This chapter aims to describe the psychology of nonbelonging through co-constructed accounts by informal settlement residents who belong – yet also struggle to not belong – to ‘non-places’ such as the informal settlement. It illustrates how (non)belonging is performed as unspoken affective senses of place that are resonant in narratives. Using Lacanian psychoanalytic insights, the chapter contributes to an expanded conceptualisation of ‘senses of place’ by showing that we also perform place belonging in an ‘unconscious’ sense – beyond our discursive performances (place identity) or expressed feeling states (place attachment). This epistemological stance highlights senses of place belonging as coordinated via an unspoken social contract with the hovering interlocutor (Other), who offers the navigational cues to situate where we are (place) and to define who we are (identity).

Australia is a federation. The division of powers set out in the Australian Constitution between the federal government and the state and territory governments is such that the legal relationship between adults and children is partly governed by federal law and partly by state law. Broadly speaking, the federal government has exclusive power in relation to the formation of marriage (and de facto relationships), divorce, parenting disputes and all maintenance obligations, with states retaining all residual jurisdiction (e.g. care and protection matters, adoption, surrogacy, artificial reproduction etc.). Having said that, as this chapter shows, there are complex interactions at times between state and federal law.

CHANGES IN THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY

A. MOTHERS

1. Is maternity automatically established by the birth certificate?

Leaving aside artificial reproductive situations and adoption (which have their own rules and are discussed at Q. 17 and 32), a woman who gives birth to a child is the legal mother of the child in Australia. This is because parenthood is – legally – dependent solely on biology. Under s 69R of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (FLA) a person named on the birth certificate is presumed to be the parent of the child, so in a sense maternity is legally proved by being named on the birth certificate, because being named as a parent on a birth certificate raises a legal presumption of parenthood. However, this is only a presumption, which means that a person seeking to disprove parenthood of a person on the register bears the legal onus of proof. Thus, the birth certificate is relevant from an evidentiary point of view, though of course is regularly provided as proof of parenthood. Each state has its own birth registration legislation.

The presumption of parenthood can be rebutted by showing through a DNA test that the woman is not biologically the mother.

If a woman's name is not on the register, she is still legally the mother if she is the biological mother, but she will need to prove it if questioned.

Projects

YOUNG (2013, 14) defines projects as ‘Temporary endeavours to achieve some specific objectives in a defined time’. This means that projects are not something which are part of the day-to-day operation of a service, or business as usual. They are a one-off occurrence which is unique and will ultimately result in a change to your service, whether by changing a process, introducing a new product or creating an innovative service. Projects can vary in size and scope, will be of different timescales and will require additional resources, whether financial or human. Projects can range from large-scale national programmes of interconnected projects, interdepartmental working groups or smaller project groups.

You and your teams will be involved in a number of projects, whether local, for example to implement a new library management system, or a national programme of work, such as the Knowledge for Healthcare Programme (Health Education England, 2014) in the UK. This programme incorporates a number of workstreams, each with a number of smaller task and finish groups which are responsible for delivering specific outcomes. Each task and finish group comprises health library staff from different organizations across England, who are working together to deliver their smaller project outcomes. Your team members may be involved purely in library-based projects, but can also bring their unique specialist skills in knowledge management, evidence or information to interdepartmental organizational projects involving a number of staff from different teams.

Tools

Newton (2013) defines a project as having a number of stages, including defining the project, planning the project, identifying resource requirements, delivering the project, managing risks, evaluation and learning lessons. There are a number of tools which can be used to manage projects and whichever you choose is likely to depend on the complexity of the project and your requirements. Check out Tip 73 (p. 190) for more information about project management tools. Project definition and planning are central to ensuring that everyone understands what the project aims to deliver, the resources required and individual roles, and this is discussed in more detail in Tip 100 (p. 266).

