Identifying the Purpose of a site visit for a project. Part 1 of 3

The requester of the site visit should provide the site visit’s essential information in writing. The information should include all contact information for the site visit as well as a description and piece count of the object or objects.

Conducting a site visit with only the immediate or short-term goals in mind can lead to a failed project. An example of a short-term goal would be a request to measure an object for a crate. Providing measurements for the crate might satisfy the specific request but without considering the other aspects of the object’s environment or the primary project goals, the project may be undermined or fail.

It does not help to measure an object for a 40 x 40” wide crate if the door the crate needs to be moved through is 36” wide.

Understanding the long-term goals of the project will help you focus the information in your report and include all aspects that could affect a successful result.

If you are serious about your role as a Project Manager, then you are more than a note taker. You are a problem solver. Your job is to analyze complex situations and offer solutions. The site visit is the first step in recognizing the problems and issues hidden within a project, and solving them. Your solutions are presented in your site visit report and quote.

Review the site visit request before responding to the requester. The request itself may answer many of your questions. Identifying the purpose of the site visit beyond the specific request then requires asking the requester questions. These are also questions to keep in mind during the site visit and while you are developing your plan.

• Where is it going?
• Is its destination local, national or international?
• Is the destination an exhibition or storage location?
• Is the site visit for packing, crating, transportation or installation?
• If crating is required, is it a one-way or two-way shipment?
• What is the objects size?
• What is its weight?
• What is it condition?
• If it’s a 2D artwork is it framed?
• If it’s a 3D artwork, and if there is a base, is the base included in the site visit quote?
• Is there an existing condition report to review?
• Will the object require special equipment or rigging to pack and move?
• When does it need to be at the receiving location?
• How is it traveling?
• Is it coming back?
• When is it coming back?
• Who is accepting it at the other end?
• What are the conditions at the receiving end?
• Is there a loading dock at the release or receiving end?
• Who is paying for this?
• Who is the primary contact on site?
• Is the contact the client, the client’s representative or an agent?
• What is their contact information?

The client is the person that manages the collection end of the site visit and that you will have direct contact with on the project. They could be external as with a vendor contacting a museum representative or internal such as a Registrar technician contacting a Collections Manager within the same institution.

There will be other questions to ask as you become more familiar with the request. You should first review the request to see if the information you require has already been provided by the requester. If you do require answers you should ask for the information in an email so that you have a hard copy of the conversation to reference.

You also want to have a clear understanding of the requester’s perception of the site visits goal and what the project associated with the site visit intends to accomplish. This will prepare you for any possible misunderstandings that may have occurred between the requester and the client. You also want a clear understanding of what information has already been gathered and what questions have been asked of the client, so you don’t bother the client with redundant questions.  Having to answer the same question multiple times is annoying, no one likes having to go through this and it is a poor way to start your relationship with the client.

Specifically, it subtly says to the client that you are unfamiliar with, unprepared for or insensitive to their artwork or their role in the project and this leads to distrust especially concerning the handling of their valuable objects. Your contact, the client, should be considered one of the many stakeholders in this project, someone with a vested interest in the outcome of the project, and they should be treated as such.

Your goal in preparing for the site visit is to make a good impression and instill trust and confidence in you, your company or department, and your ability to manage this project. The client’s confidence and trust in you begins with the first impressions created during first contact and confirmed during the site visit.