REPORT ON THE 2002 CHALMERS CONFERENCE

Creative Management, Creative Solutions

Attendance

76 people were involved with the conference:
64 participants
12 st aff ( CCA and CHRC)

Background

In 2000, the CCA initiated the Chalmers Conferences, conceived primarily as a series of annual fora for arts service organizations. The format to date has been that each year an issue identified by the ASOs themselves would be discussed to the mutual benefit of those attending. The principal funding for the Chalmers Conferences comes from the proceeds of a small endowment fund and the one day discussions are provided free of charge to CCA members. A small fee is charged to non-members and, this year, cultural managers under 30 were charged a reduced rate of $50.

The first two Chalmers Conferences were held in November 2000 and 2001, the timing linked to one of the CCA 's biannual Board meetings. In 2001, the conference was further linked to the reinstatement of CCA 's national policy conferences, the first since 1994 when budget cutbacks made it impossible to continue. It was agreed that the 2002 gathering be timed to coincide with the CCA 's June Board meeting. This meant a period of only 6 months between conferences, an extremely short period in terms of conference planning, and one which also resulted in far fewer monies from the endowment fund being available.

Therefore, CCA sought further partners for the 2002 Chalmers Conference. We are indebted to the generosity of the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Famiy Foundation for its financial support this year.

Succession planning for, and sustainability of, cultural organizations are the mandate of the SSBFF, which administers the Cultural Management Development program. The second partner to come on board was the Cultural Human Resources Council, initially under the direction of Jean-Philippe Tabet and subsequently with interim Executive Director Susan Annis. Owing to the intense sectoral interest in the topic, CCA opened registration to a broader group of organizations and individuals, for a more diverse dialogue.

"Succession planning" for cultural managers was identified by past year's participants as the lead issue for consideration for the 2002 conference, a topic which coincided with the undertaking by CCA of: Creative Management in the Arts and Heritage: Sustaining and Renewing Professional Management for the 21st Century . A steering committee ( Peter Feldman , CAPACOA; Richard Hornsby, New Brunswick Arts Board and CHRC Board; Jane Needles, CCA Board; Trudy Schroeder, CCA Board and Winnipeg Folk Festival; Susan Stevenson, PWAC; and Jean-Philippe Tabet/Susan Annis, CHRC) was formed and guided the process of defining the content for the day via two conference call meetings.

The Creative Management project, under the expert guidance of arts consultant Jocelyn Harvey, has created a definite buzz in the sector. An initial roundtable meeting of 25 individuals was held on March 1-2, focussing on a preliminary discussion paper produced by the consultant. This meeting was followed by numerous consultations, by telephone, email, and in person, with arts and heritage personnel across the country.

The intent from the outset was for this year's Chalmers Conference to act as a focus group for the Creative Management project, a unique opportunity for arts and cultural managers to get together to discuss proposed solutions and to help chart the course for the next phase of the project.

Creative Management, Creative Solutions

All participants at this year's conference were provided in advance with a copy of the discussion paper which outlined the background to the project, the challenges currently being faced by managers in the sector, and a preliminary list of potential solutions. The paper was universally well received by participants (and others who had accessed the paper through the CCA 's website), with many of them expressing their thanks to the consultant for having described the situation so graphically and clearly. (One participant described it as a " brilliant and well-focussed snapshot ".)

The one day meeting was divided into two parts, with the morning setting out some management situations (hearing from young managers and learning about innovative HR programmes in the arts and heritage sub-sectors), and the af ternoon session focussing specifically on the discussion paper.

Morning session

"Managing professionals is like herding cats."

That is how Frances Westley, the designer, developer and currently Executive Director of the McGill McConnell Masters of Management Program for Leaders in the National Voluntary Sector, described putting together a team of academics to deliver this innovative programme.

Aimed at managers heading up national voluntary organizations (" a unique and demanding vocation "), this programme was customized to both the expectations of the J W McConnell Family Foundation, the major funder, and the needs of the voluntary sector participants, who must be sponsored by a national non-profit organization; graduates obtained a Masters in Public Administration degree upon completion. The course was divided into five modules spread out over an 18 month period, focussing on the following transformation mindsets:

• reflective (through leadership)
• analytic (through organization)
• global (through context)
• collaborative (through partnerships)
• catalytic (through action)

To date, 120 people have passed through the programme, which is now coming to a close. The course was always intended to be a project rather than an enduring programme, as its goals were social (highly experimental for a university to undertake) and therefore, if the course were successful, those very societal goals would change as the programme progressed; a further recustomization would be required in order for it to continue beyond the allotted period. In addition, the intensive and innovative nature of the course work would be hard to maintain at the same pitch over a longer period as entropy would set in - something the founders and funders did not want to see happen.

