Ep. 06 — Processes Create Peace
Museum employees find themselves being reactive instead of being able to be proactive in their work. You are reacting to the next phone call or question or external email or request. At the end of the day, you think, "I didn't get anything done that I had to do today."
In this episode, Amy talks about process and how creating processes can set you up to be proactive instead of reactive at your museum job.
Show Links
Resources:
Loom: https://www.loom.com/
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Want to learn more?
Download the People First Framework Guide for Museums: https://bit.ly/4PSguide_lovemymuseum
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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00]
Museum employees find themselves being reactive instead of being able to be proactive in their work. We are reacting to the next phone call or question or external email or request. And at the end of the day, you think, “I didn't get anything done that I want to do or that I had to do." Well, we are talking about process and how creating processes can set you up to be proactive instead of reactive. Let's get started.
Welcome to the "Love my Museum" podcast. I'm your host Amy Kehs. If you're new here, I love museums. I'm a brand strategist and communications expert, and I've been working in museums for over 30 years. Today, we're talking about creating processes. Depending on what your job is at a museum, this might be something that you're already doing, but even if you are, I think you'll get a lot out of what I'm talking about today.
[00:01:00]
The fact is, we need a game plan for making our workplace somewhere that adds to our life instead of steals from it. If you've been listening, you know that we've been talking about the People First Framework and that I created it because of some things that are happening in museums nationwide. These are things that I saw my own clients struggling with and that are also in new studies and reports by organizations that look at museums. If you would like to learn more about this, check out Episode 3.
The People First Framework is an internal communications strategy for your museum. It includes four P's: People, Planning, Process and Practice. And these four P's are pillars that will transform your internal communications so that your museum is not only more productive, but also a place that your employees love.
[00:02:00]
It's all about creating open communication, mutual respect and teamwork. Think of it as our secret sauce for a happier museum life.
On the last two episodes, we talked about the first two P's: People and Planning. Episode 4 was all about the People pillar, how the relationships and respect that you cultivate among your coworkers matters, how it can impact the work that you do, and how we should all be working towards the same goal—getting people to walk through your museum's doors. On the last episode, we talked about the second P—Planning, and how planning together at your museum will be a game changer. If you make sure that everyone is following that same roadmap, it really makes a difference.
[00:03:00]
Today we're talking about the third P—Process. Like the title of the episode says, processes create peace. Process creates ease and it takes some decision fatigue out of your day-to-day work. Now the definition of process is "the systematic series of steps or actions taken to achieve specific objectives." As I said in the introduction, a process can help you be proactive instead of being reactive. A lot of times we're responding to the next phone call or request from a coworker and those things can derail the things that you actually had on your to-do list, and the next thing you know, the day or the week or the month is over and you haven't gotten anything done on your list.
[00:04:00]
So in this pillar, in the Process pillar, we are going to take the plan that you created from your planning workshop. You've taken that plan and you've broken it down for yourself or your team, if you have one, and you know what your part of that plan is. There will probably be things on there that you have to repeat or do consistently. Even the act of looking back at the plan and checking in with it is a process that you'll be repeating.
Today, we're going to talk about how you create a process so that those things stay a priority by creating a reliable system, consistent routines that bring clarity and help you navigate through challenges or busy times with confidence, knowing that you've got things under control.
[00:05:00]
The most well-known of all of these is the Standard Operating Procedure or S O P.
Now I will be honest, before 2020, I had kind of heard of an SOP, but I thought of them more in terms of technical jobs, something in computers or technology or maybe even security. I hadn't really thought of how they would relate to me or my business, and some of the work that I did on my own business during the pandemic was around creating a better way to work. In addition to creating a better way to work in my own business, I also started using processes for my clients.
If processes are the systematic series of actions, SOP's are what provide the documentation and outline how these tasks should be used consistently.
[00:06:00]
You can make an SOP for anything. If you have something that you do over and over again, create an SOP for it. Especially if you're the only one that knows how to do it, and it's living in your brain. There are a lot of benefits to creating these, but two reasons why you want to have them are, number one—so that you aren't the only one to be able to do it. Imagine being able to go on vacation and instead of having to get a week's worth of work done before you go or after your time off, you could just give an SOP to a coworker and ask them to do it while you're away.
