developing collections management skills
TRANSCRIPT
Collections Management Skills Workshop
28.05.2015
These slides are online…
www.slideshare.net/collectionstrust
Objectives for today
• Introduce you to the work of Collections Trust
• Explain the Collections Management Competency Framework
• Promote CPD & skills development in Collections Management
• Develop skills in advocating for Collections Management
The Collections Trust is...
...the professional association for people who work in
Collections Management
Collections Management is...
...the strategies, policies, processes and procedures relating to a collection’s
development, information, access and care
A professional association...
...an organisation (usually non-profit) that seeks to further the interests of a
profession, raise professional standards and promote the
public interest
Why we do what we do
• Collections have an unique power to connect, inspire and enlighten people. Everyone has an experience of an object which changed them, gave them new insight or helped them to understand the world better
• The better collections are managed, the more openly and proactively they are used, the more people feel entitled to have those experiences and benefit from them
• Great museum experiences are powered by great, well-managed collections.
Established 1977
• To promote the education of the public by the development of museums and similar organisations by all appropriate methods;
• To develop, promote, maintain and improve standards of collections and information management in museums, art galleries, heritage organisations and other collections institutions;
• To provide services and resources which improve the standards and
methods of collections management and use.
Not-for-profit
Our work
• 3 main activities, funded by Arts Council England:
• Standards• Workforce Development• Advocacy
Professional expertise
• Covering current best practices in:
– Museum & Archive Accreditation– Digitisation– Documentation– Copyright– Integrated Pest Management– Environmental Management & Control– Participation– Risk Management– Museum Storage– Insurance
Programmes for 2015
• Museum Storage
• Digital Asset Management
• Campaign for Good Curatorship
• Campaign for Collecting
Definitions & background
MUSEUM
PROFESSIONAL
LEGAL
The Collections Trust’s vision of Collections Management connects law, ethics, culture and daily practice to enable the museum to be open, professional, adaptable & accountable
Introducing Investors in Collections
Management
Investors in Collections Management
• Setting professional Collections Management in the context of a learning organisation
• Highlighting the commitment to ongoing continuous improvement through leadership, culture, standards and practice
• Articulating the central value of Collections Management in a well-run museum
• Providing a structure for professional development
• Developing tools and methods for advocacy
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
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Role of the model
• Investors in Collections promotes the idea of a museum as a learning organisation, committed to an ongoing cycle of review and continuous improvement
• It sets professional practice and standards in the context of a well-run organisation supported by skilled people and sufficient resources
• It is intended as a complement to the Museum Accreditation Scheme
Collections Management Competency Framework
Defining the skills and competencies of the
professional & volunteer collections management
workforce
Why a Competency Framework?
• As a professional association, we need to be able to:
– Provide a structure for developing Collections Management skills– Promote structured CPD for Collections Managers– Raise awareness of the value and impact of CM skills– Advocate for investment in CM competencies– Providing a structure to engage with partners
Related Frameworks
Related Frameworks
Related Frameworks
Competency Framework
Using the framework
• Giving you a structure to plan and advocate for your own development
• Informing the teaching and training of core collections management skills and competencies
• Promoting investment in CPD
• Raising awareness of the value and impact of CM skills on the wider delivery of museum services
• Advocating for investment in CM competencies
• Providing a structure to engage with other industry partners
Developing careers in CM
• Formal education
• Academic & vocational training
• Promoting Traineeships
• Developing Apprenticeships in Collections Management
• Promoting CPD & career development
• Integrating CPD & skills into leadership development
• Providing for continuity planning
Q&A/discussion
BREAK!
Introducing EU Coll Comp
CPD & Skills Planning for Natural History
About EU Coll Comp
• 3 year EU-funded project
• Project aims:
– To provide natural history museum staff across Europe with a common and multilingual set of competencies to guide their personal development and identify vocational and educational training needs
– To identify existing training opportunities and match these to competencies
– To identify gaps in training provision and develop a VET curriculum that provides a clear prospectus of competency linked training opportunities for staff an managers to use to attain competency for both their present and future jobs
‘VET’?
• Vocational Education and Training is education that prepares people for specific trades, crafts and careers
• ECVET (European Credit System for Vocational and Education and Training) is a system for assessing an individual’s learning outcomes and validating them in order to transfer credits from one qualification system to another
• Looking at the development, recognition and accreditation of practical & technical skills in Collections Management
• Considering the implementation of a ‘formal’/certified CPD path for Collections Management professionals
Planning your CPD
Planning for your CPD in Collections Management
What is CPD?
• ‘Continuing Professional Development (CPD)’ refers to the process of tracking and documenting the skills, competencies, knowledge and experience that you gain both formally and informally as you work, beyond any initial training. It's a record of what you experience, learn and then apply
How many of you have a CPD plan for your work with
collections?
