10 simple steps to better archaeological management

Martin LocockIFA Annual Conference for Archaeologists March 2008

Introduction

• Experience

• Questions not answers

• Personal opinions

References and links:

http://10simplesteps.blogspot.com

Management training 1980

•Process management

•Critical path analysis

•Decision making

Management training 2000

•Empowerment

•Consensus building

•Fostering creativity

Personal effectiveness

• Attitudes and behaviours• Social skills• Self management

• Generic skills for better working

• Importance of self-awareness, reflection and review

Step 1: Who am I?

• I am an archaeologist: here is my trowel.

Matt Lemke, “Trowels”, Assemblage 2 (1997)

Matt Edgeworth, Acts of Discovery: an ethnography of archaeological practice

Are you an archaeologist?

• Do you excavate?• Do you record?• Do you analyse?• Do you interpret?• Do you administer?• Do you monitor?• Do you manage?• Do you enable?

Are you an archaeologist?

• Do you excavate?• Do you record?• Do you analyse?• Do you interpret?• Do you administer?• Do you monitor?• Do you manage?• Do you enable?

Are you an archaeologist?

• Do you excavate?• Do you record?• Do you analyse?• Do you interpret?• Do you administer?• Do you monitor?• Do you manage?• Do you enable?

Step 1: What is your current role?

Step 2: Words

Archaeology Labour Market Intelligence: Profiling the Profession 2002/03

Kenneth Aitchison and Rachel Edwards

Main post titles

• Archaeologist 264

• Director or Manager 119

• Project Manager 105

• Project Officer 166

• Senior Archaeologist 92

• Supervisor 188

• Junior posts 143

Post titles outside archaeology

• Project Officer

no supervisory role, temporary post, generic skills• Project Manager

changing definition• Programme Manager

Post titles outside archaeology

• Project Officer no supervisory role, temporary post, generic skills• Project Managerchanging definition• Programme Manager

Step 2a: Do your post titles mean something?Step 2b: Do your post titles tell others what they

mean?Step 2c: Use your qualifications

Step 3: First impressions

The functions of fashion

• Aesthetics

• Practicalities

• Group membership

• Status

Clothes reflect who we are

1 2

3 4

Clothes tell others who we are

“We’re complete scruffbags but I don’t care. I’m not remotely interested in appearances, life’s too short for that” Mick Aston “An archaeological fashion show: how archaeologists dress and how they are portrayed in the

media”, Cornelius Holtorf, in T Clack and M Brittain 2007 Archaeology and the Media

Clothes tell others who we are

Step 3: What impression do you want to create?

Step 4: Back to schooldays

• New roles need new skills

• Invest in training

• Prioritise training needs

• CPD

Reasons not to train

“I’m too busy to go on a time management course”

“I can’t afford to go on a finance course”

“I can’t go on a leadership course when my team’s morale is so low”

Real reasons

• Insecurity

• Irrelevance

• Lack of corporate support

• Timetabling

• Culture

• Lack of interest

• Lack of information

PRINCE2

• PRojects IN Controlled Environments

• Developed for government IT projects

• Governance and tracking

• Prevents mission creep

• Specialised terminology

• Expensive training and accreditation

Microsoft Project• Software package, relatively cheap

• Best used for whole project cycle

• Best used for all project activities

• Not just a way of drawing Gantt charts

Getting Things Done

• Tips for time management

• Cheap

• Practical

• Easy to implement

• A bit smug

iGoogle

• Can add task manager, calendar, RSS feeds

• Integrates work

• Free

• Available remotely

• Clunky mail

Invest in tools not systems

• How much more would you achieve if you spent 50% less time dealing with emails?

• How often will you use the knowledge gained from a Palaeolithic rock art conference in Australia?

• Is your organisation ready to adopt PRINCE2 throughout?

Invest in tools not systems

• How much more would you achieve if you spent 50% less time dealing with emails?

• How often will you use the knowledge gained from a Palaeolithic rock art conference in Australia?

• Is your organisation ready to adopt PRINCE2 throughout?

Step 4a: Do you know everything already? If not, get some training.

Step 4b: Start with the tasks you spend the most time doing, or the ones you do worst

Step 5: talking to non-archaeologists

• Don’t expect them to share your viewpoint

• Don’t expect them to know your terminology

• Do tell them how it affects them

• Do give them bad news clearly

What the archaeologist saysWe’ll need to extend the trench to pick up the return of the medieval wall and then excavate the well which will contain good palaeo evidence.

What the developer hearsBlah blah blah delay blah blah blah overrun blah blah blah costs blah blah blah

Communication is a skill

• Consider your audience• Provide a clear message• Avoid wishful thinking• Don’t get bogged down in detail• Check they understand• Don’t be misled by politeness

Communication is a skill

• Consider your audience• Provide a clear message• Avoid wishful thinking• Don’t get bogged down in detail• Check they understand• Don’t be misled by politeness

Step 5: How well do you communicate?

Step 6: Cost and risk

• Who should be taking the risk?• Price for a completed project, or rate for

work done > Michael Heaton

• Archaeology is expensive, but have you hired a plumber recently?

• Don’t cut corners in pricing• For most clients, certainty is more

important than price• Overheads are expected

Post-project review: what went right / wrong?

Step 6: Are you costing projects realistically?

Who pays if you get things wrong?

Step 7: Don’t overperform the spec

“A minimum of 10% of the area will be excavated to the base of the archaeological deposits.”

Step 7: Don’t overperform the spec

“A minimum of 10% of the area will be excavated to the base of the archaeological deposits.”

So why do more?

IFA Standard and Guidancefor archaeological field evaluation

Knowing when to stop

• When you have met the quantification required

• When you have achieved the purpose of the work

• Overperforming costs somebody money

• It might well be you

Knowing when to stop

• When you have met the quantification required

• When you have achieved the purpose of the work

• Overperforming costs somebody money

• It might well be you

Step 7: How often do you do more work than necessary?

Step 8: archaeology excavation

• Analysis, reporting, archiving are part of the process• Uh-oh, we’ve got some finds

Unreported excavation isn’t archaeology, it is wilful destruction of the resource

but equally…Excavators should read past reports before digging

Step 8: archaeology excavation

• Analysis, reporting, archiving are part of the process• Uh-oh, we’ve got some finds

Unreported excavation isn’t archaeology, it is wilful destruction of the resource

but equally…Excavators should read past reports before digging

Step 8a: Do you plan for the whole project?Step 8b: Do you read enough before you dig?

Step 9: Take H&S seriously

and COSHH and the Working Time Directive

Step 9: Do you?

Step 10: Treat junior staff well

Source: Archaeology Labour Market Intelligence: Profiling the Profession 2002/03

Long-term issue: your experienced staff are your best assets

Travelling time, holidays, pension scheme, healthcare,

training.

Step 10: how are yours treated?

Source: IFA website

10 simple steps

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Moses receiving the Tablets

• Reflect on your identity

• Revise post titles• Think about image• Invest in tools• Communicate better

• Cost realistically • Know when to stop• Plan for the whole

project & read more• Take H&S seriously• Treat junior staff well

Action plan to transform your management practices

If you only do one thing

Explore iGoogle

mlocock@gmail.com

http://10simplesteps.blogspot.com

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