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The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) recently announced that the Association of Midwest Museums (AMM) is one of 18 institutions to receive a National Leadership Grants for Museums award in 2024. The grant award of $102,282 will support the expansion of on-demand training offerings on the cross-regional Museum Learning Hub through the creation of workshops and resources focused on developing frontline and middle management staff.
This initiative - Workplace Transformation Through Management Training - is the result of collective reflection and member input on post-pandemic museum values, practices, and needs during AMM’s 2023 Essential Questions Program Series. One priority that emerged in this process was a need for training and resources that will help museums as they seek to establish a work culture that is equitable, psychologically safe, prioritizes employee well-being, makes space for risk-taking and creativity, and doesn’t stigmatize mistakes.
While organizational change may be envisioned at the top of an institution’s hierarchy, implementation often falls on the shoulders of frontline and middle managers and their teams. Managers who may have been appointed to their roles with limited experience managing people are faced with more complex workloads as they attempt to sustain operations while also playing an active role in change efforts. As these managers navigate new supervisory responsibilities and balance it with their own workloads, they struggle to make space for reflection and feedback, to envision and implement change, and to think strategically about their own departments’ needs. Furthermore, if their organization’s financial resources are limited, so too are their options for seeking support or professional development outside of the organization.
The Workplace Transformation Through Management Training Initiative will build the capacity of frontline and middle managers through the creation of approximately 24 training sessions/workshops organized into six online training modules for publication on the Museum Learning HubⓇ, along with supplementary toolkits. These free online tools will develop soft skills, such as emotional intelligence, as well as business and operational acumen to help managers become more effective in their day-to-day work. AMM will work collaboratively with a team of expert consultant advisors to determine the focus of each online learning module and—with input from a focus group of managers from small to midsize museums in the Midwest, the AMM Board, and our regional association partners—recruit instructors with subject matter expertise to develop and teach the workshops. The rollout of the new resources on the Museum Learning HubⓇ is expected to take place over the course of 2026.
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