Illinois Association of Museums - Streamlining Repetitive Tasks

Museum people helping other museum people be

better museum people.

Streamlining Repetitive Tasks

15 Sep 2025 6:21 PM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

By: David Bellm, Illinois Association of Museums Volunteer

Creativity, scholarship, and public engagement are essential parts of all museums. But behind those shiny, appealing virtues is a vast sea of repetitive administrative work — scheduling, sending out reminders, updating project status, cataloging, and tracking resources. Although these tasks are undeniably important, they can devour a surprising amount of resources.

And, like most other types of organizations today, museums are tasked with doing more with less. Given these challenges, finding ways to make tasks more efficient isn’t a convenience or luxury — it’s a necessity.

Fortunately, today’s digital tools can help. Combined with effective, proven non-digital methods, museum staff can reduce busywork and focus more on the meaningful, mission-driven aspects of their jobs. With that in mind, here are some great techniques and tools that can help streamline workflows, with examples tailored to museums of all sizes.

Image Credit: Pexels - tara-winstead-8406972

Project Management and Collaboration Tools

Collaboration is the core of museum work. Whether it’s planning a new exhibition, coordinating school programs, or preparing a grant proposal, working in teams to accomplish tasks is a given. But even so, many professionals still rely on long email threads, scattered spreadsheets, and informal notes to get the job done. This can lead to missed details, duplicated efforts, and unnecessary delays.

One of the best cures for this kind of ad hoc pandemonium is a project management system. These platforms provide structure and transparency, ensuring everyone knows what needs to be done, by whom, and when. Although there are many such platforms, among the most popular ones are Asana, Trello, Notion, Monday.com, and Smartsheet. These platforms are flexible enough to be customized for almost any kind of collaborative work, while offering features that can dramatically reduce repetitive tasks.

Perhaps the simplest but most powerful feature of these platforms is the ability to create recurring tasks. For example, a registrar who needs to update loan agreements every quarter can set the task to automatically regenerate rather than manually re-enter it every time. And this same shortcut works for monthly donor reports, seasonal school programs, exhibition maintenance routines, or just about anything else you’re likely to be doing regularly.

When these processes are set up in the platform, additional efficiencies can be created by using rule-based automations. By using an “if-then” workflow, the system can automatically assign the next step to the appropriate person, send a notification, or update a status when the task is marked “Completed.” For example, an object-photography task is marked finished, and without any additional steps or effort, a condition report or any other next steps are assigned to the conservator.

These time savings can be further enhanced by employing reusable templates wherever possible. We’ve said this tip before, but it bears repeating: Creating a template once — complete with deadlines, task assignments, and reference documents — means that when a new project launches, staff don’t have to reinvent the wheel. It’s the very essence of efficiency, making it possible to do only the work that’s different from project to project, giving you an immediate head start on the work.

All that said, not all museums have the need or resources for a full-blown project management platform. In those situations, there are simpler tools that also make a big difference. Notion productivity software, for example, combines note-taking, database management, and project tracking in one flexible platform. A curator might create a database of artists and artworks linked directly to interpretive text drafts, while an educator might maintain program outlines, volunteer schedules, and evaluations in one place. Because Notion allows templates, the same structure can be reused for future projects with minimal effort.

An even simpler way to get significant efficiency improvements is with Google Keep, which offers a relatively simple, lightweight way to share notes and checklists. For instance, an exhibition team could maintain a running packing list during deinstallation, or an education department could jot down quick observations from school tours. Although Google Keep is less structured than full project management software, it can integrate seamlessly with existing email and file systems, which makes adoption easy.

Although the size, complexity, and overall capability of these tools vary considerably, they all have in common their ability to centralize information, reduce duplication, and minimize the time-consuming busywork of ongoing reminders and updates. And that can easily free up hours of time every week.

Image Credit: Pexels - fauxels-3183150

Non-Tech Approaches

Of course, digital platforms aren’t the only way to streamline repetitive tasks. Oftentimes, low-tech methods can be nearly as effective. Furthermore, these tried-and-true analog techniques can complement and amplify the power of digital tools. Best of all, these non-tech approaches work in any situation.

