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In response to the challenges and changes related to COVID-19, museum closures, and, now, museum reopenings, one of the greatest challenges membership and visitor relations leaders have faced is preparing their teams for the new normal. From reorganizing teams to meet new demands, training frontline staff, and preparing staff for new protocols onsite, managing a team amidst a pandemic is no small task!

Join Dan Sullivan (Head of Growth and Partnerships @ Cuseum), Usha Subramanian (Senior Director of Membership and Visitor Services @ Field Museum), Jill Hammons, Director of Membership @ USS Midway Museum), and Kelsey Enderle (Director of Guest Services @ Cincinnati Museum Center) as they talk through successes, challenges, and strategies for preparing your team for this “new normal.” This webinar will be particularly focused on membership and visitor services.

View the full recording here.

Here are the main takeaways.

Adjust Training and Team Organization Based on Your Needs

Museums and cultural institutions have faced months of physical closures, resulting in limited budgets and resources for their organizations. As a result, staff members have been required to take a multitude of roles and responsibilities to maximize their efficiency. For Usha Subramanian at the Field Museum, she knew her revenue was going to be down and started looking for areas for improvement. First, they combined all the call centers that had previously serviced their various departments. They also ultimately decided to merge their membership and visitor services as one entity.

“What we are working on now is the whole anchoring construct that from here on, we’re going to be focused on building a loyalty based community more than a one time ticket based transactional community. So that has been the focus for our entire team.”
– Usha Subramanian

She mentioned that the members and donors have been critical in keeping them afloat, and having one entity allows them to focus on converting every visitor to a member.

Kelsey Enderle at the Cincinnati Museum Center also has been cross-training her staff to take on a variety of roles.

“With this reorganization, it's the same team, but those who were in the call center are now learning how to use the box office and vice versa. I’m in a really robust way that they’re scheduled for those experiences.”
– Kelsey Enderle

With limited staff, Jill Hammons at the USS Midway Museum has been also cross training her staff and mentioned that all her staff has been pitching in to get the job done. With your organization, look for areas in training and operations that can be managed more effectively.

Create a Community Within Your Staff

With the switch to working remotely, the panelists shared how they were able to stay connected with their staff. Jill was able to stay engaged with her staff by keeping in contact through text, email, or phone calls everyday and through weekly Zoom meetings. Kelsey also utilized weekly meetings while working remotely and ever since her museum’s reopening, they’ve been also incorporating daily morning meetings in a socially distanced way.

“Rather than meeting in a small conference room, we’re meeting in our large lobby area. They have really helped keep our staff up to date as things are always changing in this world and especially now. I think when you can, you should meet with your team and then once you’re back in the building, making sure you’re establishing those routines again to keep in touch.”
– Kelsey Enderle

Due to slower operations, this is a great time to provide additional resources and support to your staff. Your organization can look for ways to assist your employees with their needs and encourage them to take the time to reset for the upcoming reopenings. Jill wanted to bring a little levity and positivity to her staff while being realistic about the uncertainties of the situation.

“They turned to us to find out what’s going on and I did encourage staff to use this time while we’re a little slower to take some online classes. In fact, one of my team members took a high level online class to be professionally certified in Raiser’s Edge.”
– Jill Hammons

Kelsey also encouraged her staff to take this time to pursue other methods of professional development, such as educational webinars or training. Her organization was also able to partner with University of Cincinnati to develop a mindfulness webinars series. They dove into topics like the science and benefits of mindfulness and how to incorporate it into their daily lives.

Invest in Training for Front-Line Staff

As reopenings move forward, guests may be more anxious, less patient, and easily frustrated when visiting the museum. Staff will have to be well prepared to act in moments of tension and de-escalate any of these situations. Training may include developing customer service skills to remind guests to properly wear their masks and guiding guests when their favorite part of the museum is closed. To train staff, Kelsey has been working to prepare her team, knowing that it is a time of high anxiety for everyone.

“I think the de escalation training portion was a very important part of our reopening strategy. During the time of really high emotions and it’s helped prepare a team for whatever they may encounter while working at the museum, especially right now.”
– Kelsey Enderle

She also is making sure that she is giving more flexibility to her staff and providing them with more rounds of breaks to give them a chance to decompress from stressful situations. Additionally, Usha mentioned that all procedures will have to be reevaluated and redefined and it is imperative to thoroughly train staff for any type of situation.

“There were temperature checks and hand sanitizing. How are our surfaces being sanitized? We went from having a museum where you could enter through four different entrances to one entrance. How do you manage one entrance and make sure you communicate all of that?”
– Usha Subramanian

There are going to be additional procedures that may be difficult to take into account when first reopening to guests; however remember that this is a learning process and improvements can be made along the way!

As both the organization and members are excited for future reopenings, there are many areas to consider to prepare your team. By rethinking how you organize teams, investing in staff training, and creating a strong community within your organization, you can take important steps to adapt to the age of COVID-19.