Openness

On the institutional side there are 4 criteria of relevance to socialisation. An institution where each of these has been met, can be regarded as one whose socialisation has been optimised. Where they have only partially been met, the institution has achieved a minimum or partial level of socialisation.

Openness

The spreading of open attitudes, approaches and initiatives is reflected in many aspects of life: just think of Wikipedia, an open knowledge base that can be edited and accessed by anyone. This trend has a profound effect on the way cultural institutions operate. One of the most important attributes of the “open” way of operation is – in the case of institutions – that those having legal relationships in place with a given institution (e.g. staff members, from doorman to director), take an inclusive approach to initiatives coming from citizens. Taking a personal and customer-driven approach is key in this case. It is “personal” because each and every one of us is different, so everyone needs to be approached in a different way. “Customer-driven”, in this context, does not mean that “every wish of the citizens is an absolute command to the institution”. It means that the institution looks at the content underlying requests or needs and regards its patrons, visitors, participants and users as cooperating partners with whom it seeks for possible solutions in a joint effort. The aim is to find and implement perspectives, ideas, propositions that are suitable for all.

Animator features should be highlighted in the professional profiles of the staff members functioning in a socialised way. The desired professional attitude is characterised in their relation to participants, visitors and institution users by working “with them” instead of “for them”, where support and encouragement prevail.

The word animation comes from the Latin language, meaning “give breath to, endow with a particular spirit, give courage to, enliven”. Accordingly, to animate means to boost the spirit of a community, to provide opportunities for groups and individuals to live up to their capacities and maximise their self-actualisation.

Openness also means that institutions operating as such follow, in their day-to-day operations – besides, and not instead of, a set of formal rules – a variety of flexible and informal regulations whereby they can bypass such strict and rigid rules on the use of their services and facilities that are not quite compatible with real life situations. Human nature is, however, instinctively cautious and resists changes. The strongest such resistance can, however, be experienced typically among those who are most affected by changes. The eight steps of the so-called Kotter model – successfully applied in corporate management in introducing changes – may also come handy for cultural institutions.

 

This article based on the following document:

Socialized Operation of Cultural Institutions : A methodological guide to community-based operation