Ep. 04 — Putting Your People First
Your relationships at work can impact your productivity and job satisfaction.
In this episode, Amy reviews the Four P’s of the People First Framework, her framework for internal communications strategy. Then she talks about the first P—people. She discusses the significance of work relationships and gives key tips and strategies for how to improve them.
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00]
Hey, today on the podcast we are talking about you. Yes, you, the museum employee. We're also talking about how your coworkers can impact the work that you do and vice versa. And I'm giving you tips on how to work on those relationships so there is more productivity and less stress.
I want to make your life better. Let's get started.
Hello, and welcome to the “Love my Museum” podcast. I'm your host, Amy Kehs. I'm a brand strategist and communications expert for museums, and I'm so glad you're here. Last time on the podcast, we talked about the four things that you need to tend to, to take care of your museum. The Four P's actually: people, planning, process, and practice.
These Four P's are called the People First Framework.
[00:01:00]
It's an internal communication strategy that I built that lays a foundation for creating a workplace that people don't want to leave. We'll be talking about each of these Four P's on the upcoming episodes. This episode is the first one of those. Today we're talking about people. Now I have a confession to make: these first few episodes that I'm recording for the launch of the podcast, I've recorded out of order. This one was definitely the trickiest.
I think it was the trickiest to record because it was the culmination of everything that I've learned, observed and experienced over the last 30 years of working in museums. It is where I've seen the most possibility and success. It is also where I've seen clients that have the most struggles, pain-points, stresses, hurts, and honestly heartaches.
[00:02:00]
And so I think it's really important first to kind of give you my first experience with this, which really happened just as my career was starting.
I went to American University in Washington, DC, and my two best friends wanted to do a study abroad program in London, England. I honestly did not have study abroad on my radar screen, but I also didn't want to get left behind. And so I signed up to go along with them.
Right before it was time for us to go, I got a call from my advisor who said, “Amy, you need to pick a major before you can go.”
I was still undeclared at this point, and so in order for them to let me go to London for the next semester, I needed to declare a major. I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I had had a great first year-and-a-half of college. I loved living in Washington, DC.
[00:03:00]
I loved visiting the museums and visiting the monuments, but I had no idea how to incorporate that into a major or a career. One of my favorite classes that I took was called Washington DC: Life in a Monument. And it was so great. We learned the history and we visited museums and we visited different parts of the city. I loved it, but again, I didn't know how to make that into a career. And so I needed to come up with a major, and my roommate was a public communications major. And so I picked that—I copied.
And we get to London. And one thing I knew about our semester abroad, but I sort of had decided not to deal with it, was that one of the requirements was that we all did an internship. And then that internship would be based on your major.
[00:04:00]
So I had to come up with a communications internship, a PR internship for this newly chosen major. And I got an internship at a really well-known public relations firm at the time. It was an international firm. And they had an office then near Victoria Station. They had tourism and travel clients and this was 1993. Internships weren't really a big thing yet, especially in Europe. And so they didn't really know what to do with an intern, and I didn't really know what I was supposed to do with an internship either.
Neither of us knew what to do with each other. There were probably about 10 people who worked on this team and on the same floor. And they put me at a tiny desk in a corner and I pasted newspaper clippings for their client folders.
[00:05:00]
For the entire five months that I was there.
That was the only thing I did.
No one really talked to me. No one invited me to come with them to lunch when they went out to lunch. No one explained to me the importance of what I was doing or what they were working on.
I really loved, loved living in London, and I loved my semester abroad. But that internship was miserable. At lunchtime, I would walk over to Victoria Station, have lunch by myself, and I would treat myself to those little shampoo samples at the Body Shop just to try and cheer myself up. I didn't learn anything. And by the time I left to there, I still didn't understand what anyone did.
[00:06:00]
There was one person at the internship who never called me by my name. Actually, nobody really talked to me very much, but he called me The Colonist, which was kind of funny. I didn't learn. Anything. And I also felt really left out. It just… the whole thing was just kind of a waste of time.
I knew when I left London that the first thing I was going to do when I got back to school in the fall was change my major. I had decided that public relations just wasn't for me.
I had made an appointment with my advisor, but before I got that meeting, I was walking through our quad one day with my roommate and there was a volunteer fair. My roommate picked up an application to volunteer at the White House and I picked up an application to volunteer at the Smithsonian. It was for their behind-the-scenes volunteer program.
[00:07:00]
I went in to talk to the person who did the placement. And she said, “Oh, I see that you're a public relations major. I think we have some openings in some of the public affairs offices.”
And I said,” Oh, well actually I'm thinking of changing my major, so you don't have to worry about that. But I would love to work at the American History museum.”
She said, “Well, we actually don't have a spot open there, but we do have a spot open at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in their public affairs office.”
And I was a bit intimidated by the subject matter. I didn't really know anything about planes or space. And I told her that and she said, “Oh no, I think you're going to like this office a lot. You should just go check it out.”
So I went to meet with the people in the office. And it was like night and day from the London internship.
[00:08:00]
They were warm and welcoming and I could tell immediately that I was going to learn so much and that they were going to take really good care of me. And so of course I said yes. And on my first day there, they had an agenda. I went around and met with each person on that first day to talk to them about what they did and what their job was like. We had lunch together. I quickly knew that this was the place for me. And it was because of the people. It ended up being the most amazing experience ever, and it set me up for success.
It was the people. It was the people that made the difference from the beginning.
