FACTSHEET 1: DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PLAN

Transcription

1 FACTSHEET 1: DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PLAN THIS FACTSHEET RELATES TO QUESTION 2.3 OF THE MSPI (MUSEUM STANDARDS PROGRAMME FOR IRELAND) 1. Itroductio Writig a Strategic Maagemet Pla ca provide a museum with a opportuity to take stock of its positio ad reflect o its fudametal aspiratios ad purpose. Approached positively, it ca be a rewardig ad eergisig experiece for all staff. A Strategic Maagemet Pla (SMP) is oe of the miimum stadards required as part of a applicatio for the Heritage Coucil s Accreditatio Scheme. It is a medium to log-term pla, usually coverig a three to five year period. A SMP will focus o the museum as whole ad ot o idividual sectios withi the museum. It will also cosider exteral factors that may ifluece proposals. It is broadly composed of Strategic Aims ad Objectives, with associated timeframes ad resource implicatios. It is a overarchig documet that sets dow aspiratios, priorities, ad cost implicatios. I geeral, Strategic Maagemet Plas record past achievemets ad provide a clear statemet of purpose. They are primarily plaig documets, but ca also be used as advocacy documets i which a museum makes a case for the expasio of existig programmes. 2. Process Strategic Maagemet Plas are best developed through a iteral process of discussio ad review ivolvig maagemet, staff, ad goverors. Museums must also cosult exterally with stakeholders such as fudig bodies, key idividuals ad orgaisatios ad, if at all possible, with the broader commuity. Iterally, coduct a SWOT (Stregths, Weakesses, Opportuities, ad Threats) Aalysis. This ca help defie the curret positio ad ope up opportuities for discussio. The time required for this process will vary depedig o the size of the museum. I a small museum it ca be completed withi two to three moths. Larger museums with differet departmets will require loger. 3. Compoets of a Strategic Maagemet Pla A Strategic Maagemet Pla ormally cosists of a itroductio followed by a series of tables. Although presetatio ad termiology will differ, geerally a SMP icludes the followig: i. Missio Statemet ii. Overview iii. Situatio Review iv. Fiacial Projectios v. Strategic Aims or Goals vi. Objectives vii. Performace Idicators viii. Review Mechaism MUSEUM STANDARDS PROGRAMME FOR IRELAND i) Missio Statemet All Strategic Maagemet Plas take the Missio Statemet of the museum as their startig poit. This 1

2 cotais a clear statemet of purpose for the museum ad must be developed iterally through discussio, led by the head of the museum. It must also relate to ay overarchig Missio Statemet of a paret body. A Missio Statemet must state the purpose, values, goals, fuctios, ad stakeholders of the museum. Specific Strategic Aims ad Objectives flow from this iitial statemet. I support of the Missio Statemet, it is recommeded that museums develop a Statemet of Values: matters that are importat to it ad which drive its work. These will iclude values like: preservig a cultural iheritace; passig kowledge o to ew geeratios; ecouragig cultural diversity; iculcatig civic pride; ad cotributig to the commuity or ecoomic developmet. The values of each museum will reflect its particular origis ad will vary accordigly. ii) Overview The Overview is best preseted i arrative form. It states the cotext i which the SMP will be implemeted over the plaig period. A two or three page arrative (depedig o the size of the museum) must iclude the followig iformatio: A geeral descriptio of the museum A ote o the services that are provided to users A short pe-picture of the museum buildigs The size ad rage of collectios held The umbers ad fuctios of staff The form of goverace withi which the museum fuctios The ormal sources of operatioal fudig Summary of icome ad expediture figures A ote of ay curret capital works A descriptio of stakeholders The aual visitor umbers It is also recommeded that a aual Icome ad Expediture Summary Statemet, with further detail o levels of spedig ad icome, is icluded as a Appedix. iii) Situatio Review The Situatio Review takes a critical look at the museum s curret positio as part of the developmet of the Strategic Maagemet Pla. All museums, whether or ot curretly operatig withi a SMP, must review their achievemets to date ad idetify obstacles to achievemet. They must also review progress agaist Strategic Aims, however iformally stated. The Situatio Review ca also be used to examie the chagig exteral eviromet ad the ifluece it has had up this poit, sometimes referred to as a Evirometal Sca. A SMP that also fuctios as a advocacy documet should use the Situatio Review to defie key issues that will affect the future of the museum. These ca the be addressed through the Strategic Aims ad Objectives. The museum s Situatio Review should take accout of estimated icome ad expediture durig the lifetime of the Strategic Pla ad should iclude fiacial projectios as a Appedix. See also Stadard 2.6 ad Factsheet 2: Fiacial iv) Strategic Aims Strategic Aims should be defied as clearly as possible. It is best to cocetrate o a small umber of realistic ad achievable aims. These may relate to key programmes ad activities, icludig core fuctios such as 2

