The Channel | 2006

Managing change

”Mission impossible” - this was one of the less encouraging remarks

we received from potential partners for an EU open tender, to

facilitate the development of the three public broadcasters in

Bosnia and Herzegovina. “To support the key players in the Public

Broadcasting of BiH to build a genuinely public, professional and

politically independent public broadcasting sector for all citizens,

which is well positioned to become self-sustaining” - this was -

and of course still is - the general objective.

Point of departure

Consultancy never starts at the point where it should start. And

when the consultants leave it does not necessarily mean that

everything is accomplished. Consultancy for us means to direct a

process and to be on hand throughout; to facilitate knowledge

transfer amongst consultants and clients, peer-to-peer; to enable

participation of stakeholders and to develop capabilities to act; to

create ownership. Together with our German consortium partners

Deutsche Hörfunk Akademie, Adolf-Grimme-Institut and

ProManagement we designed a Leadership and Management

Development Programme.

The situation we had to deal with on location basically was

characterised by two contexts: we had to tie in with years of previous

foreign consultancies. We also had to face incomplete as well as

delayed legal reforms defining the future structure of the PBS in

Bosnia andHerzegovina – in terms of organisation, financing, personnel

and management structures. It was quite a complex mix, spiced up

by ethnic quarrelling in the political arena. The trauma of the Balkan

wars and the sometimes restricting demarcations resulting from the

Dayton Agreement still are manifest in the hearts and minds of the

people. Serbian, Croatian and Muslim Bosnians, for various reasons,

fear that they will lose essential institutional parts of their particular

cultural identities, should the three current public broadcasters be

restructured under a single umbrella organisation

The European Union declared the reform of the PBS one of the

crucial prerequisites before starting talks about accession issues

with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Intercultural approach

Designing the team of experts for the Leadership and

Management Development Programme in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, we decided to reflect the diversity of cultures on

the beneficiary’s side also by the choice of consultants to be

involved by the consortium. In planning the human resources we

came to the conclusion that it would be better to present a

European portfolio rather than a purely German one. We were

fortunate to find qualified consultants from France, the United

Kingdom and Germany – three countries with quite diverse public

broadcasting systems, organisations and related institutions, not

to mention different legal frameworks. Our team leader was born

in Macedonia, part of the Former Yugoslav Republic, and his

profound cultural understanding of the region helped

tremendously in creating an atmosphere of trust and mutual

respect amongst clients and consultants.

Knowledge transfer

”Mission impossible” - to avoid potential resistance to the ‘advice

of the next consultants from abroad’ we put the emphasis on

executive coaching consultancy rather than providing another

series of formal learning events. We interpret ‘knowledge’ as ‘know-

how’: expertise is the combination of specialised knowledge plus

the experience of how to effectively implement it; of how to create

willingness to change. Our media experts did not simply empty the

contents of their drawers full of general advice and spectacular

PowerPoint presentations. Instead, they did their best to understand

the very real challenges and barriers of the stakeholders. On this

basis they defined their training programme.

Just one example: one weekend, we arranged a business game.

The setting: we are in the year 2010, the three PBS bodies now are

operating under a corporate umbrella organisation. Our working

groups were requested to present proposals for different real case

scenarios introducing different everyday life demands for radio

and TV professionals. Several dozens of senior managers and

directors came together but with modified roles and

responsibilities. The financial director of entity A now had to take

on the tasks of the production manager of entity C; the editor-in-

chief of entity B had to deal with the problems of the financial

controller of entity A; and the head of the marketing department

of entity C was confronted with the challenges of the technical

director of entity B. And so on.

At the beginning of the exercise, there was a great deal of laughter,

plus irritation and raised eyebrows. But the final outcome was

brilliant. Through the flexibility and commitment of the participants

and their overall professional experience, new understanding

emerged, synergies were detected and opportunities for improved

workflows were spotted.

Next steps

Our contract with the EU ended in June this year. However the

Delegation of the European Commission to Bosnia and

Herzegovina has already indicated its ongoing commitment to

support the reform process of the PBS. In the near future, two

new open tenders will be published, one to foster the workflow