A physical Kanban board is one example. By dividing a whiteboard into columns such as “To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Completed,” and using sticky notes for individual tasks, teams can track progress at a glance. With this system, a collections staff preparing objects for an outgoing loan might start with notes in the “To Do” column for packing, photography, and condition reporting. Then as each step is completed, the notes are moved across the board. This serves as both a checklist and a visual motivator, as it’s always “on” — nobody has to log into anything to see the status of projects.

Although this kind of system may not have the glamour and high-tech sheen of today’s comprehensive digital project management platforms, you might be surprised at how many high-level projects are still managed with this method, even in extremely large organizations.

Another non-digital but equally powerful strategy is to simply clarify roles and responsibilities. Museums often operate with overlapping job descriptions and fluid responsibilities, which can lead to tasks falling through the cracks or being duplicated. Even something as simple as a chart that specifies in detail who’s responsible for each task, who must approve, and who needs to be informed along the way can be invaluable. For example, in drafting exhibition labels, one person might be tasked with writing, another with editing, and a third with approving for print. With responsibilities clearly defined, there’s less room for confusion and fewer delays.

Along with these straightforward non-tech methods, teams can benefit from short, structured meetings at regular intervals. These can prevent small issues from expanding into big problems. Many teams find that daily or weekly “stand-ups” — 10- to 15-minute check-ins where each person shares what they’ve completed, what they’re working on, and what obstacles they face — keep projects on track. During an exhibition installation, for instance, a morning stand-up ensures that registrars, designers, and preparators all know the day’s priorities and can quickly raise concerns. The format is deliberately brief, preventing meetings from becoming another source of wasted time.

Image Credit: Pexels - yankrukov-7793103

Getting Started

Most people don’t relish the idea of overhauling workflows, especially if there’s already one in place that’s working passably well most of the time. But the efficiency improvements that can be gained from these efforts benefit not just you and your colleagues — they’re also better for the museum itself.

For many museums, the workload is growing while resources remain flat or even shrink. Staff are expected to deliver dynamic exhibitions, engaging programs, and thoughtful scholarship, all while maintaining rigorous standards of collections care and administrative oversight. In this context, inefficiency is more than an inconvenience. Repetitive administrative tasks often consume a disproportionate share of staff energy. By adopting tools and techniques to handle these tasks more efficiently, museums can free up time for the core work of museums, such as researching, preserving, and sharing cultural heritage.

But this need for efficiency doesn’t mean you should dive in and completely reinvent everything at once. Nobody should be that kind of glutton for punishment. Instead, start small. Choose one recurring task — perhaps exhibition checklists or scheduling docent shifts — and test a digital platform or a physical Kanban board. Once the team sees that the new approach reduces workload, adoption becomes easier.

At the same time, don’t overlook the need for buy-in. If everyone involved doesn’t see the potential advantages of changes, it can mean trouble down the road in the form of reduced morale or incomplete adoption of new methods. Demonstrating that a new tool or process makes work easier for staff at all levels, not just for managers, helps build enthusiasm.

In many cases, pairing digital with analog methods often strikes the best balance: a project management platform for high-level coordination, complemented by a simple whiteboard in storage for day-to-day tracking.

At the same time, don’t forget to document your processes as you go. But don’t go overboard with this step — elaborately designed presentations and large manuals add little to the effectiveness of systems. Instead, think in terms of a brief written guide. This way, when staff turnover occurs, institutional knowledge isn’t lost and the efficiency gains don’t vanish with it.

Image Credit: Pexels - divinetechygirl-1181494

More Time for What Matters Most

Repetitive administrative tasks are inevitable at any organization. They’re the framework that supports exhibitions, collections care, programming, and other public-facing elements of museums. But by making intentional use of project management platforms, automation tools, and straightforward team practices, professionals can minimize the drudgery of behind-the-scenes chores and maximize their effectiveness.

Streamlined workflows not only save time but also create space for the creativity, scholarship, and visitor engagement that lie at the heart of the museum mission. By working smarter, museums position themselves to thrive even in the face of limited resources and ever-increasing demands.

Sources and Additional Reading:

ScienceDirect

“Analysing productivity and technical change in museums: A dynamic network approach”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1296207421001618

University of San Francisco

“Applying Agile Project Management to Art Museums”

https://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1751&context=capstone&utm

European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology

“Relations between daily stand-up meetings, work satisfaction, and team performance perceptions: the role of psychological safety”

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1359432X.2025.2508178

Rob Bowley

“Stand Up Meeting Best Practices”