Open Forum

How do your museums address internal communication? What systems do you use to communicate your daily / weekly events to your staff as well all staff bulletins? Do any worthwhile solutions interface with Outlook? How do staff without desk computers see the information?  Who administers the system? Thanks in advance for your responses!

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Jill Featherstone
Director of Education
Des Moines Art Center - Edmundson Art Foundation
Des Moines IA
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We have a staff WIKI for general updates including event schedules, HR policy changes etc.  It is effective and all staff seem to check it regularly. All management staff have access to it and are responsible for updating. Our Finance VP is the one who provides general administration of the system and handles renewal. We also have daily announcements which are used for weather, schedule changes and staffing. As an outdoor museum, these daily announcements are crucial. These are made by the MOD of the day. 

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Judy Downs
Living History Farms
Urbandale IA

Original Message:
Sent: 06-27-2016 06:10 PM
From: Jill Featherstone
Subject: Internal Communication

How do your museums address internal communication? What systems do you use to communicate your daily / weekly events to your staff as well all staff bulletins? Do any worthwhile solutions interface with Outlook? How do staff without desk computers see the information?  Who administers the system? Thanks in advance for your responses!

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Jill Featherstone
Director of Education
Des Moines Art Center - Edmundson Art Foundation
Des Moines IA
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Our primary channel for communication is Outlook.  We use a master calendar to track daily and monthly events and activities and our docents have their own calendar for tours that is maintained by our educational department.  Our security staff utilize a physical oversized bulletin board they check daily for schedules, policy changes, daily events, etc.

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Dani Ferguson
Visitor Services Manager
McNay Art Museum
San Antonio TX

Original Message:
Sent: 06-27-2016 06:10 PM
From: Jill Featherstone
Subject: Internal Communication

How do your museums address internal communication? What systems do you use to communicate your daily / weekly events to your staff as well all staff bulletins? Do any worthwhile solutions interface with Outlook? How do staff without desk computers see the information?  Who administers the system? Thanks in advance for your responses!

------------------------------
Jill Featherstone
Director of Education
Des Moines Art Center - Edmundson Art Foundation
Des Moines IA
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Hi Jill,

Have you looked at Trello and Slack? We use Trello for managing boards of lists and tasks, assignments and events. We use Slack for instant messaging and collaboration via channels. Both integrate well with each other, and other solutions like our calendars. They make for less time spent on email and both are available on apps for the employee's own mobile device as well as desktop use. 

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Angie Judge
CEO @ Dexibit

Original Message:
Sent: 06-27-2016 06:10 PM
From: Jill Featherstone
Subject: Internal Communication

How do your museums address internal communication? What systems do you use to communicate your daily / weekly events to your staff as well all staff bulletins? Do any worthwhile solutions interface with Outlook? How do staff without desk computers see the information?  Who administers the system? Thanks in advance for your responses!

------------------------------
Jill Featherstone
Director of Education
Des Moines Art Center - Edmundson Art Foundation
Des Moines IA
------------------------------

Hi Jill, 

I second @Angie's mention of Slack and Trello. I've found Slack to be very useful in the workplace setting, especially because of its accessibility across devices and platforms. It integrates with many other apps too. 

Trello I actually just use personally and love it - I wish we had that at my office! For another project management style platform of that kind, you may want to look at Asana too. 

Best, 

Emily

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Emily Miranker
Projects Coordinator
Museum of the City of New York
New York NY

Original Message:
Sent: 06-29-2016 06:35 AM
From: Angie Judge
Subject: Internal Communication

Hi Jill,

Have you looked at Trello and Slack? We use Trello for managing boards of lists and tasks, assignments and events. We use Slack for instant messaging and collaboration via channels. Both integrate well with each other, and other solutions like our calendars. They make for less time spent on email and both are available on apps for the employee's own mobile device as well as desktop use. 

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Angie Judge
CEO @ Dexibit

The most valuable, current and revealing system I use for keeping informed is to get out of my office daily and walk around the property and museum.  As Yogi Berra noted: "You can observe a lot just by watching."  All the IT stuff is nice and certainly has its place but it is a small and predictable resource for management and staff information and interaction.  Moreover, I don't trust it as it requires constant tending that may or may not be attended to regularly, accurately and comprehensively.  We can waste a huge amount of time endlessly fussing with whatever program we decide will make our job easier...and does not.  Accounting and financial reporting is another matter that definitely demands accurate and timely information systems but that is, for the most part, highly confidential and not subject to widespread staff observation.  Museums are run by people and one of the most important administrative jobs is to communicate face-to-face with staff, usually in a listening capacity.  Emails are terrific and I use them constantly during the day.  Occasionally I need to remind myself and others not to take up a huge amount of unproductive chatter time.   IT programs are handy but they do not substitute for the real work of being a productive - and interactive! - employee.      

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Steven Miller
Executive Director
Boscobel House and Gardens
Garrison NY

Original Message:
Sent: 06-29-2016 09:33 AM
From: Emily Miranker
Subject: Internal Communication

Hi Jill, 

I second @Angie's mention of Slack and Trello. I've found Slack to be very useful in the workplace setting, especially because of its accessibility across devices and platforms. It integrates with many other apps too. 

Trello I actually just use personally and love it - I wish we had that at my office! For another project management style platform of that kind, you may want to look at Asana too. 

Best, 

Emily

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Emily Miranker
Projects Coordinator
Museum of the City of New York
New York NY

Internal communication at my organization is handled in a variety of ways, including email, a quarterly update, and a twice-yearly in-person update from our executive director given multiple times and open to all employees and volunteers with information ranging from attendance and income to new intiatives. We also have an intranet website with information about employee comings and goings, job postings, training, upcoming events, and, because we're a state agency, state announcements.

We have bulletin boards in all break rooms, and important emails and announcements are posted there. There are computers in various locations that are accessible to all employees, even if an employee doesn't have an individual desk or computer.

Hope this helps.

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Martha Katz-Hyman
Curator
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation
Williamsburg VA

Original Message:
Sent: 06-27-2016 06:10 PM
From: Jill Featherstone
Subject: Internal Communication

How do your museums address internal communication? What systems do you use to communicate your daily / weekly events to your staff as well all staff bulletins? Do any worthwhile solutions interface with Outlook? How do staff without desk computers see the information?  Who administers the system? Thanks in advance for your responses!

------------------------------
Jill Featherstone
Director of Education
Des Moines Art Center - Edmundson Art Foundation
Des Moines IA
------------------------------

Thank you to everyone who offered suggestions regarding internal communications!

------------------------------
Jill Featherstone
Director of Education
Des Moines Art Center - Edmundson Art Foundation
Des Moines IA

Original Message:
Sent: 06-27-2016 06:10 PM
From: Jill Featherstone
Subject: Internal Communication

How do your museums address internal communication? What systems do you use to communicate your daily / weekly events to your staff as well all staff bulletins? Do any worthwhile solutions interface with Outlook? How do staff without desk computers see the information?  Who administers the system? Thanks in advance for your responses!

------------------------------
Jill Featherstone
Director of Education
Des Moines Art Center - Edmundson Art Foundation
Des Moines IA
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