A request usually comes down the chain of command to the person that will eventually be responsible for the on-site implementing and management of the information derived from the site visit. This person is the project manager. If you are the person receiving the site visit request, there is a good chance that you will also be the person managing the project. This means that you are responsible for sending the site visit information up the chain of command in an understandable format and then managing the information both laterally and down the chain of command as a series of written communications, time lines and punch lists. You are a middle manager and an information conduit. Your responsibilities and awareness need to go beyond the site visit request to an understanding of what the request represents in relation to a larger project and what your role in that project will entail.
The person receiving a site visit request will be a registrar, preparator, technician, packer or crater, gallery manager or collection manager. The titles are similar regardless of whether you work for a museum, an art gallery or an art services company.
It is important to understand that the format, the questions to ask, the planning and goals of a site visit are very similar regardless of which part of the industry you work in. Protocols may differ and the project stakeholders will differ but procedurally they are the same.
Generally, museums and commercial art galleries do not have enough employees to staff large projects and depend on commercial art services companies, or vendors, to estimate and manage their large art-based projects. If you work for a museum or gallery and you have been asked to provide a quote from a vendor that requires a site visit it is important to understand that if you have been asked to provide the information, then you are responsible for the site visits accuracy. You must assume that you will be the museum or galleries representative on site during the project and working with the vendor. Regardless of whether it is your staff, or the vendors staff you are the project manager and you will be managing the staff responsible for implementing the project plan. You are responsible for the collection, for quality control, for the budget and for meeting the deadlines.
This means you should be present for the site visit and you should understand the purpose of the site visit. You should come prepared with written site visit objectives and specifications for the vendor. You should keep the larger project in mind as you walk through the site with the vendor so that you can take note of any questions that arise and direct the vendor to areas they may bypass. Even though you may have hired someone to do the site visit, you should be managing the site visit.
Most importantly, you should already have an idea of what the project requires before heading into the site visit and you should have planned out a rough draft of your budget and timeline. After your walk through with the vendor you should have a general idea of what their quote should be regarding labor, materials and time. If there is a dramatic difference between what you anticipate and what the vendors quote represents you should be prepared to discuss this with the vendor before accepting their quote.
If you do schedule a site visit with a vendor, you should be sure to request that the person that performs the site visit is also the person that is the companies project manager during the project.
If you manage a museum collection, department, gallery, exhibition or storage space you could determine a site visit is necessary without an outside request and with a budget already in place. You would do this when you need information for scheduling or planning a project that is your responsibility. For example, if you are a preparator that needs to plan a future exhibition of a living artist, you are already responsible for the project, self-scheduling a site visit to preview the exhibition for space, staging and packing is expected.
If you are a commercial vendor that receives a request for a quote and site visit, it is tempting to have an employee that is already near the site perform the site visit and document the information. You should only send an employee to perform the site visit that will be involved with the execution and on-site management of the project. Familiarity with the site and the project plan leads to success.
The museum professional is aware of the protocols and physical restrictions of their environment as well as the needs of their collection.
The vendor professional is aware of the qualifications of their staff and availability and limitations of their resources.
Working together these two professionals are responsible for combining their information to perform an accurate site visit which is one of the first steps to a successfully completed project.
Chuck Agro - Project Management For The Arts 