Managing Change in Museums and Galleries: A Practical Guide - Paperback

by Piotr Bienkowski (Author), Hilary McGowan (Author)

Managing Change in Museums and Galleries is the first practical book to provide guidance on how to deal with organisational change in museums, galleries or heritage organisations.

Written by two authors who have direct experience of leading change, running change programmes and advising on change in more than 250 museums and galleries, the book identifies the various problems, issues and challenges that any professional in a museum or heritage organisation is likely to encounter and provides advice on how to deal with them. The book's six parts treat change holistically, and help the reader understand what change entails, prepare for it and lead it, ensure that everyone in the museum is involved, understand what can go wrong and evaluate and learn from it. Each chapter is devoted to a specific challenge that is often encountered during change and is extensively cross-referenced to other relevant chapters. Including a list of helpful resources and suggestions of useful publications for further reading, this book is a unique guide to change in museums.

Managing Change in Museums and Galleries is an essential resource for all museum practitioners - whether they be the people in museums and galleries who are leading change, or those affected by change as a leader, a member of staff or a volunteer.

Author Biography

Piotr Bienkowski has over 35 years of experience in the museum, arts, heritage and culture sector. As Director of the Our Museum programme, he oversaw one of the most extensive programmes of organisational change in the sector in recent times, working with nine museums across the UK to embed community engagement in their organisations. He has also been Deputy and Acting Director of Manchester Museum, and Professor of Archaeology and Museology at the University of Manchester, and he now advises a wide range of museums, galleries and heritage organisations as a consultant.

Hilary McGowan works with museums, galleries and heritage organisations to help them change, so they can thrive in the future. Her distinguished track record includes successfully leading major museums through change in York, Exeter and Bristol, increasing visitor numbers and boosting income. Hilary established her own business 25 years ago and has worked with over 200 different museums throughout the UK. As the principal museum Trustee at Bletchley Park for ten years, she played a leading role in the transformation of the Museum from mere survival to curatorial and commercial prosperity.