International Training Programme 2021 – Week 11

Written by Claire Messenger, Manager, International Training Programme

For week 11 of our ITP e-learning 2021, this week’s session has focussed on museum management.

“A good manager is not a person who can do the work better than his men; he is a person who can get his men to do the work better than he can.” – Frederick W. Smith

Museum management is defined as the action of ensuring the running of the museum’s activities – from the administration and finances to the care of the institutions staff, visitors, and collections.

Good management has its origins in communication – communicating and sharing your goals to inspire and support your staff but you also need a good team around you and structures in place to take those goals, your mission, and successfully lead your institution.

In this week’s session we are looking at the governance structure at the British Museum; staff training and development; how the Museum raises its funds and how to manage projects.

Our first module looks at how the British Museum is governed though the Museum’s Board of Trustees and its Director who develop the strategy to ensure future success and to maintain and develop the Museum’s reputation as a leading cultural institution in the UK and abroad.

The second module considers the staff training and professional development requirements across the cultural sector. The role of the sector, worldwide, is of increasing importance economically, politically and socially so to ensure it maintains its position and relevance, it needs to develop, improve and evolve. The workforce is central to all aspects of the cultural heritage sector, and it must ensure that is it fully equipped in an ever-changing society to meet the new demands placed on it by the public it serves.

Module three looks at museum fundraising through private individuals and foundations, corporate sponsorship, membership, retail operations and International Engagement.

And our final module looks at project management and aims to demonstrate how project management systems can be practically applied in the cultural sector and will share some of the fundamental skills needed to successfully manage a project.

Finally, this week in our ‘in conversation’, I spoke to Maria Ragan, Director of St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery – who many of our global network will know from the Horniman Museum and Gardens and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology – about museum management and leadership.

We are now nearing the end of our ITP annual programme e-learning for 2021.  The weeks have flown by so quickly!!  We are looking forward to sharing our final week – Going digital – with you and then to working through the cohort 2021’s activities and evaluations to share more of their ideas, learning and feedback.