Museums reopening after Coronavirus: Advice from one who’s already done it
Museums all over the world had to quickly react to the Coronavirus pandemic and without much notice close their doors, cut off almost all revenue sources, and make a shift to digital engagement.
Months into the start of this pandemic and we are just now seeing museums around the globe slowly starting to take the necessary steps to reopen their doors and once again become a community resource. In a webinar attended the last week of May 2020, with attendees from around the United States, the host asked how many had reopened already and only 14% of the participants confirmed that their museum was back up and running.
Whether already open, or gearing up for reopening, all museums around the world are similarly in unknown territory. All museums are people-serving in some form or another, regardless of their mission, collection, or ownership. And thus, all museums are met with this new unique challenge of finding ways to continue to serve our community, while also instituting new (and somewhat cumbersome) rules for public safety and assurance.
As a Manager of Visitor Services for a large historic house museum and gardens in Miami, FL, I had to go through this process, and am still going through it now. We opened our doors to the public nearly three weeks ago and since then have gone through now two stages of reopening, with at least another one (or more) anticipated. Every museum’s mission, leadership, and priorities are different, but yet we are also all united together in this unique and challenging experience that we are in. So I want to share some advice based on my experience with reopening and shifting museum operations to the new norm.
· Attend webinars. Hopefully you and other staff from your museum have been taking advantage of the plethora of free webinars that popped up during the pandemic. There is a wide range of topics being offered, and a wide scope of their usefulness, but usually at least one good idea will come out of it. Cuseum, AAM (American Alliance of Museums), ticketing systems (Gateway, Altru, Tesitura), all offer helpful webinars on reopening ideas and resources and often you don’t need to even use their product to attend their webinars. Also, if you are not connected locally to other organizations, it’s extremely useful to build your network with other cultural organizations that work within the same demographics and tourist industry. If there isn’t a local VEX (Visitor Experience Group) in your area, consider starting one.
· Learn your county & city emergency order mandates. This is extremely important. There should be several people within your organization that are following the local government’s guidance and regulations for reopening. These can be confusing, and constantly changing, so it’s important that there are several people kept up to date on them (including someone that manages front-line operations).
· Communicate with the public about your plans once you know them. Let the public know when you plan to reopen and what changes you plan to make. Be as transparent as possible about safety measures you plan to enforce (sanitizing, masks, social distancing, etc.)
· Train your staff about the changes they will see upon reopening. Keep them informed of the local mandates and what you plan to do to keep them and visitors safe & healthy. It is a good idea to have a customer service refresher training. The world looks different from how it looked just 3 months ago. Anxieties are high and you should prepare your staff for dealing with a wide spectrum of visitor reactions and emotions. Some visitors will be too nervous to visit right away, while others may be resistant to following any new restrictions (mask wearing- good luck!) Train your staff on the best way for handling these new situations.
· Develop new signage & way-finding. While anyone working in a public facing role knows that visitors ignore signs, it is still important to have them. At the very least, it is a reference point for staff when needed. You can also be creative and fun with how you present the new rules. On May 20th the National Cowboy Museum posted a picture of their sign that will greet returning visitors, using a creative way to connect the new rules with the mission of the museum.
· Have a written reopening plan. The AAM website has several great examples of cultural organization’s reopening plans that you can use for guidance. As mentioned above, with the local mandates in constant flux, it is useful to have one shared document that staff making reopening preparations can reference.
· Think outside the box. Use this new uncharted territory as an opportunity to think outside the box for your institution. We’ve seen several examples of exemplary out of the box thinking come out of this pandemic in zoos that went to a drive-thru experience, zoos that created virtual meetings with the animals, museums that handed their social media accounts to security guards, art museums that created social media ‘art mirrors life’ competitions, etc. So if front-line staff have to wear masks then have them wear pins with their smiling faces. On social distancing stickers add a fun-fact about your museum. Move your audio tour behind a virtual pay wall site like Thinkific.com so visitors can use their own device. Get creative!
