MEMORANDUM

TO: CAC Board, Artistic Director, CAC Staff

FROM: Lydia Schmitt, Executive Director
SUBJECT: Enhancing Internal Operations and Building Community During COVID
DATE: 5/5/2020

Community Arts Collective prides ourselves in our commitment to inclusive, interactive,

and collaborative exhibitions in the Minneapolis area. In this era of COVID-19, it has
become critical for our organization to seek new modes of organizational operations,
communication, and community collaboration. COVID-19 has been identified as a
“landscape scale” crisis: an unexpected event or sequence of events of an enormous scale
and overwhelming speed, resulting in a high degree of uncertainty that gives rise to
disorientation, a feeling of lost control, and strong emotional disturbance (Howitt &
Leonard, 2007). Social distancing and quarantining are two of the most important
objectives to keeping our community safe and healthy. In light of this, we are suspending
all exhibiting activities until it is deemed safe by medical professionals. However, our
commitment to providing inclusive and accessible experiences is still top priority for
CAC. As an organization, we must be adaptable and creative in the ways we proceed
with daily operations, communicate with one another, and communicate with our
stakeholders. This memo will outline several key topics including redefining staff and
board roles, community participation, and tactics for CAC to implement during COVID-
19.

Successfully Leveraging Staff Roles during COVID-19

The massive scale of the COVID-19 outbreak has made it extremely challenging for
executives across fields to respond effectively. CAC has recognized the imminent threat
that the COVID-19 crisis brings to our organization. Effective responses are largely
improvised during a crisis and could span a wide range of actions (D’Auria & De Smet,
2020). Temporary and long-term adjustments to our operations will have to be made, but
many of these can continue to be beneficial after the crisis is past (D’Auria & De Smet,
2020). The Center for Creative Leadership’s research proves that it is imperative for
leaders to be adaptable. “What leaders need during crisis is not a predefined response
plan but behaviors and mindsets that will prevent them from overreacting to yesterday’s
developments and help them look ahead,” (D’Auria & De Smet, 2020).

It is important to realize that motivation levels are much lower when working from home
(McGregor & Doshi, 2020). This crisis brings with it an intense onset of emotional and
economic pressures that will negatively affect our staff’s motivation (McGregor & Doshi,
2020). We want our staff to be engaged and feel that they are still serving an important
purpose in our organization. “The most powerful way to do this is to give people the
opportunity to experiment and solve problems that really matter,” (McGregor & Doshi,
2020). However, it is crucial that CAC leadership demonstrates empathy as well.
Leadership must acknowledge the personal and professional challenges that our staff is
facing during this crisis. “[Organizations] will stand a better chance of countering
functional declines if they encourage colleagues to express concern – and heed the
warnings they are given. Investing time in their well-being will enable leaders to sustain
their effectiveness over the weeks and months that a crisis can entail,” (D’Auria & De
Smet, 2020).

In order to organize CAC’s response to the COVID-19 crisis effectively, we will be

reorganizing staff into specific action teams. This will promote rapid problem solving and
execution under high-stress and chaotic conditions (D’Auria & De Smet, 2020). “A
network of teams consists of a highly adaptable assembly of groups, which are united by
a common purpose and work together in much the same way that the individuals on a
single team collaborate,” (D’Auria & De Smet, 2020). This is similar to the work being
done at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. This
museum is keeping all paid staff by refocusing them into five cross-functional teams that
support initiatives to serve audiences or to protect the institution and its collections
(O’Neill, 2020).

