I work in support of academic services in my place of work. Here, I am linked in both service and supervision of graduate students. I serve those in their academic programs and connect them to the services and resources they need to succeed academically as they move forward in their career path. I supervise those who work at our public service desk, namely the research help desk, in our library.
When working with post-baccalaureate students, it's easy to see how they might believe they know things, and know better than the person standing on the other side if the desk or at the end of a phone connection. Our official supervisor has reviewed the tracking logs and chat reference logs for the past few years to determine the quality of support provided by our graduate student employees. The data analysis shows that the graduate students are more apt to misinform our library users about services rather than refer them or pick up a phone to get the correct information. Deep research questions tend to result in more accurate answers, but don't illustrate the characteristics of a reference interview in chat transcripts.
While working in a unit meeting with colleagues earlier this week, and hearing about services that our library offers, a side comment lead to what I believe is the core of quality service to our library users: It's important to say I don't know, in lieu of relying on one's ego. What does that mean in practice?
Humans, particularly educated humans are not wired to admit our own shortcomings. While I have not done much research on this, it's definitely a cultural assumption in higher education, particularly in meetings where we talk about instruction and information services for students (and sometimes faculty). We talk about how we connect people to knowledge and then move on toward making frameworks and courses fit that scheme.
When I work with newly hired students in the library, I give them space to tell me what they think about providing service. They have a training module to provide basic information, and we rely on the rubber hitting the road by shadowing students at the desk, we model the way for them, and encourage them to step out of a comfort zone into the open where they can demonstrate what they know about our library and its services. It's telling when I encourage someone to answer the phone, they bravely do, and I learn that they don't know exactly what to say. The script is missing in some ways. When the next time arises, I'll work with the student to ensure she knows how to answer by identifying the full proper name of the service desk, introducing themselves by name, then moving on to ask *how* they can help the caller. It's a small but impactful message to get through as it forms a foundation for face to face, email and chat communication as well.
The challenging part in working with new student employees is letting them try and then helping them see where improvements are needed. That's where training them to encourage themselves and others to 'ask the question' comes into play. Once the question is asked, it's important to know that the student employee will consider what it means, and then determine if the answer they have is full and complete. The most bitter pill for any new employee to swallow is the fact that we don't always know the answer, and then admitting it in a helpful manner. Saying 'I don't know, but I'll find out' is terrifying. The message it conveys is reassurance in most cases. A library user can see that the question they've asked is a good one--someone else shares the need for that particular piece of information or knowledge. And it offers the opportunity for the new employee to learn a thing or two himself.
Where things go south is when the ego wins in the conversation. Ego impedes our ability to open up our professional presence to show our own ignorance. It challenges our human core to become that publicly vulnerable and then co-seek the answer to a question. It's so worth the journey to do it.
As I continue to build relationships with graduate students I serve and supervise, I see those who embrace the 'I don't know' forcing deference to the not so humble ego. Those students more readily make connections with their learning both inside and outside of their curriculum. Those students excel in customer service at the research desk. I firmly believe those students will succeed in their endeavors more readily than counterparts who cannot let the ego slide. Whether those students came to our service desk already equipped with the ability to admit ignorance or learned its humbling but powerful effects while on the job with us, I cannot say. I have no proof, yet I believe there exists an innate ability to explore opportunity to learn. I believe also that taking advantage of the opportunity to recognize what we do not know can also be learned. Allow yourself to deny your ego and find out how 'I don't know' can grow your own knowledge while in service to others.
