Getting the ball rolling

We’ve been studying the numbers to see how this regional model might map onto the resources available for the Future Leadership program.  We want to make sure we’re able to present events in enough locations to cover the country geographically while balancing the demands on our staff and resources – not to mention we have to get these events on the schedules of the faculty we work with, and we know their day jobs keep them pretty busy.

So far the option that fits the best is five or six full day events, each featuring one of our faculty.   Our hope is to deliver these events by the end of October, which is a pretty tight deadline for developing the content, managing all the logistics and getting butts in seats.  It’s clear that we need to engage partners to help make these events successful in that timeline.  Working with local partners can help reduce the lead up time by:

• Sharing with us the specific challenges they are hearing about from their local communities
• Helping us ensure  the content compliments existing programming in the area
• Connecting us to local networks to get the word out
• Assisting with event logistics such as securing a venue and coordinating with caterers

Next steps: select communities, identify partners and get the content going.  As we’ve all heard hundreds of times before: the best way to build an audience/community is to go to where the people are.  So, future executives, where are you?

Who’s got the control?

One of the big questions for us is figuring out the appropriate level of organization (employer) involvement or investment.  We know that potential participants are interested in having support from their organizations in their professional development, which can happen in a variety of forms:

• Monetary invest money in the form of sponsorship or tuition
• Involvement in decision about participation (nomination process)
• Providing participants with time “on the clock” to participate

It turns out this question leads us to two more  fundamental questions:

A few things to think about…

The more people toss around ideas about what could develop for the Future Leadership Program, the more it is clear that there is no single factor that is going to dominate the design process.  As we sort out our thoughts and the data from the survey, these are some of the questions bouncing around our office:

• What is the role of current/future employers in the process – who are we responsive to in determining the content?  Who is expected to make an investment and in what form? Who should make decisions about participation?
• What should the format be – it doesn’t seem feasible to do a large, multi-day event right now so what are the options?  Can people take the time and make the investment to travel?
• How do we prioritize the content areas that have been identified – should the focus be on hard skills (for example understanding financial management, effective use technology), soft skills (such as networking or effective team management) or both?  What are the most effective ways to develop or teach each? Can we make the content relevant for current roles and helpful for moving into executive roles?

Survey Results Part 2: Aspirations

The first part of our survey asked people about their aspirations and goals, and included questions about where they would like to be in five years, what type of professional development planning they undertook, and what detailed elements of professional development were most important to them.

“I would like to remain in the museum field. But I would like to be at a larger institution that is financially more stable and that has the staffing and collection to be more ambitious programmatically. My goals would be to make the museum’s collection more relevant to the communities and audiences we serve – to make art a greater part of our everyday lives.”

Survey Results Part 6: Barriers to Learning

There were three leading barriers to taking part in ongoing professional development and learning: competing demands on individual’s time, the challenge of balancing demands at work and at home, and cost. The time and financial investment required introduce a unique challenge for these professionals. Respondents felt that it was often difficult to assess whether an opportunity would be worth their time and money before taking part in the learning. Designing a solution to these barriers is essential if people are to commit to these programs over the longer term.