Above: Communication by Andre Vandal on Flickr.

Kris LeCorgne

How organizations communicate and exchange information – and their internal capacity to do so – will always be challenges for businesses. Entire fields of study are dedicated to these subjects and they continue to be central focuses for many business leaders seeking to increase productivity in the American workforce.

In the world of non-profits, these subjects are even larger points of pain. Non-profits tend to run leaner organizations dedicated to their specific charitable activities. In the arts, this is further hyperbolized as “organizations” can be more loosely structured collectives without formal management or communications procedures. Above all, these groups just want to do “art.”

A recent study evaluating communications in the nonprofit arts sector poses a great question. As work increases and outstretches capacity in the arts, how should the sector respond? Competition for donations, attention and interest is fierce. Organizations need to be as efficient and adaptable as ever. What can arts leaders do?

The report, supported by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF),  Knight Foundation and Hewlett Foundation, covers three main points that I believe are worth highlighting. They provide some starting points for the sector to address:

Most organizations surveyed didn’t have a communications plan: Nearly 60% of organizations didn’t have formal external communications plans in place, a troubling statistic given the competitive arts space. Moreover, nearly 80% of the respondents in this study didn’t have internal plans either. Without a defined structure and buy-in from leadership and staff, communications remains tactical versus strategic. As one respondent noted: “we use email to collaborate on active projects, so I’m constantly having to tune out the majority of email to keep up.”

Communications from peers – including arts administrators and organizations – is a major time occupier. While arts organizations perceive this communication to be important, it engrosses a large amount of time spent at work. For example, more than half of the total 1,332 respondents spent 11 or more hours processing email a week. This represents more than 25% of a typical work week.

Leaders are having a hard time keeping up with information: While the quantity of information and resources that administrators have access to have only grown, many organizations find it difficult to keep up. If 11 hours of their week is spent on email, then the capacity of managers to access new knowledge is diminished, their ability to leverage the experience of their peers is reduced and perhaps worse, their ability to execute the charitable activities they are attempting to complete is lessened.

After considering these findings and thinking more about this report, I found myself really reflecting on my own experiences working for arts organizations. I’ve worked for and with amazing administrators and leaders. Everyday, backstage at the orchestra hall, where I worked in marketing, we hustled to meet our goals in any way we could. If I could go back and give myself a piece of advice to really help me make a difference in that process, it would be to follow one of the recommendations in this report I really agree with: “Develop policies regarding communications and information management.” This is a formal way of suggesting that organizations have to agree that communicating in a clear, concise and purposeful way internally and externally, is to their benefit. Closing the distance between your employees and key leadership, understanding the good and bad of email and even making sure to pick up the phone rather than send a message are all good places to start.

Artists, the original entrepreneurs, can be fast to analyze, adapt and innovate. The challenge is to make sure that the business of art doesn’t end up preventing artists from making their art in the first place.

What are some of your tips, tricks and ideas about this? Please tweet your answers to @K_LeCorgne – I’d love to hear from you.