"Creating a space for the human spirit to expand and thrive."

During a module which took place in India, representatives of that country's voluntary organizations expressed surprise that culture and the arts did not play a larger role in Canada's voluntary organizations' work. Apparently, in India , even small voluntary organizations include a theatre company.

A very small under-funded community organization explained to the Canadian students that the presence of artists helps them deliver their messages while reminding people of the value of the arts. This is how they expressed it: "How do you show people that if they manage to get out of poverty, there's something worth living for?"

Should the McGill McConnell course return for a further limited run, it would be interesting to ensure that sort of commitment be central to what it means to lead any voluntary organization in Canada. Other things which might be done differently include:

• building in more technical learning (the existing course focussed more on leadership than management; little on the basics of accounting, finance, etc)
• increasing use of artistic media to teach about leadership (dance, visual arts and drama were all used to great effect and a further partnership with the cultural sector should be developed)

"I was flying by the seat of my pants."

Linda Balduzzi was one of only three cultural sector managers who took advantage of the programme. (Part of the difficulty in finding participants from the cultural sector seems to have been in the title of the course: cultural workers do not see themselves as being part of the voluntary sector.) She described her introduction to the course as "terrifying", with alien vocabulary such as complexity theory, systems approach, and 360o assessment being bandied about. She only started to relax when a story-telling component was introduced - an instance of using an artistic medium to teach leadership skills.

Two quotes from the discussion paper had particular resonance for her:

"The general manager or executive director or general director position, as it has evolved over the last 10 years, is simply no longer do-able. No one person, no matter how gifted and educated, can do it all."

"By being really successful - doing a lot well with almost no resources - all we do is raise the bar. Everyone comes to expect this level of achievement all the time - our boards, the funders, the artists. If we can't repeat it, we're considered failures."

In her position as Executive Director of the Ottawa Arts Court Foundation, Ottawa 's municipal centre for the performing, visual, literary and media arts, Linda had begun to suffer from burnout and administrative fatigue. Participation in the McGill McConnell programme, which she described as " revolutionary ", provided her with concrete management tools to bring back to the organization, and a sense of renewed energy.

Coming from a municipally-based group, Linda required the endorsement of a national organization in her application (in this case, the CCA ); she urged future course designers to remember that " everyone starts at a local level, and programmes and progress should not be limited to those who function at the national level; it is the local experiences that feed the national ".

She added other suggestions: be open to the notion of continual learning, and new perspectives and ideas; understand people do not all learn in similar ways; ensure the programme includes participation from a cross-section of the whole voluntary sector as the exchange of ideas is valuable.

"The role that leaders in this field play in mentoring the next generation is key."

These were the words of Hamal Doctor, a young entrepreneurial cultural manager who has found wonderful mentors at each step of his varied career in the cultural sector. Currently the Executive Director of the newly formed Canadian Dance Assembly (an arts service organization which he helped to found), Hamal has worked on both sides of the fence, having spent several months working with the Arts Policy branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and in live theatre, as well as for other ASOs.

Laidlaw Cultural Policy Intership

Another emerging manager who echoed the importance of mentoring, was Marthe Bujold. She is the first Laidlaw Cultural Policy Intern, an innovative programme designed by the CCA and funded through the Laidlaw Foundation. Key to the success of this programme is its unusual duration: whereas many government funded internship programmes run for only a few months (and some as short as 6 weeks), this programme is for two years.

Marthe pointed out that there is no clear, straight path to becoming a cultural manager. For other professions (doctors, engineers, and the like), it is fairly straightforward: one studies the prerequisite course at university. There are courses in cultural administration at universities and colleges but it is unusual for a young person to know straight out of high school that this is an area he/she wishes to pursue. And even if such a course were completed, what is there at the end? Marthe points to the dearth of entry points for those with training, and sees interships such as hers as a key professional development tool for young managers.