I was a volunteer for all of my junior and senior years of college.
[00:09:00]
And after I had that first great introduction to the public affairs office, I then started meeting the other people in the museum. And I watched and learned how my colleagues and the public affairs office worked to maintain relationships with the other departments. And I watched how they supported each other, and how they had amazing success with museum projects because everyone was doing their part.
Of course, there were still differences of opinions or personalities that didn't quite click, but for the most part, everyone was working towards that common goal and everyone was supporting each other and collaborating. By the time I graduated, I was offered a job in the public affairs office, and it was my first job out of college. I still keep in touch with the people that I worked with then.
[00:10:00]
They are my first work family. They're my biggest cheerleaders, and I know they are listening to this podcast episode and cheering the loudest. When I met them, I was their 20-year-old intern, and they have watched me grow up. Since I left that job and started my own business, I have seen clients over the last 24 years struggle with the relationships with their coworkers. And I've often thought about and wondered what made that environment so special. Now, while my Air and Space crew is my first work family, I have another work family, and they have taught me just as much about this.
Being an entrepreneur can be a bit lonely at times, and so I have a work family of other small business owners and entrepreneurs. Some of them in the group have also been my clients. We trade advice and we teach each other so much.
[00:11:00]
And in this group, I have quite a few friends who specialize in leadership, coaching, and also team building. And I've talked to them a lot about how museums, unlike businesses or corporations, don't have the luxury of calling in these specialists to help them, usually because of budget constraints and time. And I've watched how the breakdown in internal communications affects the outcomes and the output of the work that the museum is trying to do.
Once I started working on that public communications major in college, we had to take classes on everything from public relations writing to interpersonal communications. And since I graduated 30 years ago, I've continued to learn about how coworkers can strengthen those work relationships into something that helps them get work done more efficiently and with less stress and turmoil.
[00:12:00]
I would guess probably around 80% of delays, failures, and shortcomings that I've seen have been due to communication.
And as I've implemented some of the things that I've learned with my clients, it doesn't surprise me that I look back and see that many of these elements were in place at my first job. And I hope that some of these tips and tricks that I'm about to share, you can start implementing now.
Number One—Open up those lines of communication. Each person knows what they need to do to get their job done, but do your coworkers know? Do they know what you do? Make time to meet with the other departments and tell them what you do and how you could use their support.
[00:13:00]
I recently had a client and we met with a new employee in another department. We just wanted to kind of see how we could support her and also make sure she understood what our role was and what we were already working on and how we could help her. And during that meeting, she was pleasantly surprised to find out what we were already doing to support her and that there were things that she thought she needed to do herself that were instantly taken off her plate. And you could visibly see a weight lift.
Number Two is to be consistent. Once you have those lines of communication open, be consistent.
Let me give you another example. A lot of times in the communications office, we put together a media calendar. So every month we're putting a media calendar together of what's going on in the museum and sending it out to the media. Well, of course we need the information about what's going on in the museum. Lots of times these things are being planned, but people forget to tell us.
[00:14:00]
So one simple fix is to email your colleagues, to ask them what they're working on and what they have coming up. We'll talk more about this in the episode where we talk about processes and systems, but being consistent means that you stay top of mind. Eventually, they'll get into the habit, and it may become second nature. But everyone gets busy, and so if you commit to sending out that reminder, it will help them so much and it will help you.
Number Three. Okay, I don't know a nice way to say Number Three, so I'll just come out and say it. Stay in your lane. Know your expertise, know your coworkers’ expertise and do your part.
[00:15:00]
This is a huge pain point for all communications professionals, not just at museums. When you try to do someone else's job for them, it creates more work for them. In the case of communications, it can have a lasting effect on your brand, the museum's reputation with journalists.
As a communications person, I would never dream of designing an exhibit. Or calling a school to arrange a tour. Or putting on some white gloves and picking up an artifact. That's not my job. My job is communications. My job is coordinating the messaging for the museum, staying on brand, and reaching out to all of the different audiences that the museum has. Stay in your lane. If you want to offer help, do it in a respectful way.
[00:16:00]
And don't take it personally if they say, “No, thank you.” When you're in those meetings, opening up those lines of communication, be a good listener. Listen to what their job actually entails. And offer your support. But please don't try to do their job for them. It makes more work.
Okay. So what's a good starting point to get all of these things in motion? I would say, start with the list. List all of the people that you work with, how you work together. What are some of the things that you collaborate on? And think of the ways that they can help you. And what you might be able to do to support them.
And then next schedule a meeting. During that meeting, tell them what you do, how you work, and how they can support you. And ask them the same. How can you both make a positive impact and not a negative impact on the work that you both do?
[00:17:00]
Usually this will be something that happens between departments whether you have a department of one or many. If you work in a larger museum, this might be something that you need to do within your department as well.
Like my example, if there's a new employee, ask for a meeting, maybe even create a little information packet about your team to give them that tells who does what, contact information, et cetera. The key is to collaborate and to be a good listener. And find ways to work smarter and not harder.
I hope this episode has been helpful. Please check out the show notes and download my free PDF on my People First Framework!
Thanks so much and I'll see you next time.
Show Links
Download the People First Framework Guide for Museums: https://bit.ly/4PSguide_lovemymuseum
Download the free planning calendar here: https://bit.ly/2024museumcal
Want to learn more? Check out my website at: www.lovemymuseum.com
You can also join my email list here: https://bit.ly/LMMpodcast_signup