Time management

MIND TOOLS (2016A) define time management as ‘the way that you organize and plan how long you spend on specific activities’. Bartlett (2012) suggests that it is not that we don't have enough time, we just need to make the most of it and her article reviews a number of key books and journals available to help LKS staff adopt good techniques. Improving the way that you and your teams manage your workloads will increase productivity, enable you to deliver a more effective service and will remove stressors from within the team.

Feeling overworked is one of the key reasons that people feel stressed in the workplace and helping your team members to adopt good practice when it comes to managing their workload within the time available can help to alleviate this. You may identify that a member of your team is struggling via regular one-to-ones or during appraisal when they have dedicated time to speak to you about their workload and the difficulties that they face. Alternatively, other members of the team may tell you if a colleague is regularly missing deadlines or appears to be struggling to keep on top of their work. Monitoring feedback from customers can also highlight if there are issues with meeting deadlines within the team.

Improving an individual's time management skills

So what can you do to help an individual to improve their approach to time management? As with any issue, the first step is to talk to the team member in order to find out what the problem is and listen to their response. Use your coaching skills to help them to pinpoint the problem and to explore options with a view to finding a solution. It is important that you do not make assumptions about what is happening and also avoid taking on their workload yourself, as this will transfer the problem to you; it will not empower the individual or help them to be accountable for their own work.

Your role as a manager or supervisor is to listen to the individual and support them. You may find out that they feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they have to complete, or that they are setting unrealistic deadlines. Or there may be issues outside work which are impacting on their ability to focus and manage their workload.

Twitter chats

GETTING INVOLVED IN Twitter chats is a great way to learn and a good way to encourage reflection on learning. They are also a great way of building personal networks. You could set up your own Twitter chat to provide a learning opportunity for yourself, your team members and other LKS staff in the wider network. To do this you need to create a hashtag, tell people about it, tell them what you are going to talk about and set up a time for you all to ‘meet’. Then you would all tweet using the chat hashtag.

People are using Twitter chats to discuss topical news or subjects in the profession but also as book clubs and journal clubs. Public and school libraries have even organized author chats with children's and young adult's authors. There are several established Twitter chats that you and your staff can get involved in and they will often set an agenda, a number of questions or a topic for people to prepare for:

Staff who are undergoing Chartership find the Chartership chat very useful, as they can ask questions and get support from other Chartership candidates.

In addition to participating in LKS Twitter chats, you can encourage staff within your teams to join conversations that your users are involved in. In the health sector, for example, health professionals may participate in journal club discussions such as #TwitJC or join conversations facilitated by #Wenurses or #WeAHPs. LKS staff can join or observe these discussions to develop their skills in critical appraisal, get ideas for delivery and develop their understanding of LKS users.

Example from practice: Tom Roper – LKS professional (NHS)

Inspired by the US #medlibs chat, and by ones like the British #uklibchat and #chartership chats, three of us set up #ukmedlibs, meeting monthly. Participants say they value the informality – ‘you don't have to worry about talking with your mouth full’, said one – and between April 2015 and June 2016 302 people have participated, easily the number that might attend a good-sized professional conference. Following a fast-paced chat can be challenging, so good facilitation is important, and compressing thoughts and communicating clearly within the discipline of 140 characters is a skill that needs to be mastered. Practice makes perfect.

REGULAR ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS with your direct reports are essential to improving communication and establishing good relationships. Meetings can be monthly or weekly, dependent on time constraints or your LKS's needs. Meetings should remain confidential, be open, honest and provide an opportunity for two-way communication. Adair (2007) suggests that the one-to-one can help to create a supportive relationship, ensure clear direction and identify ongoing development needs. Meetings can be informal, used as a way to keep in touch with team members, or can be part of a formal performance management, appraisal or development process.

Well conducted meetings should be organized to give the individual time to discuss any problems, raise any issues and make suggestions for improving services. You should encourage the individual to use this time to ask you whether they can attend training courses or events which may help them to fulfil the requirements of their job. As a manager it is your role to listen, take suggestions on board, coach staff to find solutions, work with the individual to resolve any issues and essentially follow through on any actions.