Several other factors make this particular internship work well: working closely with CCA 's policy st af f; working in depth on projects, from conception to completion; working on a variety of projects; using her many skills to do research, analysis and writing; and the fact that it is remunerated. Marthe expressed her confidence that she would be able to gain useful and interesting employment at the conclusion of this internship, thanks to the real and constructive training she will have undergone at CCA , and she hopes that this will become a model for many other internships in the cultural sector and beyond.

". the second generation uses it."

The importance of the longer period for this internship was also emphasised from the floor by CCA Board member, Peter Gardner, who bemoaned the loss of the apprenticeship method of training, not only in the arts but across all sectors. He reiterated an old saw of business: the first generation builds it, the second generation uses it, and the third generation loses it. He felt Canada was in its second generation and expressed the sincere hope that there would be no need to progress to the third one. He urged the cultural sector to be a role model for other sectors in bringing about a return to an apprenticeship type of training so that skills and skill sets do not disappear.

This discussion on generations prompted Megan Williams , National Director of the CCA , to muse that a similar theme ran through the recently held Aboriginal Cultural Expressions conference held at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Reference was made frequently to the generation of elders which is now passing on and how crucial it is to capture their knowledge and to hand it on. What is particularly poignant is that this generation of elders is the last to have had an aboriginal language as their mother tongue - " it is an important moment when you lose connection with your cultural body of knowledge ".

"Strong management is central to the success of museums today."

Marie Lalonde provided some insight into work being carried out in the heritage sector, drawing on her experience as Executive Director of the Ontario Museum Association. One of her organizations main foci is professional development; a certificate in museum studies is offered, with two of its units delivered online, and advocacy is always part of the mix.

In addition to other initiatives and programmes currently in use in the heritage sector, she outlined the work of The Learning Coalition: a recently introduced project which grew out of policy changes in the Museums Assistance Programme (MAP) at the Department of Canadian Heritage. TLC builds on the relationships of four provincial development coordinators within the museum associations of Alberta , Saskatchewan , Manitoba and Ontario . Driven by a mutual desire to address common curriculum challenges and opportunities, TLC has allowed the Ontario heritage sector to expand service delivery and museum course options to members without a commensurate increase in resources, and to optimise the use of resources through the elimination of duplication. Together, this group has delivered four online courses in museum practice, with topics ranging from managing first nations collections to making websites more effective.

Although TLC is still in the process of being evaluated, the early assessment is positive. It has built bridges both among the coordinators and the museum professionals, and has begun to address some of the isolation felt by museum directors in small communities.

Marie offered the following suggestions for the day's deliberations: remain flexible in managing employees (flexible hours, respect for home and family life); form partnerships with universities and community colleges to recruit the workforce; initiate internships across the country and abroad to expand knowledge; encourage exchanges between large and small institutions within a community; introduce programmes to improve employee morale and creativity; ensure arts management courses respond more directly to the needs of the sector. She also recommended incorporating new initiatives to maximize budgets which have been cutback, citing the newly formed May is Museum Month which was proving very successful, as new sources of financing help raise the profile of museums and also museum professionals, and helps them learn new skills. Marie added that it was crucial to develop good communications strategies, both internally and externally, and expressed her belief that the cultural sector will be far stronger if organizations can continue to work together to increase management capacity and opportunities.

"We are looking at a more holistic approach to human resources."

Dennis Garreck, Member Services Manager for SaskCulture Inc., described the formation of SaskCulture and its mandate: to increase understanding and awareness of culture and cultural activity in the province, and the vital role it plays in our lives and communities. It is committed to working with the government (with which it has a good relationship) to develop culture and cultural policies in the province, and partnerships are a key focus.

Saskatchewan has proved to be on the cutting edge in many cultural areas and is poised to be the second province ( after Quebec ) to introduce Status of the Artist legislation. It is also a leader when it comes to community based organizations and structures. SaskCulture enjoys a " tri-global " arrangement with sport and recreation.

With a cultural labour force which has grown more than three times faster than the average in the province, SaskCulture keeps a major focus on human resources and is committed to sustaining and promoting professional skills development for cultural professionals. This rapid growth has led to the creation of a human resources council to provide timely information on training and human resources needs. The committee developed a HR strategy for SaskCulture to address specific training needs such as management, advanced skills, new technologies, school to work opportunities, etc.

