
Change communication can be
so simple! The empathic change
communication style
Petra Düren
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany
Abstract
Purpose –Deliberate large-scale changes in libraries need an accompanying change management.
One of the essential success factors of change management is the communication process, as
insensitive communication, using e.g. ambiguous wording or inappropriate tonality can cause great
damage throughout the change process. Expert interviews with library managers did show that this
change communication does not have to be something elaborate and outstanding using all new
technological possibilities, but can be kept simple as the most important factors are to give enough
information and to get into a conversation, a personal dialogue with team members. The purpose of
this paper is to show the details of a change communication style which enables leaders to cope with
deliberate large-scale changes.
Design/methodology/approach –The empathic change communication style (ECCo-Style) will be
analyzed and described on the basis of an extensive literature research as well as a qualitative research
on practical experiences of leaders of different hierarchical levels of academic and public libraries
during the change processes.
Findings –The leader’s own action –and with this his or her communication style –has a signaling
effect on team members of which each leader needs to be aware of and which can be used to release an
enormous pulse, especially during the change processes.
Originality/value –This ECCo-Style is newly designed.
Keywords Qualitative research, Academic library, Public library, Change management,
Communication style, Empathic change communication style
Paper type Research paper
1. Change management in libraries
The ongoing change in academic and public libraries is well known. The new public
management (NPM) approach in the 1980s was peculiar and a major impetus to change.
For more information on NPM and its impact on libraries see Düren (2010). Since then the
number of different change projects as well as the extent of these changes is increasing.
“The new normal is continuous change”( Jørgensen et al., 2009, p. 38). Already in 2000
Spies has pointed out that libraries operate in “a world in which rapid change is a constant”
and that “libraries must improve their ability to identify, anticipate and quickly respond to
constantly changing user needs”(Spies, 2000, p. 124).
This does not mean, “[…] that sticking to what works isn’t a good idea, it is simply
that we live in a rapidly changing environment and the life span of good ideas […] isn’t
as long as it might have been in the past”(Ferguson, 2007, p. 425). Library leaders must
be able to manage traditional information services while at the same time they need to
develop new services (Castiglione, 2006, p. 293). They have to balance between the
present and the future, as “focusing only on the present is disastrous for any
organisation”(Moropa, 2010, p. 389). Especially “in today’s uncertain economic climate,
many organisations are forced to make changes in order to survive”(Edmonds, 2011,
p. 349), which is also true for public as well as academic libraries. Challenges for
libraries are resulting from the continued shrinking budgets, the transition from print
Library Management
Vol. 37 No. 8/9, 2016
pp. 398-409
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/LM-01-2016-0006
Received 22 January 2016
Revised 11 May 2016
Accepted 18 May 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
398
LM
37,8/9
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