3 collectios care. For a small museum six aims may be appropriate, but the umber will vary betwee museums. A Strategic Maagemet Pla is ot a short-term documet. It is desiged to focus o key issues ad policies that will cocer the museum over a medium to log-term period. Strategic Aims (or goals) are ot usually achievable withi a oe-year plaig period but should geerally be achievable withi the overall timeframe of the SMP. Strategic Aims ca be stated i arrative ad list form. It is recommeded that each Strategic Aim is stated at the head of a table that tabulates all the associated Objectives. Table 1 shows how each Aim ca be preseted with all the associated Objectives. The timescale for each Objective is idicated i colums. Iclude a geeral statemet about resources withi the itroductory arrative to the Strategic Aims ad Objectives. These statemets will reflect the idividual positio of the museum. For example: This Strategic Maagemet Pla is for five-year period. It is based o certai assumptios ad caot be achieved without additioal fudig. The achievemet of the performace targets also depeds o such resources. The SMP also assumes cotiued aual fudig from Whichever Coucil. May of the activities listed below ca ad will happe usig the persoel ad fiace curretly available to the museum. However, the SMP also covers problems ad opportuities that caot be addressed or realised without the ivestmet of extra resources. iv) Objectives Objectives are short-term proposals that flow from each Strategic Aim. Objectives should usually be achievable withi oe year of busiess although some may take a umber of years to achieve, depedig o idividual circumstaces. All Objectives must be as specific as possible. I compilig a list, cocetrate o what the museum eeds to achieve ad ca realistically achieve o a year-by-year basis. The liked relatioship betwee Strategic Aims ad Objectives is best summarised with a hypothetical example: Strategic Aim 1: To icrease visitor umbers to the Museum by 5%. I support of this aim the museum sets a umber of objectives. Objective 1: To publish ew promotioal literature (this could be a oe-year objective) Objective 2: To target the schools market with special learig resources (this could be repeated for a umber of years i order to break up the delivery of the objective ito maageable time periods). Each Objective should give the timeframe for delivery. If a Objective requires additioal resources to achieve it, these must also be show (see Table 2). If a Objective ca be achieved withi your curret budget, there is o eed to show a figure i the resource colum. Where additioal fuds are eeded, for example to fud a ew educatio outreach programme, you must research this cost ad show that figure agaist that particular Objective. v) Performace Idicators A Strategic Maagemet Pla should measure the museum s corporate performace. It does ot measure idividual performace. Performace idicators should be few ad realistic. For example, a SMP that 3

4 uses six Strategic Aims should establish at least oe idicator for each aim. Some museums use up to te idicators, some aual, ad some to recur throughout the SMP period. Performace idicators or measures may be qualitative or quatitative: Qualitative idicators could iclude the improvemet of displays or a ehaced coservatio provisio Quatitative idicators could iclude visitor ad user umbers, percetage reductios i documetatio backlogs, or the realisatio o time of a major objective vi) Review Mechaism I order to moitor progress ad idetify problems durig the Pla period, it is recommeded that the Strategic Maagemet Pla, as a whole, be reviewed o a aual or semi-aual basis. The followig statemet may act as a guide: This is a xx-year Strategic Maagemet Pla which will be reviewed aually. Durig the year, key objectives that require iterim review will be the subject of a six-moth review. All reviews will take the form of meetigs betwee the curator ad the museum maagemet. Progress ad problems will be discussed agaist each objective, usig the SMP as a guide. Withi the time spa of the SMP, the museum will be workig to Aual Actio Plas that will break dow the objectives for the year ito a series of tasks ad date targets ad other sigificat factors. This Aual Actio Pla cotais its ow iteral review mechaisms. 4. Appedices It is recommeded that certai useful iformatio be attached as appedices to a Strategic Maagemet Pla. These should be few i umber. The followig should be cosidered: Aual Icome ad Expediture Summary Statemet Collectio ad Loa Policies Descriptio of cosultatio process for the SMP (if ay) A brief cotextual ote about Museum Accreditatio List of goverors, boards, committees ad staff ad Cotact iformatio Sigificat documets, such as a Developmet Pla 5. Writig Aual Actio Plas I additio to a Strategic Maagemet Pla applicats for Museum Accreditatio will be required to submit a Aual Actio Pla with three to five-year SMPs. A Aual Actio Pla is a separate documet which takes the objectives for oe year of the SMP ad defies associated tasks ad budgets for each Objective. Museums will be required to write a Aual Actio Pla for each year of the SMP, coverig the objectives to be addressed durig that year, but for accreditatio applicatio purposes a pla for the first year will suffice. The aual productio of a Aual Actio Pla ca be set dow withi the SMP as a Objective, recurrig each year. This would ormally be icluded i a Strategic Aim cocerig maagemet. A Aual Actio Pla is usually writte as a table. Iformatio should be preseted uder a series of colum headigs, usig short phrases, ot seteces. Withi the tabulated framework, persoel ad 4

5 fiacial resources should be assiged agaist the differet objectives. Geerally speakig, the colum headigs show below should be used. Tasks/ actios Tasks or actios required to achieve the objective Perso resposible The curator, coservator, etc, resposible for leadig or meetig the objective Targets Usually date target. This colum also allows you to idetify the tasks to be completed i ay oe year Other key players Idividuals i other departmets or i other orgaisatios whose ivolvemet is eeded Critical success factors Matters which will make or break the delivery of the objective, like the lauch of a govermet policy Resources Fuds eeded to complete the task or meet objective (extra to usual budget) Review of Objective The frequecy ad method of review SAMPLE TABLES: Table 1 Strategic Aim 1: To develop, maage ad care for the collectios of Whichever Museum Objectives 1. Cotiue to develop the collectios through appropriate acquisitio 2. Assess the extet of the backlog i documetatio 3. Prepare a pla to address the backlog i collectios documetatio 4. Review the performace of the computer documetatio system 5. Implemet the Documetatio Backlog Pla 6. Develop a maual for documetatio procedure 7. Write a Collectios Loa Policy 8. Write a Disposal Policy 9. Assess the feasibility of digitisig the photographic ad archive collectios 10. Prepare a Collectios Care Strategy 11. Develop a comprehesive museum Disaster Pla Resource 5

6 SAMPLE TABLES: Table 2 Strategic Aim 1: To develop, maage ad care for the collectios of Whichever Museum Objective 1: To cotiue to develop the collectios through appropriate acquisitio based o the Collectio Policy Task Resposibility (iteral) Target Other key players Critical Success Factors Resource Review Objective 2: To assess the extet of the backlog i documetatio ad prepare a pla to address backlog Task Resposibility (iteral) Target Other key players Critical Success Factors Resource Review