Whilst the one-to-one meeting should provide a safe space for the individual to talk to you, it is also an opportunity for you to address any issues with performance, keep track of projects and objectives and find out what is really important to your team members. Ensure that you give constructive feedback. Crucially you should not dominate the meeting, but you must ensure that you have set time aside to address any issues that you want to discuss. The meeting should not be confrontational and you need to be aware of the power balance in play.

A well organized meeting will be rewarding, with each participant having a clear understanding of the purpose. An agenda set prior to the meeting ensures that the individual can prepare and it is important that you both review the notes of the previous meeting. A basic template can help to maintain focus for the meeting and could include the following points:

MANY OF US spend a significant proportion of our working week in meetings. Good meetings get things done, they move projects on, assist in achieving individual, team and organizational objectives and can be an excellent way of facilitating communication. Bad meetings are a waste of time and resources that can leave participants feeling demotivated and frustrated. Getting the most out of attending meetings is a key skill for everyone in the workplace. As a line manager you need to work with your team members to enable them to benefit from attending meetings and to demonstrate the value their attendance brings to others at the meeting.

The best meetings have a specific aim or purpose with clearly set objectives. They start and finish on time. They allow for debate, facilitate discussion and encourage creativity. At the end of a meeting decisions should be made and actions agreed.

Attending meetings gives participants numerous opportunities to develop a wide range of skills. Having good communication skills is essential if your staff are to get the most out of meetings. If they have been asked to attend a meeting it is usually because it is believed they can contribute something to achieving the purpose of the meeting. When speaking in a meeting ensure your team members aim to be clear and concise. They should not be speaking just for the sake of it or deviate from the point in hand. Make it clear to them that meetings are not the place to rehash old arguments or to try and point score off other colleagues or teams.

Presenting

If your staff member is at the meeting to present a proposal or introduce a new project then you should encourage them to prepare in the same way they would for any other presentation. Ask them to agree with the Chair in advance how long they will have for their presentation and how long is to be allocated for discussion. They should find out who will be attending the meeting and aim to discover as much as they can about them in advance. This may be their one opportunity to influence those people who will ensure the success of their project.

Networks – running

ONCE THE NETWORK is set up, the operational aspects need to be considered. A structure should be established and adhered to from the outset and roles may need to be allocated to the network leads. It is important to ensure that ongoing tasks are shared and monitored to ensure that they are completed. Individuals also have a responsibility to be realistic about what they can and cannot do, which will ensure that relationships between team members are maintained. Communication is also integral to an effective network, both internally with the network leads and externally with the network members. There are many communication channels which can be used to promote the network, such as e-mail lists, existing contacts, library schools, special-interest groups, social media and face-to-face meetings.

Tools and platforms

There are many free tools available to facilitate the running of a network, including social media, self-service ticketing platforms, e-mail and wikis. Social media is a good way to promote networks and to keep participants/members aware of any developments. Many networks within the library sector use social media to provide a current awareness service, alerting their members to useful resources, training events and developments in the profession. However, there are positives and negatives to all platforms, so encourage experimentation to decide what works best for those involved.

There are many different platforms for different purposes, such as Vine, which is a creative way of sharing videos, Twitter for providing useful information and updates and LinkedIn to formally promote events. Any tool should be fit for the intended purpose and be evaluated to ensure it continues to be valid. A social media page or profile with no content gives the impression that the network is no longer running and will therefore lose out on potential members.

A self-service ticket platform is a really useful tool for managing sales for events where there are costs to the individual. For free events Eventbrite provides a free service which enables personalization of event pages to include pictures, maps and a structure for the day. It has a facility to manage bookings, create waiting lists or cancel tickets if necessary. Eventbrite also provides a service to send reminders to attendees and create a list of attendees, which can be used as the registration form on the day.