CAC will not lay off any employees during this time. Given that CAC already has a
relatively flat organizational structure, we expect the formation of teams to be easily
accepted and implemented by staff. With a small staff, all employees will be on multiple
teams, but we expect this to contribute to the connection and cross-functionality between
them. When the National WWI Museum and Memorial were creating teams, supervisors
were challenged to consider how their work could be done remotely; what additional
tasks could be done remotely; and how they could use closures to address tasks that they
had not been able to fully tackle due to capacity, existing workloads, etc. (O’Neill, 2020).
Similar considerations were taken when constructing the following CAC action teams; an
asterisk represents the team’s leader:
 Executive Team
o Tasked with ensuring overall efficiency and effectiveness of CAC;
updating staff, board, and volunteers about COVID-19 related
information; promoting a culture of care within CAC virtual
communications; collaboratively work with the board to reforecast CAC’s
budget, revise employee policies and risk management protocols, and
ensure CAC is following all CDC protocols and regulations during this
time.
o Includes: Executive Director* and Artistic Director
 Response Team
o Tasked with regulatory alignment and communicating with major donors,
stakeholders, and the media.
o Includes: Marketing Director*, Executive Director, Volunteer Coordinator
 Project Management Team
o Tasked with creating scenarios, issue mapping, and operational cadence.
o Includes: Artistic Director*, Marketing Director, Programming and
Engagement Director, Curator, Volunteer Coordinator, Exhibition
Designer
 Digitization and Transcription Team
o Tasked with transcribing and digitizing the items in CAC’s collection onto
an online platform for our community to access.
 o Includes: Curator*, Registrar, Exhibition Designer, Art Handler
 Community Outreach Team
o Tasked with creating interactive, online communication methods to
increase CAC’s community involvement and continue building
community relations.
o Includes: Programming and Engagement Coordinator*, Curator, Volunteer
Coordinator, Marketing Director, Registrar, Art Handler
 Technology Team
o Tasked with ensuring all staff and board members have access to and are
confident in their technological abilities, establishing work-from-home
execution and infrastructure, supporting employees who cannot work from
home.
o Includes: Exhibition Designer*, Programming and Engagement Director,
Art Handler

In order to promote consistency, CAC is implementing a simple rhythm for how our
remote weeks will function for the next few months. There will be a combination of
emphasis on tactical work and adaptive performance, in which there will be no structured
plan but time for experimentation and problem-solving (McGregor & Doshi, 2020). This
schedule is loosely structured as to encourage experimentation and problem solving
amongst teams.
Weekly Schedule:
 Monday: Staff-wide Zoom conference
o Agenda for the week ahead
o Performance cycle meeting covering the following questions from
McGregor and Doshi (2020):
 What impact did we have last week and what did we learn?
 What commitments do we have this week? Who is on point for
each?
 How can we help each other with this week’s commitments?
 What are the areas where we should experiment to improve
performance this week?
 What experiments will we run, and who is on point for each?
 Tuesday – Thursday: Focus on collaboration, experimentation, and tackling
problems together
o Individual teams will meet with the Executive Team throughout the week
o One-on-one meeting with will be scheduled throughout the week
o Individual team meetings take place as scheduled by the team throughout
the week
o Individual teams will work on relevant tasks and experiements
 Friday: Reflection via staff-wide Zoom conference
o Teams will share metrics and insights from their week’s work
o Check in on everyone’s motivation and progress
 “Where did you struggle this week? Where did you thrive this
week?” (McGregor & Doshi, 2020).
Successfully Leveraging Board Roles during COVID-19
In an unprecedented impact study done by The Nonprofit Institute at the University of
San Diego found that resilient nonprofits credited their success to a prepared and
forward-thinking board (University of San Diego, 2020). It is extremely likely that
CAC’s board will be called upon to make quick decisions with important and long lasting
organizational effects (University of San Diego, 2020). Given that meeting in large
groups is prohibited during this crisis, CAC’s board will conduct their weekly board
meeting virtually via Zoom. Zoom will allow for all of our board members to meet face-
to-face from the comfort and safety of their homes. All board meetings will be recorded
and minutes will still be taken. The minutes of each board meeting will be uploaded to a
shared cloud folder that is accessible to all CAC board and staff members.

There are many non health-related benefits to virtual meetings. The costs of traveling and
time pressures are eliminated (BoardSource, 2019). Board members can access meetings
from any location since they do not need to be in the CAC offices. Faster decision-
making is possible due to eliminating the arrangement of a physical meeting
(BoardSource, 2019). Exchanging documents or reports will take very little time with
everyone having access to CAC’s cloud of documents. Email communication provides
many possibilities for sharing information and knowledge, keeping members informed,
and adjusting to individual needs (BoardSource, 2019).

There are potential negative side effects to virtual board meetings. CAC has a reasonably
sized board, but there could still be difficulties in exchanging thoughts, ideas, and
opinions via Zoom conference. It may not be the most efficient method for exchanging
views (BoardSource, 2019). Additionally, some board members may struggle with
technology in general causing some issues in communication (BoardSource, 2019). CAC
will do our best to combat these issues through establishing open communication paths
for unsatisfied board members to share their concerns. Training and how-to documents
will be distributed to board members who lack confidence in their technological
capabilities from the Technology Team.