Benefits of CPD – for you
• Build confidence and credibility; you can see your progression by tracking your learning
• Earn more by showcasing your achievements. A handy tool for appraisals
• Achieve your career goals by focussing on your training and development
• Cope positively with change by constantly updating your skill set
• Be more productive and efficient by reflecting on your learning and highlighting gaps in your knowledge and experience
Benefits for your employer/host
• Helps maximise staff potential by linking learning to actions and theory to practice
• Helps HR professionals to set SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound) objectives, for training activity to be more closely linked to business needs
• Promotes staff development. This leads to better staff morale and a motivated workforce and helps give a positive image/brand to organisations
• Adds value; reflecting it will help staff to consciously apply learning to their role and the organisation’s development
• A good tool to help employees focus their achievements throughout the year
The CPD cycle
Creating a CPD Plan
• Template CPD Plan developed as part of the Collections Management Traineeships
• 6 sections:
– Part 1: Reflecting on your current situation & role– Part 2: Sharing your long-term aspirations– Part 3: Setting the goals for your traineeship– Part 4: Defining the competencies you want to develop– Part 5: Developing your (draft) CPD Plan– Part 6: Reflecting again & sending yourself a message!
Reflect
• Often very difficult to make space for this!
• A process of reflection about your current work:
– Describe your current role/activities– Identify what you enjoy/value now– Identify what isn’t working so well– Identify your constraints (commitments, expectations)
• Intended to help you understand the things about your current role that you would like to change
Look ahead
• Thinking about where you would like to go in your work:
– Describe your ideal future role– Consider the qualities/features of that role– Consider how it is different from where you are today
• Intended to help you focus on the place you want to get to
Set goals
• Think about the skills you will need in order to secure your ideal future role:
– Write down 5 clear (SMART) goals for the next 12-18 months which will help you get to your future role
– Map your goals to specific competencies (ie. “I want to develop my subject expertise about my collections”)
• Intended to focus on the practical competencies you will develop under your CPD
Plan
• Create a detailed plan of action
Do and reflect
• Work with your line manager to implement your CPD plan
• Review and reflect on your progress periodically
• Maintain a CPD log
• Review the log, identify the skills and competencies you have developed & update your CPD plan
CPD Activities
Work-based Professional Secondments (internal & external)Special projectsShadowingContributing to planningLiaising with other organisations
Joining a professional body or organisationInvolvement with a regional network
Informal Formal Professional or vocational coursesAttending short courses, conferences, seminars and workshopsLecturingWriting or reviewing conference papersRunning or contributing to seminars, workshops or conferences
Reading and reviewing journals, books, newspapersUsing other learning material eg DVDs and podcastsUsing the internetNetworking via social mediaStudy visits
Becoming an advocate for Collections Management
Why advocate?
• Increased pressure on budgets
• Need to offset short-termism with long-term planning
• Moving Collections from ‘liability’ to ‘asset’
• Demonstrating how Collections Management enables the museum to be more flexible, resilient, open and participatory
• The professional skills required to balance access and preservation while maximising outcomes and impacts for museum visitors
Key advocacy skills
• The ‘elevator pitch’
• Showing off when required
• The offer and the ask
• Developing evidence
• Building influence
Elevator pitch
• When someone asks you “what is collections management and why should I pay for it?”, are you ready with your answer?
• If you find yourself in a lift with a Trustee, can you tell them what you can offer and what support you need to deliver it?
Showing off
• People respond to beautiful, unique things, interesting narratives and unusual experiences
• Can you put the collections to work in helping to show off to Councillors/funders/elected members?
• One of the best pieces of post-Election lobbying advice – “write to your local MP and invite them to come and see some art”
• Go for Awards! (hint: Collections Trust’s Collections Management Awards now open for nominations…)
• Working with management to position the collections (and their professional management) as part of the museum’s advocacy message
The offer & the ask
• People don’t often respond well to the direct request for funding or support
– Tell them a story about how amazing, unique and valuable your collections are and how they have helped engage the community (the offer), then;
– Let them know what you need and what they can do to help you
Developing evidence
• As a community, we sometimes find it very difficult to give simple answers to simple questions about our collections
• Developing qualitative and quantitative evidence helps ‘sell’ collections management as an added-value activity for museums
– Qualitative evidence includes testimonials, stories and case studies of how the collection has enabled the museum to reach its goals;
– Quantitative evidence helps people to understand, evaluate and plan to improve collections management work
Performance Indicators
http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/collections-skills/collections-management-performance-indicators
Implementing KPI
• Implementing Key Performance Indicators for your Collections Management helps:
– Inform your future planning and prioritisation
– Articulate improvement and achievements
– Communicate about the value & impact of Collections services
Building influence
• We need to raise our heads above the parapet and develop relationships with the people who can help us achieve our aims
• An increasing number of museums are developing advocacy materials, leaflets and exhibitions about collections development and care
• Holding behind-the-scenes tours for Directors, Trustees, local VIPs and the media helps raise the profile of the work
Keep in touch
• We would love you to become an active part of our network!
– Collections Management LinkedIn community (8,700 members)
– Share via hashtag #ctskills
– www.twitter.com/collectiontrust
– www.facebook.com/collectionstrust
– www.slideshare.net/collectionstrust