Communication

In our hybrid and technical environment, we have numerous methods for communication (in-person, phone, Zoom, email, Teams, and more). Be curious about your colleagues' communication preferences and open to sharing your own. We have micro-cultures within Technical Services: Pusey main, Pusey back stacks, and the Mezzanine. Work with colleagues in your area to learn preferences.

Conversation

There’s a natural tension between casual conversation and individual distraction. In general folks like some conversation, some even want more. Good examples include problem solving, asking a quick question, showing current work to a colleague, training, and light personal catch-ups. Remember to be considerate of your colleagues and know when to take a conversation to another location such as the lobby.
If you are meeting with a colleague and plan to speak together for more than 5-10 minutes (excluding training), it is best to schedule a room for your meeting (see wiki for options: https://harvardwiki.atlassian.net/wiki/display/HoughtonLibrariansOffice/Room+Booking+and+Room+Details)
Limit personal phone calls; it’s best to take these in the hallway or another area.
If a colleague is on the phone, in a meeting, speaking with another colleague, has headphones on, or another agreed upon cue such as a white board, try not to interrupt them.
Some tools for minimizing distractions: https://hbr.org/2019/12/10-quick-tips-for-avoiding-distractions-at-work

Email use

Sending emails

We receive a lot of information. There is another tension between wanting to share and receive information while ensuring the information is impactful. Be mindful of how much email and other forms of communication we all get. Make your emails count instead of contributing to the noise, include sufficient information, action items, and a due date.
Consider scheduling emails for working hours as a courtesy to your colleagues, if this isn’t possible, do not expect a reply until your colleague returns to work.

Receiving emails

Please try to respond to emails as promptly as possible, ideally in a business day or two.
If you haven’t heard back on an email you sent, and there is important and/or time-sensitive information within, please send a gentle reminder.
Staff are not expected to read or respond to emails or Teams messages during off hours, weekends, vacations, personal days, or holidays.
Out-of-office messages should be used for absences of a day or longer.

Teams use

Staff are expected to sign in to Teams when working onsite or remotely.
Teams includes channels and direct messages for our use. There are many Houghton-wide channels and a specific Technical Services channel. Direct messages can be between two individuals or a group.
For direct messages, use Teams for questions you suspect can be answered quickly, e.g. are you in today?, can I stop by your cube?, running late! Sometimes two individuals have an established routine where they chat more frequently via Teams, this is totally fine.
We should all feel good asking a colleague to redirect a communication from Teams to our email.
Channels are used to share information or ask a question applicable to the channel audience. Staff are expected to keep up with the Reading Room Live and Reading Room Admin channels particularly before a shift in the reading room, consult room, or welcome ambassador desk. Remember to keep a professional tone, everyone including students reads these messages.

Calendar

Use the shared TS Department calendar (Houghton Technical Services) for planned vacation, personal days, or other outages (conferences, etc).
Unexpected sick days do not need to go on the shared calendar, however if you are out in the morning or afternoon for an appointment please put that on the calendar.
Use your personal work calendar for your reading room hours and meetings.
Keep both shared and personal work calendars up-to-date.

Masks and Personal Space

We follow University guidelines on masks: https://www.ehs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/cd048a_face_coverings_general_use_0.pdf
In terms of space, and within the University guidelines, be conscious of your colleagues and what they prefer or are comfortable with in terms of space. For example, “Are you okay meeting in my office if I sit behind my desk and you at my table? If not, we can go outside, meet in the Sheldon Seminar room, or schedule a check-in via Zoom.”

Meetings

Meetings should have an agenda; attendees should leave the meeting with a clear sense of action items and who is responsible.
TS Department meetings are on Zoom but we are exploring hybrid options.
For smaller (Section or other) meetings, consider a hybrid Zoom meeting, reserving a room for the staff that are onsite.
For one-on-one meetings, check in with your colleagues, asking where both feel most comfortable meeting.
If you are in a meeting via Zoom or phone and plan to talk a lot, reserve a room or use an empty office.
There are many rooms for your use should you need privacy. Reservation instructions are available on the Houghton Library wiki: https://harvardwiki.atlassian.net/wiki/display/HoughtonLibrariansOffice/Room+Booking+and+Room+Details

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