CAC’s board will have to discuss normal operational topics and COVID-19 responses.
The University of San Diego (2020) has provided nonprofit board with five guiding
action items for periods of crisis:
1. Reaffirm CAC’s Duty of Care
a. There is a need for CAC to provide thoughtful, measured, and informed
responses during this time of crisis. Establishing virtual channels for
regular communication is vital to effective board management. Strategies
for communication with staff should be discussed.
2. Identify primary risks facing CAC
a. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on our organization because it
eliminates our main programmatic activities. The board should give
consideration to:
i. Scenario planning – short term and long term
ii. Reforecast current budget
 iii. Funding additional sick leave for staff
iv. Assess current reserves and communicate with bank about loans
v. Communicate with CAC’s landlord about stretching payment
terms, due to CAC experiencing cash flow interruptions
vi. Communicate with collaborative community partners about what
kind of support they are in need of
vii. Review employment policies and risk management protocols to
protect our employees and clients
viii. Ensure that CAC is following all CDC guidelines and suggestions
during this time
3. Communicate transparently
a. Transparent communication about the expected impacts on our
stakeholder and organization is extremely important. Creating a culture of
support and emphasizing the need for open communication about
employee needs will be crucial to efficient and effective operations. An
appropriate representative should be speaking openly and in a timely
manner with major donors, contractors, and community partners about our
ability to meet established obligations given the current demands of the
operating environment.
4. Coordinate with the larger community
a. Seek supportive community with other nonprofits, funders, vendors, and
local government.
5. Keep CAC’s long-term mission and goals at the forefront of decision making
a. This is consistent with normal operating standards. However, during a
crisis it is even more important to ensure that decisions made at this time
accurately reflect our organization’s mission and long-term goals.

Community Participation through Technology

CAC has prided ourselves in our ability to connect with the community without having a
set, physical location. Now, we are faced with the task of continuing to do this without
our main operational function of creating exhibitions in local establishments. Instead of
focusing on the sometimes trivial aspects of our operations, we must now shift our focus
to our true purpose as an arts organization: creating magic among people (Parker, 2020).
The practical questions of postponing and migrating online lead to a set of more spiritual
considerations like, “Why are we doing this in the first place? Is it really needed? Who is
this for? And who gets to decide?” (Parker, 2020).

Museums who are able to pull through this pandemic will be the ones that understand
audiences’ emotional needs while remaining financially stable (Jones, 2020). Instead of
targeting audiences the traditional way — based off of demographics, geography, or
interests – museums must now target audience segments based on emotional needs
(Jones, 2020). The programs and content we had set in place pre-coronavirus are not
going to be as relevant anymore. We are designing content for new audiences with new
outlooks and emotional needs.

Community Arts Collective COVID-19 Strategies

CAC will implement the following strategies to ensure effective and efficient operations
during COVID-19:
1. Establish a network of action teams
a. There will be six established teams: Executive Team, Response Team,
Project Management Team, Digitization and Transcription Team,
Community Outreach Team, and Technology Team.
b. These cross-functional teams will ensure that CAC is effectively meeting
our organizational mission and goals and serving our community.
2. Conduct weekly, virtual all staff and team meetings
a. These meetings will be conducted via Zoom.
b. The intention of these weekly meetings is to check in with one another,
discuss organizational goals, experiment with new ideas, and decide on
effective measure to implement.
3. Conduct weekly, virtual board meetings
a. Weekly zoom conferences will be established for board members. The
meetings will be recorded and the meeting minutes will be uploaded into
CAC’s shared cloud folder.
4. Strengthen established collaborative relationships
a. The Response Team will be in contact with the community partners that
we have established relationships with.
b. We hope to open up lines of communication for support and
experimentation
5. Continue building community through digitally engaging with audiences
a. The Community Outreach Team will be tasked with building content for
our online audience on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and
TikTok.
b. The Digitization and Transcription Team will be tasked with digitizing
and transcribing CAC’s collection to an online platform for our audience.
References
BoardSource. (2019, October 21). Virtual Board Meetings.
https://boardsource.org/resources/virtual-board-meetings/.

Center for Creative Leadership. (n.d.). Adaptable Leaders Have These Three Types of
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Ciecko, B., Edwards, S., & Smith, K. (2020, March 27). Webinar Transcript: How to
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emergency preparation and response. In D. E. Gibbons (Ed.), Communicable
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McGregor, L. & Doshi, N. (2020, April 3). How to Keep Your Team Motivated,
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Parker, P. (2020, March 17). How to Be Together Apart In the Time of Coronavirus. New
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University of San Diego. (2020, March 13). 5 Things Every Nonprofit Board Should be
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https://www.sandiego.edu/news/soles/detail.php?_focus=75820.