UKRG event: It’s Good To Talk – Sharing Training and Development Ideas

Following group discussion at the UKRG CPD day, 6 July 2018 Cinema Museum;

On a very, very hot afternoon, UKRG members were welcomed by the Cinema Museum for their annual CPD event. The aim of the day was to share personal experiences of development opportunities and to share what resources and courses were available.

After hearing presentations form several speakers, the UKRG members were asked to split into groups and discuss with their fellow Registrars ‘What makes good CPD and what goes wrong?’. Also, they were asked for suggestions for future actions to be taken by UKRG to improve their training offer. I have summarised the results below, with some future actions. 

 

Summary of Discussions:

• Practical, hands-on training and scenario/problem solving is more effective (Momart airport security training quoted as a good example)
• Use in-house training opportunities – shadowing, across the floor, anecdotes
• Training notes or manual limits a loss of knowledge, can be referred to
• Use feedback as a way to inform future training
• Specialist training offered by large organisations can benefit smaller organisations with more generic posts
• Training can be too generic or too niche – need clear guidance for course/event content
• Mandatory attendance for non-relevant subjects
• Quality of training – Train the Trainer plays a vital role, the trainer has to be good, and have specialist/practical knowledge
• Quality of training – draw from real life experiences
• Cost and time can be prohibitive
• Placements with legal experts
• Make time after training to ‘unpack’ new knowledge
• Cross training across organisations to share colleague’s skills
• Consider training outcomes
• MA and Museum Studies courses required for jobs, but not always put into practice
• Break out of specialist areas and learn from other areas – interdepartmental learning

Actions to be taken from suggestions and comments:

• UKRG to send CPD email alert, same as the job email alert
• On membership list add specialist knowledge/experience to signpost expertise to membership

Future actions to be considered by Committee and next Development Officer:

• E-learning podcasts
• Whatsapp Members Group
• Job swap or secondments network scheme (nationally/internationally) Museums/Galleries/Shippers
• More UKRG bursaries like the joint one with IAL, to attend expensive courses such as CLORE
• Networking and soft skills events
• Making sure Registrar skills are represented on Museum Studies courses

Thank you to everyone who took part.

Written by Lyn Stevens, Registrar, National Museums Scotland and Professional Development Officer, UKRG committee.