Hist 6125 Week 2 Reflection

In short, a strategic plan is a roadmap that provides the museum with a direction, improves performance, and allows a museum to adapt to changes both to community response and legal policies. This roadmap should be well planned out, involve all stakeholders, and align with the museum’s mission. Typically speaking, a strategic plan is seen as a living document. There should be some flexibility and adaptability to the plan as the museum grows and the statement of purpose expands. 

The role of strategic planning is to provide management the guidance needed to align activities and department goals with the museum’s overall purpose. There are many aspects to a strategic plan, including the museum’s long-term goals, budgeting, community response, identifying risks, mitigating and taking ownership of risks, SWOT analysis, and goal analysis. It is equally important to management to be able to track their progress as their team moves through the roadmap. Therefore, establishing clear goals and measurements for achieving those goals is needed in the plan.

Additionally, the strategic plan does not happen overnight. It can take months to develop because the museum is forced to reckon with challenging questions such as “Who do we think we are?” and “Who does the community think we are” (Walhimer, 41-42). If the answer to those two questions is not in alignment, the museum will find itself with the precarious task of establishing its vision and mission statements. Establishing a plan that fully supports its identity and role in the community is necessary.

There are a ton of strategic planning models. Deciding on which one to use is a matter of what is best for one’s current culture. It is not easy to decide on one process, and the type of model used may need to be adjusted to fit the needs of the museum and its unique circumstances. The Strategic Planning Model provided by Martha Morris in her book, Managing People and Projects in Museums, is an excellent foundational outline for a strategic plan. Morris states that the “phases of planning start with environmental analysis and move through establishing the museum’s mission and vision, setting broad goals and specific objectives, assessing needed resources, implementation of projects, and evaluation of success in meeting the mission” (Morris, 10). 

I currently do not work in a museum setting. I work in telecommunications for a company that has embraced Agile. In Agile planning is multi-level that breaks down action items into products that teams can deliver incrementally. These levels are; portfolio planning, product planning, release planning, sprint planning, and daily planning. Long-term goals are set at the portfolio level, and products are planned with stakeholders. A vision is created at the product level, with a high-level product backlog that provides starting points and stakeholder visions. Additionally, a product roadmap is created. 

Customer value, quality, budget, and timelines are established during release planning. Sprint Planning happens when each new sprint starts. Sprint cycles can vary as well, but we go with three-week sprints. Every three weeks, we meet to determine specific backlog items that we will work on to meet the overall goals. Additionally, we meet daily to discuss our accomplishments and what our plan is for the current day. We also use this as an opportunity to discuss any impediments we are experiencing.  

Agile provides a more granular approach to a strategic plan that may not be suited for everyone or every situation. However, I have enjoyed my experience working within an Agile environment. I am also excited to learn about other frameworks in the museum studies program.

Works Cited:

Morris, Martha. Managing People and Projects in Museums: Strategies that Work. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.

Walhimer, Mark. Museums 101. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.