Karen Griffiths

In this role I coordinate the DigiVol Program. The program is digitising the 21 million items in the Australian Museum collections.

Key Accountabilities:

• Coordination and management of 100 volunteers to meet the goals of the DigiVol program
• Building a high functioning team, including recruitment, training, mentoring, and communications
• Reporting on project plans, milestones and deliverables
• Ensure digitised records are accurate and complete
• Developing and implementing digitisation workflows, handling manuals and handbooks
• Establishing and maintaining digitising equipment and associated databases and websites
• Liaising with stakeholders, including collection staff to provide digitisation projects

In this role, I lead, develop, and implement volunteer-led activities at the Powerhouse.

Key Accountabilities:

• Lead and manage a team of Collections Research volunteers.
• Development and implementation of volunteer-led tours, activities, and programs.
• Supervising and leading the volunteer team
• Development of volunteer training, performance, and assessment.
• Volunteer recruitment and induction
• Volunteer communications
• Managing volunteer administration and online content management system
• Increased visitor engagement and interaction with volunteer-led tours by 30% over 2 years

Managed all day to day operations at the Powerhouse Ultimo, ensuring staff, exhibitions, services, events and facilities were consistently of high standard.

Key Accountabilities:

• Lead, supervise, and motivate a diverse team of Visitor Services Officers ensuring they have the skills and high moral necessary to deliver a first-rate experience for museum visitors
• Overseeing and managing the daily operations of the Powerhouse Museum/Sydney Observatory and the visitor services team.
• Lead change in visitor services delivery to ensure improvements and alignment with museum goals.
• Operational management of events and programs
• Working collaboratively with key stakeholders to ensure high quality visitor experiences
• Collecting and communicating to the visitor services team information regarding programs, products, events, exhibitions, and ticketing
• Manage and lead all front of house emergency procedures, as chief emergency warden / or area warden
• Performing daily reporting tasks including the provision of reports to executive, rosters, updates to staff

In this role I provided leadership to the Gallery's tour guiding program. I shaped the program content and delivery to ensure the Gallery attracted a diverse and growing audience and delivered high quality, relevant tours and visitor experiences.

• Leading 180 volunteer guides with supervision, training, coordination, and communication.
• Operational management of guided tour program
• Developing and overseeing program/tour content plans
• Reviewing and conducting research and tour feedback surveys
• Facilitating and managing resources and budget to effectively deliver the tours program
• Implementing new technologies, systems and processes to enhance the experience for audiences
• Working closely with relevant internal and external stakeholders to create initiatives to engage a wider tour audience
• Managing change within the program
• Overseeing guides rostering systems
• Driving a high performance culture within the guiding team

Achievements included:

• Development of new Tours, including; bespoke tours for booked groups; express tour; and interactive children's tours
• Establishment of a new role "gallery host', providing collection information, membership and customer service information to gallery visitors
• 20% increase in group bookings for bespoke tours, with 98% positive visitor feedback received

In this role I lead a visitor services team of 25 part-time and casual staff who worked at the Heritage and Visitor Information Centre, museum and retail shop.

• Leading a team responsible for providing visitor services
• Managing the point of sale and admissions system, Centaman
• Training and providing relevant resources for the team
• Rostering and budget management
• Producing customer service plans

Reporting directly to the CEO, I was a key member of the management team. I coordinated and lead a team of visitor experience staff and volunteers who where the first point of contact for the museum. I managed all front of house functions and operations, the museum retail shop, the membership program, the volunteers program, and oversaw on-floor museum operations and communications.

• Leading and coordinating a team of 70 visitor experience staff and volunteers
• Developing policy and strategic plans
• Managing and customising admissions and ticketing systems, H & L, SABO, Ticketmaster
• Managing all aspects of the retail shop, including custom design merchandise partnerships.
• Overseeing museum on-floor operations and communications, including signage, building and interactive maintenance, security, public safety, and incident reporting
• All staff and volunteer development activities, including training needs analysis, job specific training, coaching, mentoring and performance management

Achievements included:

• Worked collaboratively with curators and collection teams to photograph over 110 rolling stock and their associated labels.
• Reviewed and developed a comprehensive customer service plan
• Introduced a Concierge service for front of house
• Increased membership numbers by 40%, increasing revenue by 60%
• NSW Rail Museum volunteer was awarded NSW Government Volunteer Heritage Award 2012

In this role I managed all aspects of the museums membership program.

• Developing and managing Member Events - 15 per month
• Assisted in customization and management of CRM database - Salesforce
• Supervised membership officer

In this role I initially reviewed all operations and established a comprehensive centralised Volunteer Program across MHNSW and its 12 museums.

• Providing leadership, support and advice for all volunteering activities at the MHNSW.
• Being an active member of the Management Team, contributing to Strategic Plans
• Developing and implementing volunteer-led programs across all MHNSW museums.
• Managing the program budget and resources
• Managing staff who coordinated volunteers across the 12 museums
• Training staff & volunteers, including Induction and job specific training
• Managing all volunteer communications and performance management

Achievements included:

• Combining 12 separate volunteer programs into a centralised Program, which included standardising recruitment and training processes and volunteer activities
• 10 x volunteers were awarded the NSW Government Volunteer Heritage Award over the periods of 2006-2012.
• Establishing 7 new innovative programs which increased community involvement and visitation. Including a volunteer-led tour guide program at the Mint.
• Establishment of a textile digitisation project, where volunteers digitised the Elizabeth Bay House textile collection.