Nina,
I am responding to your query about guest feedback on list, because I think
that this will be relevant to others. Last fall, The Tech Museum of
Innovation spent some time reviewing, documenting and revising our guest
feedback system. I have posted our summary and flowcharts on The Tech's
Resources for Museum Professionals website: http://www.thetech.org/rmpo. To
go directly to the Guest Feedback Process Documentation follow this link:
http://www.thetech.org/rmpo2/policiesstandar_/institutional_/guestfeedbackpr
/guestfeedbackpr.pdf.
To answer your questions ...
> 1) What staff resources are devoted to responding to public inquiry?
Marketing holds overall responsibility for responding to e-mail and written
feedback (letters, [log in to unmask], guest feedback forms from museum,
etc.). However, staff throughout the institution are responsible for various
elements of this process. While marketing may respond to simple queries,
staff in other departments are expected to respond to queries specific to
their areas. Because resources are limited, we keep our systems simple.
Marketing logs all formal feedback and keeps track of responses. Outstanding
replies are reviewed in our weekly operations team meeting and we review a
summary of all the types of feedback monthly. Since adding the weekly
review, most items are closed (responded to) within a week.
> 2) Do you have an email contact or special form on your Web site for
submitting questions? If so, who responds to them?
All mail sent to [log in to unmask] (mail link on our website) is routed to
marketing for response or delegation of response.
> 3) Do you allow people to set up appointments with museum staff(curators,
conservators, etc) to identify or discuss items in their personal
collection?
We are not a collecting institution.
> 4) Do you keep track of who is asking questions and/or the types of
questions they ask? If so, how do you use this information?
Yes. Data is reviewd on a monthly basis to identify trends that should be
addressed. Staff who regularly deal with guest feedback meet on a monthly
basis to discuss trends and concerns that are dealt with at the front lines,
but not necessarily documented - along with the documented feedback. Members
of this review committee come from the marketing, student learning, guest
services, membership, programs, and evaluation departments. This process
helps us comprehend what is truly a dispersed process. After our monthly
meeting, we report to the Operations Team, focusing on any critical issues
that we have identified.
> 5) Have you established any policies or perameters to limit the number or
type of requests?
No. However, we do not respond to junk email or obscene, irrelevant comments
even when contact information is included.
> 6) How long does it typically take to respond to questions or research
requests? (What is your turn-around time?)
We do not have the staff to respond to research requests. We will refer
people to other sources if relevant. Generally, we respond to feedback
within a week, but our goal is to respond within two days.
> 7) Do you think your system is effective, or could it be improved?
Given our limited resources, we are probably at the limit of what we can do
with guest feedback. Of course, we could always do better.
> 8) Any comments or suggestions?
Our concern going into the review process was that we had a number of
avenues for receiving feedback - some more responsive than others. Sometimes
important feedback was missed and sometimes we were overwhelmed with
irrelevant feedback. Moreover, because feedback comes in so many different
ways, what might seem like an isolated incident to one person, might
actually be at trend when taken with all the other feedback.
Susan B.F. Wageman
Evaluation Manager [log in to unmask]
The Tech Museum of Innovation 408-795-6303
201 South Market Street fax: 408-279-7167
San Jose, California USA 95113 http://www.thetech.org
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
