I started doing my bit today!

[Sam Elliott]

Seems simple, but a good reminder!

I feel like I have read a 1001 blogs and tweets about the how the comprehensive spending review is going
to affect us as a sector. It seems that in general this is how people feel:

• We can’t stop the cuts now. We can try and make them work
• We should have been letting our audience know what we do for them
• We need to change how we engage with our audiences and partners
• Some people will not want to work as a team so we may have to makes some changes as individuals.

So where does this blog come into it? Well it’s really important that we use this time to create a
culture of change in our organisation through its workforce. It’s our
opportunity to make a difference in the small amount of time we have. It’s also
an opportunity to show your employers the skills that you have that are not
listed on your job description and how it is vital to utilise them for
survival. It could be the start of something great……………

So here are some tips to get you started. Feel free to add your own in the comments

The museum workforce needs lots of different people with different skills working in it. It’s highly
unlikely that we are going to be recruiting them in the near future. Why don’t
we become them? Find yourself a mentor in another sector and shadow them. If
your organisation can’t afford to send you on a fundraising course, find a
charity that exceeds at fundraising and absorb their knowledge and use it in
your own organisation for the benefit of the service. Embrace this opportunity
to add new skills to your own CV. Share your skills with others. Become the
museum professional of the future.

If you have worked with partners such as the NHS, the Prison Service or other directorates in the local
authority such as Children’s Services, convince them to repay all the hard work
you have done by shouting your virtues in the direction of the people that
should know about it. We talk our partnerships up to our funders and to the
rest of the sector, now is the time for them to realise what we do for them in
real terms. Give them the material to work with. That is how a true partnership
works. Both ways.

We are all going to feel uncertain about the stability of our jobs over the next year. It might feel
like its better to keep your head down and keep quiet and hope that the axe
does not fall. Start talking to the people who are making the decisions. We
work with the audience we serve, we know what they value the most; tell the
people who need to know constructively what parts of the service are integral
to maintaining that connection with our audience, and more importantly how we
attract new audiences. Be brave but be clear and have the evidence ready to
back you up. Remember it can be lonely at the top; our superiors want to hear
that we have changed peoples lives, helped them get a job or made them visitors
feel special by simply talking to them. If we don’t say it they don’t know it!

Start planning to show people how we think (not know) that we
affect lives. See if they agree. Listen to them even if they don’t think we
have done anything good for them, chances are if they don’t feel the benefit
there isn’t one. It obvious the systems we are using now don’t work, don’t be
afraid to scrap methods that don’t work just because it’s ‘the way we do it’.
Evaluation is worthless if you don’t act on it. Make this planning the core of
what you do as a service and that everyone in your organisation has a voice. It
is everyone’s responsibility to make sure we meet the needs of our existing and
future audiences.

I’m going to do my bit. Are you?

[Rachel Jeffcoat]

Start planning to show people how we think (not know) that we
affect lives. See if they agree. Listen to them even if they don’t think we
have done anything good for them, chances are if they don’t feel the benefit
there isn’t one.

I really like this point Sam. I worry that we're at risk of alienating people by continually stating that the arts are vital and life-changing. Don't get me wrong, I entirely believe that the arts are vitally important, and change lives - but not for everybody. We've had our say, now let's stop and listen to people on the other side of the fence. There are people out there who don't feel that the arts are relevant to them - and why should they, then, want scarce resources going towards them? If people aren't interested, it's imperative that we find out why, find out where our shortcomings are, and make ourselves relevant. It's the only way forward.

[Sam Elliott]

Thanks Rachel

I agree. I was just speaking to my sister about this earlier today. She has never been to a museum. I suggested that she visits the museum where I work with her children because we have lots of free half term activities on during half term. She dismissed the idea and said she is thinking of visiting the new Tutankhamun exhibition at the Museum of Museums space at the Trafford Centre. I tried to explain about the objects not being 'real' and asked why she would pay when she could see the real thing for free. She doesn't care. They have marketed well to her. They have made it accessible to her. She feels comfortable visiting. I got a little bit angry about this, but when I sat back and thought about it I just realised that they had done a better job than us of attracting people who have not visited a museum before.

If the arts can change lives. I have witnessed that. My sister does not want her life changing, she just wants to feel comfortable taking her kids out. We are going wrong somewhere.