Coaching vs. Managing: Collaborative Staff Development

Coaching provides a framework for mutual understanding of concepts like trust, respect, values, and mission. As libraries take on the challenge of staff development and retention, top-down models can fail when attempting to clearly communicate these ideas, in turn affecting organizational success. Consider ways to enhance your current staff development initiatives by encouraging peer-to-peer conversations, utilizing coaching techniques to explore individuals’ goals and aspirations, and building mutually supportive partnerships between management and employees. Public librarians will share examples from their Librarian Talking Circles and Library Support Supervisor coaching toolkit and gather ideas for building a template for peer-led professional and paraprofessional development.