One doesn’t need to inquire too deeply before realizing many museum professionals are stretched thin, juggling multiple roles and navigating sometimes unforgiving institutional constraints. When management adds “solutions” to an already full plate, it can feel tone-deaf or even make things worse. So how can leadership alleviate the pressure when resources — both human and financial — are already maxed out? It’s a tough situation.
Piggybacking off the idea behind an article we shared in our Museum 411 newsletter last week (the Association for Cultural Enterprises explored ways to increase your institution’s income by making the most of what you have), the best course of action could be leveraging work that’s already happening to create change without adding extra burden. Let’s explore a few possible ways to do this:
1. Instead of creating new systems and processes from scratch, adapt successful models from other sectors. The tech industry has long relied on agile project management for development — could your museum try it? Consider experimenting with shorter, iterative planning cycles (e.g., six-month sprints). That way, teams don’t feel locked into rigid strategies, and you can pivot based on real-time realities rather than inaccurate assumptions.
Recommended read: We’re Trying Agile in Our Museum So You Don’t Have to (But You Should)
2. Conduct a “stop doing” audit — identify legacy processes, unnecessary meetings, etc. that no longer serve their purpose. Identify which tasks are simple but time consuming. This will help you understand your team’s day-to-day workload. Once you’ve identified bloat and bandwidth, look into delegation (or re-delegation). Could interns or volunteers take on some digital content creation, freeing up others for more strategic tasks? Could a board member with fundraising expertise lead a grant-writing initiative? Remember, burnout can stem not just from too much work, but from work that feels redundant and inefficient.
3. Leadership needs to set the tone by normalizing boundaries. You should publicly acknowledge limits, set realistic expectations for audience engagement, recognize that not every project needs to serve all stakeholders equally. You know what it looks like, but we sometimes forget to explicitly communicate these kind of boundaries. You might also identify and encourage minimum viable initiatives, where programs are launched in phases rather than as polished, labor-intensive productions. This type of rollout can lighten the load.
4. Make it a priority to infuse learning directly into the workflow. If growth opportunities only happen after hours or as a “bonus” to daily work, your team will never have the bandwidth to invest in them — it becomes just one more burden. Here are some simple (and free) ideas:
- One staff meeting per quarter might be dedicated to peer-led knowledge sharing.
- Incorporate cross-training into your daily operations by pairing staff from different departments on projects.
- Use “work swaps” where staff can shadow another team for a few hours, gaining fresh perspectives without additional obligations.
5. One of the biggest energy drains in museums is the relentless pursuit of perfection, that pressure for every exhibition, every program, every email campaign to be flawless before it sees the light of day. Think about “good enough” standards and clearly define what quality means for your team. You might find that not every initiative needs the same level of refinement and could be tackled a test and learn approach. What about timeboxing? That’s a project management technique in which you assign a set amount of time to a task (either a literal time limit or something like two rounds of revisions, then launch).
We understand many museums are in survival mode these days, and that no one has the luxury of sweeping overhauls. But if things are getting dire and pay raises aren’t an option, you may be able to alleviate the burdens a bit by reallocating energy in small, meaningful ways.
Recommended further reading:
Combating Burnout in the Museum Sector
Why Do US Museum Workers Want To Quit?
