Also, one of the full time people is vehemently and vocally quite opposed to the new work, but I will be responsible for evaluating their performance of said work. Supervising is new to me and I have some basic thoughts -- be human, be transparent/honesty, set expectations, follow-through, give example, etc. but could use all the advise of the LSW sort that y'all would be willing to share! - Galadriel C.

Oof, good luck! - Jaclyn aka spamgirl

Good luck. - RepoRat

I wish I had some advice. I will say that adding responsibilities without reducing current workloads is a dangerous game, and we need to start saying we will do less with less instead. Good luck! - kaijsa

I have to say, I would be strongly tempted to call a three-way meeting between you, the resister, and the resister's boss. "I'd rather solve a problem before it's created. Is there a compromise possible here? If not, I will relinquish my claim to your time." Seems to me anything else is just beggin' for problems. - RepoRat

@Repo - Yesterday there was such a meeting in which the bigger boss (boss of me and the resister's former boss) basically told the resister that they have absolutely no choice and that this is the way the organization is going. The resister has kindly told me that they have no ill-thoughts of me, but they don't want to do the work which doesn't bode well at all. - Galadriel C.

Sigh. Then all you can do is share the fact of that conversation with Bigger Boss, by way of laying groundwork for the probably-inevitable disciplinary action down the line. - RepoRat

Wow, that's tough. Is there any overlap in the new job duties with other stuff the resister has to do and/or likes better? Any sort of "learn how to do this thing you dislike and it will make this other thing you like easier" appeal? Alternatively, are there specific things they dislike that are actionable in any way? For example, we had some people working on a tech project that really disliked working alone without feedback, so we set up some drop-in times for people to come together and just work on their specific pieces in the same office, with conversation and mutual support. They still weren't crazy about having to do it, but doing it in a group environment, at least to start, helped out a little. - Amandadon't

Sigh and Sigh. There is partial overlap in that new work is helping users who can't access the e-journal articles that they need and the resister really likes helping users. With the other piece, there's no overlap. The resister has great ability but misses the days of the physical reference desk and reacts strongly to imposed change. Bigger Boss even said in yesterday's meeting something along the lines of if you're not happy than it's your choice to stay or seek another position. In the meantime, the massive ERM work remains. I really like the idea of seeking actionable dislikes and mutual support; Thank you! - Galadriel C.

How about a call to your uni's HR to seek guidance? This is likely not the first time they've dealt with a staffing transition like this and may be able to tell you how (if) it's been managed successfully. - Marie

There might be an assumption that it's not necessary to reduce workload because the nature of that work has changed and requires less time. For example, I would say that the ordering of books and maintaining our print serials now requires much less work from our collection librarians (since, say, 10 years ago) because there less $ to spend, hardly any print serials left, and and finding and ordering titles online is easier than finding materials with print catalogues. But this context needs to be said - copystar

We have a chronic resister. She is the Voice of Entropy. It's her calling. Luckily, she has no followers. She also picks up on doing whatever it takes to have job security, so she will sigh and do new things if she senses a threat from dwindling business. - barbara fister from iPhone