The organization's website has a cultural careers section, searchable training database, job gallery, cultural training opportunities, and links to a member handbook which acts as a reference for st af f and boards (roles and responsibilities, orientation for boards, risk management, job descriptions, HR policies, hiring and terminating, governance models, etc). Together with its partners in sport and recreation, SaskCulture also provides an important benefits plan available to members. Other innovative plans and projects currently in the formation stages include: hiring a human resources professional on retainer available to all members; list of facilitators available to cultural organizations; and a compensation study.

In keeping with the general theme of cultural management issues, lunch was held at the Canadian Museum of Civilization where the Human Resources Director of that Corporation, Elizabeth Goger, passed on greetings from the museum's CEO and long time CCA member, Victor Rabinovitch, and presented a short address.

Afternoon session

"Only masochists need apply."

Consultant Jocelyn Harvey kicked off the af ternoon session by providing a brief overview of the discussion paper. She prefaced her remarks by quoting some recent studies and headlines from around the world, including a British article entitled " They're all losing their heads! ", about the extraordinary turnover of senior administrators in the UK, which concluded by asking: " is any arts institution manageable in current circumstances? "

Jocelyn also made the following remarks:

"In all this attention to management in the arts and culture, two sets of issues tend to be repeatedly raised:

• The first deals with current managers and administrators now in the workforce: What do these practitioners need to encourage them to stay in the sector and provide for their professional renewal and reinvigoration? Are there ways of improving conditions so that experienced administrators will want to remain in not-for-profit arts and museums organizations rather than leave for greener pastures (in the cultural industries, business, universities and hospitals, governments or consultancies)? Are there ways of avoiding burnout?
• The second deals with the next generation: What is needed to encourage a second generation of administrators to work and stay in the not-for-profit arts and museums sector? Future cohorts of Canadian workers will be much smaller than the baby boom generation they are replacing. Highly educated, technologically savvy, and culturally diverse, they will be eminently marketable. Since they are likely to have their pick of jobs, what is needed to draw them to our sector? How can we attract, develop and retain them?"

She stated that, rather than throw up our hands and lament that there's nothing we can do, the Creative Management project has taken the position that - however difficult - these are problems are solvable. She also stated that in the consultation to date, there had been a remarkable consensus of opinion as to the challenges facing both current managers and the next generation, challenges which she outlined extensively in the discussion document.

To " stir the pot ", as she put it, Jocelyn threw out some innovative ideas which had not been included in the paper:

• Having a younger manager shadow a senior manager for the cycle of the organization's work, following which the senior manager would take a sabbatical leaving the younger one in place.
• "Sanity circles" where managers gather to provide support and peer to peer networking opportunities, as well as professional development seminars.
• With funding, place assistants to cultural managers of arts organizations for career mentoring. This was done in Quebec and most led to permanent positions.
• Have a senior manager nearing retirement pair with a young manager, working together over the period with the senior manager passing on skills and expertise. As the senior manager starts to bow out of the organization, the younger one assumes more and more responsibility for the job.
• Funding agencies should ask organizations to table human resources plans, as approved by their boards, indicating how they are planning for succession and investing in st af f professional development.

At the conclusion of her remarks, Jocelyn stressed that there is " no one magical answer ".

At this point in the af ternoon, the participants divided up into four groups to discuss the issues and potential solutions in greater detail. The groups were facilitated by: Pat Bradley, Judi Piggott, Douglas Riske, and Ron Lamoureux. Some of the conclusions and solutions brought back to the plenary session by these breakout groups follow:

Practice of arts management

• Is it different from other sectors? If so, how? More research and data is needed on salary levels, st af fing, working conditions.
• Need to make social benefits packages more widely available to management.
• Guidelines needed for salaries/compensation.
• "Lack of resources means cultural managers perform triage each morning."
• Develop a creative managers network online based on the Creative City Network.
• Factor in time for reflection in the working day.
• "Go home!" You are not setting a good example, or helping anyone, by working 80 hour weeks.
• Need for HR manuals, job descriptions, listing of programmes available, best practices.

Attitudinal change

• "We're cooler than IT"; need to "brand" arts and cultural sector in a more positive manner. Make it look cool, vital and exciting.
• Sector must embrace home-based work.
• Change the language - managers should themselves boost the profession.
• Need to educate governments and other partners about career development in cultural sector. "Ironic that as we identify this need in our organizations, governments are pulling back from operating funding which limits planning and long-range thinking."
• Requirement for a nationwide programme for the arts similar to Participaction.

