Project Management in GLAMs

| From June 2020 to July 2020, BPOC conducted an 18-question survey to assess project management practices within galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. Nearly 150 people who are currently or have recently worked in the field responded, and the results demonstrated that there’s not only a need but also a growing interest in project management tools and processes within these organizations.

Almost a quarter of survey participants said that someone in their organization had been certified in project management, and, even more telling, over three-quarters of respondents indicated that they’d either had no individual project management courses or only a general introduction course. Additionally, two-thirds of the participants said they did not have professional development opportunities within their organization.

BPOC has embedded project management workflows and frameworks in our consulting processes as well as the digital strategy frameworks and toolkits we provide our clients. As part of these engagements, we have often recommended that institutions either invest in their current staff and provide project management training for them, or hire a certified project manager to support their new strategic processes. It is essential for cultural institutions to dedicate time and resources to either developing or retaining skilled team members in order to ensure streamlined business operations.

Survey participants were asked to identify barriers to adopting project management methods. Collectively, participants felt they didn’t have the time to invest in learning a new way of working, that they didn’t have the support of leadership or management to do so, and that implementing new tools would cost too much or be unsustainable. This list of barriers highlights the importance of having a cohesive and strategic approach to business operations and workflows that includes built-in project management tools.

These barriers are where BPOC excels and strives to break down during its engagements. We work with institutions to evaluate their current processes across all departments, inventory digital tools, review new tools to ensure they complement and integrate with the institution’s existing technical infrastructure, and provide benchmarking with recommendations for how the institution can improve. If additional investment in new tools is required, these new tools will help institutions save time and money to have project management capabilities that integrate with their existing communication, collaboration, and file storage processes.