The 5th Priority of an Artistic Director
This November, I’m launching a programme of Coaching and Training that guides aspiring Artistic Directors through everything they need to know from the moment they apply to the end of their first year in the job, built around 7 priorities. I’ll be posting about one priority each day this week to give you a flavour of what we’ll cover in the Programme. Yesterday was Priority 4 - Programming. Today is Priority 5 - Planning.
All things are created twice. The first time in your imagination, the second in reality. The blueprint and the building. The recipe and cake. A dream without a plan is a nightmare. After all, it’s no good getting people to believe in your Vision (see Preparation 2, Purpose) if they don’t believe in your strategy.
Plans come in many forms in arts Organisations: business models, business plans, strategic plans, investment principles - and you’ll need to be able to quickly and succinctly de-code them all (see Priority 1, Preparation). But most importantly, you will need to tap into your left brain ‘slow’ thinking when it comes to working with your team to make your collective dreams a reality - something that doesn’t always come naturally to traditionally ‘right-brain’ visionaries like Directors.
You might find your patience tested as you resist being drawn in to the detail. Offering guiding principles and empowering ownership is often more effective than negating responsibility, then swooping in and micromanaging imperfections. This is where the relationships with your Managers - whether in the form of Executive Director, Admin Director, Finance and Ops or General Manager - become essential. You will need to lean on their fastidious attention to process, their empathetic understanding of the team’s needs and their overview of finance and policies to complement your urgent desire for progress.
The key is to keep plans simple - the planning process will always be more valuable than the documented plan it yields. Let Planning become a collaborative and regular practice that brings your team closer together and keeps you on track to deliver your vision - no more, no less - using these three guiding principles:
Evolve strategies; in its simplest form a strategy articulates how and when something that hasn’t happened yet is going to happen, given the conditions and resources available. The characteristics of a good strategy are that it focuses on priorities, as clear about what it means saying ‘no’ to as what it means says ‘yes’ to. Make sure it is simple, quick and easy to read - or it will sit in drawers or on a server and never be looked at. And it needs to be practical for everyone in the organisation to use. It is a tactical framework for success.
Embed culture: culture notoriously eats strategy for breakfast. Meaning: your plans are useless if you don’t design and implement workplace rituals that create the conditions for people to do their best work. This is not about pool tables and beer taps; it is about celebrating success (see Priority 7, Progress), getting everyone closer to the art, making sure everyone feels safe at work and investing in their ability to fulfil their potential.
Review finance, processes and policies: there will be a moment in your first year when you need to make sure everything is fit for purpose. This means double-checking you’re meeting your fiscal responsibilities with Companies House, HMRC, the Charities Commission and any major Stake-holders. But it also means ensuring you’re not over-reporting and sapping valuable hours preparing documents that never get read. HR processes and policies should all be up-to-date in the Staff handbook. Dotting these ‘I’s’ and crossing these ‘T’s’ are essential maintenance to the ongoing health of your company.
If you’d like to learn how to hone these three key Planning skills and more, Sign Up now to my upcoming 7 Priorities Programme for Aspiring Artistic Directors. Tomorrow, Priority 6: Productivity.
