Seeing with a Consultant's Eye: Eight Keys to Moving Your Institution Ahead

One does not have to be a consultant to look at one's business with a consultant's eye. The following list of eight keys to success will help you look at your own place of work with a fresh perspective. 

1. Be a good observer. Above all, a good consultant will gain an overview of operations. From the way people interact to the arrangement of the furniture, everything that occurs and exists in a business can impact its effectiveness. Step back from day -to-day activities and just observe how things run with the procedures you have in place.

2. Understand the culture of the institution. One advantage an employee has over a consultant is usually an understanding of the culture from the get-go. A consultant must work to understand how departments function and staff get along before they can make many recommendations or they are liable to come up against unexpected resistance.  

3. Be flexible. Be open to change. If it is clear from observation that something isn't working, consider what changes may make things better. Base your ideas on education and advanced knowledge. Learn what other similar institutions do in similar situations. Educate yourself on particular areas of business through research, reading, networking and schooling. Something that may have worked for twenty years could now be tired. Stay abreast of new developments. Do not be tied to the idea that, "It has always been done this way and therefore that's the way it should remain."

4. Make a plan. Do not just change for the sake of change. Consider your options. Write them down. Think about what each change will do for your organization. Include a change's possible positive and negative outcomes. Align any plan you instill with the organization's mission. The more closely you align to an overall vision, the more likely your plan will succeed and help propel the institution. (If the organization does not have a mission, helping to create one must be your #1 goal.)

5. Consider contingencies in your plan. If one change turns out to be ineffectual, make sure you have ideas for backup. If plan a doesn't work, have ideas for plans b and c before you need to shift your focus. Waiting until you need a backup plan to create one can cause a loss in momentum and a sense of resignation in the face of failure.

6. Work with employees and do not rely solely on top down solutions. Employee buy-in is a big key to success. As you are planning, build relationships with workers. Seek ways to elicit their input when appropriate. Weigh their ideas with yours. Teach about your methods and reasons when necessary. ("Do this because I said so" is not a great method for building trust and propelling change.) Boost a sense of community by showing how change will benefit the health of the institution. Not everyone will be happy all the time, but showing that you are considering a big picture will benefit your steps toward change.

7. Be able to quantify your success. It is one thing to make changes and quite another to ensure that they are good changes. Success should be measurable in dollars, satisfaction, or efficiency.

8. Be honest with yourself. If something isn't working, put the breaks on. Perpetually re-evaluate your activities. Something that worked yesterday may not work today.

Change does not happen overnight. Yet, continually striving to change with the times and to make a fresh difference is important. If you give up striving, it is time to move on. If you run out of ideas for helping your institution grow and remain up-to-date, maybe it's time to bring in a consultant...

Mission Statements for Cultural Heritage Institutions

I collect mission statements like some people collect quotes. In an effort to convince cultural heritage professionals of the importance of having a mission statement, I discuss the topic in my new book. I state, "A mission statement is a declaration of purpose that explains the role of an organization and whom it serves. It is an important tool that formalizes and establishes a tone for the functioning of a repository." Those who operate their institutions without a mission statement or with a weak one leave the health of the organization in peril with a cloudy vision. A strong mission tells your audience the principles on which you base your existence, justifies your work to governing bodies, and invites users in to see what you do.

The core elements of the mission include the organization's purpose in terms of what it collects and the activities it conducts, the role the organization plays in the community and collecting world based on its defined purpose, and a definition of the audience the organization serves. I am sharing here some missions that have caught my eye over the years, but didn't make my publishing cut. Each can serve as a model for creating a mission that drives the archives.

1. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign University Archives mission: To select, preserve, and make accessible an authentic record of the programs, people, and operations of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the central administration of the University of Illinois, and to provide archival management for records of external organizations and documents of individuals in support of the administrative, teaching, research, and service interests of the University of Illinois.

This is clear, straight-forward, and representative of many University archives and special collections. It clearly acknowledges its separate purposes for collecting the institutional archives of the University and those records of institutions that support the University's broader education goals. The mission also ties itself to that of its larger institutional body, the university itself. Smaller organizations with archives often forgo a separate mission for collecting, feeling that the institution's larger mission gives the archives purpose. This kind of thinking is dangerous. When archivists assume that everyone knows they are working to support their governing body, they are often the first one's cut when money becomes a concern. A separate archives mission, such as the one above, makes our raison d'etre clear to everyone.

2. Huguenot Historical Society Archives: The mission of the Archives is to support the Huguenot Historical Society through collecting, preserving and making accessible, materials in all formats documenting the history of New Paltz, NY, particularly when such materials concern the Walloon origins of the early settlers, their migration patterns, and the development of their church. Most important, the Archives seeks to make available any and all information bearing on the historical and architectural interpretations of the stone house museums maintained by the Society. The Archives also serves as the Huguenot Historical Society's corporate archives, maintaining the Society's business records, publications and memorabilia. Lastly, the Archives seeks to promote the education of all aspects of Huguenot and Walloon history and to a lesser extent, local history.

I like how this mission defines its geographic region and then hones in on particular areas of interest. Like many historical society missions, this one is broad, allowing for the collection of virtually anything related to New Paltz. Such a mission, balancing a wide-ranging view with specificity, will allow the organization to create a collection development plan that zeroes in on the materials that suit their niche. The organization can also create an outreach planning and other materials that tie themselves to the elements outlined here. This kind of mission is a bit wordy, but I like the way that they make sure they cover everything without being excessively wordy. The thoughts they present here can be bulleted (that's how I reorganize a paragraph like this in my head when I read a mission statement) to make each statement more poignant.


3. Burlington Massachusetts Town Archives: The purpose of the archives and records management program is to preserve and protect the town's history and to enable the town to fulfill its legal records management responsibilities. The archives organizes, preserves and provides easy access to records in a variety of media; administers information resources; transfers inactive and permanent records to the Archives; and disposes of obsolete records that do not have long-term value (General bylaw 7.1)

Serving a specific legal role to care for town records, this mission is short and sweet. It defines the archives roles to organize, preserve, provide access, administer information, transfer inactive records and dispose of obsolete ones (records management). I think the disposal portion of the statement is unique to archives in general (though maybe not to municipalities) and probably helps stave off controversy about discarding materials. The statement's authority is given more weight by the notation that it is a general bylaw of the town and not "just" an archival mission statement. More towns need archives missions such as this that show the significance of maintaining administrative records with long term value and a town's cultural heritage.

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My book, Cultural Heritage Collaborators: A Manual for Community Documentation is now available in limited release. For more information see http://www.archivesinfo.com/culturalcollab.php. I will be posting excerpts and more information about it in this blog over the coming month for those who are interested. The book should be widely available in regular publication channels by August.