Core Documents

The structure of the organization relies on the people and providing those people with guidance is the epitome of the administrator’s role.  For a museum, the organization can clearly articulate these values through its core documents. The mission and vision, a strategic plan, an ethics code, a collections plan, and an emergency response plan are the five core documents that should be entrenched in every aspect of the museum’s activities and serve as the pillars supporting the entire organization. Together, they provide a rigid central core for the organization.  The mission sets the course for progress and guides the activities of the museum.  The vision lays out where that course is designed to go.  The strategic plan details how to operate within the mission and vision. The ethics code maintains trust and transparency.   The collections plan keeps a museum on tract and away from becoming a horder that cannot maintain its overgrown collection.  Finally, the emergency plan attempts to resolve a wide range of potential issues before they are time sensitive.  For maximum impact and the most refined product available to the public, the message of the core documents should be part of every department’s efforts, involved in every conversation, and regularly updated.  It is a part of every solicitation to donors, every proposal to grant makers, and simplified in every brief “elevator speech.”

The ability of these core documents to provide strength is only as good as the leadership entrusted to abide by them.  Countless seasoned museum professionals can testify to the reality of Murphy’s Laws in the museum environment.   Case studies in literature may seem unfathomable and mildly entertaining, but the sentiments will not be the same when you are neck deep in the middle of a case study.  It is inevitable.  With so many cogs required to make a museum operable, the opportunities abound for a failure. Board members go astray, donors want control, employees lose direction, and the perceptions of the public can change overnight.  In any of these cases, a strong mission and supporting documents will not always avert a crisis but should help resolve issues in a manner that prioritizes the organization over any individual. It is not always the fun solution, or the easiest, but in the long run the core documents will provide the right solutions