MUSM7032

Museum and Gallery Administration

Week 3

DATE TIME TOPIC CONTENT READINGS Week 4 24th Oct

9-30am-12-30pm

Employer perspectives on Museums & Galleries

Decision-making Communication Including Guest Lecturer: Dawn Casey, Director Powerhouse Museum

12-30-1-30pm LUNCH

1-30pm- 4-30pm

Employee perspectives on Museums & Galleries

Team-working Performance Management Professional Development

People management

Employer perspectives on Museums &

Galleries

• Staff are a resource• Staff are allocated,

managed, and led

Employee perspectives on

Museums & Galleries

• Staff are people• People who have

aspirations, ambitions, and want to belong

People management

• People skills are all about working in the gap between those two perspectives

People Skills for managers

• Listening• Empathetic• Creates safe

environment• Builds trust• Sets standards• Encourages

autonomy• Gives feedback

• Recognises achievements

• Delegating• Coaching• Influencing• Facilitating• Role Model

Common issues in Museums & Galleries

• Reliance on hierarchy• Lack of contact/visibility• Specialist backgrounds• Office politics• Perception that managing is only about tasks and

delivery • Perception that managing people is easy, or

‘common sense’, and that everyone is the same• Lack of training • Lack of self-awareness

Integrity

• Defined as honesty, trustworthiness

• Key characteristic, without that can be no trust in working relationship

• Needs to be demonstrated as judged on behaviour

• agreed standards eg - Code of Conduct

Opportunities to demonstrate integrity

Two examples:

• Decision-making

• Communication

Problem-solving - in an ideal world

1. Clarify problem

2. Identify desired outcome

3. Workshop ideas

4. Choose between options

5. Implementation plan

6. Test it

7. Communicate it

8. Do it!

Making good decisions

• Wide range of information

• Get different opinions

• Shape environment to avoid bias

• Avoid procrastination

• Explain reasoning

• Follow through consistently

Communication

• Is about both sending and receiving information

• Can be verbal, written, non-verbal

• Can be perceived very differently depending on the receiver

Suggestions to improve

• Be honest • Use compelling narratives• Consider the content and the process• Consider receivers’ learning styles• Consider the environment• Check understanding regularly• Anticipate questions• Don’t avoid difficult issues• If you don’t know the answer, tell them when you will• Expect people to look for inconsistencies and hidden

agendas.

Leadership in Museums and Galleries

• Curator• Marketer• Fund-raiser• Teacher• Public-speaker• Visionary• Deliverer

• Strategist• Budgeter• Mentor• Lobbyist• Public Relations• Motivator• Administrator• Advocate

Integrity/Political awareness

No Integrity/

High Political awareness

Integrity/

High Political awareness

No Integrity/

Low Political awareness

Integrity/

Low Political awareness

Integrity/Political awareness

Fox

(Clever)

Owl

(Wise)

Donkey

(Inept)

Sheep

(Innocent)

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• Self-awareness

• Recognising difference in others

MBTI basics

Where do you prefer to focus your attention - or get your energy?

Extraversion - Introversion

How do you prefer to take in information?

Sensing - Intuition

How do you make decisions?

Thinking - Feeling

How do you deal with the outer world?

Judging - Perceiving

MBTI - finding out your preferences

E I

S N

T F

J P

ISTJLife’s natural organisers

ISFJCommitted to getting the job done

INFJAn inspiring leader and follower

INTJLife’s independent thinkers

ISTPJust do it

ISFPActions speak louder than words

INFPMaking life kinder and gentler

INTPLife’s problem solvers

ESTPMaking the most of the moment

ESFPLet’s make work fun

ENFPPeople are the product

ENTPProgress is the product

ESTJLife’s natural administrators

ESFJEveryone’s trusted friend

ENFJSmooth talking persuaders

ENTJLife’s natural leaders

Team working

• Your experience?

• Good

• Bad

Lencioni - 5 Dysfunctions of a Team

1. Absence of Trust

2. Fear of Conflict

3. Lack of Commitment

4. Avoidance of Accountability

5. Inattention to Results

Lee - Conflict in Exhibition Teams

• Uncertainty and conflict characteristics of team work in other multidisciplinary teams

• Applies also to Museum context• Related to different communities of

practice• Need to cultivate the exhibition team as

a new community of practice

Performance Management

• Should be linked to strategic and departmental plans

• Reviews and looks ahead

• When things are going well....

• When things aren’t going so well...

Professional Development

• Recruitment, be aware of trends and techniques

• Balance specialisms and expertise with general people, money and project skills

• Develop self-awareness, and work on your weaknesses

• Invite feedback• Become an effective team worker• Look outward, and keep up with latest ideas