Accreditation / validation

• If "religious fervour" was required in the pioneering phase of cultural management, is it still needed now?
• "Missionary zeal must always be linked to competence."
• Provide an award to recognise the quality of the work done by managers in the sector. "We never acknowledge ourselves and our worth."
• Need for a stronger organizations to represent managers than ACE; look to the Canadian Society of Association Executives.
• Some system of accreditation/certification/professional association should be considered, plus ethical guidelines for managing.

Boards / governance

• HR plans should be part of what any board puts forward to operating funders.
• Boards/governance must be part of the solution.

Partnerships

• Large organizations have a responsibility to share their knowledge and resources with small organizations within their communities.
• Smaller organizations should partner to provide benefits programmes (considered very important by all breakout groups - st af f are lost through lack of benefits) and hire HR experts on contract or a more permanent basis. Remember: small organizations make up the majority of arts organizations in the sector.
• Need to collaborate at all levels. Be innovative, diversified, challenging; share best practises. Would like to see more "convergence" between various areas of government (culture, education, training) - should work more closely for a common end.
• Need to integrate more with universities and colleges.

Training / mentoring / internships / professional development

• Internships need to be significantly longer than at present, and more flexible.
• More mid-level entry points required for post-internships and post-secondary education. "One goes from being the intern to being the Director of Development in six months."
• Government funding for internships must fit the needs rather than adjusting to fit funding criteria.
• Real need for a Training Initiatives type programme with few restrictions (such as age, EI eligibility, youth at risk, etc.). People are in transition throughout their lives.
• Need to foster ideas such as shadowing/sabbatical, sanity circles, secondments.
• Web-based learning will be the wave of the future.
• Training positions need to be adequately compensated.
• Develop innovative mentoring relationships: new Canadians, immigrants, for future workforce.
• What can be done to stop the termination of arts in educational institutions in some provinces?

Communications

• Sector needs to communicate the good news stories better - to post-graduates, parents, teachers, governments. "You need to fall into a hole to find out about being an arts manager."
• One issue which participants identified as being absent from the discussion paper was that of gender. There appears to be a preponderance of women in cultural management, possibly accounting for the poor compensation and benefits offered.
• Susan Annis summed up the areas in which she felt the Cultural Human Resources Council could take the lead: awareness of cultural careers; advocacy in human resources issues; accreditation/certification; competency charts; job description models; human resources manuals; professional development programmes for mid-level managers; internships/mentorships; sharing best practices. It was suggested that an on-line forum be set up to allow this dialogue to continue.
• To quote from the final report prepared by Jocelyn Harvey: "There was widespread agreement that a coordinated, integrated approach drawing on all key resources and stakeholders is essential."

". we need to keep talking about this and finding solutions."

Following the conclusion of the Creative Management, Creative Solutions discussions, Megan Williams announced an open mike session and urged participants to provide suggestions for future Chalmers Conferences or any other topic. The following suggestions came from both this session and the evaluation forms:

• Follow up to the Creative Management project as capacity building within the sector is critical (overwhelming majority of completed evaluation forms).
• Arts in education / future audiences.
• Copyright issues.
• Board/governance, board/st af f issues.
• How best to continue the direction of Tomorrow Starts Today - the funding was for three years, the final year of which will be 2003-2004.
• Social benefits, compensation and working conditions for artists and cultural workers.
• Cultural diversity and representation.
• Establishment of an informal network of young managers (starting with those present) to share experiences.
• E-strategies for arts organizations.
• Linking the arts to the broader voluntary section.

The Presidents of the Canadian Conference of the Arts and the Cultural Human Resources Council, Denise Roy and Richard Hornsby respectively, thanked the participants, and particularly John Hobday for the continued support of the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation. The Department of Canadian Heritage was also thanked for its support of the project, as were the DCH representatives present. Both the CCA and CHRC (as well as many participants) expressed pleasure at the success of this day's partnership and looked forward to future joint endeavours.

"To be continued ."

The Creative Management project will have three phases:

• Phase I (March - mid-July 2002): research, consultation, identification of challenges and proposal of solutions, culminating in the Chalmers Conference.
• Phase II (mid-July through November 2002): additional research as required, development of an action plan based on solutions, with specific goals and timeframes for implementation.
• Proposed Phase III (December 2002 - February 2003): advocacy for implementation of the action plan.