SEPTEMBER 18, 2017
BY: EMILY WELSH
 |
| Hello! Source. |
Welcome to the first post in my journal for Museum Planning and Management, a course offered as part of the Master of Museum Studies program at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. I have decided to complete this assignment in an online blog where I can share my musings in a fun and creative way. In this journal I will share my learning from classes, thoughts on the topics, questions I am left with and insight I gain from a required reading. Feel free to leave me a question or remark in the comments! I would love to hear your insights on project management in the cultural sector!
Class Learning:
These first two classes have acted as a great introduction to the concepts, and specifically the definitions, surrounding museum planning and project management. To begin, it's best to define a project. Although many of the attributes we discussed in class are quite useful in clarifying what a project actually is, I think the simple three part definition will probably stick with me the most:
Project = objective + interrelated tasks + resources
Within 'interrelated tasks' I like to include the necessary component of time. Keep in mind a project is a temporary effort and has a start and end date. This is one of the attributes separating a project from a process (an activity that occurs day-to-day).
However this definition brings up the term 'objective' which likewise needs to be defined and separated from an 'outcome' and a 'output'. An objective accompanies a verb and is the purpose for which you are undertaking this project. An output (or deliverable) is the product of your project. Finally, an outcome is the value your outputs have to your stakeholders. Take for example an exhibition project for a temporary show on Canada's National Parks. My objective for the project would be to create a temporary exhibit. My output would be that exhibit. Some of my outcomes may be increasing visitor knowledge of Canada's National Parks, bringing in revenue for the museum, or inspiring visitors to explore the nature around them.
I think it was very important to learn these definitions as a class and have a clear sense of what the words mean. This exercise would be helpful in an institutional setting as well so as to ensure everyone on the project understands each other and what is required or hoped for with the project.
 |
| Define your terms! Then you and your colleagues can move forward on common ground. Source. |
Reading Insight:
The required reading from Week 2 I would like to highlight here is Robert LaMarre's "Effective Exhibtion Project Management." This is Chapter 22 of Barry Lord's and Maria Piacente's book, Manual of Museum Exhibitions.
This chapter gave me an excellent introduction to project management including discussions of the purpose of project management, attributes & roles of a project manager and three essential project management tools. I am sure I will come back to this chapter time and time again for guidance.
One of my favourite points by LaMarre was regarding the breakdown of the project into smaller and smaller groupings of tasks. Breaking a project down like this is necessary so that you can understand what needs to be completed, and in what order, to allow for the project to reach completion (on budget and on time). However as LaMarre rightly points out, a project manager, in a museum anyways, needs to know when to stop managing, otherwise the management process becomes overwhelming and cumbersome if you need to structure, oversee or receive reports on every little thing. I also think its an important skill to know when to stop managing because it allows the team members working on your project the room to do what they do best. These team members are experts in their roles and know what is needed of them. Micromanaging can only lead to disastrous results and lack of buy-in to your project.
In the class today the project breakdown was likened to Russian Stacking dolls. I thought this was a clever metaphor! Indeed, within a project their are groupings of tasks which can be broken down into smaller and smaller groups, just as a smaller doll sits within a larger one. I think then you could liken the project manager to the doll maker - when does the doll maker stop making smaller dolls?
 |
| Russian Stacking dolls. A clever way to visualize the breakdown of tasks that sit within a larger project. Source. |
Questions Remain:
In the final part of class we discussed the stages of a project life cycle: initiating, planning, performing and closing. A useful graph illustrated the effort required in each stage with the stages progressing over time. We looked at the type of tasks situated within each stage but due to time our discussion was mainly limited to general descriptions of tasks required for any project (e.g. initiating - create a project charter, planning - developing a baseline plan and what to put in it). I am looking forward to reading some of David Dean's Museum Exhibition: Theory and Practice to learn more of the specifics related to museum projects, specifically developing exhibitions. I also left the class wondering how much time these stages actually take. From what I understand so far, the planning stage would involve looking at your end date and working backwards to set goals for the other stages. But how much times do you give yourself for each stage? Do I need a month? Two months? How does this vary for a year vs. multi-year long project? What about different types of projects? I am sure much of this knowledge must come with practical experience but I also look forward to looking for information on how other professionals have tackled their projects and what they found they needed in terms of time. This information may come from Youtube videos of professionals speaking about their projects at conferences. Below is one I found quite interesting from today's class; we watched a portion of the discussion regarding the collections management move and inventorying project.
Until next week I will leave you with my favourite quote from LaMarre (2014, p. 382) regarding project management:
“It is never too late to begin, as the process itself adds only a layer of order to any stage and at all stages.”
Happy planning!
Resources:
LaMarre, R. (2014). Effective exhibition project management. In Lord, B. & M. Piacente (Eds.), Manual of museum exhibitions (pp. 379–391). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
No comments:
Post a Comment