CAM 2008 Session: More Than Setting the Goal, Metrics

Leslie Perovich, Vice President for Marketing at the Discovery Science Center in Orange County spoke about the importance of the effective use of metrics in achieving success in museums. A PDF of her power point presentation can be viewed here.

Metrics are employed in every aspect of the Discovery Science Center--from employee performance to exhibits, the successful use of metrics has helped the museum to increase its operating budget from $2 million five years ago to its present budget of $9 million.

Staff compensation is based on metrics, with bonuses offered every quarter to those staff members meeting or exceeding their goals. Exhibit metrics consist of looking at the number of exhibits that are inoperable more than 5% of the time and less than 95% of the time in order to determine total exhibit availability. The number of and time taken to respond to and resolve all exhibit, computer and facilities requests are tracked.

Absolutely everything is quantified and all the numbers are transparent--all staff members are aware of what the numbers are and where they stand according to the metrics. This fosters a sense of accountability--quite the opposite of that culture of entitlement mentioned by Janice Lyle's friend--and results in everyone striving to do their best, perform at their highest potential and be as efficient as possible at all times.