Situation:
Works of art on display at the GAC are forever changing. The majority of the collection is in use at Government buildings around the world, to help promote and communicate British culture, identity and values. Public tours of the GAC have become very popular, but can be hard to deliver as the pieces hanging frequently change and are very disparate in theme, style, content and date. We were asked to create a day of training to help, the curators and other staff who deliver these tours, with structuring content, presentation style, building confidence levels and ways to make the most from the varied visitor requirements.
Solution:
Following consultation, we created a workshop that gave each tour leader the tools required to quickly and efficiently put their knowledge, interest and enthusiasm, for the works on display, to best use.
They learnt practical tools to identify a theme, argument or lesson for each tour, using their own expertise, curiosity or connections to give tours a unique slant. They gained the ability to better interact with and encourage enquiry and response from their audiences.
Results:
By the end of the day, each participant had created their own individual tour and the ability to create countless others, as required. They felt stronger as a team, having learnt about the passions and expertise of their colleagues and had seen the further potential they each offered.
Each participant found other applications for what they had learnt, from meetings with ministers and ambassadors to building new website content.