Is Your Arts Organisation Healthy?

Recently I was engaged by a local government authority to undertake a review of the business model for one of their arts venues. It was a great opportunity to do a bit of a health check and see how things were tracking.

All too often, we don’t have time to stop and critically assess how things are going, even when we feel that things might be drifting off course a little. There’s often barely enough time to keep on top of day to day operations, so it can be hard to schedule in that time for longer term planning and evaluation.

As an external consultant, I love being able to come into an organisation and provide a new perspective on the business. I’m able to pick up on things that might have been missed by others because I’m not immersed in the business every day.

The recent health check I did focused on the following areas:

•             Analysing revenue and expenditure

•             Assessing the type and level of activity being undertaken

•             Critically looking at internal and external trends

•             Challenging long term ambitions

The project was essentially a short sharp look at how things are going and what some future scenarios might look like. The result was a concise report which enabled staff to clearly understand where there was scope for improvement, along with some fresh ideas on how to achieve this.

If you are interested in giving your arts organisation a health check (or just want some guidance or assistance) I’d love to help. You can contact me via valentina@managingarts.com.au