You are more than just a service provider

This blog is kindly written for Museum Freelance by Dr. Tehmina Goskar, Director & Curator of the Curatorial Research Centre.

Museum freelancers and contractors can often be made to feel like outsiders, service providers, a transaction that has to demonstrate value for money.

Can you imagine being employed by an organisation who asked you at your annual appraisal if you thought you were working hard enough to justify your salary?

I have had a long career as both a freelancer and an employed museum professional and since starting up my company in 2018, I have realised the importance of communicating your needs and values as a freelancer/contractor.

For me, relationship building should be an essential part of the work we do with museums. We are the museum sector. Whether you work on a rapid succession of new projects with new clients, or you provide longer-term services to a smaller range of clients, you will instantly know when the relationship feels good and healthy and equitable, and when it does not.

As a freelancer you should not feel like you need to continually go above and beyond to prove your worth. This might manifest itself in ‘scope creep’ – when what you end up doing for a client far exceeds what you are contracted to do, and in under-costing. Under-costing is a real problem for museum and allied freelancers because so many commissions have a set budget controlled by the client. This makes trustful relationship building an essential precursor to taking on new work, or to recalibrate existing work. Here are some tips that have helped me:

  • Be clear about your specific interest in an organisation or colleagues who work in them, even before you are contracted

  • An informal chat that doesn’t need to last a long time can go a long way in establishing how serious an organisation is about the work they are commissioning and will give you a sense of how equitable the balance of power will be in your relationship

  • Keep those channels of communication open throughout your commission as more than just a ‘project update’ style of meeting; show an interest in what else the organisation or colleagues are doing

  • Avoid over-committing yourself in meetings, both in terms of the length and in terms of contribution – project updates can sometimes feel like you are the only one in the spotlight; when appropriate offer to lead such meetings yourself and always set a time limit on them. If you don’t value your own time, there is no reason a client will

  • Use a contract that includes clauses to mitigate against scope creep and under-costing

  • In lieu of a contract consider writing up a simple ‘Terms and Conditions of Engagement’ in plain language that sets out your working practices, values and ethics – even advertise these on your website or blog so they are plain to see

  • Be very clear about your payment terms not just on your invoices but on engagement; most museum people find it hard to talk about and address money but being up front about costs, fees and payment terms is good business practice

  • When your client has extended you public support and endorsement, thank them with equal enthusiasm – we want to see a lot more of this

  • If you find yourself being brow-beaten by a demanding client in a meeting or via email, take a moment before responding, even if that means suggesting that the meeting is no longer productive and recognising that everyone needs more time to reflect; or not responding to long emails with more long emails – “let’s have a chat about this” can go a long way to calm tensions that can arise

  • When needing to challenge or raise concerns about a client’s actions, words or stance, focus on those rather than the person or making assumptions about their position or character, e.g. “I find myself feeling troubled reading/hearing that” or “I hear your frustration”

  • Facilitation, mentoring or coaching training is invaluable in providing you with a toolkit of techniques and frameworks in which to conduct your freelance work. Using open questions (what, how, who, where…) can help you interrogate a problem with your client rather than merely for them

  • Tense or confrontational conversations are hard for everyone. Avoid the temptation to ‘rescue’ a situation. This can also manifest in your desire to fill pauses and silence when those might be permitted to hang there, a moment to reflect and make sense of a situation or group dynamic.

We won’t always be friends with our clients but putting yourself on an equitable footing with them will help you with your confidence and will generate the respect you deserve for your expertise, dedication and experience. Museums and museum organisations have a very long way to go to recognise freelancers and contractors as equal partners and collaborators. The power play between those that hold the purse strings, and use organisational reputation as part of their personal privilege, will always remain to a certain extent, as our society is built around a constant negotiation of power between individuals and organisations of all kinds. There are now more museum freelancers servicing the sector and doing much of the work of change activism than ever before. This is more than mere service delivery. Museums need us. We are museums.

Huge thanks to Dr Tehmina Goskar for writing this piece for Museum Freelance. If you’d like to write something for the blog please get in touch with Marge by emailing [email protected].

Marge Ainsley