Another great reason to have an SOP is if you have tasks that you do infrequently and then when you go back to do it, you have to almost relearn it again.
[00:07:00]
And you're thinking, "How did I do that?" If you have an SOP created, then you can help out your future self.
So, where do you even start?
When we're used to just doing what needs to be done, sometimes identifying even what we would create an SOP for is the hardest part. So here's some tips to get started. First, identify your recurring tasks. Take a look at your own work. What do you do over and over again? Make a list of those things. If this list is even something that you're stumped on, do a time audit. SOP's also don't need to be lengthy. You can create an SOP that's three steps or 50 steps.
They should include everything from customer service procedures, product development, financial reporting, employee onboarding, anything that you have to do more than once.
[00:08:00]
Now take one of those things from that list, maybe you pick the simplest one, and write down the steps that you do for that task. I recommend creating a video using something like Loom to record your computer screen and show the process. Keep going down the list and creating those SOP's. And remember to also organize the SOP's and tell people where they are. Now once you have an SOP, give it to somebody to look at. Does it make sense to them? Do they have questions? Can you make it clearer? As you are sharing what you're doing, you might find that some of your tasks overlap and that there might be some ways to collaborate with your colleagues. This goes back to the People in our four P's. Organize those SOP's and tell people where they are.
[00:09:00]
Create an SOP hub and be sure to include a timeline in that hub. Now you might be thinking, "Amy, this is a no brainer. Of course we already do this." Now there are definitely some departments and jobs in a museum that are better at this, but have you shared with other departments and coworkers? Have you looked to see if there's any ways that you can streamline and make both of your jobs easier?
Last but not least, schedule time to evaluate how everything is working. Don't be afraid to change things if they aren't working out. Now the standard operating procedure might be the queen of Processes but there are some other things that you could do to create a process a nd make your job easier. One is templates. I use templates for content creation, like each podcast episode.
[00:10:00]
Having a template means that you're not staring at a blank screen, which can be so daunting when you start your work, so it gives you some structure. Another idea is automations and tools that help you create a process. Are there tools that you can use to help with something that you do frequently? For example, I use Flodesk to send out my weekly email to my favorite people on my email list. That tool creates a template. It organizes my list for me. It sets up a workflow for me and I can automate a lot of what I do. I can plan ahead as much as I want and schedule those emails. If you do send out emails frequently and you aren't using a tool like Flodesk, I highly recommend it.
[00:11:00]
I actually have a link for 50% off your first year, and I'll leave that in the show notes.
So we have templates, automations, and tools. My next tip is to repurpose. Now this can be repurposing the work that you are doing. It could be with your team if you have one, or even repurposing across your museum. Setting up a process to repurpose the work that you're doing not only saves time, but it can also be a good public relations strategy, no matter what department you're in. It creates clarity and consistency with the words that you're using in the work that you do. While you're creating these SOP's, there might be some challenges.
There may be resistance to change.
[00:12:00]
The temptation to overcomplicate. And also, it might be really hard to be patient for the period of trial and error that could be needed. Try to address these at the beginning and communicate that this is going to be part of the process as well. But if you stick with it, these new tools will bring calm.
Next time we'll be talking about the last P in the People First framework—Practice. If all the work that you just did with People, Planning and Process just sits in a virtual folder somewhere, that's going to do you no good. So we'll talk about this next time. I'll also include in the show notes a link so that you can download my People First Framework guide. It's a free PDF, so grab a copy of that and let me know what you think. That's all for now.
[00:13:00]
Thank you so much for tuning in to the "Love my Museum" podcast. If you loved this podcast episode, it would mean so much to me if you could do just three things. Number one, hit follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. Number two, while you're there, and if you loved it, please leave a review.
And number three, share it with a museum friend. Because the more people that are listening, learning, and collaborating, the better. Thanks so much. You're the best. I'll see you next time.
